In Through the Out Door

Without Supervision

2011-11-16T08:09:00.001-05:00

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank outgoing Loudoun County Supervisor Stevens Miller for the contributions he made to the Loudoun blogosphere this past year or so on his blog, "Without Supervision". Stevens ended the blog suddenly and without warning on Tuesday, and I, for one, will miss it.

His opinions have been a lightning rod the past few months, drawing both criticism and praise from both sides of the aisle. While I haven't always agreed with him 100%, I very much appreciated his sharing of his views, because he always strongly backed those opinions, and stood by them. And in the instance he was proved wrong, he stood up and admitted it.

Stevens and I were friendly acquaintances, mostly through our blogging and overlapping service on the LCDC, and on the rare times I have asked him for advice, I have very much valued it. I hold no grudge with him the way his tenure on the LCDC ended, and in fact, I really respect him for taking an unpopular stand. It takes guts for an elected official to do something like that.

So Stevens, best of luck wherever the future takes you. Thanks for your service to the county the past 4 years, and I hope to see you around sometime.

I Feel Betrayed

2011-11-11T08:22:00.001-05:00

"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke

By now, I'm sure you've heard countless reports of the Penn State sex scandal involving former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. I won't repeat the gory details here, but I have to use this blog to vent.

I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia as a huge Penn State fan. I lived from 1971 to 1977 in Upper Darby, PA, which happened to be the hometown of the 1973 Heisman Trophy winner, John Cappelletti. He went to my grade school. He played in the same youth baseball program as I did. He went to the high school I would naturally attend had I stayed there. He was a local hero, and being such, I was drawn to Penn State football. So what I write here isn't coming from someone who is glad to see this turn of events.

What really is irking me is how Coach Joe Paterno handled the situation. I'm going to ask a lot of open-ended questions here, just to get it out there.

If Sandusky was being investigated about child sexual abuse as early as 1998, is it not fair to assume that the authorities doing the investigating would talk to Coach Paterno? And with Sandusky suddenly retiring after the 1999 season (one in which he was named NCAA Assistant Coach of the Year) because he wasn't going to get Paterno's job, one has to wonder if the reasoning was due to Paterno's knowledge of the nature of the investigation.

But if Paterno didn't know, why didn't Sandusky get any serious consideration for vacant NCAA head coaching positions? He was a well-respected assistant, one of Paterno's trusted aides; you would have to think that someone, anyone, with a football team in need of direction would have called Paterno asking if Sandusky was available. Could it be that Paterno was protecting another school from hiring someone he knew was a sexual deviant, much less a desipcable human being?

Then the incident in 2002, where graduate assistant Mike McQueary caught Sandusky in the shower in the Penn State locker room assaulting a young boy. Forget for a moment that McQueary looked both the victim and Sandusky in the face before running away. He later told Paterno about the incident. If, as I infer, Paterno knew about Sandusky from the investigation back in 1998, he should have acted immediately. Yes, maybe 4 years earlier he could have dismissed it as an isolated incident. Now it happens again, and he doesn't go to the police. That is sad. Or...if this was indeed the first time Paterno heard about it, do you not think Paterno would have asked McQueary for more details? You're reporting someone, who worked by his side for 30-some years, taking liberties with a child in a shower, and Paterno doesn't ask what exactly he saw? To ensure that everything was clear? Instead, he just reports it to the athletic director and wipes his hands? I did what I was supposed to do? He didn't call the police.

The result of Paterno "going up the chain of command"? They took Sandusky's keys to the locker room away. Took his keys away.

Joe Paterno was fired this week, and he contends that he was shocked to hear of the allegations against Sandusky.

Bullshit.

Paterno knows more. He has to. He's the highest profile figure, not only on the campus of the Pennsylvania State University, but in State College, PA, and probably one of the highest profile figures in the state. There cannot be an investigation of someone who stood by his side for over 30 years, and he doesn't either get questioned or informed about it. He protected Sandusky. He hid the heinous nature of the crimes Sandusky committed to preserve some sense of stature for himself and the school. And now it's come back to bite him.

For years, Joe Paterno and his program was the model of decency, in an NCAA rife with violations and criminal action. He did so much for the university; was so highly regarded; was admired, no, deified by everyone who followed college football. But because of his inaction, or turning a blind eye to disgusting activity by a friend of his, it's very possible that that inaction allowed Sandusky to prey on more victims.

I hope it comes out in the end that Paterno really was in the dark on this, but I fail to see how. It just doesn't add up. I feel betrayed by someone who I thought was the embodiment of good.

It turns out he's just like everyone else,

A Bittersweet Day

2011-11-09T08:02:00.001-05:00

Waiting for election results after the polls close is always an exciting time for me. Since I've been involved in the political process behind-the-scenes to an extent, I have some personal relationships with some of the candidates, and it makes it that much more interesting. Last night, despite what happened, was no exception.

It was extremely disappointing to see the complete Republican whitewash that took place in Loudoun County yesterday. I didn't expect all of my favored candidates to win, but I didn't think it would be this bad. Some good people, with great ideas, lost by some wide margins. People like Valdis Ronis (candidate for Ashburn District Supervisor), Bob Ohneiser (candidate for At-Large School Board), and Al Nevarez (rcandidate for Sterling District Supervisor) all got trounced. Jennifer Wexton, who was running for Commonwealth's Attorney, put up a valiant effort, pulling in 48% of the vote in here first try for elective office. She'll be back.

I am at a loss to understand why the others got beaten so badly, though. I can kind of understand if they lost by close margins, but these races weren't even close, and that concerns me about what the people in those districts and the county as a whole are thinking. The county has gone solidly back to Red, and the thought of possibly slipping back to how it was 8 years ago in that county is worrisome.

My friend Mike Kondratick, as I write this, trails his challenger by 50 votes in the race for the 87th House of Delegates district. I am unsure as to the rule for recounts, but I would think that a vote this close would have to trigger an automatic recount. Here's wishing Mike the best - he's a great guy who would be a great asset to the House of Delegates. And the best legislator in Northern Virginia, Senator Mark Herring, easily won re-election for the second time.

Meanwhile, in my new home of Reston, Fairfax County, I can proudly say that every one of the candidates for whom I cast a vote yesterday won. I don't think that's ever happened for me in any off-year election like this.

So like I said, bittersweet. I salute Valdis, Bob O, Al, Jennifer, and Mike for running positive, issue-based campaigns. You have every reason to be proud. And hang in there, Loudoun - fight the good fight.

A Basic Primer For Mrs. Phillips

2011-11-04T10:10:00.002-04:00

I saw this first today on the Too Conservative blog, and my friend Paradox13 expounded on it on Loudoun Progress, so I wanted to let Patricia Phillips know what a United States Navy sailor looks like:

That's me, in October 1984, at U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command, Orlando, Florida.

And no, you don't have my permission to use the photo.

Goodbye, Idiot Box

2011-11-03T08:50:00.001-04:00

When we moved from Lansdowne to Reston over the summer, my wife and I decided to cut some costs by eliminating things we really didn't need or use. One of those things, we found, was cable television service.

The whole OpenBand controversy has been interesting to us, because as former Lansdowne residents, we were also former OpenBand customers. In almost 6 years of living there, we didn't have any major problems with their service. When we had issues, I would call the customer service line, and our problems were solved almost instantaneously. We also knew when we bought the house that they were the service provider, and we were locked into their service as part of the homeowners dues. And so we dealt with it.

But even with no problems with their service, what we noticed was that we really didn't watch TV all that much. So the $150+ per month we were paying to OpenBand through our HOA dues was just a waste, along with the portion that we paid for phone service. The only thing we really liked (and needed) was the internet service, which we found to be excellent.

Move forward to July, and our moving to Reston. We decided that instead of contracting for cable TV service, we would forgo regular TV and go with streaming internet TV, since we believe that will be the future of television anyway. I purchased an HD antenna (for abour $30) that we hooked up to our HD television, and we get all of the local stations, plus some extra digital channels provided by the locals (i.e., WRC gives us the normal Channel 4, plus an additional channel devoted to local programming, and also NBC Universal). We have a Netflix account, with which we can stream movies and any televsion series we're interested in watching (my wife recently watched a season's worth of Mad Men). Add to that a Roku internet TV gadget for $80, which basically allows you to stream free news, movies, current TV shows, PBS shows, video podcasts, and live NHL and Major League Baseball games (for which I need a subscription, usually about $120/year), and we're set.

The result is, we've successfully weaned our son away from gazing mindlessly at the television for hours on end. Occasionally, he'll ask to watch one of the kids shows we can stream for him on Netflix, but those are only sporadic requests. My wife and I are both reading more, as we can download books to our KIndle & iPad. Adn outside of that, we have more family time, since we're not slaves to the television anymore. Our internet service through Verizon costs about $60 per month, and service has been very good. The next result is we're saving about $720 this year on television. Maybe we'll take a family trip with the savings.

You should try it - it's very liberating.

Ashamed By My Ignorance

2011-11-01T10:56:00.002-04:00

I read a story this morning that ThinkProgress linked to on their Twitter account, which stated that the fast-food restaurant chain Chick Fil-A donated almost $2 million to anti-gay groups in 2009.

This revelation has disturbed me, because I think of how many times I ate at Chick Fil-A in 2009, not knowing that profits from my purchases were going to fund causes that opposed LGBT issues.

I like their food; they offer some healthy alternatives to the usual fast-food dreck out there. But I'm still bothered by my ignorance about Chick Fil-A's political agenda. And it's not like they don't have an agenda - I mean they do close on Sundays; I guess I could have extrapolated something from that, but then I could be accused of religious bigotry.

So, from here on out, Chick Fil-A is on my "pass by" list when looking for a quick bite to eat. And I apologize to all my LGBT friends and supporters out there for my ignorance on this matter.

Couldn't Say It Any Better

2011-11-01T10:38:00.004-04:00

From Twitter, October 31 - George Takei (aka, "Sulu" from the old "Star Trek" TV show) with a very cogent thought:

Well said, Sulu.

Maddening

2011-10-26T14:06:00.001-04:00

I was talking with a friend of mine yesterday, and she mentioned to me that she was frustrated because her boss brought up the idea of outsourcing some of their work to India to save some money. This is maddening, to say the least.

I mean, this is the crux of what the "Occupy" protests around the country are about. The income gap between the wealthiest 1% of this country and the rest of us is growing wider, with no lessening of the gap on the horizon. The "too big to fail" banks who got bailed out on the precept that they needed to keep making loans to survive, aren't lending money anymore, even though they're making record profits. They're borrowing money from the government at 0%, and instead of lending to business, they are buying up Treasury bonds from the government, and getting 2-3% interest. So in a roundabout way, the government is giving these banks free money.

Because the banks aren't lending to business, cash-strapped businesses can't expand, and since they can't expand, they can't add jobs. There's a real unemployment rate of about 17% out there, people want to work, but can't. And wages are stagnant, unless you're a CEO or a banker.

The government is cash-strapped, because our progressive tax structure doesn't hit these high-earners, since they're making money from carried interest and long-term capital gains, both of which have a much smaller tax rate then do personal rates. So the rich keep getting richer, and the middle-class is indirectly supporting them.

And then you have companies like the one my friend works for - they want to improve their bottom line (see: profits) by outsourcing work overseas, where they won't have to pay payroll taxes on the labor. They would put more people out of work to improve their bottom line and make the wallet of their CEO fatter, through performance bonuses.

And yet, people still will blame President Obama somehow for this jobs crisis we're in. News flash - the government (and especially the President) doesn't "create" jobs; they create a climate that makes it possible for businesses to create jobs, through government spending programs. Forget tax cuts - that was tried 10 years ago, and we're in a worse predicament now then we were then. But Congress (who crafts and sends legislation to the President) refuses to implement any spending programs. So on one hand you have big businesses making money hand over fist but refusing to contribute positively to a society desperately in need of help, and on the other hand a federal legislature that refuses to do what is necessary to help society move forward.

And what we get is anger at what looks like collusion between government and big business to keep wages depressed and make corporate fat-cats and greedy politicians even wealthier. All at the sake of us.

Something needs to be done.

Opposition and Ignorance

2011-10-21T15:02:00.001-04:00

Only in this divided America can a Democratic president, following the guidelines of a troop withdrawal agreement negotiated and signed by his Republican predecessor, be accused of election year politics by following that same agreement to the letter.

