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Sen. Bob Corker (R): Republicans Will NOT Repeal “Obamacare”

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Looks like the tea-folk need to find a new party to vote for!

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) recently told a group of high-dollar GOP donors that Senate Republicans would not move to fully repeal President Obama’s health care law next year, according to multiple sources who attended the event.

The junior senator from Tennessee told the gathering of donors not to worry about the incoming class of “crazier Republicans” because the majority of Senate Republicans, especially minority leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), had no intention of repealing the president’s health care bill.  They instead planned to fix only the “bad parts” of the law, Corker reportedly told the group.  Several attendees, including a very senior Republican official, appeared visibly shocked by Corker’s comments.

I particularly love the line from Corker about “crazier Republicans.” Can you be any more “off message” than this? Ha.

What the RPV doesn’t understand about racism

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I’ll keep this very brief, because it’s really a very simple issue, though for some reason the Republican Party of Virginia and its supporters don’t seem to get it.

This is a response to Brian Schoeneman’s post “What’s worse? Racism or using racism as a political weapon?” at Bearing Drift.  The title of this post really says it all–and Mr. Schoeneman really ends up accusing himself and the RPV of what he’d like to defend them against: racism.

Mr. Schoeneman is upset that Democrats have made a habit of calling out Republicans when those Republicans act or speak in a way that is blatantly racist.  To Mr. Schoeneman that is “using racism as a political weapon.”  

No, Mr. Schoeneman, it is not using racism as a political weapon.  Calling out and criticizing incidents of racism is opposing racism.  Does opposing racism have political consequences?  Quite possibly.  But it is in the power of Virginia Republicans to avoid these consequences altogether by simply ceasing to act and speak in ways that are racist.  Just stop being racists and the issue becomes moot.

Where Mr. Shoeneman ends up accusing himself, and by extension the entire RPV, is by using the phrase “using racism as a political weapon.”  In the current scenario the only organization using racism, deliberately employing racism on its own behalf to promote itself and gain political power, is the Virginia Beach Republican Committee.

It is members of the Virginia Beach Republican Committee’s leadership who have been e-mailing around racist jokes, songs, and other material to boost the sense of community and esprit de corps among Virginia Beach Republicans.  Racism seems to be a core organizing principle for Virginia Beach Republicans, something that motivates their participation in GOP activities.

Criticizing the use of racism by Republicans to promote the GOP is not racism: it is anti-racism.  Are Virginia Republicans really unable to understand that?

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Could McDonnell’s ABC loss be Virginia’s JOBS gain?

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by Paul Goldman

In Godfather 1, Don Corleone redeems a favor from a friendly undertaker in order to make his son’s body suitable for an open casket funeral. Unless reality undergoes a reinvention, Governor McDonnell will need to do the same in preparation for the public burial of his ABC privatization plan, which is dead, and unlike the plane crash victims in the TV series “The Event”, can’t be brought back to life even by ET’s. But should Virginia Democrats want to attend a funeral on a minor issue or would the Commonwealth better benefit by the party seizing this opportunity to see if McDonnell’s troubles might offer an opening on the far larger and more important issue of the state’s transportation network?

My answer: Take a chance, and see if McDonnell will do the right thing even if this allows him to get off the hook on one of the biggest mistakes in modern times by a Virginia Governor. Truth is, the states of the Union who have the best transportation network, so that goods that need to be moved can be moved either by air, water, rail, road, will do the best on the economic front. When they can move trucks over an IPhone application, then all bets are off: but for now, the best transportation grid as we know it triumphs, even Steve Jobs can’t beat that.

And Jobs is the right metaphor: Because in the end, it is all about jobs, as in employment, as in economic activity. The service economy continues to grow as does health care: but without the best transportation grid, you can’t be the best state for job creation in the foreseeable future.

So in the end, transportation equals Jobs, indeed for now it trumps even Stevie.  

To be sure, His Excellency, Governor McD, has gone around the state for roughly a year now preaching his virtue on the ABC issue, attacking Democrats for not having any, and otherwise making grand promise after promise on the matter. Turns out, His Excellency was “all hat and now cowboy”. During the campaign, his ABC plan would be revenue neutral, raise upwards of $800 million, create thousands of jobs and be part of a transportation fix.

