Thursday, August 27, 2015

Is McCollum's Report Missing Something?

Should Gary McCollum be reporting some in-kind donations?

It seems Mr. McCollum’s campaign has found a sympathetic ear in his employer, Cox Communications. Gary has taken a leave of absence as the Vice President and General Manager of Cox in Virginia (a pretty big pair of shoes to fill) to focus on his campaign. Is Gary still being paid by Cox?

Seems like paying someone to campaign full-time should be reported, right?



Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Where Do They Go From Here?

Barack Obama will leave the Democrats in a very poor position...now. Apparently, presiding over the most gridlocked and partisan administrations since the Great Depression is not what builds long-term political success...

Even Jeff Greenfield, a liberal Politico writer, and a former Robert Kennedy staffer, realizes the damage being done to the Dems. A few quotations from Mr. Greenfield's excellent piece in Politico: Democratic Blues. 

'When Obama came into the White House, it seemed like the Democrats had turned a corner generationally; at just 47, he was one of the youngest men to be elected as president. But the party has struggled to build a new generation of leaders around him. Eight years later, when he leaves office in 2017 at 55,he’ll actually be one of the party’s only leaders not eligible for Social Security. 
“It’s almost a crime,” Democratic Party Vice Chair Donna Brazile says. “We have been absolutely decimated at the state and local level.” 
The party’s record over the past six years has made clear that when Barack Obama leaves office in January 2017 the Democratic Party will have ceded vast sections of the country to Republicans, and will be left with a weak bench of high-level elected officials. It is, in fact, so bleak a record that even if the Democrats hold the White House and retake the Senate in 2016, the party’s wounds will remain deep and enduring, threatening the enactment of anything like a “progressive” agenda across much of the nation.'

VA GOP Caucus

vagopcaucus.blogspot.com

Monday, August 24, 2015

ICYMI

Delegate Michael Futrell: 

"Instead of just expressing my support for or against the candidates, I need to also address an elephant in the room that has exposed itself in the midst of this strife. How is it that we are able to simplify the credentials of such an outstanding jurist down to “The Republicans only chose him because he was black?” or dehumanize and address him as I saw one blog site post “this Right-Wing Nut Job.” How is it that we can only see race and ignore all that he has accomplished? How is it that Judge Alston was recommended by all major Bar Associations and even the top choice of the Old Dominion Bar, sitting on the second highest court in the Commonwealth, but was never “in our top 5”?"

Terone Green, Former President of the Richmond Crusade for Voters:

"To the Republicans’ credit, this controversy has shone a spotlight on what it looks like to judge someone, as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. put it, “on the content of their character” rather than the color of their skin. McAuliffe has constantly pushed Roush because of her gender, saying how it would look bad if the Republicans rejected her. The Republicans, on the other hand, had not brought up race or gender in their support of Alston — only his stellar character and qualifications. That is a refreshing turnabout that is well worth noting."

VA GOP Caucus

vagopcaucus.blogspot.com

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Making History

From the Richmond Free Press

"The elevation of Judge Alston would not only add to African-American influence on the Supreme Court, but also would make history."

"The National Bar Association, which is comprised primarily of African-American lawyers and judges, could find no record of any other state having so many African-American justices on the highest court at one time, even during the Reconstruction period after the Civil War."

"Now on the state intermediate Court of Appeals, Judge Alston would join two other African-American justices, S. Bernard Goodwyn and Cleo Powell, on the seven-member Supreme Court once the General Assembly elects him."

VA GOP Caucus

vagopcaucus.blogspot.com

Monday, August 10, 2015

ICYMI: Senator Obenshain Joins Walker Campaign


Congratulations to Senator Obenshain! 

His statement on joining Team Walker: 

I am honored to announce that I am joining Scott Walker’s team as his Virginia Campaign Chairman. After eight years with Barack Obama in the White House, the American economy is stagnant and burdensome regulations are crippling small businesses. The Obama-Clinton foreign policy doctrine has left our friends to fend for themselves, our enemies unchecked, and the world a more dangerous place. We simply can’t afford eight more years of irresponsible liberal leadership.

