McAuliffe Hides Lack of Substance Behind Blue-State Buzzwords

Terry McAuliffe gets credit for determination (if nothing else). He chose his strategy a long time ago and whether it is working or not, he is sticking with it. Terry, since the beginning, would have the undecided voters of Virginia believe that the GOP ticket this year is a who's who of fundamentalism, and he wants to convince folks that the top priority of this year's ticket is "a career-long mission to outlaw abortion in all cases and ban some common forms of birth control." 

McAuliffe wants to focus on these issues because they can be divisive at the best of times and inflammatory at the worst. But what he is finding out is...his campaign is the only one making a lot of noise about abortion. Cuccinelli, Obenshain, and Jackson are talking about solutions; about jobs, the economy, and the way to move the Commonwealth forward. 

Politifact, along with the politically active portion of society have easily rejected Terry's claim, by the way, as one more feeble barb coming from a camp with no real talking points. Throughout many appearances, interviews, and writings, Cuccinelli, Obenshain, and Jackson have made their point that this election is about creating jobs, and dealing with the economic issues that face us today.

But...But Terry would never lie to us...would he? 

The Attorney General actually has a plan to create jobs and lower taxes. The McAuliffe manifesto is a pretty pile of glittering generalities and nice promises that doesn't really delineate any ideas as much as just lauding Governor McDonnell's pro-business policies (at least he got that part right). Other than a nice shout-out to Virgina's (truly excellent, let's not take that away) community college system, and a notion to strengthen our dependence on more government for more jobs, it is mostly vanilla political yogurt. 

Changing the subject is his only recourse to remind people that he is still running. Dems have always loved to tout the "War on Women", it is provocative and can misdirect people from noticing a distinct lack of policy experience. Terry remembers that from when he was exporting that mantra from DNC Headquarters. 

But when you can't distract the people any more, what will you do Terry? 

He is too busy campaigning to debate, he is too inexperienced to have any record of success to run on, and his hyper-blue buzzwords from the DNC won't work on Virginia voters that want to hear solutions, not just attacks. So while the GOP and the Commonwealth look for real solutions to the problems that face us all today, the one candidate that is really bending over backwards to make people angry over abortion...is Terry.

VA GOP Caucus

vagopcaucus.blogspot.com

Darth Morrissey Finds Your Lack of Faith...Disturbing

A Statement from the Virginia House Democratic Caucus on the victory of Rosalyn Dance

“Rosalyn Dance has worked hard for the Democratic Caucus and for the people of the 63rd district,” said Democratic House Caucus Leader David Toscano. “I look forward to serving with her for many years to come.” 

A cordial, if regurgitated response to Dance's victory in the primary that members of her own party forced her to fight. But even after her victory, Dance is still dueling the would-be Democratic Enforcer of the Virginia House. 

Cue the Imperial March, as Joe Morrissey continues his reign of terror over House Democrats. A recent letter to Delegate Roslyn Dance shows a behind-the-scenes battle to keep all House Dems toeing the party line like good, quiet little storm troopers.
.

Darth Morrissey is not amused.

In the letter, Morrissey practically threatens Dance, citing slim primary losses in her home-town and precinct; more than hinting that Dance would not be so difficult to replace (though his attempts to replace her seem to have fizzled).

The partisan shaming does not stop there. Dance's reward for reaching across the aisle on the Senate's re-districting plan, a "Republican take-over of our school system" (really didn't get the memo for that one), and scrutinizing medicare expansion, was the wrath of Morrissey. This comes as little surprise, Joe has been campaigning against Dance, and slobbering at the thought of Henry Marsh's Senate seat from the beginning. Morrissey also promised that the good Senator Marsh would be penning "an even stronger epistle" of pain to Delegate Dance. Has the Dem primary uncovered dissension within the ranks?

Now that the truth is out on the astronomical cost of Obamacare, in the middle of a Dem-centered firestorm of gaffes and scandals, House Democrats now have the same perfectly reasonable doubts about hardcore progressivism that we do. They feel pressure from their constituents to represent them without piece-meal politics. The cracks beneath the surface are starting to rise, and Morrissey sees himself as the hard-line Democratic establishment in the House, and he is out to make an example out of this waverer in his own party.