Except everything he promised wasn’t true. His plan busts the budget, might raise half what he promised for transportation if you still believe his figures, and if it creates many jobs at all, most will be retail clerks selling liquor at Wal Marts or a your local cash and carry whiskey store.

Truth is: If the laws against bait and switch applied to the McDonnell campaign promise, our Governor would be facing the biggest consumer fraud suit in state history, assuming Attorney General Cuccinelli could stop campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire long enough to protect the public interest.

Bottom line: McDonnell’s false attacks and phony promises have put him in this situation, and he has no right to expect Democrats to come to his rescue. But this misses a potential opportunity. One of the ironic laws of politics is rooted in the equation that the worse a Governor does, it might make it more likely that he is willing to do a better thing.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw is correct in saying that there is no possible fix to our growing transportation mess without a new source of funds.   But like most Virginians, I believe increased user fees for transportation should be a last resort, not a way for government to avoid responsibility for mismanagement of the many billions in highway funding already being paid by citizens. Indeed, did not the Governor just claim to have found many hundreds of millions in transportation dollars either unspent or wasted by the Kaine Administration?

Some say this was pure political spin, and surely the numbers are somewhat confusing.

All of which points in this direction: It has been over a generation since a Governor appointed a bipartisan, super respected Commission of exceptionally talented individuals to review the state of transportation in our Commonwealth and come forward with an analysis, along with recommendation options, for the people to consider. Not political spin: but the facts, politically incorrect if need be.

As the saying goes, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not to their own facts. Under normal circumstances, the type of Commission I envision would not come Governor McDonnell. For example, his Reform Commission is headed by one of the most partisan Republicans in the country, who has spent 40 years doing what he is doing now, raising huge sums of money form undisclosed donors to defeat Democrats. Is there any wonder his Reform Commission produced no major reforms, it was another case of McDonnell talking big but delivering small?

This kind of Commission would be worth nothing on an issue like transportation. But if McDonnell would agree to appoint a truly bipartisan, super-respected Commission of members who can not only talk the talk but walk the walk, then in my view this could make a huge difference going forward.

This is not to say their facts will be accepted by those who increasingly see politics as a 24/7 noise machine, the more noise you make, the powerful you become.

But the vast majority of Virginians still believe that the best policy is based on the best facts, that the truth is worth knowing because it is the only way to make real progress in the final analysis.

My proposal: If Governor McDonnell will agree to work with Democrats and Republicans in the General Assembly to form this type of super quality Transportation Commission, then Democrats should agree to give the Governor his choice of two options. One, they will put his ABC plan to a vote of the people in an advisory referendum. Or, in the alternative, Democrats will agree to hold a statewide referendum asking voters whether they want to privatize the retail end of the whiskey selling business only, replacing the roughly 300 ABC stores with about 1000 private stores.

Moreover, and this is key, Democrats will agree that if the people vote to privatize the retail store end of the liquor selling business, they will release McDonnell from his pledge that any such privatization plan will need to raise significant transportation money.

Why is this later point key? Because the transportation part of the ABC privatization equation makes such a change impossible without giving powerful special interests a state asset a fire sale prices. Democrats could never support such a giveaway under any circumstances. Moreover, a retail-only plan, even using McDonnell’s funny numbers, barely produces enough money to pay for one month of the state’s road maintenance budget. So why are we wasting time on it?

Thus, McDonnell would be presented with a clean path to what he says he wants, getting the state out of the liquor business. He can roll the dice on his plan, which is fine with me, since his inability to get any real support in the House GOP should tell anyone remotely familiar with politics how badly it would be defeated in a referendum. But he says it would pass. Okay, Governor, take your best shot.

Or His Excellency can seize on an opportunity to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, and ask the people to approve an historic change in state liquor policy, a move to privatizing the retail end of the business while keeping the state in control of the wholesale operation as we see whether this change really is what the people want.

In return, for giving the Governor a chance to start the privatization process and to get off his transportation hook, Democrats get something they would never otherwise get under any Republican Governor or GOP controlled House: a truly bipartisan, super quality Transportation Commission with knowledgeable individuals who are not afraid to let the chips fall where they may.

Yes, a small step toward a sustainable transportation future policy. The Commission is as likely to disappoint Democrats as Republicans.

But it does do what we can not do right now: get the facts without the politics.

Until we do that, the transportation mess only gets worse, never better as should be clear form the last few years of trying.  

