Kaine expresses concern about the increasingly negative Democratic Primary

Worried about the tone of the Democratic Gubernatorial primary, which is starting to resemble a circular firing squad, Governor Tim Kaine urged his fellow Democrats to stop the name calling.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Kaine expressed concern that the primary fight between Creigh Deeds, Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran may sink the eventual winner:

"We would like to keep it in acceptable bounds," Kaine said. "I can see myself weighing with these guys, saying, 'Hey, think about November. You're acting in ways that may not be helpful in November.' "

The animosity between Moran and McAuliffe is especially strong. Terry McAuliffe, who once worked for Bill Clinton, likes to say on the campaign trail that he "will never say a negative word about a Democrat." And like his old boss he says one thing and does the opposite. Not willing to let an insult go unanswered, Moran has been quick to respond to all of McAuliffe's jabs.

This is reminiscent of the 1989 Republican primary, which was so negative that the ultimate nominee, Marshall Coleman, went into the general election with a party hopelessly divided and his campaign broke.

On June 9th Democrat primary voters will choose a nominee, but the way things are going the biggest winner may be GOP candidate Bob McDonnell.

Cuccinelli takes principled, but risky, stand against the Triggerman Rule.

Despite being a supporter of the death penalty, yesterday Sen.Cuccinelli was the only Republican in the Senate to vote against the repeal of the 'triggerman' rule. This rule requires that the state prove the defendant was the triggerman in a murder, as opposed to the driver.

Cuccinelli explained his opposition to the Washington Post, "This would be the biggest expansion since we began utilizing [capital punishment] since 1976." He went on to say, "More than anything else, it will catch people in a robbery gone bad."

The Sponsor of the Bill, Sen. Mark D. Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg) claims that his bill would still require prosecutors to prove that the accomplice had the same intent to kill as the person who pulled the trigger.

This could be a risky vote for Cuccinelli who is running for Attorney General. In fact his primary opponents are already using it against him. On his website, John Brownlee points out that the triggerman Rule prevents prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against an accomplice to a violent murder.

For now at least Cuccinelli is considered the front runner in the race for Attorney General, but we will see if this vote hurts him.

Albo Wants Virginia Universities to Keep More Slots Open to Virginia Students.

The Washington Post ran a troubling article today about a student who was denied entry into the university of Virginia despite having a 4.01 GPA, being a Valedictorian, and a captain of his Lacrosse team. Philip Wears, a graduate of Fairfax county public schools, was stunned when he was rejected by Thomas Jefferson's University. The reason for the rejection? Well, perhaps money had something to do with it. It seems that our colleges and universities can charge more for out of state students. A 4.0 New Jersey student pays more in tuition than a 4.0 Fairfax student. And in tight times more money means a lot to Deans, Presidents and university bureaucrats.

After meeting Wears, Del. David Albo, (R-Springfield) decided to do something about the problem of qualified Virginia students being kept out of Virginia's top schools.

Delegate Albo and Several other House members want colleges and universities to limit out of state students in order to keep enough slots open to Virginia students. According to the Post the numbers of Virginia students at the four top-ranked schools: 67 percent at U-Va., 68 percent at William and Mary, 70 percent at James Madison University and 74 percent at Virginia Tech. Many would like to see the number at at least 80 percent.

The Post articled said

"Legislators introduced four bills during the 45-day session requiring schools to boost the number of in-state students to between 70 percent and 80 percent after hearing complaints from parents. All of the proposals were set aside, and lawmakers decided to consider changes during budget deliberations."

When asked if he would veto the legislation if it gets to his desk, Kaine hedged, "I never use the V word." We'll see what happens.

Turtle Bill Dies On The House Floor

Senator Petersen's bill to make the Eastern Box turtle Virginia's official reptile died on the House Floor this afternoon.

The bill cleared one hurdle on Monday when the Senate voted 25-15 to approve Bill 1504, the legislation that would make the designation official.

The so called tortoise bill moved faster than a hare through Virginia's General Assembly on its way to becoming the state reptile only to be forced into its shell by the house.

I for one am glad the bill died. I personally never liked turtles and heck we have the Cardinal as our bird, that is all we need. Fly high Redbird, fly high!

Virginia Smoking Ban Passes.

The Virginia General Assembly approved a smoking ban which will take place on Dec.1.

The Virginia Senate approved the ban on Thursday morning, and just a couple hours later the House voted it through 60 to 39 without debate. Many of us expected the more conservative house to kill the bill. However with elections coming up House moderates, especially in Northern Virginia and Tidewater, didn't want to oppose such a popular measure.

