Posted on : February 24th, 2011 Eileen Levandoski |
Rep. Scott Rigell in supporting the House Continuing Resolution budget cuts not only voted against the Chesapeake Bay but also homeless Veterans.
And just as Karl Rove’s PAC swoops in with $ millions in advertising to support Republicans voting in right-wing lock step, the DCCC steps in to counter their attacks with ads targeting particular Repugs in swing districts to include Rigell.
Here’s a clip from the robo-calls hitting the 2nd…
“Everyone knows we need to cut spending and reduce the deficit in Washington. And we can do that by reforming government, cutting wasteful spending, and getting rid of taxpayer subsidies for the Big Oil companies making record profits.
Instead, Representative Scott Rigell voted for a partisan plan to eliminate vital housing assistance for homeless veterans. On the battlefield, our troops leave no soldier behind, but Representative Scott Rigell is willing to leave our veterans behind here at home by eliminating millions for Homeless veterans to find housing. This doesn’t make any sense.
Call Representative Scott Rigell at [202-225-4215] and tell him to cut taxpayer subsidies for Big Oil companies, not walk away from our veterans.”
Yes! So happy to see some fire in the belly of the DCCC! We’re going to spend the next two years shining a light on Rigell’s nonsense and hopefully boot him out in 2012.
So while the DCCC is countering errant GOPpers, it’ll be up to us in Virginia to find a great candidate to run in 2012. Come on, Brian Moran! Work your magic with candidate recruitment!
Posted on : January 23rd, 2011 Eileen Levandoski |
On November 20, 2010, my daughter tore her ACL playing soccer. Her insurance at that time was through Blue Cross Blue Shield which had a $7,500 deductible, which means I’m out of pocket for the initial doctor visit, X-Ray, the orthopedic visit and the MRI. Ouch!
Within days of her injury, my employer had open enrollment and I added Paul and my 3 kids to my existing plan with Aetna, which went into effect for them on January 1, 2011. Sophie had her knee surgery on January 13 and is covered for 60 physical therapy sessions.
So, what happens if the Affordable Care Act is repealed? Is Sophie’s surgery and rehab not covered as it is a pre-existing condition? My 19-year-old son also has a pre-existing condition (ADD/depression). Could he be bounced from my plan? Or would I be forced to pay a lot extra in premiums to keep him covered on my plan?
I’m looking to you, Rep. Scott Rigell, for answers here. You know what you’re doing here, right?
Beyond expressing how horrified I was when learning about the shootings in Tuscon, Arizona, on Saturday, I haven’t said much about the tragedy. While I’ve never been to Arizona, what happened there hit close to home. I’ve been to numerous events with elected representatives, and I’ve never once thought about my safety. I’ve never seriously considered the possibility that there could be someone out there plotting to mount a deadly assault on those attending the event. Like Vivian Paige over at All Politics is Local, I was forced to consider that possibility and the risks associated with being involved in the political process. I also began to consider how much more difficult it may be for people to contact and connect with their elected representatives because of what happened in Tuscon. That second consideration weighed more heavily on me than the first.
The media focus quickly turned from the facts of the event to the theories of pundits seeking a political edge, using Tuscon as ammunition. First the finger pointed at politicians like Sarah Palin who has shown no hesitancy in using violent rhetoric and imagery to fire up her base. Then, predictably, a surge of defensive explanations, clarifications, and examples of how Democrats have also used violent rhetoric came from Republican pundits. Though the beliefs and motives of the Tuscon shooter were unknown, the media fed on the speculation and conflict. That too was predictable.
I’ve thought about whether or not I want to throw my two cents into the debate over violent political rhetoric. While I don’t know if the Tuscon shooter was motivated by politics, I do believe the possibility is there. What has been reported paints a picture of a young man possibly battling with mental illness, and when a political Party constantly paints a rhetorical picture of the individual liberties being trampled on by the other Party, and that the people should rise up in armed rebellion to defend those liberties, I believe there are mentally disturbed people out there who may not understand that they shouldn’t literally rise up in armed rebellion.
Then again, I believe there are politicians who are guilty of ignoring the line between what is literal and what is figurative. When Catherine Crabill, 2009 Republican nominee for the 99th District seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, said, “We have a chance to fight this battle at the ballot box, before we have to resort to the bullet box,” she surpassed what could be by any stretch considered as figurative rhetoric and was saying that if she and other Republican/Tea Party candidates lost, people should be loading their guns for an armed conflict. Crabill may deny that she was literally calling for violence (or she may actually support the idea), but those are the words she used, and such is the power of words.