Perriello, Hurt and Cancer

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The University of Virginia is home to a major cancer center. Cancer research is actually a pretty big deal in VA-05, so it’s no surprise that Tom Perriello has responded to the American Cancer Society’s candidate survey.

I am proud to represent Charlottesville, home of the UVA Cancer Center and one of two National Cancer Institute designated cancer centers in the entire commonwealth of Virginia. Virginia received over $86 million in grants and contracts from the National Cancer Institute in 2009, making a significant contribution not only to cancer research but also to local economic development and job growth. Each year, over 36,000 Virginians are diagnosed with cancer. I strongly support increased funding for cancer research so we can make a dramatic improvement in the health and quality of life of cancer patients. – Tom Perriello

But Tom’s opponent, Robert Hurt, has declined to respond to the ACS survey so far. It’s not like the ACS is a political action committee, or even that controversial. I understand avoiding the media when you have a horrible, horrible set of policies in mind, but avoiding the American Cancer Society, in a district with a major cancer research center?  

For those who might be interested, In VA-11, Gerry Connolly responded to the survey, and his opponent did not.

Virginia Beach GOP Chair Quits, Still Makes Excuses

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(UDPATE: TPM has “independently confirmed” the Bartholomew story.  Of course, “Bartholomew did not respond to repeated requests for comment.”  Pathetic. – promoted by lowkell)

In the wake of a racist email scandal first reported here at Blue Virginia, the Virginia Beach Republican Party Chairman is quitting. But he’s not racist! He just doesn’t know how to use the series of tubes!

The city’s Republican chairman agreed to resign late Monday night, just hours after a racist joke sent from his e-mail address surfaced.

David Bartholomew is not a racist and agreed to resign because the e-mail had become a distraction to the Nov. 2 election, said Gary Byler, the 2nd Congressional District GOP chairman, after meeting with Bartholomew.

The e-mail was dated March 15 and sent from the address that Bartholomew uses as party chairman. Bartholomew forwarded it without reading the contents when “he was first getting familiar with the Internet,” Byler said.

“Oh, how I fondly remember those days back in the mid-1990s when I was first getting familiar with the Internet but kept accidentally forwarding racist emails,” writes David Kurtz at TPM. “It was nip and tuck there for a while whether the Internet would realize its full potential or just be a clunky system that tripped you up into coming off as a bigot.”

Allen on FOX Interactive Town Hall Event Today

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George Allen will appear on Fox News’ “Happening Now” today. Leading up to the panel discussion there is an opportunity to submit questions and participate in a live chat from 11 AM to 1 PM. Allen joins at 12:30. He gratuitously pandered to the Tea Party on his website yesterday:

“I guess we were “tea partiers” before it was cool because I’ve heard it said that the TEA in Tea Party stands for “taxed enough already,” and that was certainly the stand I took as governor.” – George Allen

Allen raised over $300,000 in the most recent reporting period as he aims toward a political comeback in 2012. Damaged by using a racial slur during the 2006 campaign, his take on the current turmoil about racism in the Virginia Republican Party does not appear to be a topic at the top of Fox’s interest poll.

Republican Blogger Reaction to Racist Emails: Silence, Misdirection, Slander

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The reaction – or lack thereof – of Virginia Republican bloggers to the racist emails pouring out of the Virginia Beach Republican Committee has been highly revealing.  In short, it’s been a combination of silence, misdirection/red herrings, and attacks on the messenger that border on libel/slander/defamation. Let’s take these in order.

1. First off, Republican bloggers have been silent. The question, as NLS correctly asks, is why?  Is it because, as NLS wonders, they are “completely out of the loop and really shocked when this stuff surfaces?” Or, do they know deep down that their party is filled with racism, and simply don’t know how to respond when it comes out into the light of day? Or maybe when they don’t get clear direction from above? It’s pathetic, but it’s also highly revealing.

2. Second, we have misdirection, mostly about the “backstory” of how the emails came to be forwarded around, and also how they ended up on a Democratic blog (this one). I can answer that latter question, although I’m not going to reveal my source(s) for reasons that should be obvious to any journalist, blogger, etc. On Monday afternoon, I was going about my business when I received (at 2:38 pm) a forwarded email with the racist “joke” by (now ex-) Virginia Beach Republican Party chair David Bartholomew. I was disgusted, so I posted it (at 2:54 pm, a whole 16 minutes after receiving the email). I also posted a screen shot of the email, which clearly shows that it had been forwarded from Mr. Bartholomew on March 15, 2010. Why I only received the email on October 18, 2010, I have no idea. If anyone would like to look into this and let us all know, that would be great. Personally, I’d be curious.