In December of 2008, President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki negotiated a U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq that promised 2/3 of the troops out of country by July 2010, and the remainder out by December 31, 2011.

In February 2009, about a month after he was inaugurated, President Obama presented the plan in a speech at Camp LeJeune. Now, the initial troop withdrawl took place in August of 2010, later than proposed, but we still moved the majority of forces out, leaving roughly 50,000 troops to help out with training and advising of Iraqi troops. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), the 2008 Republican nominee for president, was fully in support of this plan.

Today, 13 whole months before the 2012 presidential elections (that's more than a YEAR, for those of you who are counting), President Obama made a speech basically saying that we were on track to fulfill that promise to have all of the troops out by the end of the year (except for about about 150 advisors). The outrage by the opposition, calling this "an election year stunt", and the skepticism by countless others, is appalling.

To blatantly ignore the facts in the zeal to attack our President is simply unbelievable. Just more proof that those who dislike this president are only out to see him fail, at the expense of the country's well-being.

Just A Thought

2011-10-21T11:02:00.001-04:00

Osama bin Laden. Anwar al-Awlaki. Moammar Gaddhafi (or however it's spelled). All killed in 2011.

Heard this somewhere: If President Obama were a Republican, he'd be put on Mount Rushmore.

Get Out And Run

2011-10-18T08:18:00.001-04:00

I'm a runner. A quite avid runner. I go out 4 days a week, for a run of anywhere from 4 to 10 miles, depending on the day. And I also have become a bit touchy over criticisms leveled at other runners who are just doing the same thing I'm doing, albeit under different circumstances.

Case in point: a few weeks ago, at the Chicago Marathon, a gentleman named William Caviness, a 35-year old firefighter from North Carolina, collapsed approximately 500 yards from the finish line, and passed away. Immediately, the howls of "people shouldn't be running 26 miles" started popping up. No matter that Mr. Caviness was a runner, in fine running shape, and had completed numerous marathons in the past, without incident. No matter that more than a half-million people ran marathons in 2010, and there were less than 10 deaths reported. No matter that running a marathon is no less safe than any other form of exercise. The critics came out in full force that day. It was a rare occurrence, that could happen to anyone. Oh, and Mr. Caviness had raised $2,500 before the race, and was running in honor of burn victims.

In the same race, Amber Miller, 27 years old, and also a veteran marathoner, ran the full 26.2 mile course. She finished the race in about 6 1/2 hours, which isn't fast, but the remarkable part is that she did this marathon while 39 weeks pregnant (and delivered her child about 8 hours after the finish of the Chicago Marathon). Immediately, the howls of "how could she endanger herself and the baby by doing this" came out. No matter that Ms. Miller had the blessing of her obstetrician before undertaking this race. No matter that she took regular walk breaks during the run, and that her husband ran along with her, just in case. No matter that she had previously run a marathon while pregnant (although only 17 weeks at that one). No, the critics know better. Oh, and both mom and baby are doing well.

And this past weekend in Toronto, Fauja Singh was the final finisher at the ScotiaBank Toronto Marathon. It was Mr. Singh's eighth marathon, but what was wondrous was that Mr. Singh is 100 years old. It took him 8 hours to finish, but he did. The critics came out, saying that running a marathon at that age could be deadly. But it wasn't. Mr. Singh only started running at age 89. He's still going strong.

My point with all of this is simple: there is an obesity epidemic in this country. Too many people are gorging themselves with fast food, high-fructose corn syrup, and processed foods, and sitting on the sofa watching mindless TV shows and playing video games. There are other people in this country who are practicing a healthy lifestyle through running, and trying to make themselves better. There are those who want to criticize the others who get outside, get fresh air and exercise, and refuse to be held hostage by junk food and junk TV shows. The only reason I can see for the criticism is jealousy. We can run marathons and you can't.

I've only been running for a little over 3 years now, and can't think of doing anything else. I'm in the best shape of my life, and feel so much better after a run, even when I'm sore. Because deep down, I know I'm making myself better. My heart thanks me for it.

You should try it - get out and run. It will be hard at first, but if you keep at it, you won't regret it.

Why They're Mad

2011-10-14T08:26:00.002-04:00

I saw, on Twitter this morning, an amazing link expalining exactly why the Occupy Wall Street protestors are so angry. The article, from Business Insider, includes a 41-screen slideshow detailing what's ailing the economy. The slideshow alone is amazing, and I recommend it to everyone. But I've taken the liberty to put most of the cogent points (and there are many) into article form, and it follows as such:

"Three years after the financial crisis, the unemployment rate is still at the highest level since the Great Depression (except for a brief blip in the early 1980s).

That 9% rate, by the way, equates to 14 million Americans—people who want to work but can't find a job. And that's just people who meet the strict criteria for "unemployed." Include people working part-time who want to work full-time, plus some people who haven't looked for a job in a while, and unemployment's at 17%.

Put differently, this is the lowest percentage of Americans with jobs since the early 1980s

Corporate profits just hit another all-time high. As a percent of the economy, profits are near a record all-time high. With the exception of a brief happy period in 2007 (just before the crash), profits are higher than they've been since the 1950s.

CEO pay is now 350 times the average worker's, up from 50 times from 1960-1985

CEO pay has skyrocketed 300% since 1990. Corporate profits have doubled. Average "production worker" pay has increased 4%. The minimum wage has dropped. (All numbers adjusted for inflation).

After adjusting for inflation, average hourly earnings haven't increased in 50 years

In short... while CEOs and shareholders have been cashing in, wages as a percent of the economy have dropped to an all-time low.

Of course, life is great if you're in the top 1% of American wage earners. You're hauling in a bigger percentage of the country's total pre-tax income than you have at any time since the late 1920s. Your share of the national income, in fact, is almost 2X the long-term average!

Income inequality has gotten so extreme here that the US now ranks 93rd in the world in "income equality." China's ahead of us. So is India. So is Iran

The top 1% of Americans own 42% of the financial wealth in this country. The top 5%, meanwhile, own nearly 70%. That's about 60% of the net worth of the country held by the top 5%.

And then there are taxes... It's a great time to make a boatload of money in America, because taxes on the nation's highest-earners are close to the lowest they've ever been.

The aggregate tax rate for the top 1% is lower than for the next 9%—and not much higher than it is for pretty much everyone else.

Remember when we bailed out the banks? Yes, and remember the REASON we were told we had to bail out the banks? We had to bail out the banks, we were told, so that the banks could keep lending to American businesses. Without that lending, we were told, society would collapse.

So, did the banks keep lending? Um, no. Bank lending dropped sharply, and it has yet to recover.

So, what have banks been doing since 2007 if not lending money to American companies? Lending money to America's government! By buying risk-free Treasury bonds and other government-guaranteed securities.

And, remarkably, they've also been collecting interest on money they are NOT lending—the "excess reserves" they have at the Fed. Back in the financial crisis, the Fed decided to help bail out the banks by paying them interest on this money that they're not lending. And they're happily still collecting it. (It's AWESOME to be a bank.)

Meanwhile, of course, the banks are able to borrow money FOR FREE. Because the Fed has slashed rates to basically zero. And the banks have slashed the rates they pay on deposits to basically zero. So they can have all the money they want—for nearly free!

When you can borrow money for nothing, and lend it back to the government risk-free for a few percentage points, you can COIN MONEY. And the banks are doing that. According to IRA, the "net interest margin" made by US banks in the first six months of this year is $211 Billion. Nice!

And that has helped produce $58 billion of profit in the first six months of the year.

And it has helped generate near-record financial sector profits—while the rest of the country struggles with its 9% unemployment rate. And these profits are getting back toward a record as a percentage of all corporate profits.

And those profits, of course, are AFTER the banks have paid their bankers. And it's still great to be a banker. The average banker in New York City made $361,330 in 2010. Not bad!

This average Wall Street salary was 6X the average private-sector salary (which, in turn, is actually lower than the average government salary, but that's a different issue).

And so, in conclusion, we'll end with another look at the "money shot"—the one overarching reason the Wall Street protesters are so upset: Wages as a percent of the economy. Again, it's basically the lowest it has ever been.

So now you know what the protesters are upset about!"

Occupation

2011-10-12T13:02:00.001-04:00

The double standard that people are applying to the Occupy Wall Street protests vis-à-vis the Tea Party protests of 2009-10 is maddening.

First off, there are commonalities between what OWS and TP are protesting. Not everything, since half of what the TP'ers were protesting were either racist or tin-foil hat propaganda they learned from a talk-radio hack. But while the media mostly played up the TP'ers as viable and having a point, the OWS'ers are being portrayed as drifting and point-LESS, which couldn't be further from the truth.

Yes, you could ask 20 different OWS protestors why they're there, and you'd be likely to get 20 different answers. But that doesn't mean there isn't a point. My point being, there are a host of issues worthy of protest – corporate greed, government corruption, environmental neglect, union-busting, etc. It's a much more complex protest than, "we're being taxed too much".

People have had enough of big businesses shipping jobs overseas in order to improve not just their bottom lines (which is understandable) but the bank accounts of their executives. People have had enough of big banks being bailed out to save the world economy from ruin, and those same big banks both refusing to loan money to worthy borrowers and nickel-and-diming their customers to death with usurious fees.

People have had enough of corporate influence in Congress. Our elected officials are beholden to large corporations because those same corporations donate large sums of money to candidates in return for special favors. People have had enough of our representatives crafting legislation that favors the wealthy at the expense of the middle- and lower-classes.

I admire the OWS protestors for doing what they're doing. These protests aren't going to change anything in the short-term, business-wise or legislatively. What the protests are doing is bringing attention to the fact that we are no longer a democracy, but a plutocracy, where the wealthy and the business owners run this country. Congress is their vehicle, and campaign cash is the sweetener.

This protest supercedes party lines. Republicans in Congress are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Wall Street, but Democrats are also willing participants. What needs to be done is a complete white-wash of Congress – get rid of everyone, and elect representatives from both parties who are not beholden to corporate interests. This goes all the way up to the White House.

That's easier said than done, due to the pervasive nature and ubiquity of corporate cash in our election process.

But what makes me optimistic is seeing people only criticizing the protestors for how they look. If that's all the protests' opponents have to offer, then the message has to be getting through. Because the message is indisputable – this country is broken, and those who hold the power are doing nothing to fix it, but everything to make it worse.

Time To Take a Break

2011-07-21T10:24:00.004-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted here, as I have been posting most recently on Loudoun Progress. But this will be my last blog posting, of any sort, for a while.

I moved out of Loudoun County earlier this month, to Reston. While I leave behind a lot of friends I made in the past 6 years that I called Lansdowne my home, I also leave behind weariness of the divisive nature politics brings with it.

When I left Loudoun, I was serving dual roles as both the Treasurer of the Loudooun County Democratic Committee and Ashburn District Chair. I was also the Chairman of the Lansdowne Homeowners Association Communications Committee. All of those roles have been vacated, and my sole focus as I begin my Reston chapter is to spend time with my wife and 5 year-old son. No more politics for me, for the time being. I won't be joining any political committees or campaigns. I won't be sporting bumper stickers or buttons. I won't be reading or contributing to the blogs. I want a clean break.

Make no mistake, I will still support candidates (most likely Democrats, but I can't rule out independents), both with my vote and my checkbook, who I believe are the best people for the job. But I won't have to pledge support anymore for candidates who don't have a clue as to why they're running. There were plenty of those in Loudoun. I was happily independent before my time in the LCDC, but always leaning left. I really want to get back to that again.

So, in closing, I wish the best for Liz, Evan, and David - keep LP going stong. We made it one year when critics said it wouldn't last. It's not "goodbye", but "see ya later", to Tammi, Erica, Lowell, and Jeff. You were the inspiration for me getting started in blogging. It's good luck to Jennifer, Al, Mike, Valdis, and Dave - you all will make great public servants when you win.

And now it's time for me to run.

Where's the "Out Door"?

R & D Tax Credit Passes the Senate

2011-02-01T15:28:00.002-05:00

From Senator Mark Herring's Twitter page yesterday:

SB 1326 creating an 'R&D' Tax Credit in Virginia passed the Senate 38-1.

This is good news for getting jobs created in Virginia. Companies that invest in R & D now have incentives to hire more people to help with that R & D, and they can do so starting next year.

Here's hoping that the near-unanimous Senate vote carries over to the House of Delegates with similar support, since the Governor supports it as well.

