July 2011 Archives

Today's Roanoke Times editorial lays out the consequences of partisan gerrymandering redistricting. Simply put, when legislators choose their own constituents, they "carve the country into a collection of safe congressional districts ruled by extremists." One need only look to the current game playing in Washington to see the results of this rule by extremists: Eric Cantor continues to risk our economy and the livlihood of millions of Americans by playing a dangerous game of brinkmanship with raising the debt ceiling. In comparison, Senator Mark Warner, who represents Virginians of all political stripes, has worked hard for compromise, helping to broker the "Gang of 6" proposal that seeks to find common, bipartisan ground.

George Allen continues to risk Virginia's credit rating and economic security for thousands of his constituents, even as GOP Governor Bob McDonnell joins the chorus telling Republicans in Congress to compromise:

"There's got to be a compromise, I'm not going to tell them how to do it. I'd suggest they try spending cuts - everybody knows they're spending too much," McDonnell said on MSNBC. "But they've got to get this done immediately or the uncertainty for the business community is going to be just devastating to our country." [...]

"It's not going to get done without some compromise and when it's affecting states now, it's creating great uncertainty, there's massive unhappiness with the federal government generally over its inability to do the basic things that government needs to do."

Virginia has a surplus, so why are we cutting funds from public safety and public health programs? According to Governor McDonnell's most recent estimate, the state's surplus this year is estimated to be $200 million. But, as a story in today's Lynchburg News & Advance illustrates, localities aren't benefitting from the boost in state coffers. In fact, state budget cuts are costing localities up to $60 million in aid this year. 

George Allen continued his "Do As I Say, Not As I Do" campaign tour on Wednesday, speaking with a military parent about properly equipping our men and women in the armed forces. Allen said it was "deplorable" that this soldier's family had to provide him with necessary equipment the government refused to pay for.

That would be a laudable position, if it wasn't for the fact that Allen himself cast the "deplorable" votes that refused to fund equipment for soldiers. It seems Allen is at odds with himself on the issue. According to video footage taken by American Bridge 21st Century, Allen told this parent "any man or woman that's serving in our military shouldn't be having to ask for their parents to provide them with the clothing, in this case their gloves. That is what we expect our federal government to do."

We're only halfway through the year, and already Governor McDonnell has accepted over $350,000 from the coal industry. 

Medicare turns 45 today. Unfortunately, the anniversary has been marked by politicians who want to gut the program to pay for more tax breaks for millionaires and big corporations.