According to the Washington Post:

"Their ban covers most restaurants and bars, but permits smoking in private clubs and in establishments that construct separately ventilated enclosed smoking rooms for patrons. Neither the anti-smoking movement nor the tobacco industry was thrilled with the compromise plan."

The golden leaf helped make Virginia a rich and powerful colony, now it is basically forbidden in public. Yes, Bob Dillon -The times they are a changing. If I were a member I probably would have voted no, but the compromise isn't that bad.

McAuliffe Ruins a Perfectly Good Dinner.

I found this gem on the website Politics1:

"At the annual Virginia Capitol Correspondents Dinner, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe took a swipe at a primary opponent's senior campaign consultant. McAuliffe aimed his snide shot at Joe Trippi, who is advising former State House Democratic Caucus Chair Brian Moran. McAuliffe said Trippi had approached him before the race began and offered to work for him. "I said to him: 'You really want to help me? That's what you want to do? You want to help me, Joe? Great. ... [Then] go work for Brian and go do for him what you did for President Dean and President Edwards.'" Moran, sitting in the audience, quickly called out: "How's President Hillary Clinton?" The third Democratic contender -- State Senator Creigh Deeds -- avoided this round of insults."

Clearly, when the General election campaign is underway it's very important that your party is not be divided, but the name calling in the primary can create ill will and weaken the party in November. This does not bode well for Democrats in the fall campaign.

I for one hope the Democrat name calling continues.

Special thanks to my friend Jim Ellis for alerting me to this story.

Still A Fiscal Conservative?

Ten years ago when Mark Warner ran for Governor he criss-crossed the state, with a bluegrass band at his side, and proudly claimed to be a 'fiscal conservative'. And it seemed that most Virginians accepted the claim and voted him into office. When he ran for the Senate last year again he claimed the mantle of fiscal conservatism, however, with his vote last week for the massive pork bill, commonly called the stimulus bill, you have to wonder if the label 'fiscal conservative' will still apply to Warner.

Let's face it - this bill will not stimulate the economy, instead it will stimulate a bigger Federal Government. And thanks to Warner and the Democrats we now have added 800,000,000,000 billion dollars in new debt that our children and grandchildren will have to pay back.

Fox News combed through the bill and found some examples of projects which while they may have some merit it is doubtful that they will strengthen the economy. Let's take a look at some of the pork Mark Warner voted for:

-- $100 million for the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Grant Program
-- $200 million to the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund Program
-- $300 million for "Violence Against Women Prevention and Prosecution Programs"
-- $900 million for the IRS for the "Limitation on Administrative Expenses"
-- $1 million for the Railroad Retirement Board for administrative costs
-- $2 billion for the Drinking Water State Revolving Act
-- $50 million for Health and Human Services to carry out injury prevention programs
-- $1.1 billion for studies on the effectiveness of different medical treatments -- $200 million to upgrade labs and facilities for the Department of Agriculture "to improve workplace safety and mission-area efficiencies"
-- $10 million for urban canal inspection
-- $16 billion to pay for student financial aid
-- $1 billion to pay for the U.S. Census
-- $600 million to pay for a fuel-efficient federal auto fleet
-- $650 million for the Digital Converter Box Program to help the constantly delayed transition from analog television
-- $485 million to the Forest Service for "hazardous fuels reduction and hazard mitigation activities in areas at high risk of catastrophic wildfire"
-- Up to $1 billion for "summer activities" for youths as old as 24
-- $40 million for the occupational research agenda
-- $3 billion for the Centers for Disease Control wellness programs and vaccinations
-- $410 million for Indian health facilities
-- $2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstrations

While some of these programs may have some merit, how they will stimulate the economy is anybody's guess.

McDonnell Starts Campaign For Governor With A Slight Lead

Some good news for dispirited state Republicans can be found in a new Rasmussen poll which gives presumptive Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob McDonnell a slight edge. The polling indicates that McDonnell is running ahead of all three Democratic candidates.
The poll measured possible matchups in the fall election and found that McDonnell leads former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe by seven points, 42 percent to 35 percent, which is two points greater than the five point advantage McDonnell had over McAuliffe in a December poll.

McDonnell plans to resign his position as Attorney General on Feb. 20 to focus on campaigning, and if this poll is to be believed he starts the campaign for Governor with a nine point margin over state Sen. Creigh Deeds D-Bath, 39 percent to 30 percent. The two men, who ran against each other in 2005 for attorney general, were tied two months ago.

Former Alexandria Del. Brian Moran, and perhaps the most liberal Democrat candidate, is closest trailing McDonnell by three points, 39 percent to 36 percent. However this is a change from a December Rasmussen poll, when Moran had a four point lead.

