From Operation FREE, a new poll of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans “finds that 73 percent of them support Clean Energy Climate Change legislation in Congress, 79 percent believe ending our dependence on foreign oil is important to national security, and 67 percent support the argument that such legislation will help their own economic prospects.” As VoteVets president and Iraq War veteran Jon Soltz says:
This poll confirms what we always knew was true – veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan know, first-hand, the destructive effect our dependence on oil has on our national security, and on the battlefield. They are well aware of arguments made in favor and against bi partisan clean energy and climate change legislation, and firmly fall into the group of Americans supportive of passing that comprehensive legislation. Veterans of the wars we’re fighting want legislation passed now.
If you agree with Jon Soltz and the vast majority of Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans, please click here, “sign your name next to theirs and stand strong with the men and women who have put their lives on the line for our security.” Thanks.
No, really. That’s what Virginia conservative bloggers are actually saying today. Watching them try to deflect attention away from the West Virginia mine explosion tragedy’s cause is like watching the wedding scene from Monty Python & the Holy Grail. Let’s not bicker & argue about who killed who!
Why should we rush to judgment that there could’ve been wrongdoing involved? Just because the mine that blew up was cited for safety violations for this exact problem just last month?
A huge underground explosion blamed on methane gas killed 25 coal miners in the worst U.S. mining disaster in more than two decades. […]
The mine, about 30 miles south of Charleston, has a significant history of safety violations, including 57 infractions just last month for (among other things) not properly ventilating the highly combustible methane.
From Environment Virginia, which just finished an “invoice delivery” event at Attorney General Cuccinelli’s office. I’m told that when asked for comment by the press about the $890 million invoice being delivered, Cooch’s office refused to comment. “They even sent a policeman down to inform us that they would not be commenting.” Wow.
*Attorney General Cuccinelli Lawsuit Would Cost Commonwealth Millions*
Richmond – Last week, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli declared his attention to file a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency’s new Clean Car Rule. The reasoning for this newest lawsuit is based on the fact that he has challenged the EPA’s endangerment finding for carbon dioxide which was issued in December.
“Attorney General Cuccinelli continues to head out of bounds with this lawsuit,” said Environment Virginia Advocate J.R. Tolbert. “This action, if successful, will cost Virginia consumers millions of dollars at the pump. He is practically telling the world that Virginians want to pay $4.00 per gallon of gas.”
In reaction to the proposed lawsuit, Environment Virginia delivered a bill to the office of the Attorney General asking Mr. Cuccinelli to pay the people of Virginia $890 million for savings lost in 2016. The group conducted an analysis of the benefits to consumers nationwide from the new Clean Car Rule. The key findings of the report included:
* The new rule will reduce consumption of gasoline by more than 11
billions annually beginning in 2016.
* Global warming pollution will be reduced by more than 107 million
metric tons, the equivalent of taking 21,391,472 cars off the road
for one year.
* Consumers nationwide will save over $31 billion dollars at the gas
pump from increased fuel efficiency associated with the new rule.
“The facts speak for themselves. The attorney general’s actions threaten the nation’s public health and economy. People deserve to know what’s at stake, and Mr. Cuccinelli’s crusade against the federal government could cost our bank accounts and environment deeply,” continued Tolbert.
Environment Virginia is opposed to the attorney general’s previous lawsuit against the EPA. The group points out that the Supreme Court ordered the EPA to undertake the endangerment finding process in Massachusetts v. EPA (2007). Following the Supreme Court’s decision the EPA conferred with other United States government agencies, held multiple public hearings and took public comment before issuing the finding.
“Virginia’s leaders should be focused on making the Commonwealth a leader in 21^st century technologies not undertaking ideological campaigns to halt innovation. The Attorney General has positioned himself as a pothole on the road to progress, and just like Governor McDonnell we’re committed to filling in Virginia’s potholes so people know we’re open for business,” concluded Tolbert.
The most hilarious part is ExxonMobil still finds a way to bitch about its lot in life. The corporation’s website includes an issues page on “industry taxes,” which threatens that energy innovation is already on the ropes because of excessive taxes, and it will be forever consigned to the dustbin by any new taxes on windfall profits (or, we’d assume, plans like President Obama’s to close the offshore earnings loopholes that saved ExxonMobil from the IRS this year). “While our worldwide profits have grown, our worldwide income taxes have grown even more. From 2004 to 2008 our earnings grew by 79 percent, but our income taxes grew by 130 percent,” ExxonMobil’s flacks wrote, presumably while playing the world’s smallest-and most expensive-violin.