The text of SB 1326:

Income tax; research and development expenses tax credit. Allows income tax credits for individuals and businesses for qualified research and development expenses for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2012, but before January 1, 2017. The tax credit amounts are (i) 15% of the Virginia qualified research and development expenses, or (ii) 20% of the Virginia qualified research and development expenses, if the research was conducted in conjunction with a Virginia public college and university. The Tax Department shall develop policies and procedures for the application process for the tax credits. There is a $10 million cap on the total amount of credits allowed in any taxable year.

Sen. Herring noted SB 1326 on his webpage:

Among the highlights of Senator Herring’s legislative package is SB 1326, which creates a Research and Development Tax Credit in Virginia. This legislation is the top priority of the Northern Virginia Technology Council and the Virginia Biotechnology Association, with whom Senator Herring has worked closely in the past, including last year on the passage of the Virginia Innovation Investment Act. For his efforts to promote science and technology based economic development, Senator Herring was named “Legislator of the Year” in 2010 by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).

This legislation was also included among Governor Bob McDonnell’s “Opportunity at Work” legislative proposals. The Governor thanked Senator Herring for carrying this legislation during his State of the Commonwealth address delivered this past Wednesday.

More reason why Mark Herring is working hard for Virginia (and Loudoun County) individuals and families. We should all workk hard to re-elect him in November.

What I'm Reading

2010-10-14T09:01:00.004-04:00

Yes, I know we have a periodic blog post that gets posted, but I wanted to highlight this one, from today's Washington Post:

The foundation, an Arlington-based religious enterprise associated with a house at 133 C St. SE where several members of the House and Senate have rented rooms, acknowledged Wednesday that it had received two $25,000 checks, in May and June 2004, from the Missouri-based Islamic American Relief Agency.

The charity was included on a Senate Finance Committee list of terrorist financiers in January of that year.

Nothing like a fundie group receiving payments from a known terrorist group while the lunatic fringe on the right claims that the President has ties to terrorism.

Oh, and here's another nugget about the "Fellowhip Foundation", aka, "The Family":

Other Members who have accepted trips from the Fellowship Foundation are Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.), who also lives at the C Street house, and Republican Reps. Frank Wolf (Va.), Joe Pitts (Pa.) and John Carter (Texas), according to House records. Sens. John Ensign (R-Nev.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) each also accepted one trip from the foundation.

Wait, what? Our congressman, Frank Wolf, accepted trips through a foundation that is funded partly through donations from terrorist organizations?

What pressing legislative work was Mr. Wolf doing on these trips he was taking? How many trips did he take? From Mother Jones:

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.)

$15,268

for trips to Hawaii, Greece, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, and Lebanon, all for "meeting with government officials and other National Prayer Breakfast activities."

Ah, "National Prayer Breakfast Activities". Much more important business than, say, making sure that $900 million in funds for the Dulles Rail project isn't squandered, in a Subcommittee you chaired. It's much more important to promote the "National Prayer Breakfast", sponsored by the Fellowship Foundation, a secretive Christian fundamentalist group that has received funds from known terrorist organizations.

But wait (as they say), there's more!! From Huffington Post:

The stated destination of Tony Hall's and Frank Wolf's February 18-25, 2000 conjugal junkets was Kona, Hawaii, home of the international campus and headquarters of Youth With a Mission. YWAM is a global Christian ministry that owns the C Street House and whose founder Loren Cunningham proposes an ambitious plan for Christian domination in which believers achieve control of key societal sectors including government, business, media, and education: the 7 Mountains Mandate. /snip/

...The 7-M Mandate has also been promoted at Sarah Palin's most significant church, the Wasilla Assembly of God.

and:

Longtime Family leader Douglas Coe, who has for decades been able to arrange private meetings with sitting US presidents, has come under scrutiny as footage has surfaced showing Coe expressing admiration for the dedication, and organizational and revolutionary prowess, of Hitler's Nazis, Chinese Red Guard, and Lenin's Bolshevik revolutionaries.

A little light reading for a Thursday, folks. Take this into consideration when you decide to cast your vote on November 2nd.

(hey, if the Tea Partiers can do it, so can I)

Cross-posted on Loudoun Progress

Tax Cut Truths

2010-09-09T09:56:00.004-04:00

Oh no!! The tax rates for the uber-wealthy are going to revert to those dark, socialistic days of 2001, when rates were an unfathomable 33% and 39.6%. How did the rich ever survive back then?? It’s not like we had ever marginal rates in the 50% range.

Wait, we did? Under which socialist president did this happen??

Ronald Reagan? The holiest of holy Republicans?

Well, they were never in the 70% range, then.

Wait, they were? Under which Marxist President??

Richard Nixon? A Republican?

Here’s the simple fact, folks. In 2001, the Republican-controlled Congress, under a Republican President, passed these tax rate cuts with a provision that they would expire on December 31, 2010. Let me rephrase – the Republicans put an end date on the tax cuts. And not only did the bill pass with this provision, it passed both houses with near-unanimous Republican support. Our own incumbent congressman also supported this bill.

So now, here were are in 2010, and the rates are about to revert back to the levels they were at in 2001, before the cuts. President Obama has repeatedly stated that he would extend the tax rates for incomes under $250,000, and let the other marginal rates for high earners expire and revert back.

And Republicans are howling in protest, including our own incumbent congressman.

Prominent economists, along with the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, agree that extending the tax rates for those making over $250,000 per year is just bad for the slowly recovering economy. Reason being, most of the extra cash the high-income folks would see would likely be saved, not spent or used to create jobs.

Wait, I said create jobs there – won’t these rate revisions hurt small business? The answer is a word Republicans are all too familiar with the past 18 months – No. According to a study by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities:

increasing the after-tax income of businesses typically does not create much incentive for them to hire more workers in order to produce more, because production depends principally on their ability to sell their products

And, in fact, according to the CBPP, “only the top 3% of people with any business income, let alone income from a small business, would benefit”. The CBPP instead posits that a better way to encourage job creation would be to reward all businesses who expand their payrolls with a temporary payroll tax credit for new hires.

Furthermore, Republicans always claim that cutting taxes leads to job creation – why, then, did the economy not create only 1 million net new jobs between 2001 and 2008 (after taxes were cut)?

Getting back to the tax rate expiration, the also non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation says that extending the tax rates for high-income people would cost $700 billion over ten years, and would add $36 billion to the federal deficit in 2011. For a party that’s whining about the debt and deficit being too high, this is a load of hypocrisy.

And actually, since we have graduated tax rates, the reversion to pre-2001 rates would only affect that portion of their incomes over $250,000. The net effect on people at the lower end of the top brackets would be minimal, at best. They still would be paying less in taxes after January 1, 2011 then they would have if the all of the tax rates were returned to pre-2001 levels.

It’s clear that Republicans do not stand for anything except lining the pockets of their wealthy contributors (i.e., “the base”, as per G. W. Bush), deficits and debt be damned. They derided President Obama’s stimulus package (which, by the way, created an estimated 3.7 million jobs in less than 18 months) as something our children and grandchildren would be paying off, while ignoring the fact that extending the tax cuts for the wealthy would contribute to that same debt.

Hypocrisy and stretching the truth have become the modus operandi for the GOP these days. Their desperation is becoming almost laughable.

Keep the Traffic Moving (Part II)

2010-09-03T07:55:00.002-04:00

Last week, the eastbound interchange linking the Loudoun County Parkway with Route 7 was completely opened. Great news for commuters, except that there was still a traffic light just prior to the Route 28 South on-ramp.

Imagine my surprise yesterday afternoon as I was driving from Leesburg to my son’s school in Sterling and found, to my delight, that the aforementioned traffic signal at Richfield Drive/George Washington Blvd. had been completely removed and the crossover blocked. So now, except for 3 remaining traffic signals, at Belmont Ridge Road, Ashburn Village Blvd., and Lexington Drive, there is practically a free-flow of traffic from Battlefield Parkway in Leesburg to Route 28 in Ashburn.

The intersections at Belmont Ridge and Ashburn Village will probably be there for some time, as they are slated to be converted into interchanges with no traffic light, but there is no funding currently in place to do so. But the light at Lexington is vexing. It would be impossible to make it an interchange, with its’ proximity to Ashburn Village Blvd., but you also just can’t block it off. Blue Mount Nursery is served with that interchange, and one would think that it would hurt their business if that light were removed.

Or would it?

Here’s a possible solution – if the traffic light at Lexington Drive were removed, couldn’t eastbound drivers who wish to patronize Blue Mount Nursery simply drive the half mile or so to the Loudoun County Parkway interchange, cross over Route 7, and head westbound to make a right into Blue Mount? Surely that can’t take any longer than waiting for a left-turn signal at Lexington Drive, would it? What it would do is keep a freer flow of traffic both ways. The number of drivers inconvenienced by this, relative to the volume of drivers who drive Route 7 would be minimal.

There is also the issue of westbound drivers making the left on to Lexington to get to their homes and offices in the Ashbrook Commons area of Ashburn. Again, driving the quarter-mile or so to the light at Ashburn Village Blvd., and either making a U-turn and heading east to a right on Lexington or accessing Ashbrook Commons from Ashburn Village Blvd. would also keep traffic moving. The inconvenience factor would be slightly higher, but (I would assume) probably not much.

And there is already precedent for this, as eastbound drivers who seek access to the Holiday Inn on Route 7 West in Leesburg have to utilize the interchange at River Creek Parkway, as do golfers coming from the east who wish to play at Goose Creek Golf Club.

What we do know, though, is that we currently don’t have the funding to modify any of the existing interchanges, so we need innovative solutions to keep traffic flowing and keep congestion down to a minimum.

Originally posted at Loudoun Progress

Umpires and Ejections

2010-08-25T10:45:00.003-04:00

Once upon a time, about 12 years ago, I had the idea that I wanted to become a professional baseball umpire. I had upired at the Little League Level for many years, and I had started doing Babe Ruth and some High School JV games in 1997, so I decided that I'd go to pro umpire school in Florida.

I didn't make the cut, but go the opportunity after pro school to work all levels of baseball, all the way up to NCAA Division I status. I was always a defender of the "men in blue", as I had an inside knowledge of the job, and had learned this at pro school from none other than Major League umpires.

Fast forward to today; I no longer work games, as my family takes precedence now. But I still would defend umpires when the going got tough.

Not so much anymore.

Witness: Scott Barry. last week, in a game between the Nationals and Atlanta Braves, Barry ejected Nationals star Ryan Zimmerman after the Nats' third baseman struck out. Zimmerman contested a close strike two pitch that Barry called a strike, then Zim struck out swinging on the next pitch. Frustrated, and walking away from the plate, Ryan flung his bat and helmet down, and was promptly tossed from the game by Barry. This was the first time in his career that Zimmerman had been ejected. It was completely uncalled for, as Zimmerman did not say a word, and visibly seemed frustrated with himself. But apparently, Barry is a mind-reader, and ejected Ryan.

This past Monday night, Barry was the home plate umpire in a game between the Houston Astros and my hometown Philadelphia Phillies. The Astros Chris Johnson was at bat, checked his swing, but Barry determined that Johnson swung and called him out. Johnson protested, to the point where he was very close to being ejected. Barry looked confrontational.

Then last night, in the 14th inning of the Phils-Astros game, Ryan Howard checked his swing and Barry (now the third base umpire) said, on appeal, that Howard swung, so now it's strike two. Howard put his hands on his hips and stared at Barry. Barry then did the same to Howard, mockingly standing with HIS hands on HIS hips, staring back. A few pitches later, Howard again checked his swing, again the appeal went to Barry, and he called Howard out swinging. Howard protested, flung his helmet down, and was promptly ejected.

Now I will criticize Howard for not keeping his cool in a tie game in the 14th inning. The Phillies had no position players left on the bench, so they had to use pitcher Roy Oswalt in the field, and as luck would have it, with 2 on and 2 outs in the bottom of the 16th, Oswalt (a .158 hitter) came up to bat where Howard (a .294 hitter) would have been, and grounded out to end the game.

But the story is the short fuse of umpire Scott Barry, a minor-leaguer filling in as a vacation replacement. It's quite apparent to me that Barry is out to make himself the show. I was always told (by the pro umpires, no less) that people don't come to games to see the umpires. Scott Barry apparently missed that day at pro school.