Rachel Maddow has also made this point, focusing on 2010 Nevada Republican Senate nominee Sharon Angle’s “Second Amendment Remedies.”
The truth is, both Democrats and Republicans dip below what should be considered civil discourse, and that should be examined and the level debate should be heightened. It is my opinion; however, that Republicans have a lot further to climb in reaching the level of civility that American politics should require.
President Obama’s remarks last night in Tuscon were what we as a nation needed to hear. It was an Obama without the constraints of policy. It was an Obama able to focus on our common national ideals. It was a President who needed to connect with the American people, and rise above the debate over who is to blame; something other notables have been unable to do. He expressed the hope that we can rise above this as a nation, and be the Democracy worthy of those we lost. I hope he’s right.
Today is a historic day for the expansion of equality in our nation. For the last 17 years, gay and lesbian service members have been forced to be silent about who they are and who they love. Today, the Senate voted, 65-31, in favor of repealing the discriminatory law known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), to finally allowing these service members to defend our nation with both professional and personal integrity.
I thank both Senator Webb and Senator Warner for supporting repeal. Both of our Democratic senators have been advocates of moving forward against this discrimination since the release of the Pentagon’s report on how repeal would affect military readiness. Satisfied that repealing DADT would not harm the readiness of our armed forces, both voted in favor of repeal.
It’s been a long road to get to this point. President Obama promised in his State of the Union address that we’d get here by the end of this year. With the calendar quickly winding down, many wondered if that was a promise the President would be able to keep. I cannot express how deeply grateful I am that the promise was kept, and for our Democratic leaders who committed themselves to making sure it was kept. For so many who have had to hide their private lives, switch pronouns to disguise the gender of those they love, and live in constant fear of career ending discovery, Christmas came a week early this year. The next step is for President Obama to sign the legislation into law. I just got an email from him stating, “When that bill reaches my desk, I will sign it, and this discriminatory law will be repealed.”
Of course, repeal of DADT is the end of only one battle in the war for equality. There is much to do, and as Chair of the LGBT Caucus of the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee, I hope to do what I can to move us forward in other areas where full equality has not yet been reached. One important area is employment nondiscrimination in Virginia. This is something that Virginia Senator Donald McEachin has been working on, and he will again sponsor legislation in the Virginia Senate to ensure all Virginians have equal opportunity, fairness and justice. I hope you’ll join with me in becoming a citizen sponsor of this bill.
Thank You,
- Joel McDonald
Chair, LGBT Caucus of the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee
P.S. While we can celebrate the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, Republicans filibustered the DREAM Act this morning. I join with the President in being, “disappointed that a minority of senators refused to move forward on this important, commonsense reform that most Americans understand is the right thing for our country. On this issue, our work must continue.” We must stand in solidarity and work together to ensure our nation is truly a land of liberty and justice for all.
Posted on : December 10th, 2010 Eileen Levandoski |
Wow! This comes despite realizing over $9 billion in cost-savings and eliminating more than 105,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
“The recent recession, continuing economic pressures and migration of mail to electronic media had a significant adverse impact on mail volumes and operating revenues. Despite rigorous initiatives that eliminated 75 million work hours and drove productivity to record highs in 2010, the losses mounted”, their news release notes. “The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.”
So, what are you going to do about this, Rep.-elect Rigell?
Our very own Virginia Senator Jim Webb joined every Republican senator and four other Democrats in voting against extending tax cuts for those earning less than $250,000. This means, as Vice President Joe Biden said in this week’s Weekly Address that, “millions of people, millions of families will see a big bite out of their paychecks starting on January 1.”
Posted on : November 23rd, 2010 Eileen Levandoski |
On Thursday last week, the House voted (258-154) to approve H.R. 6419, the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Continuation Act, which would extend the filing deadline for federal unemployment insurance programs until February 28, 2011. It contains no revenue offsets and it would not create additional weeks for people who have exhausted all their benefits. It simply extended a deadline that is otherwise set to expire November 30, 2010.
However, H.R. 6419 needed a 2/3 vote to pass and it failed. Glenn Nye voted against it, joining 15 other “Democrats” and 143 Republicans in doing so.
So here’s the experiment. Let’s all contact Nye and ask why he voted the way he did. Then post the reply here in the comment section. How many different responses will we get? Will there indeed be a response from him? What will his reason(s) be?
Here’s his contact info. Snail mail or phone are the only choices. It looks like he’s taking his webform down. If you have a good email for him, post it here.
