Thursday, December 17, 2009

House Leadership Pressure Warner and Webb

Speaker Howell and Appropriations Committee Chairmen Putney pressure Senators Webb and Warner to oppose the Senate health reform bill. In the letter Howell and Putney note that because the Obama-Reid bill greatly expands Medicaid eligibility, "states will still be saddled with significant cost increases to meet these new obligations beyond the next five year.

Click on the letter below to read full text.



Thursday, December 10, 2009

Double-Digit Unemployment of deflation signals a Doom Day for Democrats in Midterm Elections

With the unemployment rate passing 10 percent, the midterm election forecast for Democrats looks grim.

Below are some thoughts from Public Opinion Strategies:

The last time unemployment broke the ten-point barrier, in 1982, Republicans who held the White House under President Reagan, lost 26 seats in the House.

Unemployment and inflation together are commonly called the Misery Index. The rules are simple: of the last 15 elections, 13 were “Change” elections in which the party that held the White House lost seats in Congress. In those “Change” elections, the average Misery Index in October going into Election Day was 10.1 and the average loss was 26 seats in the House; including, some real drubbings of more than 45 seats. The Index is at 10.02 now.

But the Index is growing faster than just unemployment. Through the Spring and early Summer, the cause for a smaller Misery Index was aided by a couple of points of deflation. Since Fall, deflation has all but disappeared, causing America’s cumulative Misery Index to rise a point-and-a-half in October alone. We all know that unemployment has been going up since Summer, but American’s scarce greenbacks don’t go as far as they did just a couple of months ago.

Read full article from Public Opinion Strategies.

With conditions worse than in 1982, it appears that history will once again repeat itself and Democrats will take the fall.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Jeff McWaters to Replace Sen. Stolle

Jeff McWaters defeated Councilwoman Rosemary Wilson on Saturday in a Republican primary in Virginia Beach's 8th Senate district. And already it looks promising that he will soon be replacing outgoing state Sen. Kenneth Stolle. It appears that Democrats are not expected to field a candidate but have until Friday to register one. So as of this moment, McWaters is running unopposed.

McWaters, making his first leap for an elected position, earned 4,775 votes to Wilson's 2,815.

Read Full Story from Virginian Pilot

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

McDonnell on Steve Hunt's Victory

Press Release from the Governor-elect

RICHMOND- Virginia Governor-elect Bob McDonnell issued the following statement today regarding the nomination of Steve Hunt as the Republican candidate for the State Senate in the 37th District.

“I congratulate Steve Hunt on winning our Party’s nomination for State Senator for the 37th District. And I also applaud Marianne Horinko and Will Nance for campaigns well run. This November, Virginians gained a great Attorney General in Ken Cuccinelli. At the same time however, the citizens of the 37th District lost a highly effective representative on their behalf. With the nomination of Steve Hunt voters in the 37th District have the opportunity to continue to be represented by an individual of principle and integrity, who shares our commitment to creating the jobs we need, keeping taxes low, getting traffic moving again, and improving our public education system. I look forward to campaigning with Steve Hunt and ensuring that the citizens of the 37th District continue to send a dedicated and tireless Senator to Richmond to work for them.”

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Steve Hunt Wins 37th

Tonight Steve Hunt captured 955 votes in the firehouse primary for the Republican slot in the 37th senate special election.

Horinko received 479 votes and Nance captured 469 votes.

House Minority Leader in Charge?

Confusion of Power Arises on the Left

Below is an email from the office of the House Minority Leader , Del. Ward Armstrong, regarding an intense Pre- Session appointment process. But, it appears that there is some confusion, Armstrong must have forgotten that he is the Minority Leader and not Majority Leader. It seems a bit odd that the Minority Leader thinks that he is in power. Unless he was in a cave all of November, he should recall the Democrats losing 6 seats and losing almost every key race that they targeted. Is this a joke, or are the Democrats still blinded about their diminishing party strength?

A few reminders regarding the House Democratic Leadership Pre-Session Appointments:

- The deadline for priority requests is 5pm Monday December 7th. Requests received after this will be considered but requests received by this deadline will receive priority.
-Requests will be selected according to a random process. ( ie submitting your request first does not guarantee that you will receive the first selected spot.) This is to ensure all interested parties have equal priority no matter when they chanced to check their email.
- The House Democratic Caucus is offering this as a service for added convenience. There are a limited number of meeting times and we expect heavy demand. Submitting your request by the priority deadline is not a guarantee that we will be able to schedule you. As always, everyone is welcomed and encouraged to schedule meetings with Del. Armstrong, Del. Plum and members of the Democratic Caucus to discuss legislation and concerns during session.
-Efforts will be made to schedule according to your top three requested time slots. If none of your requested time slots are available an alternative will be selected for you and you will be notified for confirmation.
-Once a time has been scheduled for you, you will receive a confirmation email. If you do not confirm your appointment by the specified deadline it will be given to someone else.
- You will be notified of your scheduled appointment by close of business December 14 th .
Thank you,

Claire Wilker
Chief of Staff
House Minority Leader Ward L. Armstrong