Virginia Has a Budget Surplus!!!

2010-08-18T08:48:00.003-04:00

So says The Washington Post:

Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) will announce Thursday that Virginia's final 2010 budget surplus will be about $400 million, almost twice the previous estimate, state officials said.
About $229 million comes from tax collections. The remainder comes from unspent balances.

Wow! It's amazing!! In this economy, we're running a $400 million surplus!! Thank goodness we elected those fiscally responsible Republicans!!

(wow, that was hard to type)

But then you dig a little deeper and look at the details.

As part of the budget earlier this year, the General Assembly and the governor managed to “balance” the budget by skipping payments to the Virginia Retirement System to the tune of $620 million. Government entities will have to pay it back at some point with interest.

And here we get to the truth of the matter. Those "fiscally responsible Republicans" are balancing the state budget on the backs of public employees. All the bitching and moaning Republicans do about pushing off public debt to our granchildren, and they take the same approach? You hypocritical bastards.

Using the money that was supposed to go to public employees' pension funds and claiming that the budget is not just in balance, but running a surplus? Enron played with their employees' pensions, made their company look in better financial shape than it really was, and people went to prison for it.

And now, we're on the hook for a future payment of over $600 million (plus interest). How in the world is this fiscally responsible? And the so-called "liberal, mainstream media" (I'm looking at you, Washington Post) doesn't even bother to point this out?

Governor McDonnell, you need to be held personally responsible for this Ponzi scheme that you are pulling on the Commonwealth of Virginia.

(h/t to Lowell at Blue Virginia for the link to Doug Mataconis' blog.)

Cross-posted on Loudoun Progress

Simply Illogical

2010-08-11T08:17:00.005-04:00

Well, it's not like we didn't see this one coming...

30-year incumbent Republican congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA-10) on Tuesday voted against a bill (that President Obama signed) giving aid to states that allows laid-off teachers to be re-hired and keeps police officers on payrolls.

Rep. Wolf represents the hypocrisy running rampant these days within the Republican Party. On the one hand, they criticize the Obama administration for their policies not reducing the unemployment rate quickly enough, yet when the administration passes a bill that saves jobs, the GOP howls. They'll whine about the cost, yet will push for tax rate cuts on the wealthy that will increase the federal debt and deficit. This bill actually reduces the federal deficit by over $1 billion, yet 161 Republicans (and Frank Wolf) voted against it.

Where's the logic in all that?

This is the party that passed those massive tax rate cuts under the previous administration, claiming the cuts would create jobs. The unemployment rate shot up to over 10% during that time. Now, as the cuts are nearing their expiration, the Republicans (and Frank Wolf) are claiming that letting the cuts expire would hamper small business' ability to create jobs. So let me see here - the initial cuts were supposed to create jobs, but they didn't, so we need to extend those cuts so that small business can create jobs.

Where's the logic in that?

The fact is simple; Frank Wolf has no ideas for creating jobs in this district. In fact, his vote on Tuesday showed that he's not interested in saving jobs, just saving his career. His main congressional objective is to oppose anything favored by the administration and/or the leadership in Congress. He's not a leader - he's a follower, and he's unfortunately following a path (and trying to get us to follow with him) that leads us right back to the problems that caused our whole economic mess in the first place.

Jeff Barnett, on the other hand, IS a proven leader. His 26 years of military service and years as a business leader are proof that he has the ideas that can turn this country around. Jeff Barnett understands the importance that teachers have in educating our children. He doesn't underestimate the role that public safety personnel play in our daily lives, unlike Frank Wolf, who voted against that yesterday.

Jeff Barnett wants people to hear about what he will do to help this district, not run away from his record, like Frank Wolf is doing.

In November, you have a choice - return to the failed policies of the early 2000's, or progress forward with a proven leader like Jeff Barnett.

I know how I'm voting. It's logical.

EDIT (3:07 PM 8/11/10): What's galling is that part of the plan to help pay for this was the elimination of a tax break to multi-national companies (you know, companies that send jobs overseas so that they can increase their profits).

So not only did Frank Wolf vote AGAINST saving teacher and public safety jobs, he voted FOR continuing tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.

Yeah. He's really looking out for our best interests.

Bull.

Originally posted on Loudoun Progress

Listen To The Music

2010-08-10T07:54:00.005-04:00

Loudoun County has a lot of amenities; good restaurants, abundant shopping, tourist attractions, wineries, etc. What we don't have is a good, year-round live music venue.

Sure, we have the Loudoun Summer Music Fest at Belmont Country Club; we have the concerts on the green in Leesburg; and we have other smaller music series during the summer. But we're lacking the live music venue that attracts the up-and-coming bands and artists. Venues that exist in DC like the 9:30 Club and Black Cat; Iota and The Birchmere in the Arlington/Alexandria area; and Ram's Head Live in Baltimore.

I'm a Lifetime Season Pass holder for LSMF, and I see thousands of music lovers at every show. And those are for classic rock-type bands (Cheap Trick, Blues Traveler, Gov't Mule). I wonder whether a venue that puts on weekly shows with newer touring acts supported by local bands would be able to attract a following.

Bands like The Gaslight Anthem (out of New Jersey), who are currently on a World Tour, but the closest they're coming to the DC area is Baltimore. Or The Hold Steady, who will be at the 9:30 Club in October. Or possibly The Bravery, another band who recently appeared at 9:30.

I did a search yesterday on www.wamadc.com, the website for the Washington Area Music Association (awarders of "The Wammies"), and visited the websites of the bands nominated in 2009 in the Modern Rock category. I was astounded as to the talent shown by a few of those bands. I will single out four bands in that category: Fools and Horses (out of Baltimore); Hotspur (from Fairfax); Honor by August (DC); and Sematic (also out of Fairfax). All of these bands have music available on iTunes and Amazon.com; they have each released albums on CD; and each has quite the following on Facebook. And this is just the best the area has to offer. I'm sure there are other original artists out there of a similar calibre.

Nothing against venues like the 9:30 Club, but it's just too far to go on a Monday or Wednesday night, for example, to see good live music. I'd love to have a place to go in this area that provides music afficionados like myself with access to national and local acts.

(Note: the acts for whom I provided links are strictly my own personal taste.)

Wolf Running Scared

2010-07-21T12:17:00.002-04:00

The office of Jeff Barnett, Democratic challenger for Virginia's 10th House district seat, issued a press release today stating that Rep. Frank Wolf has refused Mr. Barnett's call for one debate in each of the counties that comprise the district.

In a statement from the release, Mr. Barnett said:

(V)oters – wherever they live – deserve to see their candidates debate the issues that matter to their communities. Having those discussions is one of the obligations – and privileges – of public service. It’s disappointing that Frank Wolf doesn’t agree.”

It's not surprising that Rep. Wolf is running scared. Voters are angry at the stalling and obstructionist tactics being practiced by the Republican party these days, and there is also a true anti-incumbent message coming from the voters. A 30-year incumbent who has voted against such measures as affordable health care for all, financial aid reform for college students, and who sided with the Wall Street banks and Big Oil over his constituents should be running scared. Wolf wants to limit debate in order to keep the voters of the 10th District in the dark with regard to his abominable voting record.

The 10th District deserves much better than continued obstruction and obfuscation. It's time to put someone in Congress who will be accountable to his constituents, who will solve problems in our time and on our dime, and who will not try to run away from votes that run anathema to the well-being of the citizens of his district.

That person is Jeff Barnett.

Originally posted at Loudoun Progress

And So It Begins

2010-06-17T13:15:00.007-04:00

Among the more interesting items appearing across our desks lately was this press release from former Delegate Richard H. “Dick” Black of Loudoun, who is contemplating a run for the Virginia Senate in 2011:

STERLING, VA (June 15, 2010) --- Virginia Delegate Richard H. Black, who served four terms in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1998 to 2006, today expressed thanks to the participants of a poll conducted by the Loudoun Independent. The clear majority of those who participated in the poll stated that Black is needed back in Richmond.

Wow. As a staunch supporter of Senator Mark Herring (D-33), whom Black would seemingly be challenging, this news is very surprising to me. One would think that the rousing beating Mr. Black took at the hands of Dave Poisson in the 2005 election would have served notice that his brand of right-wing loonyism (i.e., “baby pesticides” and plastic fetuses) didn’t fly in Loudoun County.

Until you consider the source of the poll, and do a little digging.

The Loudoun Independent is owned by William Dean, who also runs engineering firm M.C. Dean, Inc., headquartered in Sterling, VA. Ironically, Bill Dean personally donated $2,000 to Mr. Black’s campaigns when he (Black) served as Delegate for the 32nd District.

Even more ironically, M.C. Dean Building intelligence Inc. is also on record as having donated $19,500 to Mr. Black while he was a delegate, dating back to 2000.

The Loudoun Independent, if they want to be considered as a legitimate news operation in Loudoun, should have either revealed this to their readers or stayed on the sidelines. One can also wonder if campaign finance laws are possibly being violated here: can a known Black supporter running a poll on their newspaper's website for that candidate to gauge interest in his campaign be construed as making an in-kind donation to that candidate? While true that Black hasn't yet declared, why would he issue a press release stating the results if he wasn't going to run?

The poll, though, was simply a sidebar poll, and as of 1 PM on June 17th only had 324 responses. No other polls have been taken by any other media outlet in Loudoun to date.

So until an impartial source comes out with a more scientific poll showing similar results, we can take the Loudoun Independent/Dick Black’s poll for what it is: nothing substantial. And Black's hyping of this poll as a mandate from the citizens of Loudoun is just a gross overexaggeration.

But the next time the Loudoun Independent hypes Dick Black, or vice versa, you'll know the motivations.

Originally posted on Loudoun Progress

Postscript: this was released by the Loudoun Times-Mirror after I published this diary. Hat-tip to Erika Garman.

Ta Ta to the Tally Ho?

2010-06-08T15:03:00.006-04:00

Leesburg Today's Kara Clark reports that the iconic downtown Leesburg Tally Ho movie theater is for sale. Reports are that landlord Don Devine is looking at possibly selling the building to a music venue.

As a music afficionado, this is very pleasing to hear. I find it very difficult to get down to DC for shows at the 9:30 Club or to The Birchmere in Alexandria, so something like this would be welcome. I've been to the State Theater in Falls Church, a converted old-time movie theater; they have converted part of the theater into a dining establishment with a view of the stage, and the area in front of the stage is standing-room for the concert-goers. Hopefully, this is the way the new owners will go, if it happens to be a musically inclined buyer.

Also, having musical options in the fall and winter, after the Loudoun Summer Music Fest season is complete (not to mention Leesburg's Acoutic on the Green), would be a great treat for music fans.

Politicizing the Troops

2010-06-02T14:15:00.001-04:00

On May 28, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5136, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011. The bill passed by a 229-186 vote, and incredibly, our own Congressman, Frank Wolf (R-VA) voted against this bill.

It’s really interesting that a congressman who voted for every defense authorization bill during the previous administration (and the concurrent explosion in federal spending because of it) would conveniently vote against defense authorization this year.

Here are some of the things included in H.R. 5136 that Congressman Wolf voted against funding:
The act would:

• require the Administration to develop a National Military Strategic Plan to ensure Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons
• authorize additional funds for the protection of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, including $3.5 billion for measures to counter improvised explosive devices
• provide $7.2 billion for new equipment for National Guard and Reserve units
• provide an average 1.9 percent pay increase for military personnel in Fiscal Year 2011 (.5 percent above the President’s request) and provides hostile fire/imminent danger pay increase from $225 to $260 per month and a family separation allowance increase from $250 to $285 per month
• extend health care coverage to dependent children up to age 26 for TRICARE Reserve Select beneficiaries
• allow wounded warriors to apply for expedited security clearance processing in order to facilitate the hiring of individuals who have had their military careers cut short due to a physical disability.

Is Frank Wolf against ensuring that Iran doesn’t acquire nukes? Is he against protecting the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan? He doesn’t believe that troops should get less than a 2% increase in pay? He’s against wounded servicemen getting an expedited security clearance so they can work?

Of course not; I don’t believe any rational American is against all of that. What Frank Wolf is doing, though, is using our brave military men and women as pawns in a political game, in a unified (or mostly unified) Republican front to see to it that the Democrats, and by extension President Obama, fail. Troops who put their lives on the line every day to ensure our freedom. Frank Wolf obviously believes that political propaganda is more important than funding the troops. As a military veteran, it saddens me to see my congressman behave like this.