As for the second email, I received that one yesterday (at 1:25 pm) and was even more horrified, as the racism was far worse (in my opinion) than in the first email. I posted that email as well (at 2:17 pm, a whopping 52 minutes after receiving it), along with a link to the far-right-wing website that posted the video and a screen shot of Scott Rigell’s website showing that the forwarder of the email was listed as one of his endorsers.  That email originally was forwarded by former VB Republican Committee chair Karen Beauchamp on July 31, 2010. Again, if anyone wants to look into the status of Ms. Beauchamp’s email between July 31, 2010 and October 19, 2010, that would be great; I’d be curious to know what they find out! In the meantime, I find it fascinating that Republican bloggers are more interested in the “backstory” – if there is one – than the FRONT story – the blatant racism exhibited by leading members of their party.

3. Finally, we get into libel/slander/defamation territory, specifically over at Republican blog Bearing Drift. There, extreme right wingnut Brian Schoeneman strongly implies that yours truly “sat on these emails for months or he is willingly serving as a patsy for someone trying to launch an October surprise on Scott Rigell.” Shoeneman proceeds to claim that “Lowell doesn’t care about stamping out racism, or calling out those who engage in it,” and also that “Lowell basically condoned the racism – it wasn’t important enough to him to out these people until it became politically helpful for his chosen candidate in VA-2.”  Fellow right-wingnut blogger J.R. Hoeft then weighs in with his own deep thoughts, asking, “If recent emails by members of the Republican Party of Virginia Beach are truly so offensive, then why has Lowell chosen to release them in parts and only in October?”

Again, note the implication by these Republican bloggers – I supposedly had these emails for months and waited until the last moment to help Glenn Nye, who everyone reading Blue Virginia knows is just my favorite Democrat ever!!!  Yeah, that latter part is laughable in and of itself, given how much I’ve ripped into Nye and how much I can’t stand the guy (he’s practically a Republican in his voting record). But as for the first part, accusing me of fundamental dishonesty and sliminess – the type that Republican bloggers so often engage in – that’s 100%, absolutely false, and I’d be happy to swear that in court. I’d also be happy, if libel and slander law would allow, to take Messieurs Shoeneman and Hoeft to court on this one. They are so wrong, it’s beyond belief, and they shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this crap. The only problem is, in the United States under the 1st Amendment, they have the right to say just about anything they want, and I’m not sure I could win that case. Still, it’s extremely tempting and I will be looking into it today…

Perriello Romps Over Hurt in 5th CD Debate

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Just got done watching Rep. Tom Perriello debate Robert Hurt on WCAV CBS 19 Charlottesville.  Now that was a thing of beauty. I’m hoping there will be video shortly. For now, here are some tweets (including my own) from the butt-kicking Tom just delivered. Enjoy!

@VotePerriello: Crowd at the #va05 debate http://yfrog.com/76v38j

@NotAndySere: Immigration: @RobertHurt slams @TomPerriello for open borders. No mention of McCain, Bush amnesty plan. GOP hasn’t learned?

@NotAndySere: Do candidates have notes for debate? @RobertHurt keeps looking down like he’s reading

@NotAndySere: @RobertHurt seems like a total flip flopper. @TomPerriello is at least consistent and on message.

@NotAndySere: @RobertHurt stuttering his way through a list of pre-selected businesses

@lowkell: @RobertHurt outright lies on Cap and Trade, Stimulus, etc., etc. What a bunch of bovine excrement.

@lowkell: @TomPerriello is so far superior to @RobertHurt as a debater and in terms of substance, it’s not even fair! LOL

@bradramsey: @tomperriello says access to #broadband is critical in rural areas to expand edu opportunities

@lowkell: @TomPerriello is on fire, “we ARE creating jobs…in the 5th district!” In contrast, @RobertHurt = all negativity

@lowkell: @TomPerriello – need to do what’s right for the district. @RobertHurt voted against unemployment benefits, factory owners, seniors…

@lowkell: @RobertHurt has nothing to offer, keeps lying (“govt takeover of healthcare”), attacks Nancy Pelosi. What a loser.