It is not a frequent occurrence to see any incumbent actually fabricate a race for another incumbent and then actively campaign against them. This seems to be exactly the type of "hold the line, or else" attitude that Dems love to pin on Republicans, but an out and out threat (and after actually campaigning against her) is a clear sign that all is not well in the Blue camp.

VA GOP Caucus

vagopcaucus.blogspot.com

Terry is either Scared or Being Badly Misled

Terry McAuliffe, the Washington Post reports, has too much on his plate to debate his opponent. McAuliffe refuses to debate in the established format of the Virginia Bar Association, which stipulates that opponents can directly address one another. He won't even co-ordinate with his staff about it. He doesn't want the AG to have the chance to question him directly.

See, when you're just an influence-peddler, the DNC doesn't have to teach you how to defend your views or analyze issues. 

McAuliffe has often gone on record as saying that debates are not on his priority list. Challenged to fifteen, Terry has only agreed to participate in five, and before even the first one he is already belly-aching. No surprise. He has really only complained that he has to find ways to deal with the issues facing us, here.

Without a plan, I can see why he may be a little reticent to be questioned by one of the most dynamic Attorneys General in the nation.  I guess Terry just wants Virginia Dems to go out, excite unreasonable and fabricated fear, and just hope he can somehow scare Virginians into not thinking. That could be Terry's own problem, though.

Why spit on a chance to get your "plan" out there? Could it be fear? stupidity? well...

McAuliffe cited that he has too many big issues on his plate on a daily basis to waste his time informing the public what his thoughts might be. He did cite some real-life issues, Medicaid expansion and federal sequestration. Those would be great places to put a plank in your platform, which right now looks more like an empty frame where a platform may one day go.  He seems to have a hard time trying to produce defensible ideas on how to help Virginia. Not surprising, since he really couldn't care less about the place. 

He didn't even have time to stop and think. "If I want to get all of these ideas out there, I should probably do it in the universally accepted way that candidates do that...."

You know, like a Debate maybe.

VA GOP Caucus

vagopcaucus.blogspot.com

Maryland's Road to Recovery Runs South

The tales of the states that rim the District have been dramatic the past few years. Both states' governors being national models as well as leaders of their respective governors' associations. It just happens that the two states are competing with polarized opposite ideologies.

Our two states are some of the most politically relevant in the nation. The nation is watching us, and what they're seeing is clear, and for Maryland, disheartening. Have a look at the fruits of Martin O'Malley's policies. This video features Larry Hogan, leader of Change Maryland, a citizen group working to lower taxes and rein in spending.

A quick synopsis, Maryland's broad tax increases continue to push many wealthy Marylanders and Maryland businesses South across the Potomac into the loving, low-tax embrace of the Commonwealth. This is nothing new. Reports on this trend are plentiful and have been around for a while. Martin O'Malley is one of the most prominent Democrats in America, and a possible 2016 Presidential candidate. Terry McAuliffe is the former DNC chair and Clinton major domo. Is this the kind of "economic recovery" that Dems have in mind for Virginia?

Common-sense solutions, and a more liberated environment for businesses to grow is the better choice here. That is not an opinion, it is a fact; whether Terry McAuliffe wants to admit it or not. Bringing the Democratic model here would undo all of the good work that has made Virginia the go-to place to start or bring a business. T-Mac is an entrepeneur himself...

I wonder how 'ole Terry would like O'Malley's Maryland as a businessman rather than a politician. The Governor and he share a party and an ideology. He's already slammed the Commonwealth for not pandering to him enough, for not providing the kind of tax breaks and free incentives that he wanted when he passed us up at GreenTech. Why not plant a business in Maryland as a boon to your Democrat colleague?

Oh, excuse me, I'm Terry-bly sorry. I suppose quashing businesses and the middle class under unreasonable taxes and regulations  is only the right choice when it isn't your own company. (Though, there are some facts that don't add up on that front either)

VA GOP Caucus

vagopcaucus.blogspot.com

Is McAuliffe Just Taking Clinton's Credit?