Warner and Webb Vote In Favor Of The 'Stimulus' Bill

As I predicted, Virginia's two Democrat Senators, Mark Warner and Jim Webb voted in favor of the $827,000,000,000 spending bill. In my opinion they sided with the Democratic party and against common sense. There is no evidence that we can spend(with borrowed money) our way to prosperity. Mark Warner, who claims to understand business and economics should know this.

I predict that this vote will come back and hurt the Webb senate campaign in 2012, and perhaps Warner's reputation as a fiscal conservative.

Sadly, Virginians will be paying for this bill for generations. Thanks guys!

Warner and Webb On the Hotseat?

As the so called stimulus package makes its way through Capitol Hill one wonders how Virginia's two Democrat Senators will vote. The final price tag is unknown but it will probably fall between 800 billion to 1 trillion dollars - which is money we don't have and will have to borrow or print. In my opinion the bill will increase the deficit, and not improve the economy. The Congressional Budget Office has concluded that the bill would likely be harmful to the economy.

But how will Warner and Webb vote?

There are two parts to the question, there is the policy and the politics. From a policy standpoint they probably realize that this is a bad bill which is costly, and not likely to help the economy. However, the politics involved are more complicated. On one hand most Virginians are skeptical of the 'stimulus' plan. On the other hand Warner and Webb may feel loyalty to the Democratic party and their liberal base. On such an important vote they may feel compelled to support President Obama's plan, afterall do they want to vote against him so early in his term, and on such an important vote? I don't think so.

Senator Warner claims to be a fiscal conservative. But how can he claim to be a fiscal conservative and vote for the bill? My guess is he will find a way.

At the end of the day I think both will fall in line and vote for it. They will stand by Obama now and hope that Virginia voters will forget about the bill come election time.

We shall see what happens.

Delegate Lee Ware Agrees With The Virginia Gentleman On The Smoking Ban

On the House floor today Delegate Lee Ware(R-Powhatan)commented on the proposed smoking ban, and made many of the points that I did. Well done Delegate Ware, great minds do think alike.

History teaches us that the source of the greatest calamities is to be found in a series of the smallest events. The rise of Hitler can be located in the fine-print of the Treaty of Versailles. Conversely, the world-changing liberty that Patrick Henry thundered in St. John’s Church was born in the hearts of a few brave woodsmen who compelled a king to affirm Magna Charta.

But our liberties are fragile. And government at every level chips away at them every day.

The Virginian tradition of liberty, which became in time the American form of liberty, is founded, not upon governmental action, but upon the daily determination of our citizens to be and to do two things: to be self-governing, through discipline, frugality, and prudence; and, to be neighborly.

The principal craftsman of our Constitution, James Madison, insisted that it is not in a piece of parchment that our freedoms flourish. No, our liberty exists, is experienced, and is preserved in the customs, the social manners, the interchanges between free peoples, the private associations that individuals form, and in the institutions that are “intermediate” between the people and their government.

Today, through a feel-good surrender of another parcel of liberty to The Nanny State, we are chipping further away at the individual liberties and also the social bonds and institutions without which our people can not be free. And of course, predictably, it is in a seemingly “little thing” that this is occurring: the private citizens and private businesses of Virginia are to be compelled by government to ban the smoking of a perfectly legal substance that has for centuries been a cornerstone of our social, cultural, economic, and political life: the smoking of tobacco. And, to justify ourselves, we have first had to discredit (and of course to tax) a single class of people into an inferior status--those of our people who smoke.

We did not need to do this, and we ought not to do it. Free Virginians, through good manners and sound business decisions, have accommodated the quest of non-smoking establishments by many of our citizens. Despite this social achievement, the strong arm of government is now about to dictate a single policy for everybody and for every so-called “public” eating establishment that is in fact a private business on private property.

Many Americans rightly celebrate new manifestations of liberty in some quarters of our national life. But Tocqueville warned us nearly 200 years ago that we Americans face a very subtle danger--the danger of mass conformism to same-ness, to the lowest-common denominator, and to the “tyranny of the majority.” Today, we have fretted Tocqueville’s ghost. Are we also to abandon Patrick Henry’s spirit?

See Howell He Caves

I believe it was Patrick Henry who said no man's life, liberty and property are safe when the legislature is in session. How true! Today the Washington Post reports that Speaker Howell and Governor Kaine have reached a deal to ban smoking in restaurants and bars. So much for the property rights of owners of restaurants and bars, and the liberty of their patrons.