Jeff Barnett knows better. He served as one of those troops for 26 years, while Frank Wolf was sitting behind a desk in Congress. Jeff’s own daughter is flying jets in Afghanistan. He has seen the ravages of war firsthand, and second-hand through his children. Jeff Barnett knows how important it is to support our troops, not to use them as fodder for his political games.

There’s a reason Jeff Barnett is out-raising Frank Wolf on the campaign trail by nearly 2-to-1. It’s because people believe Jeff can do a better job in Congress than the incumbent.

Please support Jeff Barnett for Congress.

(Originally posted on Loudoun Progress)

Frank Wolf: Deficit Peacock

2010-05-28T09:15:00.001-04:00

Yesterday in Congress, the "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011” was being debated. Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-MA) introduced an amendment to the Act that would have removed funding of $485 million for an alternate F-35 Joint Strike Fighter engine (F-136) which was to be built by a joint venture between General Electric (GE) and Rolls Royce. The current F-35 engine (F-135) is built by Pratt & Whitney, who won the contract with the Department of Defense almost 10 years ago, and whose competition for the contract was GE/Rolls Royce. According to Reuters, this is the fourth year that the legislation to scrap F-136 has been introduced, also failing each of the previous 3 years.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has classified the engine as wasteful, as there is no need for a second engine for the F-35. The $485 million that Rep. Pingree’s amendment would have cut from the bill would have been used to reduce the deficit. It’s not much, considering the grand scope of the deficit, but the amendment served a dual purpose, removing wasteful spending and reducing the deficit. You would think that Republicans in Congress would be behind this. Of course, you’d be wrong.

The amendment failed, 193-231, with some Republicans voting to strip, and some Democrats voting to save. But one Congressman who voted to save the wasteful spending was our own resident deficit hawk, Frank R. Wolf (R-10). This seems to go against what Rep. Wolf has posted on the home page of his Congressional campaign website, which states:

Nationally, I continue to push Congress to address our nation's skyrocketing debt, calling for a deficit reduction commission that puts everything on the table and requires Congress to vote up or down on its recommendations.

From reading that, and seeing his vote yesterday, I presume Rep. Wolf would rather pass on the responsibility and have someone else tackle the nation’s deficit, rather than directly voting on an amendment that would reduce the deficit. Of course, Rep. Wolf is no stranger to voting for wasteful government programs, as he voted in lock-step with every Bush administration program that caused the deficit to balloon between 2001 and 2009.

Frank Wolf may talk a good game about reducing our deficit and eliminating government waste, but when the cards are on the table, he’s not a deficit hawk; he’s nothing more than a deficit peacock.

Jeff Barnett knows that we have to solve our nation’s problems in our time and on our dime. As a former Air Force lieutenant colonel, he knows wasteful defense spending when he sees it, and will truly fight to reduce the deficit.

Isn’t it time we had a congressman who kept his word?

(originally posted on Loudoun Progress)

Loudoun County Redistricting

2010-05-19T13:53:00.000-04:00

The census is well underway, with Loudoun County checking in at 77% response rate. Late this year and early in 2011, state legislators will be deep in discussions regarding redistricting the House of Delegates and Senate district boundaries. A nice explanation of how that will go about happening is discussed here. Similarly, Loudoun County’s magisterial districts will also likely be redrawn in 2011, and Supervisor Lori Waters (R-Broad Run) has been making waves as to drastically changing the make up of the districts.

Supervisor Waters introduced on January 20, 2010, an action item that recommends exploring changes to the Board of Supervisors terms and districts. The changes she wishes to explore are: 1) staggered terms for Supervisors (i.e., 4 or 5 supervisors running every 4 years instead of all 9 at the same time); 2) an increase or decrease of the number of supervisor seats; and 3) having at-large representatives instead of district-based representation.

Proponents of staggered terms say that moving to this type of system would ensure board continuity and would preclude the loss of institutional knowledge should there be a mass purge of supervisors. It can be argued that board continuity would be increased the longer that supervisors have to work with each other. Shorter terms of office (i.e., two years) would give the supervisors less chance to work together as a team, if there are supervisors being voted out every two years. Also, the “loss of institutional knowledge” argument is completely laughable, as incoming supervisors rely on paid county staff to bring them up to speed. The paid staff are the heart and soul of county government, and are the true “institutional knowledge”.

Staggered terms would also mean that with elections every two years, fund-raising will become more prevalent. With fewer candidates among whom to spread dollars (likely to incumbents), it would become inherently more expensive for citizens to mount serious challenges. And we would lose the opportunity for a “throw the bums out” movement, a la 2007, which is all the populist rage in politics today.

Ms. Waters also proposes looking into the possibility of reducing the number of supervisor seats. Currently, Loudoun County has 8 supervisors and one at-large representative. Waters’ action item used 2005 data to compare the number of residents represented in Loudoun with similar sized counties in Virginia. But 2009 census estimates put Loudoun’s population at just over 301,000, an 18% increase from 2005, and we are still growing. Using 2009 data, the 8 district-based supervisors represent an average of 37,646 residents each. Waters estimates that Loudoun can get by with 7 supervisors, representing over 43,000 residents per seat, on par with Prince William County, larger in population. Why we would want to increase the number of residents represented is beyond me. It would entail making the supervisor a full-time position, and would almost certainly require a hike in the supervisors’ salaries. Interestingly, Supervisor Waters voted to increase the salaries of the Supervisors by 84% in 2006. In a time of budget belt-tightening, is that what we really want to do, when teacher and school staff salaries are being frozen?

(When I questioned her on this in 2006, her e-mail response was "I do believe that whomever serves on the Board of Supervisors should be fairly compensated for their time, especially when most weeks this is a full-time job despite our technical "part-time" status.")

But the most troubling aspect of Waters’ proposal is moving from a district-based representation to an at-large representation. The problems with this are many. First, Loudoun County is very diverse, from the go-go suburbia in the east to the pastoral west. Different sections of the county have different needs, and the only way to ensure fair representation of each sector of the county is to keep the district system. Second, supervisors today have opportunity to really get to know most of their constituents; moving to an at-large system with fewer seats would remove the connection supervisors have to their constituents, and vice-versa. Third, at-large voting systems bring with it the possibility of “manufactured majorities”, since an at-large vote is a “vote for four” (or five, depending on the year) system, and parties can run bloc campaigns, instead of district-by-district. This removes the issue of supervisors running for the good of their district and instead running for the county as a whole. Last, since an at-large system, with fewer seats and higher constituent numbers, would require the supervisor position to be a full-time job, only the wealthy would seemingly be able to run for office. As it stands now, in a part-time role, supervisors can continue to pursue a career and supplement their income with their county pay. Not necessarily so if the board becomes full-time.

So the district-based system of 9 supervisors, up for election every four years, is simply the best system for this county. There is no need to change.

Other References:
http://www.fixthelines.org/AboutRedistricting/Principles/tabid/562/Default.aspx
http://archive.fairvote.org/?page=766
http://www.wickedlocal.com/franklin/news/x931228487/Franklin-to-consider-staggered-terms-for-officials
http://www.labyrinth.com/barb/login/199708.txt

Rated "X" For Leadership

2010-05-14T13:41:00.005-04:00

When is pornography linked with job creation? When the idea-averse Republicans in Congress (including our own clueless Frank Wolf) decide it is.

Yesterday, Democrats in the House of Representatives were poised to pass something called the COMPETES Act, which would have increased “investments in science, research and training programs”, thereby creating more jobs . But the GOP, ever mindful that there’s an election coming up in 6 months, decided that they’d play political games and made a motion to recommit the bill, and attached to it an amendment which would bar federal funds from being paid as salary to federal workers viewing porn on government computers.

Now, I think we can all agree that misuse of government property in that manner is completely inappropriate. But how was that amendment in any way germane to the legislation in the COMPETES Act? Where was Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA-10th), who, as a 30-year member of the House of Representatives, could have shown some authority and said, ”we need to create jobs in this economy; this amendment will kill the opportunity to do so”.

Of course, the blindly partisan Wolf took no such leadership role, instead falling in line with the rest of the obstructionist Republicans, and the bill died.

And as my colleague "Paradox13" at Loudoun Progress points out, back in 2007, Rep. Wolf "inserted an earmark in a Congressional spending bill" that paid two retired police officers $150,000 to "harvest and review" online pornography for Justice Department investigations. No doubt the computers being used to "harvest and review" the data was either government owned or purchased.

Jeff Barnett, running against Wolf this fall, is a champion for job creation. He understands that investing in education and training is key to getting people back into the workforce again. He’s not interested in going along with cheap political stunts like Frank Wolf is – he’s committed to fixing our problems in our time and on our dime.

The first fix is to remove the 15-term, do-nothing incumbent from office, and keep this economy moving along.

(originally posted on Loudoun Progress)

Supreme Nonsense in the General Assembly

2010-05-13T14:18:00.001-04:00

(originally posted on Loudoun Progress)

Rosalind Helderman of The Washington Post today tells us of a letter written by 10 members of the Virginia General Assembly, all military veterans, to Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner, “expressing their apprehension” regarding President Obama’s selection of Elena Kagan as the next Supreme Court justice.

The Assembly members (including Del. Thomas A. Greason (R-33)) take issue with Solicitor General Kagan’s amicus brief filed when she was Dean of Harvard Law regarding her opposition to military recruiters on Harvard’s campus. What the Assembly members fail to say in their letter to the Senators is that Ms. Kagan was against the recruiters’ presence primarily because the military’s stance on gay and lesbian servicemembers ran counter to Harvard’s non-discrimination policy. Simply put, if the military would treat all potential enlistees/officer candidates equally, regardless of sexual orientation, there would be no issue. The Atlantic further reveals that a Harvard student/soldier doesn’t doubt Kagan’s support of pursuing a military career; just the fact that the military discriminates against a certain sector of the population.

(As a proud former military member myself, and a staunch supporter of the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, I have no problem with Ms. Kagan’s completely rational argument.)

The Assembly members also go on to assert that Ms. Kagan :

would be the only current member of the Supreme Court to come to the bench without prior judicial experience. As such, she has no body of rulings from which to form even the most basic conclusions as to her judicial philosophy.

Yet another misstep on the legislators’ parts – there have been many instances of justices with no prior judicial experience serving on the Supreme Court; former Chief Justice Willam Rehnquist, for one. The Los Angeles Times states:

Kagan is most often compared to William H. Rehnquist, who was a lawyer in the Justice Department when President Nixon selected him for the court in 1971. Rehnquist had never served as a judge but had spent years in private practice in Arizona. Like (Earl) Warren, he later became chief justice.

Yes, that’s right, former Chief Justice Earl Warren also had no judicial experience when he was appointed to the court, either.

It seems that in the typical GOP obstructionary mode, they have no ideas other than to say “No”, so they will go to great lengths to distort someone’s record and qualifications to support their narrow views.

Virginia, along with the 33rd District, deserves better from its’ legislators.

Energy Deprivation

2010-05-11T10:59:00.002-04:00

I’ve outlined in previous blog postings about how Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA-10) claims to support the middle class through tax incentives and also seems to promote job creation. Yet his actions speak louder than his words, to use an oft-quoted axiom.

On May 6, 2010, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5019, the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010, on a 246-161 vote. This act, among other things, would “create jobs, save energy, and lower families' energy bills”. The act would authorize rebates between $3,000 and $8,000 for homeowners who upgrade their homes to be more energy-efficient. The jobs would be created in the construction industry (along with construction-related sectors), and would potentially offer benefits to 3 million homeowners.

Yet, Rep. Wolf voted “no” on H.R. 5019. In the past, Rep. Wolf has voted against Democratic proposals simply on the basis of party politics. Yet on this bill, a number of Republicans voted “Yea” (Maryland Republican Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, for one), so party politics may not be entirely to blame. It could have something to do with funding, yet the CBO states:

"Enacting the bill would not affect direct spending or revenues”

Nowhere on Rep. Wolf’s campaign website does it mention anything about protecting the environment or creating private sector jobs, but on his official House website, he does state that he supports conservation and energy efficiency. It looks, though, as if that only applies to conserving fuel, not the energy in your homes.