Photo Credit: Washington Post

A recent Watchdog article has found yet another hole in Terry McAuliffe's narrative about his "business experience"(which already makes swiss cheese look seaworthy). The article is essentially an in-depth fact check of just what occurred to bring about GreenTech Automotive, McAuliffe's failed green car company. What they find is a predictably murky and ethically-dubious mess.

GreenTech is a transplant of an original Chinese company Hybrid Kinetic Automotive Holdings. Terry would rather buy a business than build one, I suppose. The company was the brainchild of a successful Chinese businessman, and to grease the wheels, Terry and his friends hired famous Dem lobbyist John O'Hanlon to help them find special investors and keep pesky oversight and regulation out of their hair...to the tune of a quarter million dollars per year for O'Hanlon. I say special, because, as we have covered extensively, these investors are wealthy foreign nationals that are basically buying their visas with a check to the company.

There seems to be a lot of connection between Terry's rise at GreenTech and a speech by Bill Clinton at a company-sponsored forum in China. Clinton was paid $300k for the speech, and after that...Over 80,000 foreign dollars flowed into McAuliffe's failed 2009 bid for Governor from Hybrid Kinetic and its officials. With their EB-5 friends in order, and O'Hanlon's political witch-doctory on board, the group  moved forward to create a "Super EB-5 Program".

This is where the story gets cloudy. Terry has again and again claimed that he was present for the birth of GreenTech in 2006. But he appears nowhere in the company's documents until 2010, when he was brought on to serve as chairman. That's almost four complete years that are missing from Terry's story.

Let's not forget, he even forgot that he quit! GreenTech took five extra months to quietly admit that McAuliffe had resigned, even though he had been using his "experience" with the company as evidence on the campaign trail. Strange, since there's no evidence of GreenTech producing even a fraction of what he claims and has repeatedly had to recant or manipulate his words to get out of hot water.

Now we find out that his involvement with this "business" was just a perk for farming former President Clinton out for a speech?  Is anything this guy says trustworthy? 

VA GOP Caucus

vagopcaucus.blogspot.com

McAuliffe: "Shame on Virginia"[for not pandering to him enough]

Please watch this video, in which Terry must answer for his overblown record and his false excuses. That is how much Terry McAuliffe really cares about Virginia. You will notice him saying "We don't bid on big car plants here", and "Shame on us" (he says he is one of us when it suits him). This is the PolitiFact article that rules him a liar. 

You will notice that he talks about hard hit Southside Virginia as if he cares about it, citing high unemployment in Martinsville and Danville. THE SAME PLACES THAT HE WAS SCHEDULED TO TOUR IN OCTOBER OF 2009. The day before he was to tour those two sites, Greentech announced that they would simply move the plant to Mississippi. They were more amenable to Terry's EB-5 hopes and dreams down there. EB-5 is basically a buy-your-citizenship program based on foreign investments in American ventures.

Tell me, Terry. If you care so much about us Virginians, then why did you try to sell us on a business that: sells citizenships to the highest bidder, has been called an out-and-out 'fraud' by economists? AND THEN DON'T EVEN BRING THE PALTRY FRACTION OF WHAT YOU ACTUALLY ACHIEVED HERE TO HELP VIRGINIANS?

Actually, we may have lucked out when GreenTech and Terry McAuliffe flipped Virginia the bird. The company is embroiled in a lot of controversy over whether it is even an actual business at all rather than a citizenship-mill that belches foreign money into pet politics. He promised 5,000 jobs in the video (around 0:10). GreenTech's actual employees are fewer than 3 percent of that number.

Politics is often billed as the nasty practice of bringing a candidate's dirty laundry to the light. Terry McAuliffe doesn't even try to hide his. He has made it very clear that love of money overcomes love of home (and he doesn't even consider Virginia his real home, according to his book) in the mind of Terry McAuliffe.

This Federal snake-oil-salesman is trying to play you, and all Virginians for that matter, for chumps! Right out in the open air! 