Instead, America needs conservative leadership. Scott Walker is a reform-minded leader with the executive experience to allow him to transform the way Washington works. By winning three elections in four years without compromising his conservative principles in a state that hasn’t voted for a Republican presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan, I am confident that Scott Walker can defeat Hillary Clinton or whoever else the Democrats put up in 2016. What makes me so sure? His record.

Governor Walker inherited a $3.6 billion deficit when he took office in 2011 and quickly turned it into a surplus. But it’s what he did with that surplus that really impressed me. Since assuming office, Governor Walker and Republican leaders have cut taxes by nearly $2 billion, including over $500 million in 2014 alone. In Washington, politicians see budget deficits as an excuse to raise taxes on the middle class. Governor Walker on the other hand has grown the economy, added more than 35,000 new businesses in four years, and cut taxes—returning money back to the taxpayers where it belongs.

Scott Walker has accomplished these things despite relentless opposition from big labor. In 2011, Governor Walker immediately took on the powerful labor unions in an attempt to return power back to the working class. No longer can union bosses forcibly withhold dues from workers’ paychecks. Instead, union membership is now optional—the way it should be.

Despite months of marches and occupation of the capitol grounds with more than 100,000 protesters, organized efforts by national union bosses and liberal activists across the nation, and millions of dollars spent to vilify him and his efforts,Governor Walker won this fight. He did it with a smile on his face, rallying support from across the country, and forging a broad coalition of Wisconsinites who admired his courage and understood the common sense principles undergirding his policies. He refused to give in to the demands of big labor.

On education, Governor Walker has fought for school choice—expanding the nation’s first school voucher system, increasing the number of charter schools, and removing the requirements for tenure and seniority. These reforms are working, improving the quality of public and private schools in the state where graduation rates have increased, test scores are higher, and the best and brightest teachers are remaining in the classroom. Like me, Walker believes that all children should have access to a quality education, regardless of their zip code. It’s this kind of mentality we need in the White House, not more of the failed, one-size-fits-all approach pushed by bureaucrats in Washington.


Whether it’s growing Wisconsin’s economy, fighting for the working class, or reforming education, Scott Walker has a consistent, proven record of success. America needs bold leadership to get us back on track, and I’m excited to help spread his message of conservative reform. It is a message that resonates not only with Republicans, but also with independents and conservative Democrats, and that’s a message and a coalition that will get him elected as our next president. I hope you’ll join me in this fight!

Best Regards,

 
Mark Obenshain

Thursday, August 6, 2015

The Next Domino Falls


This one is called CoOportunity. The co-op was established as a way to serve customers in Iowa with “affordable” healthcare. They retain 109M in assets, but carry 282M in debts!

They still technically owe their agents for the labor of selling these plans. Is that bait-and-switch-ception?

This is by no means even the exception to the rule, either. 19 of the 23 established co-ops are exceeding their own projections for losses. Tell me again how many economic “benefits” states are receiving after enacting Medicaid expansion?



So This Judge Thing...


Governor McAuliffe and his Democratic Party of Virginia mouthpiece Morgan Finkelstein have been saying that Republicans will not support Judge Jane Roush’s elevation to the Virginia Supreme Court, in large part, because she is a woman.

Here's Morgan's take:
"Given their history of respect and inclusion toward Virginia women, it is tough to think of a reason the party of transvaginal ultrasounds, banning birth control and fighting equal pay for equal work would fire a female justice in favor of a male pick," said Morgan Finklestein, press secretary for the Democratic Party of Virginia.
Also, Morgan, you misspelled your last name. 

Well, if that is the case, conversely do Democrats not support the elevation of Judge Rossie Alston to the Supreme Court because he is African-American??

Nah, that's not it. Those are two ridiculous statements. Bringing gender into this is an unfortunate and immature play by the Democrats. 

Republicans simply agree with the Virginian-Pilot. This is an “unnecessary misstep from the governor...which illustrates concerns formed during the 2013 campaign that McAuliffe and his team lacked a grasp of process in state government."

Too bad the legislature aren't all Hillary donors. He would have reached out to them plenty.

VA GOP Caucus

vagopcaucus.blogspot.com