He does support H.R. 2846, the American Energy Act, which provides “tax incentives to businesses and homeowners that improve energy efficiency”, but that bill is heavily tilted towards supporting off-shore oil drilling. That bill was sponsored by House Minority leader John Boehner (R-OH), and is currently in committee. H.R. 5019 was sponsored by Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT), so that could explain his ambivalence.

Nevertheless, when it comes to supporting job creation, energy efficiency, and tax incentives for homeowners, Frank Wolf continues to play politics, while Jeff Barnett, Democratic candidate for the 10th district of Virginia is actually looking out for your best interests.

Cross posted on Loudoun Progress.

Loudoun Progress

2010-05-10T12:46:00.003-04:00

I'm excited to announce the formation of a new blog, Loudoun Progress. This will be a joint effort, with me joining 3 other LCDC members/bloggers (Evan Macbeth, Liz Miller, and David Weintraub) in consolidating our 4 individual blogs and postings to one main site.

I'll still be putting content on this blog, and will be cross-posting Loudoun-centric issues to Loudoun Progress as well.

We're still in the formative stages, but check it out and tell us what you think.

Careless Bomb Tossing

2010-05-07T14:22:00.005-04:00

A few years back, I authored a bomb-thrower of a blog called “Lansdowne…and Out in the Open”, which was basically an angry-man’s way of leveling criticism at my homeowner’s association. It was mildly popular, but started to get out of hand when I foolishly waged a campaign against one of our appointed board members. It also didn’t help that one of the anonymous commenters intimated that he owned firearms and wasn’t afraid to use them. Needless to say, I saw the error of my ways and discontinued the blog in early 2008.

The major mistake of mine was neglecting to get the full story when I would write about perceived misdoings in our association. I would speculate and make wild assumptions; it made for great copy, but unfortunately, was also careless. At times, though, I did receive anonymous ‘insider” information from residents who served on committees in the HOA, and looking back I now realize that speculating based on such information was specious, if not unethical. I chalk it up to “rookie mistakes”.

But at least I learned; so when I started this blog, I made sure that I got all available information before I made any claims. Unfortunately, there is a Facebook page now out that rails against the perceived injustices by the Lansdowne HOA (I refuse to publicize the site or link to it). In this page, the author/administrator does exactly what I found wrong with my old blog: making sweeping generalizations based on assumption and spotty information. Careless and baseless, indeed.
This is an offshoot of our board elections of this past autumn, where neighbors (i.e., volunteers) who were running for board positions were subject to personal attacks based on innuendo, all on the basis of perceived misdeeds, even though facts presented showed otherwise.

As the spouse of a sitting Lansdowne HOA board member, I am privy to hearing about non-privileged information, and that has also helped me in realizing the error of my previous ways. There is a lot that goes on within the boundaries of an HOA board, and those who do not have the complete story and make wild claims based on what little they actually know are doing a disservice to not only the residents, but as well as to anyone who would even entertain the notion of running for a vacant board seat. Why would anyone want to volunteer themselves to be subject to constant criticism based on erroneous information?

I have also come to realize that people against whom I made those baseless claims were indeed acting in the best interests of the community, even if I disagreed with them at the time. I have made amends with a few, and hold no ill will towards some of the others. Am I biased, being the spouse of a board member? Probably. But looking back, I was not proud of most of what I did, so this puts me at peace with myself.

By the way, I am also the chair of the Communications Committee in Lansdowne, and it has been speculated by this person that I rose to that position based on my wife’s position. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, I volunteered for the committee after my wife was elected, took the position of vice-chair after a few months (when no one else did), and was elevated to chair when the chair at the time resigned for family reasons, unbeknownst to our Board of Directors. There is also speculation that I, as chair of the committee, am simply a conduit for the board of directors. This, on its face, is simply insulting. I operate my committee with no board input.

I was told this a number of times with my old blog, and it holds true today: one should get their facts straight before making outrageous claims.

Just Do It

2010-05-06T10:19:00.003-04:00

Today's blog post by the Doorbell Queen hits the nail squarely on the head.

Democrats on the Hill, if you want to keep your majority, if you want to keep your jobs, then DO THE JOB WE ELECTED YOU TO DO.

Act upon your promises. Stop pretending the republicans will work with you. They won't.

The Democrats (after Arlen Specter's party change and Al Franken's eventual seating) were handed a 60-vote majority in the Senate, and a nice majority in the House. With a Democratic president, one would think that much could be accomplished. But egos abounded, and certain Democratic Senators (Lieberman, Nelson, Lincoln) and Representatives (Stupak) decided to put personal gain over the good of the country, and what we got was watered-down legislation.

Democrats on the Hill - give us a reason to vote for you. Do your jobs. And crow about it.

The right-wing noise machine will still whine and complain, but America wouldn't have given you control of 2/3 of the country if they didn't agree with you. Don't be scared off by a small (but rather loud) minority of racist, homophobic, spelling-challenged gadflies.

Just Do It (apologies for the shamefully stolen corporate moniker).

Republican Doubletalk

2010-05-04T10:16:00.002-04:00

A very interesting column by Dana Milbank appeared in today's Washington Post. In it, Milbank spotlights a number of small-government Republicans from the Gulf Coast who are now clamoring for government intervention in the BP oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Interestingly, there was also a graphic in the print edition of The Post that showed that the reddest of red states received the lion's share of federal receipts (an average of $1.50 for every dollar contributed), while the bluest of blue states received the least amount of government help (less than $0.90 for every dollar contributed).

An analysis of data from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation by Washington Post database specialist Dan Keating found that people in states that voted Republican were by far the biggest beneficiaries of federal spending. In states that voted strongly Republican, people received an average of $1.50 back from the federal government for every dollar they paid in federal taxes. In moderately Republican states, the amount was $1.19. In moderately Democratic states, people received on average of 99 cents in federal funds for each dollar they paid in taxes. In strongly Democratic states, people got back just 86 cents on the tax dollar.

So, for all the big talk by the small-government forces, all they are doing is pandering to the low-information and willfully ignorant tea party crowd. The massive expansion in federal spending during the Bush administration, as evidenced by the chart from the Tax Foundation, shows that for all the "we want to reign in the size of the federal government" talk, it's just a case of big-government Republican doublespeak.

Traffic Solutions on the Horizon

2010-04-28T10:36:00.006-04:00

Very good news for Loudoun County commuters this week. Yesterday, the ribbon was cut on the extension of Russell Branch Parkway from Ashbrook Commons (Ashburn Village Boulevard) to Loudoun County Parkway. East-west connectors are deperately needed in Eastern Loudoun these days, and this is a relief for not only those Ashburn residents south of Route 7, but also for those of us who live north of 7 - the congestion should be alleviated somewhat during both the morning and afternoon commutes.

Next on the agenda is the opening of the Route 7/Loudoun County Parkway partial interchange. Electronic billboards in the area state that the opening was scheduled for today, but as of this morning, the on and off ramps were both still blocked. The heavy rains we experienced this weekend may have played a part in delaying the opening.

Nevertheless, once the Parkway opens to traffic, the combination of that with Russell Branch Parkway will make commutes instantly more bearable. Key will be the removal of the traffic signal at Loudoun County Parkway, promoting a more free-flow vehicular movement instead of the stop-and-go current situation. The ultimate pleasure will be the removal of the traffic signal just west of the Route 28 exchange at the entrance to Strayer University. This signal is by far the biggest contributor to the traffic tie-ups in the afternoon as the 2 lanes of the Route 28 terminus are forced to merge with 3 lanes of westbound Route 7 traffic, combined with jockeying for position for Route 28 drivers needing to exit to Loudoun County Parkway.

It's getting better out there; thanks to Supervisors Stevens Miller and Lori Waters, along with State Senator Mark Herring for their hard work in getting these traffic remedies enacted.

(h/t to Hannah Hager)

A Complete Lack of Respect

2010-04-26T12:13:00.004-04:00

Is Republican congressman Frank Wolf (R-10th) afraid of appearing on the same stage as Democratic challenger Jeff Barnett? Or is he just showing a complete lack of respect for Mr. Barnett?

Since Wolf is a 30-year incumbent, my guess is that he's not afraid, just completely disrespectful. A non-partisan group, the Primary Matters Coalition, held a candidate forum this past weekend in Manassas, and Wolf (along with 10th District Republican chair Jim Rich) failed (or refused) to attend. So Barnett answered all of the questions, and really let the voters know where he stands on the issues.

Frank Wolf better be scared, though. I've spoken recently with Jeff Barnett and his campaign manager, Marc Abanto. Jeff is very knowledgeable on the issues, and he's going to surprise a lot of people when (and if) Wolf gets around to debating him on substance. Jeff is going to show the voters that Wolf isn't looking out for your best interests, he's only interested in seeing President Obama fail. In other words, he's putting politics over people.

And for all the disrespect Frank Wolf is showing to his worthy challenger, Jeff Barnett will show all the respect in the world when the career military leader politely pushes the career politician out the door in November.

It's Getting To Be Embarrassing

2010-04-16T11:57:00.003-04:00

I was born and raised in Philadelphia, and grew up a Philadelphia sports fan. I attended my first game in 1973 (Flyers vs. Atlanta Flames), and I've witnessed 2 Stanley Cup championships, 1 NBA championship, 2 World Series titles, and numerous appearances in final games/series by my home teams.

I've also had to put up with, for the past 30-some years, razzing by other teams' fans of how obnoxious Philadelphia sports fans are. I would try and defend them, and was always proud that as bad as Eagles and Flyers fans behaved, Phillies fans were always free from controversy. And why not? They were (except for a brief time from 1976-83) not very successful. Nobody cared.

Until yesterday.

That's when a 21 year-old "fan" from Cherry Hill, NJ intentionally vomited on an 11 year-old girl during the Phillies game against the Washington Nationals because her father dared to report to stadium security the obnoxious behavior of the patrons around him.

Add to that the boorishness of Phillies fans who traveled en masse to Washington to see the season opener at Nationals Park, and last July's beating death of a fan after a game at Citizens Bank Park, and it's becoming obvious that they are approaching Eagles fans for classlessness.

There's long been the urban legend about Philly fans being tough on everyone, from Santa Claus to Michael Irvin, but that's mostly been attributed to Eagles fans. Most of the unruly behavior started to boil over in the Buddy Ryan era of the mid-80's, and the legions of fans to follow have decided to live up (or down, as it may be) to that reputation. The "700 Level" at now-demolished Veterans Stadium was a big part of the legend. But Phillies fans were mostly immune from being lumped in with the bad fans.

But the mixture of a new stadium with a World Series title and back-to-back appearances in the World Series, along with a city's lust to back a winner, and you now have the hangers-on who have moved their Eagles rowdiness across Pattison Avenue to the Phillies' digs. And it saddens me to see it, because those of us who have lived and died with the Phils since the early 70's (and before), who have endured horrible seasons and got rewarded with a championship in 2008, have to be lumped in with these uncivilized animals that now are ubiquitous at the games.

I'm never going to renounce my loyalties to my Philly teams, but I am embarrassed. And I refuse to apologize anymore for their behavior. But it has to stop.

Pic of the Week

2010-04-16T10:15:00.004-04:00

From The Rude Pundit, at yesterday's teabagger rally in DC:

"And what's not to love about the picture? [snip] The face of the goateed old guy, who looks like he's ready to vomit out some acid mixture of fear and confusion in his gut, wondering who let the Negroes in to ruin their perfectly fun cross-burning?"

Classic!!

The Real Tea Partiers

2010-04-15T15:59:00.006-04:00

From a Loudoun County resident, in today's Washington Post on-line, at the "tea party" protests in Washington:

Nearby, Jerry Johnson, 58, a lawyer from Berryville, Va., held a homemade sign depicting the United States as the Titanic striking an iceberg.

Johnson continued: "Normally I'm not a protester. I've got other things to do in life. I'd rather be doing all kinds of other things. But I just can't stand by and watch this country go down the tubes."

He said he "worked my way up from nothing" and was not about to allow "somebody else to reach in my pocket and just take it away and give to somebody laying on their ass."

Johnson expressed opposition to President Obama. "It's not just because he's black," (emphasis mine) he said. "I wish I could tell you that I loved this guy, that he was a great president, that I had faith in him. But I have none. Zero."

Not just because he's black.

But it is a factor, though, isn't it, Mr. Johnson?

Wow. I really believed, after the fallout from the McDonnell-Confederate flap last week, that we've come far in race relations. I see that we really haven't.