But I’m sure this should give us no reason to doubt Gov. Bob McDonnell’s promises about how much state revenue will be delivered by handing over our coastlines to Big Oil for drilling … um, right?
Early today, there was a terrible tragedy at a coal mine in West Virginia. Our hearts go out to all the victims, as well as to their families, friends and coworkers, in what’s being called “the worst U.S. mine disaster since 1984.”
In addition to sadness, this explosion should also make you angry. The fact is, this mine had “a history of violations for not properly ventilating highly combustible methane gas, safety officials said.” Why was that situation never dealt with adequately?
Now Ken Cuccinelli has a choice to make. Will he open up an investigation and ensure that the Massey mining site in Tazewell that has had so many violations of health and safety will comply with the law and ensure its workers safety? Or is he going to ignore safety warnings even after yesterday’s tragedy and hope by 2013 that Massey continues to reward him with large political contributions for his efforts to help in their legal actions against the EPA?
We’re waiting for an answer Mr. Attorney General.
Yes, we are waiting for an answer, but don’t expect one anytime soon. The fact is, Ken Cuccinelli and others in Virginia government – overwhelmingly Republican – are deeply in the pocket of Massey Energy and Don Blankenship, far more concerned with doing their bidding than in protecting workers, the environment, etc.
More broadly, the question is why, in the year 2010, we are still stuck in a 19th century energy economy (coal and other fossil fuels) instead of a 21st century one (energy efficiency, wind, solar, geothermal, etc.)? Also, why do we let scumbags like Massey Chairman/CEO Don Blankenship get away with murder – repeated, serious safety violations leading to the deaths of miners? On both of those questions, there’s a very simple answer: follow the money…
UPDATE: SatirclAlxndria tweets, “WVA mine accident, 25 dead & @KenCuccinelli waxing rhapsodic about Roanoke sunrise & press interviews!”
UPDATE #2: Daily Kos has more on Don Blankenship and the politicians he gives $$$ to.
UPDATE #3: Just to be clear, let me just state that there is absolutely no evidence Ken Cuccinelli caused or contributed to the terrible tragedy in West Virginia. What I’m saying is that Cuccinelli (and Virginia Republicans more broadly) receives large sums of money from Richmond-based Massey, that this is not a good thing, and that Cooch should be focused on cracking down against safety violations in Virginia before we have a mine disaster here as well. Cooch also needs to stop doing the anti-worker, anti-environment bidding of companies like Massey.
UPDATE #4: It’s also worth noting that Virginia’s two previous AG’s, Jerry Kilgore (2002-2005) and Bob McDonnell (2006-2009), apparently did nothing to rein in out-of-control Massey Energy on worker safety, the environment, or anything else. Neither did Mark Earley (1998-2001) or Jim Gilmore (1994-1997).
There’s so much anti-tax rhetoric out there, and of course almost nobody enjoys paying taxes, but Shayna Englin has a great point here that is too often forgotten – without taxes, we wouldn’t have our quality of life, our military, our police and firefighters, Social Security, Medicare, safe food, safe water, Metro, roads, bridges, airports, parks, or just about any other “common good” you can think of. Oh wait, I forgot, Glenn Beck et al. say that taxes are “socialist,” right? No, Glenn, they’re called “American.”
7 pm: It begins, George Burke hosting. Introductions of the two candidates, Jeff Barnett and Rich Anthony. 3 minute opening statements.
Jeff Barnett Opening Statement: Stepping up to answer call to serve once again. “I am tired of Republican debt and denial.” Tired of them “passing off the buck to the next generation.” Four big areas: jobs, housing, transportation, ending our wars. I have specific proposals, people want action. Wolf has not delivered, I will. “Rock solid” Democrat, retired colonel. “This is a winnable election.” “If Massachusetts can elect a Republican Senator, we can elect a Democratic Congressman.”
Rich Anthony Opening Statement: Thanks everyone for debate. “I can and will beat Frank Wolf this fall…never would have gotten into this race if I didn’t believe that.” Positive economic message has resonated well. This issue is what I know, what I’ve been doing for the past 15 years – economic and workforce development. Help communities attract new employers, help people who’ve lost their jobs get training and assistance they need to get back on their feet. It’s important to know something about the issue you’re running on. One hell of a retirement party for Frank Wolf.