With Congress now into the lame duck session, and with the House shifting to the right in January, the Senate needs to take advantage of what may be the last opportunity to repeal DADT.
The last time the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” came up for a vote in the Senate, Sen. John McCain led Republicans in a filibuster of the national defense spending bill that contains the repeal. They blocked it from an up-or-down vote – even though nearly 8 in 10 Americans now favor repealing the law.
Before time runs out, we need Senate Democrats to bring the defense bill to the floor and we need Republicans to stop threatening to derail the entire thing – including critical military equipment and pay raises – just to keep this discriminatory law on the books.
Is it just me, or is it completely absurd that Senate Republicans would hold troops’ funding hostage, just so they can ensure that lesbian and gay soldiers have to keep lying or be fired?
It’s going to take a lot more than a few anti-gay leaders in Congress to make us give up this fight. As long as injustice is written into our laws, we will not rest.
Join HRC and the Courage Campaign: call Sen. Mark Warner at (202) 224-2023 and Sen. Jim Webb at (202) 224-4024 and tell them to act this week.
Of course, the question is; what do Republicans in the Senate want in the defense authorization bill in exchange for the repeal of DADT? I haven’t seen a good answer to that question, and I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on this question in the comments.
Huge shout out to the Old Dominion University Young Democrats, led by Amanda Armstrong, who took 45 minutes today and found 45 people on campus to stop and make calls to Senator Webb and Senator Warner, asking them to support the repeal of DADT. Please join with them in calling (202) 224-4024 and supporting the end of discrimination in our nation’s military.
Posted on : November 22nd, 2010 Eileen Levandoski |
Here’s a quote from today’s Pilot: “Nye said his loss to Republican Scott Rigell, also a first-time candidate and a successful Virginia Beach car dealer, was less about his own record than about national dissatisfaction with ‘the state of affairs of this country’ during economic hard times”.
Clueless! We Democrats in the 2nd congressional district need to start working on getting a different candidate to run in 2012. We can’t afford to run another candidate that lives off in Neverland.
Democratic Virginia Senator Mark Warner authored an op-ed for the Financial Times on his proposal for how Congress should approach the question of what to do about the expiring Bush tax cuts. The crux of his proposal is to extend the tax cuts for the 98% of the nation with an income of less than $250,000, while shifting the lost tax revenues that would be created by extending the cuts to the remaining 2% of the nation to targeted tax cuts for businesses to spur job creation.
Warner’s proposal is a blending of Democratic and Republican concerns regarding the Bush tax cuts. While Democrats have been arguing the for expiration of tax cuts for the top 2% of the nation, Republicans have been arguing that restoring taxes to Clinton era rates for the wealthy will hurt job recovery efforts. The problem with extending tax cuts for the wealthy is that the loss in tax revenue, which contributes to the national deficit, doesn’t lead to equitable job creation or an increase in our economic strength. What it does do is increase the gap between the wealthy and all others. Instead of a blanket cut the for wealthy, a targeted cut for businesses to spur job creation will create a bigger return on investment for the nation. The money would actually create investment and job growth, instead of sitting in the bank accounts of those who didn’t need the tax cut in the first place, while those who need jobs are struggling to stay in their homes.
Just like the Bush tax cuts, we should consider Warner’s proposal to be temporary while we’re still recovering economically. This proposal is still not paid for; however, if we’re investing in job growth through targeted tax cuts for business, it may be worth the continued deficit spending in the short term.
Posted on : November 4th, 2010 Eileen Levandoski |
H/T Blue Virginia for this NRDC graphic depicting how Democrats voting for and against the climate bill fared.
In my mind, it depicts the enthusiasm gap voters had for candidates supporting clean energy versus those that didn’t. Granted Tom Perriello, who supported the bill, lost. But he lost with the courage and conviction of knowing he was doing the right thing. The environmental community rallied around him and we’ll rally around him again as you can’t keep a good leader down.
Now Glenn Nye, on the otherhand, pandered to a special interest that was never going to support him in the first place. Nye will ride off into the sunset wondering if doing the right thing would have made the difference. What if he voted pursuant to the wishes of his constituents who care about clean air, clean water, a clean energy economy, who care about health care? What if he had those voters embracing his campaign, working our butts off for him like we did in Perriello’s race? Would that have made a difference in the 2nd?
Rep. Scott Rigell in supporting the House Continuing Resolution budget cuts not only voted against the Chesapeake Bay but also homeless Veterans. 
Wow! 
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