Media pundits declared a Tea Party victory in the debt ceiling deal, but they didn’t really get what they wanted out of it: no Medicare phase-out, no balanced budget amendment, no deep spending cuts, mostly reductions in defense spending.

The self-inflicted crisis has further damaged the Republican brand. Public disapproval of Congress is at an all-time high, and more than twice as many people disapprove of the Tea Party as approve — down to 18%, which is pretty much just Tea Party members approving of themselves.  (So much for building a populist movement.)  It has all the makings of a wave election.

Next year, Congressional Republicans may be faced with the choice of letting Bush tax cuts expire on income in excess of $250,000 (as President Obama proposes) or allowing them to expire for everybody (in the more likely case of Congressional gridlock).

Meanwhile, progress marches on, leaving conservatives in the dust:

• New York recently became the 6th state to allow gay marriage.  UPDATE (01/23/2012): Washington may have the votes to be the 7th state to allow gay marriage.  

• President Obama recently announced new fuel efficiency standards that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil, pollution, and associated health costs.

• On Tuesday, Wisconsin Democrats may take back a majority in their state Senate.  [UPDATE: Voters threw 2 Republicans out of office in the middle of their terms, but came up 1 short of a Democratic majority.]

• On September 20, the policy of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in the military will be history.  UPDATE: Done!

• One federal appeal court has already ruled health reform constitutional.  Any day now, federal appeal courts in Atlanta and Richmond may do so as well. If so, the appeal courts will be unanimous.  With no disagreement to resolve, the Supreme Court could simply decline to hear an appeal.  [UPDATE: I was hoping for a sweep, but the Atlanta appeal court ruled the individual mandate unconstitutional.  The score is now 1-1 at the appeal court level and the issue will have to be resolved by the Supreme Court after all.] [UPDATE: The Richmond court threw out Cuccinelli's case, saying the state has no legal standing.]

• Meanwhile, Vermont is moving forward with single-payer health system.

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According to a new Washington Post poll:

In order to reduce the national debt, would you support or oppose:

Cutting spending on Medicaid, which is the government health insurance program for the poor?
Support: 26%
Oppose: 72%

Raising taxes on Americans with incomes over $250,000 a year?
Support: 72%
Oppose: 27%

Increasing the amount of Social Security tax paid by people with incomes over $107,000 a year?
Support: 66%
Oppose: 33%

Those are the three options with the widest majorities.  The public is overwhelmingly opposed to the Republican plan to cut Medicare and Medicaid and their absolute refusal to even consider tax increases.

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Paul Hirschbiel announced today he is running as a Democrat for Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District seat in 2012.

Like Rigell, Hirschbiel is a millionaire who could fund his own campaign.

Republican consultant Brian Kirwin has selectively reported that Hirschbiel supported the political campaigns of George W. Bush and Bob McDonnell, but it appears he contributed even more to Democratic candidates.

On the other hand, Kirwin has also said the election could “easily” go Democratic again in 2012, when Obama is expected to compete heavily in the area and the freshman Rigell is facing his first re-election:

“What I would suspect is in 2012 you’ve got Obama back on the ticket, all Democrats have to do is run a respectable candidate and Rigell is history. It’s very military, not hard-core Republican. Before 2000, this district was owned by Democrats.”

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Time to get re-engaged!

What: Organizing for America grassroots planning session

Where: 3427 Club House Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23452

When: Wednesday, July 6th, 6:00 pm

Click here to RSVP.

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Foodborne illness kills 3,000 Americans and costs $152 billion each year.

The Republican solution: cut $87 million from the Food and Drug Administration and $35 million from the USDA’s food safety and inspection service.

Another in the continuing “Republicans against…” series.

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Robert Reich connects the dots on the economy, in less than 2 minutes and 15 seconds.

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From Virginia Beach Progressives

Adrianne Bennett, a local attorney and Democrat, is challenging Republican Ron Villanueva this November in the 21st House of Delegates District.

Adrianne Bennett grew up in Virginia Beach, attended public schools and Cape Henry Collegiate. She is a graduate of Virginia Tech, where she majored in Political Science and minored in Sociology. She studied law at the University of Baltimore, graduated cum laude with her juris doctorate. Adrianne has dedicated her legal career to serving the under-served.

Ron Villanueva was elected to the House of Delegates in 2009, beating Bobby Mathieson by only 16 votes. It isn’t an over exaggeration to say that the 21st District is winnable for Democrats this year looking at past performance and some general apathy by some who have supported Villanueva in the past. If Democrats can rally behind Bennett’s candidacy, it’s very possible that they can pick up this seat. Democrats don’t currently hold any House of Delegates seats primarily representing Virginia Beach.