(h/t to Miles Grant)

Rich Anthony Ends His Campaign

2010-04-14T09:58:00.005-04:00

This is truly a surprise, and disappointing (but we all understand health issues - good luck on the surgery, Rich!). I truly believed Rich would have given Frank Wolf a run for the money this Fall (h/t to Blue Virginia):

Dear Friends,
It is with great disappointment that I must announce that I will no longer be a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the United States Congress in the 10th district of Virginia.

Over the past 3-4 weeks I have been experiencing a reoccurrence of a back injury I suffered years ago. While I attempted to push through the pain and continue on, I found myself in an orthopedic surgeon's office on Monday. He gave me the news I hoped I would never hear, I need to have surgery on my back.

After discussing all of my options, I was told that postponing the surgery until after the election could result in permanent nerve damage. The best case scenario puts my recovery at 4 to 6 weeks. During that time I would not be able to actively campaign. With only 8 weeks until the election, such a time frame simply does not allow me to run an effective primary campaign. So, in conjunction with my doctor and my family, I have come to the sad conclusion that I must end my campaign for congress in Virginia's 10th district.

The decision is disappointing, and was difficult to make. I truly feel that with my background in economic and workforce development and my strong message of getting our economy on the right track would have made me a strong alternative to Frank Wolf in the fall. But I believe this is the best decision for my family and me.

I want to thank all of my supporters, my staff and my family for all of their help. I can't put into words how much it has meant to me personally. I will contact as many of you as I can in the days ahead.

Once my treatment is complete I intend to do everything I can to support Jeff Barnett's campaign and focus on our ultimate objective, defeating Frank Wolf in the Fall.

All my best,

Rich

Now we all need to throw our support behind Jeff Barnett, who I also believe can really make a nice run at Wolf.

Thank you Rich, and good luck, Jeff!!

Congrats!!

2010-04-12T15:22:00.003-04:00

Congratulations are due to "paradox13VA", author of the blog "Leesburg Tomorrow", on the birth of his son this afternoon!

All indications are that baby and mom are doing well!

Picture of the Day

2010-04-07T12:31:00.006-04:00

If you want to "Take Back America", tea-baggers, the first thing you should learn how to do is to learn how to spell "America":

The Heat is On

2010-04-06T09:47:00.003-04:00

So today's high temperature in the DC Metro area is supposedly going to approach 90 degrees (when the average high is around 62 for this time of year). It made it close yesterday. And the temperatures for the next few days are going to be up in that range as well.

It's hard to believe that just about 8 weeks ago, we were inundated with close to four feet of snow, a.k.a., "Snowpocalypse 2010". There were scores of people coming out crowing about how the record snowfall disproved global warming. A few days of being dumped on by Mother Nature, and climate change was all a myth.

And here we are, 2 months later, and a 4-day "heat wave" is making its way through the area. I'm wondering if we're going to hear those same people who made a big fuss about a week's worth of snow "disproving" climate change will be out today recanting and saying this 4-day warm snap now proves global climate change.

I doubt it.

Watch Wolf Go Moderate

2010-03-31T07:40:00.006-04:00

With the announcement yesterday by James Trautz that he is withdrawing as a Republican challenger in the 10th District against Rep. Frank R. Wolf, I'm going to make a prediction.

Wolf took a sharp right turn in his legislating over the past few months in an attempt to woo the tea party element to his campaign. But with the far-right challenger out of the picture, expect Wolf to move away from the fringe of the party and move towards the center, courting the moderate independents that make up a majority of the 10th District in Loudoun and Fairfax counties.

Also expect to see more "franked" mail arriving in your mailboxes; Wolf recently sent out 3 pieces of "constituent literature", paid for at taxpayer expense, that looked very much like campaign mailers. Of course, it's illegal to send campaign flyers at taxpayer expense, which is why those mailers are marked as "newsletters".

But the more aware residents of the 10th District know all about Frank Wolf and his campaign strategy. We know, for example, that Wolf voted against the following bills that would benefit the middle class:

- H.R. 2847, the "Jobs For Main Street Act", which allocated "funds for infrastructure and public sector employment and extends assistance for the unemployed";

- H.R. 4173, The Wall Street Accountability and Consumer Protection Act in December 2009, which would regulate the financial services industry; you know, those "too big to fail" firms;

- House Amendment 534 to H.R. 4173, which "authorizes bankruptcy courts to modify the terms of mortgages made on homeowners’ primary residences, a practice which is barred by current law";

- and a host of other bills that can be found on this blog, including the reconciliation bill to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that made college education more affordable (see below).

Watch the veer to the middle that Frank Wolf will make in the next few weeks. But remember, he played politics the past few months with sensible bills that benefited the middle class, putting the Republican Party ahead of what's best for you.

Wolf Votes Against Making College Affordable

2010-03-26T09:51:00.001-04:00

Part of the reconciliation bill for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care act (H.R. 3590) that passed in both the Senate and House yesterday was legislation that reformed the college loan process.

The legislation takes the "middleman" (aka, private lenders) out of the government-backed college loan process and gives that authority back to the federal government. This process is expected to save the nation $61 billion over the next ten years. As part of those savings, Pell Grant awards will see modest incremental increases, from a maximum of $5,550 this coming school year to almost $6,000 by 2017. More students will also be eligible for Pell Grants, with the maximum family income for eligibility increased from $20,000 to $50,000.

The new law will also cap monthly repayment amounts at 10% of workers' incomes; currently the cap is 15%. This will lower monthly payments and allow easier repayment of loans, hopefully keeping more loans from being unpaid.

Interesting in that our Congressman, Frank Wolf voted with the entire Republican caucus in opposing this legislation. Does Rep. Wolf not see the need for students in his district to be able to better afford a college education? This legislation also reduces the deficit. This is the second straight bill approved by both the House and Senate that promises deficit reduction that Rep. Wolf has voted against.

You would think that for a congressman who constantly calls for deficit reduction in his mailers (paid for at government expense) would be in favor of bills that reduce the deficit. I guess Rep. Wolf is more interested in making a political statement against our president than he is in deficit reduction, much less making it easier for students to go to college and get affordable health care.

Remind Rep. Wolf of this in the Fall when he's asking you for his vote. Ask him why he's against deficit reduction. I know I will.

American Idiots

2010-03-25T08:18:00.005-04:00

So President Obama signed into law on Tuesday a bill reforming the health care system in America. A market-based system that immediately (among other things) allows young people under the age of 27 to stay on their parents' plans; keeps children with pre-existing conditions from being denied coverage; prohibits insurers from dropping sick people; closes the "donut hole" on senior citizens' prescription plans; etc. But apparently, the hysteria and lies coming from Republicans in Congress, Tea Party extremists, and the fabricators at Fox News has sent the under-informed into a tizzy.

It started on Saturday, when racists spat upon black members of Congress and called them "niggers", including Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, who said he hadn't seen such levels of hate in close to 50 years. Homophobes verbally attacked Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, calling him "faggot", simply because he is a gay man who supports health care reform.

It continued after the historic vote on Sunday night, morphing into an "American Kristallnacht", when a radical right-wing blogger called for insurrection in the form of breaking windows of Democratic offices nationwide.

Members of Congress have had death threats called in against them and their home addresses published over the internet, with recommendations from these radicals to show up at the politicians' homes and make their voices heard. And, according to www.newsjunkiepost.com:

Just after the health care vote, a conservative advocate on Twitter named solly_forell sent the following message: “ASSASSINATION! America, we survived the #Assassinations of #Lincoln & #Kennedy. We’ll surely get over a bullet 2 #BarackObama’s head! #tlot.”

.How sad these people are.

And it extends to right-wing politicians as well. Sarah Palin, on her Twitter account, posted “Don’t retreat. RELOAD”. House Majority leader John Boehner (R-OH), just before his hysterical rant on the House floor on Sunday night, said this about fellow Ohio congressman Steve Dreihaus:

"Take [Rep.] Steve Driehaus, for example," he says. "He may be a dead man. He can’t go home to the west side of Cincinnati."

These are people entrusted by some with leadership positions in this country. How shameful.

All this over a bill (now a LAW) that some people find objectionable. Not according to the most recent Gallup Poll, though, which found on Monday that almost half of America agrees that the bill is a good thing. Only 40% oppose.

Republicans, conservatives, and other insurrectionists should be ashamed of themselves. Trying to overturn law through intimidation and fear will not work. Instead of thuggery,why don’t these cowards (they’re not patriots, by the way) work to elect to Congress people who share their ideas? I’ll tell you why not – because this type of quasi-fascistic behavior is not tolerated by the majority of Americans. They know that they cannot win at the ballot box, so they cower behind violence. In short, they are sore losers, with the emphasis on “losers”.

Americans know that this new health care LAW will eventually be good for America. There was right-wing resistance as well to Civil Rights laws passed in the 1960’s, and we’re still here. I pity these poor, misguided domestic terrorists who have determined that spreading violence, hatred, and fear is in some way justified.

This new health care LAW is change we can believe in. And if you don’t, you’ll just have to deal with it.

Cuccinelli - Health Care Queen

2010-03-23T09:31:00.004-04:00

From Ben at Not Larry Sabato:

In other words, The Cooch saved about $100,000 over his eight years in the Virginia Senate by enrolling in the voluntary state health insurance program- which he wouldn't even be eligible for with his work hours if the General Assembly hadn't carved out an exception for itself!

But today he will file suit to make sure this kind of coverage isn't expanded to your family.

It's gonna be a lonnnnng four years...

(h/t to Lowell at Blue Virginia)

Rich Anthony Press Release

2010-03-22T13:54:00.001-04:00

For Immediate Release

Contact: marisa@middlecoastllc.com

March 22, 2010

Representative Wolf Opposes Quality, Affordable Health Care

Votes Against Small Business and Middle Class Families

(Fair Oaks, VA) – Yesterday, Representative Frank Wolf once again put big profits for corporate interests ahead of Virginia’s hard-working middle class families and our vital small business owners. Wolf voted against the comprehensive health care reform bill that passed the house.

This legislation will end the practice of insurance companies discriminating against those with pre-existing conditions. It will end the days of hardworking families and small businesses being priced out of the care they need in the name of insurance company profits. This legislation will help seniors by closing the donut hole in Medicare, and it will reduce the deficit by more than a trillion dollars over the next two decades.

“Yesterday’s vote was an opportunity for Congressman Wolf to put the people of his district ahead of the special interests and greedy insurance companies. Sadly, he chose to side with the greedy insurance companies instead of with his constituents,” said Anthony for Congress campaign manager John Murphy. “People in this district have a lot of respect for Rep. Wolf”s three decades of service, but votes like this make it clear he just isn’t ready to stop toeing the line for the Republican Party. The voters of this district, and all across the country, are crying out for real representation in Washington. If our elected officials cannot free themselves from the firm grasp of corporate interests, then it’s time for them to go,” concluded Murphy.

Background on Health Care Reform Bill:

The following provisions will take effect as soon as President Obama signs the bill:

*Tax credits for small businesses
*Preventive care covered 100 percent by Medicare
*Closing the Medicare prescription drug “donut hole”
*Temporary coverage for early retirees, ages 55-64
*Insurance companies can no longer drop people from coverage when they get sick
*Ends discrimination against children based on heath status or pre-existing conditions
*Ends restrictive annual limits on benefits for new insurance policies
*Allows adult children to be covered under their parents’ plan up to the age of 26
*Ensures that insurers spend at least 80 percent of premiums on medical care
*Eliminates copays for preventive care under new private plans
*Provides temporary coverage for Americans with pre-existing conditions until *Exchange is implemented
*Expands enough funding for community health centers to double capacity in five years

Other critical reforms from this historic legislation:

*Cuts the deficit by more than $100 billion in the first ten years, then one trillion in the second ten years
*Constitutes the biggest deficit reduction package in more than a decade
*Restores fiscal responsibility by reining in health care costs across our economy
*Reduces cost by creating competitive health insurance exchanges where consumers can small businesses can buy affordable coverage much like large companies do today
*Extends the solvency of the Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund by at least nine years
*Increases access to care by investing in Community Health Centers
*Expands eligibility for Medicaid
*Gives Americans they tools and information they need to make informed decisions about their health insurance coverage
*Promotes transparency by cracking down on waste and fraud in Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP and private insurers

# # #

You can find out more about Richard Anthony at: www.anthonyforcongress.com

Health Care Reform and the 10th CD

2010-03-22T07:37:00.007-04:00

As I was watching the debate last night on C-SPAN leading up to the historic vote on health care reform, I saw that Republicans were united in opposition to the bill. That included our own congressman, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA-10). And I wondered to myself why he was opposed to reform.