Jeff Barnett: I’ve seen the misery of war, have two kids active duty. I will never make decisions of a political nature on these wars. $200 billion a year for those 2 wars. We’ve lost 4,400 people in Iraq and 1,023 killed in Afghanistan. Iraq war was totally unnecessary, Afghan war bungled. Thankfully the surge and Anbar Awakening, that war’s coming to a close. Afghan war much more problematic. I support that war, but will ask very hard questions and stay on top of it. I have background, expertise…will be hard to persuade me to extend that war.
Rich Anthony: Echo many of Jeff’s sentiments. Clearly understand the mission, timetable for getting out. I support the president’s plan and timetable. I want us to do everything humanly possible to get our young men and women home as soon as possible.
Question on policy towards Israel.
Rich Anthony: Israel is a strong friend of US. Often times we disagree. Recently, some of the actions that have taken place illustrate this perfectly. Israel’s right to defend itself, we need to work towards peaceful resolution. Diplomatic solutions, save as many live as possible, work with both Israelis and Palestinians.
Jeff Barnett: US committed to security of Israel. We can have frank discussions as friends. Disagreements over settlements; there is no peace in the area without 2-state solution. Necessary for Israel’s existence as a Jewish state and as a Democracy. I’m optimistic about peace in the area. Work with Israel and with the Palestinians. Light at the end of the tunnel.
Question on health care reform.
Jeff Barnett: Biggest regret I have is that I wasn’t in Congress to vote for that bill. That was historic. Cost, affordability, pre-existing conditions, bringing people into the system; this addresses all of those. 32 million more people get health care. Could have been better, but this is a great start. This is not the end game. Health care will be continuing issue going forward, this is just health insurance reform, will have to be watched and tweaked.
Rich Anthony: I would have absolutely voted yes. Is it a perfect bill, no. Will we have the opportunity to fix it, absolutely. That’s what I want to do in Congress, build on the positives and add to them. Possibly a public option. Bottom line is we’ve managed to turn a corner, we’ve made progress. If Frank Wolf and other Republicans want to run on repeal, that’s a debate I’m looking forward to. So far Frank hasn’t come out and said whether he’ll join the “repeal” wing of his caucus. Frank Wolf had opportunity to put his constituents needs ahead of greedy insurance companies and corporate lobbyists; he chose the greedy companies an corporate lobbyists.
Question on budget deficit.
Rich Anthony: I’ve said since the beginning, this comes down to three things – jobs, jobs, jobs. We’ve lost 8.2-8.4 million jobs, not paying Social Security or payroll taxes, who are spending less. This has affected every area of our economy, budgets at all levels. Best way to make progress on deficit is by combination of cutting programs where there is waste, plus getting people back to work. Give people skills and training they need to succeed, will turn drain on system into a plus. Continue to do what we’ve been doing, do more to get people back to work.
Jeff Barnett: Difference between Richard and myself. We have about $1.3 trillion deficit. Stimulus is about $900 billion, so we have $400 billion we need to close. Three phased approach. Grow jobs, I have a plan for that. Revisit our tax structure, we have an industrial age tax structure and the vestiges of trickle-down economics (e.g., AMT). AMT rate goes down for wealthy. We need to change our revenue stream, where we spend our money. We can cut discretionary spending – half if in the military, there is great savings to be had in that sector.
Rich Anthony rebuttal: Jeff’s correct that we do differ on this. One of the cornerstones of my answer is education and training. People need long-term strategy to get good-paying job soon. They need training, education is the silver bullet.
Jeff Barnett rebuttal: Don’t understand what you meant by long-term plan for immediate effect. They still have to have a job to go to, we don’t have a job to go to, I’ve got a plan to focus federal investment on the next generation of jobs. We’re lacking vision – without a vision, the people perish. That’s what got us going on internet, jet engines…
[BREAK 7:29 pm]
Question on energy independence and global climate change.
Rich Anthony: Don’t know what Obama administration is thinking in changing their stance on offshore drilling. I’m against that, although I understand there’s a short-term need and we need a stopgap. But I’d want certain assurance – safe as humanly possible, we don’t need oil spills off coast of Virginia, oil stays right here in United States and shouldn’t be sold to other countries. I support aggressive policy of research and development on alternative fuels. Right now, we’re getting our butts kicked by Chinese in solar power.