Adrianne Bennett spoke at the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee’s May breakfast and at their annual Jefferson Jackson Dinner on June 2nd, where she stressed that he reasons for running boiled down to making sure that Virginia Beach is a place where her child and all children would want to live when they grow up, saying that she is dedicated to making sure children have access to quality education, from early childhood to college, and to working to make sure there are opportunities in Virginia Beach to have good jobs and safely raise families of their own.

Bennett is scheduled to be the guest speaker at the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee’s Third Thursday Dinner and Social on June 16 at Kelly’s Hilltop Tavern at 6:00 p.m.

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Republicans have become increasingly intolerant of dissent from Tea Party orthodoxy.

Will Republican presidential primary voters really support Mitt Romney,

• A Mormon
• Who believes in global warming (Rush Limbaugh: “Bye-bye, nomination”), and
• Who created the model for “Obamacare” (including the individual mandate),
• Except that “Romneycare” (unlike “Obamacare”) includes coverage for abortion, and
• Supported gay rights?

“People recognize that I am not a partisan Republican, that I’m someone who is moderate, and that my views are progressive.” – Mitt Romney (2002)

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Local Republican Congressmen Rob Wittman (VA-1), Scott Rigell (VA-2), and Randy Forbes (VA-4) all voted to end Medicare and Medicaid as we know it.

How that would impact the constituents of their respective districts?

Medicare: VA-1 VA-2 VA-4

Medicaid: VA-1 VA-2 VA-4

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Q. What one word do Americans use to describe the field of Republican presidential candidates?

1. “Unimpressed.”
2. “Disappointed.”
3. “Weak.”

“Good” actually comes in fourth, but it is closely followed by “Incompetent,” ”Pathetic,” “Not interested,” “Unqualified,” and “Idiots.”

UPDATE: A majority of Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters still rate the GOP presidential field as ”fair” or “poor.”

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The proposed ODEC power plant in Surry County would be the largest coal-fired plant in Virginia.  Hampton Roads would not receive any of the electricity, but we would receive the air pollution that blows downwind and the water pollution that flows down river for the next 50 years.

Projections of air pollution from the plant were provided by ODEC to the Virginia DEQ.

A new report by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation estimated that 1,842 tons of fine soot particles would cause 442 additional asthma attacks, 3,340 work days lost to sickness, 40 heart attacks and 26 premature deaths per year, at a cost of $200 million per year.

The plant would release 44 pounds of mercury and 921 pounds of lead per year.  Mercury that accumulates in fish that are eaten causes fetal brain damage.

The plant would release 6,800 pounds of benzene and 2,200 pounds of arsenic which cause cancer.

The plant would release 11.7 million tons of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas which contributes to global warming.

If federal air quality standards are exceeded, it would also limit future economic development.

Fly ash stored in landfills in wetlands and the Blackwater River flood plain may also threaten a source of drinking water for Norfolk.

Hampton Roads would receive none of the benefits. but most of the associated health costs.

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A. Yes.  Republican political candidates either have to be crazy, or they at least have to pretend to be crazy in order to appeal to their right wing Tea Party crazies.

UPDATE: Still yes.

UPDATE: Still yes.  Even Pat Robertson says they are too extreme:

“Those people in the Republican primary have got to lay off of this stuff. They’re forcing their leaders, the frontrunners, into positions that will mean they lose the general election…If they want to lose, well this is the game for losers.”

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The House Republican right-wing plan actually adds (by its own admission) $6 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, but hopes to eventually balance the budget by sometime in the 2030s by obliterating Medicare and Medicaid for future retirees and by imposing deep cuts to other social programs.

President Obama’s moderate plan would reduce the deficit $4 trillion over 12 years.

The Congressional Progressive Caucus left-wing plan actually achieves the best deficit reduction by completely balancing the budget by 2021.  It is unlikely to pass, but a major component of their plan may happen by default: Congressional gridlock may mean that the Bush tax cuts expire at the end of the next year.

All three plans (including the Republican budget) require raising the debt ceiling this year, so Republicans should stop holding it hostage.

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Senate Republicans blocked even openly debating the “Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act” that would have ended $2 billion every year in taxpayer subsidies to the world’s 5 largest oil corporations that just reaped $36 billion in first-quarter profits and paid no taxes.  Apparently the federal deficit isn’t so bad that we can’t afford corporate giveaways.

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Today’s Virginian-Pilot editorial succinctly makes the case against drilling offshore Virginia:

“1. The current federal scheme promises Virginia no royalties.

2. The allocation map gives most of Virginia’s offshore territory to Maryland and North Carolina.

3. Even after tightening, regulation remains insufficient to protect the environment or current industries.

4. Offshore facilities would complicate Navy training.”

And, offshore drilling won’t significantly reduce our dependence on foreign oil or reduce the price at the pump.

(UPDATE: The chart I added is for offshore drilling everywhere, not just in the tiny area offshore Virginia).

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