@lowkell: @VotePerriello – Slams @RobertHurt for flip-flopping on trade, earmark reform, taxes…

@lowkell: @VotePerriello also slams @RobertHurt for not reading #HCR bill, not attending townhall meetings…

@lowkell: @VotePerriello knocks it out of the ballpark on the new energy economy, “green jobs.” Go Tom!

@NotAndySere: @TomPerriello’s campaign is focused on America, fighting, America, keep fighting, and AMERICA! Plus he fights.

@BradleySRees: Hurt has slammed @TomPerriello for “voting for a bill he hasn’t read,” but admitted in last #va05 debate HE hadn’t read it

@lowkell: @RobertHurt has no understanding of the new energy economy, instead launches more outrageous, false attacks on @VotePerriello

@NotAndySere: 2010 is about angry voters. @RobertHurt tells you he’s angry. @TomPerriello shows you he’s angry

@PittGirly: Hurt accuses Perriello of forgetting the people who MAKE things in the 5th CD. Umm…he just talked about them…

@mkoshark: 30 mins into Perriello / Hurt debate: Perriello is all substance while Hurt is 100% buzz words like ‘big gub’ment’ but little info

@lowkell: @VotePerriello – @RobertHurt wants to cut education at state AND federal level, what would be left?!?

@lowkell: @VotePerriello – Healthcare premiums have been rising for a long time, why does @RobertHurt want to ditch small business taxcut?

@lowkell: @VotePerriello – @RobertHurt wants Congress to get a better healthcare plan than everyone else

@bradramsey: View of the #va05 debate from above, regardless of your political preference, a great view of democracy at work http://twitpic.com/2z48m3

@lowkell: @RobertHurt – Favors bringing back preexisting conditions, donut hole, other abuses of health insurance companies. Nice.

@NotAndySere: Winner of #VA05: Jay Warren & WSLS. Their debate ROCKED compared to this.

@lowkell: @RobertHurt – mixes up “increase” and “decrease,” appears to have no idea what he’s talking about

@lowkell: @VotePerriello Under @RobertHurt #HCR plan, payments to doctors slashed, Medicare goes bankrupt, cuts in benefits, etc.

@NotAndySere: Who’s the conservative?! RT @andysere #va05 debate Hurt: No cuts to Social Security; Perriello: All Social Security cuts on the table.

@lowkell: @RobertHurt stuttering, bumbling through his closing statement, can’t keep his lies straight! LOL

@lowkell: @RobertHurt appeals to ignorance, the worst in people. @VotePerriello appeals to knowledge, the best in people.

@lowkell: @VotePerriello – if you want talking points, someone who won’t step up on tough issues, vote @RobertHurt

@lowkell: @VotePerriello – @RobertHurt, you can disagree w/me but don’t disrespect me and suggest I get pushed around by anyone!

@lowkell: @VotePerriello absolutely pummeling @RobertHurt , this is a thing of beauty. Go Tom!

@lowkell: No wonder why @RobertHurt didn’t want to debate @VotePerriello Ouch!!!

@NotAndySere: 2nd #VA05 debate over. @RobertHurt’s campaign is focused on three things, cap and trade, health care, failed stimulus.

@NotAndySere: If you think government was only broken by Obama, Pelosi, & Perriello, and fixes are easy, @RobertHurt is for you.

Lame Ducks and Their Session

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Time for me to return to the online life again. I have been in a two day session for women and nuclear security. Women from across our country came together to learn about nuclear treaties, nuclear security and what we can do to get the Senate off it’s collective butt and ratify the New START treaty.

We heard from women (and a man) who are involved in the treaties and nuclear security. Women such as Valerie Plame Wilson. Undersecretaries and women in the actual process of nuclear security treaties spoke to us.

The Senate has not ratified the treaty so we are living without the essentials of nuclear inspections of Russian (formerly Soviet) nuclear weapons facilities or places from which the bombs to blow up the U.S. would be launched. That should give you some thoughts, or I hope it starts you on the good road to asking “what the hell?”

We need to have the treaty brought up by Reid and voted on and passed by at least 67 senators in the Lame Duck Session.

I will be doing full blown diaries soon. We have two weeks to the election and one week after the election to put the pressure plans together to make sure our senators vote for the treaty.

Damned wonky stuff coming up!