Jeff Barnett: Rich and I have a lot of commonality. It’s all about energy independence. Drilling off Virginia’s coast has nothing to do with energy independence – 3 days supply of oil off Virginia’s coast. This isn’t even a drop in the bucket. We need to move towards renewables, move from fossil-fuel-centered industry into renewable industry. Right now, we’re addicted to fossil fuels. This is going to be a long process but it’s one we have to do. Fossil fuels are killing us environmentally, balance of payments, in terms of jobs. We need next generation of energy jobs in America. It comes from brainpower, not from the ground.
Question on economic recovery/stimulus act.
Jeff Barnett: The bill was absolutely necessary. Were Republicans asleep in High School. History of Great Depression; there is a role for Government to apply bridge funding, basic Keynesian economics. The need for stabilization funding is clear. Government is not the same as a business; when times get tough, demand goes up, government must meet that demand. 4-year period is very reasonable. After that, we need to balance the budget. Every economist says we were on the verge of a collapse without deficit spending.
Rich Anthony: Very important, number of jobs saved or created is amazing, where we’d be without it is horrifying. We’re just now starting to turn the corner, we’ve grown 162,000 new jobs. Dramatic improvement. If we didn’t have stimulus, we couldn’t have caught ourselves as we fell off the cliff. I don’t know why Frank Wolf voted no on this or on many other things. He’s consistently voted “no, no, no, no” with his party since President Obama sworn in. He is more interested in helping his party than helping his constituents.
Question on transportation.
Rich Anthony: If I had an answer to that, the election would be over. It’s one of the top issues on everyone’s mind, people tired of 2-hour commutes, time away from kids and home. It’s frustrating. We hear politicians coming up with formulas, magic solutions. I’m not going to promise definitive answer, but there are a number of things we can do. First, 80/20 funding formula needs to change to population-based formula – means more money for Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William. Gerry Connolly has proposed possible extension of Metro along Orange line to Centreville, Blue Line to Woodbridge. We need to do more with bus rapid transit, an untapped resource. Lastly, more teleworking – huge opportunity to get cars off the road.
Jeff Barnett: The problem is we could spend an hour discussing this. We need to get out ahead of this problem, not just widen/tweak what we inherited from our parents. We need next generation of transportation for this area. Growth in this area is a constant, Loudoun has tripled since 1993. We have got to overbuild our transportation. More north-south links, more rail links (Reston-Rockville, Leesburg-Gaithersburg), what would happen if American Legion Bridge went down? We need an alternative to American Legion Bridge. 10th CD congressman in perfect position to form that consensus – Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia. Frank Wolf has not done that. Another problem is I-95, we need to get I-95 traffic off our Beltway. Where should it go? Only a few alternatives, but we have to step up to it. If we don’t, we’ll strangle our future here in Virginia.
Question about widening I-66.
Jeff Barnett: I hope Jim Moran’s not watching. It’s easy for me, “yes,” because it doesn’t directly affect me. We made a deal with Arlington County. Yes, we need to revisit the # of lanes flowing through Arlington. Metro to Dulles may alleviate that traffic to some extent, but Silver Line will also cause economic boom in that area.
Rich Anthony: Possibly, and I don’t mean that as a hedge. That would be a last resort for me. First look at telecommuting, telework, reduce time people are on the road, reduce the amount of emissions. Extending Metro and increasing capacity on Metro, parking facilities, incentivize ridership on Metro. People in NOVA like their cars, they’ll need compelling reason to move away from their cars. More incentive for public transportation, need the capacity or people won’t come back and try it again.
Rich asks Jeff a question on single issue, home mortages. Would you agree that in order to be credible by voters, candidate needs to possess some expertise on that issue? What’s your experience on this?
Jeff Barnett: I’ve talked about 4 issues – jobs, housing, transportation, ending our wars, all one issue. They’re all one issue. I reject your assertion that any of us should run on a single issue. There are multiple issues.
Jeff asks Rich a question about winning independent voters.
Rich Anthony: 49% DPI. It voted for Jim Webb, Tim Kaine, Mark Warner, Barack Obama. I think the 10th is winnable. People looking for someone they can relate to, shares their values, faces same challenges in daily life, reject inside-the-Beltway candidate, that’s not me. I come from solid, middle-class background. Wolf has consistently defeated inside-the-Beltway candidate. Need someone who can earn trust of voters in the 10th.
Closing statements.
Rich Anthony: Enjoyed the debate. We agree on many things, certain things we don’t agree on. FDR in inaugural address – greatest task is to put people to work. We can’t take our eye off the ball.