VA GOP Caucus

vagopcaucus.blogspot.com

Senator Saslaw Urges Terry to Have Some Backbone

Today on the John Fredericks Show, Senator Dick Saslaw urged Terry McAuliffe to drop his excuse-making and debate Ken Cuccinelli. McAuliffe's reasons for declining a debate seem pretty shaky. Terry won't debate if he actually has to face Ken and answer his questions (SCARY!)

What has Terry's campaign come to, that the leader of the Democratic ticket is afraid to talk to his opponent? OR that, even worse, a senior senator in HIS OWN PARTY has to call and encourage him to stand by his record and fight? 

Honestly, looking at T-Mac's record, I don't blame him. I wouldn't want to stand by that many failures, underhanded deals, double-speak, and lack of experience either. BUT! Senator Saslaw has the point here. Even if it is a pile of dung, you should stand by it as your pile of dung. 

VA GOP Caucus

vagopcaucus.blogspot.com

Wouldn't You Know it...We Were Right

All across the nation, good little blue states are hanging their healthcare exchanges by the mantle with care, in the hopes that Saint Obamacare will soon be near. But in California, they recently discovered that Obamacare will do the exact opposite of its purpose. Premiums could go up as much as 150 percent there.

That is just the beginning, boys and girls. 

Last week a new state's prospective figures came to light. Ohio's compliance with the Affordable Care Act will push a bill on state taxpayers for another 88% on top of existing rates. Avik Roy of Forbes posted this little gem to YouTube a few months ago. Remember when? 

Virginia and the rest of the nation are attached to this proverbial runaway train, and this completely predictable predicament is the exact spot that ACA critics predicted that we would be in. What an absolute shocker coming from a President whose record on carrying out promises is practically non-existent. 

VA GOP Caucus

vagopcaucus.blogspot.com

Let's Not Forget What Terry's Democratic Colleagues had to Say

Norm Leahy, over at Bearing Drift uncovered a few old comments about Terry McAuliffe from his failed 2009 bid to run for governor here in Virginia. Below are a few words from T-Mack's esteemed fellows on the left side of the aisle. This still holds true today, folks. Pay attention.

VA GOP Caucus

vagopcaucus.blogspot.com

I Don't Have to Give Dems a Bad Name These Days

They are absolutely doing it for themselves. From Terry McAuliffe leaving his newborn and wife to collect Clinton campaign funds, to the IRS suppressing Tea Parties in the 2012 Election, to the Holder/Obama Justice Department bugging the AP and ignoring blatant voter fraud, Democrats aren't just trying to supplant the American people...they're getting caught...a lot. 

Just last Friday, The Weekly Standard got a hold of the curious case of Curtis Morrison. The self-monikered 'Liberal Activist' claims that his life was 'upended' by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. It could have had something to do with his botched attempt to secretly record Senator McConnell in April.

But don't worry! Curtis is "not [going to] paint myself as a victim," in his Friday explanation/pity party in Salon(except in the sub-title, and paragraphs 3, 5, 7, 8, and 9 to start with).

Oh geez, thank goodness that the perpetrator of a crime against a U.S. Senator doesn't feel oppressed. God forbid! That a spy, trying explicitly to defame and sabotage someone in a low-down way (and frankly failing) doesn't feel like their rights are being trampled on (the right to privacy on private property, for example).

EVEN DEMOCRATS didn't like the looks, the methods, or the implications of what Morrison did. In fact, even at the time, Democratic Representative John Yarmuth from Morrison's home state of Kentucky called him and his cohorts "petty thieves" and "an embarrassment to the system and an embarrassment to politics", on MSNBC no less.

Liberal activists on the national level are becoming even worse than the demonic caricatures that they paint conservatives as. Conservatives have been called crackpots, conspiracy theorists, tin-foil behatted lunatics, and every other insult by the extreme Left. But how does your average, every-day, moderate Democrat justify the absolute fountain of criminal activity that is being carried out in the name of their party?

Start by taking the log out of your own eye.

VA GOP Caucus

vagopcaucus.blogspot.com