According to the Post:

Under the agreement, which the two men finalized last night, smoking will be permitted only in private clubs but public establishments can also construct enclosed, ventilated smoking rooms for patrons.

We may not like smoking, but there is a more fundamental issue at stake. Property rights are the basis of human freedom. In our homes we should be able to decide if smoking will be allowed or not. Restaurant owners should have the same right.

In addition to being an attack on individual freedom I worry that this deal is bad for the northern Virginia economy. Restaurants will now be forced to decide if they want to construct costly enclosed, ventilated smoking rooms for patrons. It is in effect an unfunded mandate on small business. In addition, this deal could mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost business. Afterall, now where will DC and Maryland smokers go? They used to be able to come to our bars and restaurants and partake in their admittedly bad habit. Now they will have less incentive to come here, to drink and eat.

Sadly my state is becoming more and more like Maryland. Lots of paternalistic laws, and government. I am not a smoker, but I always like knowing if I want to go into a bar and smoke I can.

Maybe we can still kill the deal. I hope.

I am sure Patrick Henry is rolling over in his grave right now.

Fairfax County voters narrowly elect Sharon Bulova chairman of the Board of Supervisors.

Perhaps Fairfax County is not as blue as the Democrats think. The Democrat candidate Sharon Bulova won the election by a razor thin margin of 1,217 votes, out of a total of 107,713 cast. Nearly half of the vote went to the Republican candidate.

Herrity lost by just 1 percent in the final vote tally. There were many bright spots - wins in four magisterial districts - Dranesville, Mount Vernon, Springfield and Sully, Herrity also won the absentee ballot campaign, and had a large and energized grassroots campaign. He can take pride in the fact that he ran a clean and honest campaign filled with promise for a better Fairfax County.

The results may also suggest some ominous news for Democrats. For example in the 34th District, a seat held by freshman Democrat Del. Margi Vanderhye, 12 out of 16 precincts went for Herrity (Spring Hill, Great Falls, Hickory, Sugarland, Seneca, Forestville, Cooper, Kenmore, Churchill, Colvin, Shouse, Langley).

Also the 86th District, a seat Dems think they can pick up from Del. Tom Rust, 3 out of 4 Dranesville precincts went for Herrity (Herndons 2-3, Huchinson).

Also, the news may not be so good for Dem. Gov. candidate Terry McAuliffe, who opened a campaign office for Bulova in McLean – Hey Terry it does not matter how much out of state money you raise if you can’t run better in Fairfax county than Bulova you will have trouble winning statewide.

Herrity ran a good race, and no doubt he will be back.

Virginia State Senate Excelerates The Slide To A Complete Nanny State

Let me say that I don't smoke, and would never recommend smoking to anyone. I believe smoking is a bad habit; it is unhealthy, and beyond the health consequences cigarette smoke stinks. However, I believe that the owners of restaurants and bars should be free to decide whether to allow smoking in their establishment. It is their property after all. And if customers wish to patronize an establishment that allows smoking they should have that right. If they have a problem with it they can go somewhere else. In effect let the market decide.

Well, many in the state senate disagree, they want to deny property owners the right to allow smoking. And they want to deny individuals, who voluntarily choose to go to an establishment and smoke. Today two anti smoking bills reported out of the Senate. One sponsored by Sen. Frederick M. Quayle, R-Suffolk, and one by Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth.

On the Senate floor only one voice of dissent could be heard. Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, incredulously asked Lucas whether the bill "would allow localities to ban smoking anywhere they want, including businesses, including homes, including cars ... anywhere?"

"Yes," Lucas replied. "It allows a locality to exceed those requirements."

Lets hope the more conservative house will kill the bills.

The Virginia Gentleman Endorses Herrity.

Tomorrow Fairfax County voters will have a chance to avoid a train wreck. The train wreck I am referring to is the financial situation in which the county finds itself. The situation was created by years of high taxes and high spending. And in my opinion Pat Herrity is the candidate to fix the mess.

And indeed there are problems. The fact is Fairfax County is facing a $650 million budget shortfall which is larger than the total budget of the Police, Fire and Rescue, Sheriff, Libraries, Parks and Health Departments combined! Meanwhile homeowner taxes have doubled in the last seven years, and our schools have stagnated.
As a CPA, and Chief Financial Officer of multimillion dollar technology companies, only Pat Herrity has the experience we need to balance the budget while keeping our schools among the best in the nation.

In his endorsement Former Congressman and Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Tom Davis said,

“Fairfax County needs a new generation of leadership. Pat Herrity has the award winning financial background and common sense solutions needed to tackle our financial problems, ease our traffic congestion, and protect our schools and classrooms.”

We’ll see what happens on Tuesday.