Jeff Barnett: Incredibly optimistic about our area, most fiber-rich dirt on earth, expansion capacity at Dulles. Optimistic about future of party, this area is trending blue and Wolf is trending towards far right. This is a very winnable election, I’m that guy. I am electable across our base and across independents, I can beat Frank Wolf.
I’d love to see Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli debate this guy.
The attorney general of Kentucky is dismissing calls from leading Republican officials to sue the federal government to block the recently passed health care legislation.
In an interview with the Huffington Post, Jack Conway, a Democratic candidate for Senate and current Kentucky AG, described talk of health care lawsuits as the baseless meandering of Tea Party conspiracy theorists; not to mention a potentially large waste of taxpayer money.
“Most constitutional scholars looking at this issue say it is absolutely clear that these lawsuits will not be successful,” Conway said. “While it may make for good Tea Party politics for [Republican Senatorial candidate] Rand Paul and Sarah Palin, it makes for really lousy lawsuits. And I’m not going to waste the taxpayer resources of the people of Kentucky on political stunts.”
“The last thing I need is a lecture on the constitutional law from Rand Raul or Sarah Palin,” he added.
Wait a minute, “waste the taxpayer resources?” Didn’t our fine Attorney General inform us that his lawsuit against the federal government will only cost Virginia taxpayers $350? That is, unless you don’t believe Kookinelli that his staff time on this case, which undoubtedly will reach into the hundreds of hours, doesn’t need to be factored in to the cost. How much do those guys make, anyway, minimum wage? Maybe Jack Conway can ask Cooch about that when they debate. Heh.
(Good job as always by ACDC. I hear that the Prince William County Democratic Committee is also busy, urging the Republican-controlled Board of Supervisors there “to focus on the issues that face Prince William County every day — such as home foreclosures, rising utility costs, cuts to our school system and predatory loans — rather than writing letters, resolutions or proposals that support frivolous lawsuits against the federal government.” Nice job by Pete Frisbie et al. – promoted by lowkell)
The following proposed draft resolution, on Cuccinelli’s Attack on Health Care Reform, will be put forward to the full Arlington County Democratic Committee on Wednesday’s general membership meeting.
Just last month, ACDC approved a resolution calling on Congress to support full legislative repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 2010.
For details about the event or to RSVP, please go to our Facebook event. Full text of the draft resolution below.
Whereas, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010, and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 on March 30, 2010; and
Whereas, these bills provide a fundamental reform of the nation’s health insurance industry and expand coverage to 30 million uninsured Americans; and
Whereas, the new law provides a tax credit to 93,000 small businesses in Virginia to make purchase of health care more affordable, and the new law provides the 628,000 Virginians under the age of 26 with the option to obtain insurance under their parents’ plan;
Whereas, a key element of health care reform is ending discrimination by insurance companies based upon pre-existing conditions (“universal underwriting”) which will assist an estimated 112,000 Virginians in gaining coverage; and
Whereas, the new law requires individuals to maintain minimal essential health care coverage beginning in 2014 to make such universal underwriting possible by broadening the insured risk pool; and
Whereas, the new law affords states great flexibility in establishing alternative programs to meet the reform and coverage objectives of the new law; and
Whereas, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Commonwealth challenging the authority of the Federal Government to enact the new health care reform law on the grounds that it exceeds the federal authority under the Commerce Clause; and
Whereas, the Attorney General’s duty is to serve the cause of justice in Virginia rather than to use his position and scarce taxpayer dollars to pursue his personal ideological agenda; and
Whereas, while the Attorney General is wasting scarce taxpayer dollars to pursue this lawsuit, Virginia’s current budget contains painful funding cuts to its Medicaid, education, school meals and other priority safety net programs;
Therefore Be It Resolved that, the Arlington County Democratic Committee on April 7, 2010,
1) commends the Congress and President Obama for enacting comprehensive health care reform,
2) condemns Attorney General Cuccinelli for wasting taxpayers’ funds to pursue a frivolous and politically-motivated litigation, and
3) calls upon the General Assembly to enact funding restrictions on the Attorney General to halt this frivolous litigation.
From Operation FREE, a new poll of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans “finds that 73 percent of them support Clean Energy Climate Change legislation in Congress, 79 percent believe ending our dependence on foreign oil is important to national security, and 67 percent support the argument that such legislation will help their own economic prospects.” As VoteVets president and Iraq War veteran Jon Soltz says:
Early today, 
I’d love to see Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli 