Despite all the Republican bogeymen and scare tactics claiming that this bill represented "a Government-run health system" or "European-style social medicine", this bill is really a true market-based plan to get all Americans covered. But Frank Wolf's "No" vote last night obviously means that he opposes market-based solutions, whereby uninsured Americans can enter a "pool" and obtain health care at lower costs.

The bill also immediately allows people without health care who have pre-existing conditions to not be denied care or to not be dropped by their provider. Frank Wolf's "No" vote last night must mean that he favors seeing people lose their health care because of a pre-existing condition or job loss. That way, the health insurance companies can continue to make record profits and pay their executives exorbitant bonuses; they won't lose money treating the seriously ill.

Furthermore, young people under the age of 26 will still be permitted to stay on their parents' plans under this bill, rather than having to shell out cash for high premiums when they are fresh out of college looking to make ends meet, or worse, forgoing health care altogether. Frank Wolf, with his "No" vote last night, shows that he doesn't care if our future leaders go without health coverage right out of college.

Republicans like Frank Wolf historically, in their campaign literature, have demonized those who oppose tax breaks as being "in favor of higher taxes". Semantics, yes. The health care reform bill last night included tax credits for small businesses who offer health care to their employees, and also allow potential entrepreneurs one less worry by giving them affordable access to health care when they start a business. Frank Wolf's "No" vote last night obviously means he is in favor of higher taxes on small businesses and entrepreneurs. Very Republican of him.

Frank Wolf is apparently happy with the status quo. Unemployed Virginians with no health care having to use the emergency room, which costs us all more; small busineeses not offering health care because it is too expensive; and people with pe-existing conditions being denied coverage. But Rep. Wolf, the status quo is not good enough. This vote was historic, on par with the creation of both Social Security and Medicare. We don't want the status quo, we want change. We will change in November, and you'll still have your health care and Medicare.

It's change we can believe in.

Untrue Attacks About Taxes

2010-03-19T09:52:00.004-04:00

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors’ held a public input session on February 24th and I was stunned by some of the blatant mischaracterizations put forth by some of the speakers.

Greg Stone (a Loudoun County Republican Committee officer) stated that “you don’t raise tax rates in a recession, something you guys have already done”. The assessment database on the Loudoun County website shows that Mr. Stone paid over $600 LESS in property taxes in 2009 than he did in 2008.

Jeff Morse of Chantilly spoke later in the session and remarked about “how outrageously high taxes are” in Loudoun. I looked up Mr. Morse’s home data, and yes Mr. Morse, like Mr. Stone, paid LESS in property taxes in 2009 than he did in 2008, a little over $500.

Tom Seeman spoke during the session, and pointed to a report in Forbes magazine that showed Loudoun County residents pay the highest median property taxes in the country. He bemoaned this fact, but what Mr. Seeman didn’t point out was that Loudoun County’s property taxes paid (in 2008) as a percentage of home value ranked us 326th in the nation, according to The Tax Foundation. Also, county residents’ property taxes amounted to 3.8% of our median incomes (from the same report), putting us 170th in the nation. This is due to our having (as a county) some of the highest median income and home values in the country. If our tax rates were so onerous, our county wouldn’t be the third fastest growing among U.S. counties (a 64% increase in population since 2000). People want to live and work here.

As a side note, Mark Sell, the new head of the Loudoun County Republican Committee, also spoke about the tax rates in the county. I looked up Mr. Sell’s property assessment and tax payments, and saw that his tax bill for 2009 was over $1,000 LESS than it was in 2008. One shouldn’t go throwing daggers when they’ve benefited in the past.

We have a world-class school system in Loudoun County. Our county public safety agencies (law enforcement and fire & rescue) are without peer. We have a very well-educated and wealthy population, and our unemployment rate is very low compared to the rest of the country. People want to live and work in Loudoun County. For this, we need to pay our fair share. For residents to criticize when they have been beneficiaries of lenient tax policy in the past is flat-out disingenuous.

Online Poll

2010-03-18T07:48:00.005-04:00

Please vote in this Loudoun Independent on-line poll for Eugene Delgaudio as the Supervisor you'd most like to see defeated in 2011.

For you non-Loudoun County residents, Delgaudio is the homophobic nutjob who represents Sterling District, who, along with Attorney General Ken "Kooky" Cuccinelli and Delegate Bob Marshall represents the far-right hate wing of the Republican party in Virginia.

Thanks.

Deemed a Lie

2010-03-17T14:42:00.004-04:00

Amid all the hub-bub over Speaker Pelosi's suggestion that the House of Representatives may use a parliamentary procedure called "Deem and Pass" to pass the Senate version of the health care reform bill, the folllowing came out today (h/t to Lowell at Blue Virginia):

Dennis Kucinich Switches to "Yes" On Health Care Reform

Now, this is BIG news, because Rep. Kucinich was on record as saying he would vote against the health care reform bill because it didn't go far enough. But what is even more spectacular is the media hype over this, which directly contradicts the media reporting that "Deem and Pass" would not require a vote in the House of representatives for passage. David Waldman, on Daily Kos yesterday, stuck a knife in that theory, though.

And this afternoon, also on Daily Kos, Mr. Waldman brought up the imminent hypocrisy of the news outlets (*cough*Fox*cough*) and Republican members of Congress who have all but tried to start an uprising over this (as per David Waldman):

What difference would it make if Dennis Kucinich were changing his vote, if they were telling the truth about the bill being passed without a vote?

It has now become blatantly obvious that Republicans in Congress, a) have no intention of wanting to work with Democrats on health care reform; b) will blow up anything that has even a hint of controversy for political gain; and c) refuse to tell the American public the truth about health care reform (complicit in this is the so-called "mainstream media").

Thank you to David Waldman for succinctly explaining this whole process, and for exposing the inherent Republican hypocricy.

Not so LoCo, Budget-wise

2010-03-17T10:54:00.006-04:00

Yesterday afternoon, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, in their second budget mark-up session, identified $75 million in potential budget savings that could possibly set the county real estate tax rate to $1.295 per $100 of assessed value, about 7.5% lower than originally estimated.

The savings are three-fold: $30 million comes from a reduction in the school budget, of which 2/3 is leftover funds (usually carried over from year to year) not being carried over, along with approximately $10 million saved by pulling back a cost-of-living increase and county reallocations.

Second, the board was able to reduce the county funding share by $25 million due to an increase in state funding, approved over the weekend by the General Assembly; and lastly, a deferral of $20 million in retirement pay (also a result of the newly-passed state budget) brought the total to $75.5 million.

While the full impact of the retirement deferral has not been settled upon yet, a $75 million reduction in funds allocated to the Loudoun County school system will make it much more palatable for some homeowners to deal with their higher assessments for 2010. And it would make the hysterics demonstrated at the last public input session just that: hysteria.

(h/t to the "Doorbell Queen")

Jumping on the Bandwagon

2010-03-16T09:40:00.004-04:00

I received a "tweet" this morning from CNN that read as follows:

@USGS: Magnitude 4.4 earthquake rattles Southern California. http://on.cnn.com/9xfeQe

Now, without trying to be crass here, I'm gonna let CNN have it. They're obviously playing off peoples' fears about earthquakes, given the 2 large ones that have hit Haiti & Chile in the past 2 months. What better way to stoke fear than to report on a 'quake in Los Angeles, one centered 11 miles southeast of the L.A. Civic Center?

But a 4.4 in SoCal is something I experienced very occasionally when I lived out there. This type of earthquake (normally called a "temblor"), if it hit during the middle of the night would generally shake the bed, set off some car alarms, wake you up, then you'd roll over and go back to sleep. Yes, the first one you experience is a little scary, but you come to expect this, living in Southern California.

This isn't "the one that's gonna break Cali off from the rest of North America", and we're not going to get "beachfront property in Arizona" from it. It's a shaker; it's light. And CNN should be ashamed to stoke fear in people with this. Californians are prepared; buildings are constructed to withstand much more than one of this magnitude. And judging by shakers in California, this is simply routine.

Is a Plum Really a Prune?

2010-03-15T09:11:00.004-04:00

No politics today...

I do all the food shopping in my house, and as a result, I also peruse the Sunday inserts for useful coupons. I ran across one yesterday that I can admit I have never seen before. It was for something called "Sunsweet PlumSmart Plum Juice".

It's not something I would buy, simply because I'm not a big fan of plums, but could this not be classified as a case of re-branding? I mean, since plums are basically undried prunes, isn't this really prune juice in disguise? They promote plum juice for its fiber and for the benefits to your "digestive health", which is basically what prune juice is used for, right?

My take is that because there's such a negative connotation connected to prune juice, someone in Sunsweet's marketing department must have come up with a grand scheme to use bright colors and plums to promote the benefits of plums (and, indirectly, prunes). It obviously caught my eye, but I'm still skeptical, and still not inclined to try plum jiuce.

I'll stick with Welch's Grape Juice, thank you.

It's obviously a slow day.

Medicare For All

2010-03-12T14:19:00.003-05:00

Once again, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) knocks it out of the park, with H.R. 4789, the Public Option Act.

This simple four-page bill lets any American buy into Medicare at cost. You want it, you pay for it, you're in. It adds nothing to the deficit; you pay what it costs.

Republicans have been harping for months now about how much the bogeyman "Government-run healthcare" would bankrupt the nation. Rep. Grayson, a bulldog in the House of Representatives, shows them why their arguments once again ring hollow.

Rep. Frank Wolf, will you stand up for your constituents who lack basic health care and allow them to buy into Medicare by voting "yea" on H.R. 4789? After all, if it's good enough for you, it should be good enough for your constituents, right? And, to top it off, it adds nothing to the deficit.

My gut feeling, though, is that Rep. Wolf will once again side with his party at the expense of those in his district suffering from the lack of health care.

CBO: Senate Health Care Bill Reduces the Deficit

2010-03-11T13:16:00.005-05:00

From the Director's Blog of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the health care reform bill (H.R. 3590) that passed in the Senate on Christmas Eve, will reduce the federal budget deficit through 2019:

CBO and JCT now estimate that, on balance, the direct (mandatory) spending and revenue effects of enacting H.R. 3590 as passed by the Senate would yield a net reduction in federal deficits of $118 billion over the 2010–2019 period. (Direct spending—as distinguished from discretionary spending—is spending that stems from legislation other than appropriation acts.) In our earlier estimate, the budgetary impact was a net reduction in deficits of $132 billion.

So what's the hold-up?

(h/t to Ezra Klein's Twitter page)

Modern Day McCarthyism

2010-03-09T12:50:00.007-05:00

He’s stooping to new levels. Our congressman, Frank Wolf, that is.

Rep. Wolf really must be feeling the heat from his tea-bagger opponent in the 10th Congressional District, because this past Friday, the Wall Street Journal noted that Wolf sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder stating the following:

“the decision to allow attorneys who advocated for terrorists held at Guantanamo to craft detainee policy during the war on terror would be akin to allowing attorneys for the Mafia to draft organized crime policy during the 1960s.”

This is in reference to the McCarthy-like slander being perpetuated by Lynne Cheney (daughter of Dick) on 9 Department of Justice attorneys who previously represented detainees at the Guantanamo Bay camp for enemy combatants.

You know that you’ve crossed the line when former members of the administration in which your father served are coming out blasting you for your rhetoric. People like former solicitor general Ted Olson, who was instrumental in getting the Supreme Court to rule in favor of George Bush in 2000, said,

“It is a part of the responsibility of lawyers and in the finest tradition of the profession to represent unpopular persons who are caught up in the criminal justice system or even in the military justice system. I think that people who do so, do so honorably”

Or people like former Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, notable for his investigations of former President Clinton, and former deputy Attorney General (under John Ashcroft) Larry Thompson. Both men also criticized Ms. Cheney for her characterization of the attorneys.

Frank Wolf portrays himself as a moderate Republican. But his words speak louder than his portrayal. He has embraced the modern-day “McCarthyism” of Lynn Cheney, and is showing his true, hard-right colors.

I have here in my hand a ticket, and it’s for a permanent vacation for Frank Wolf. Let’s send him packing after 15 terms in the House, which was 9 more than he promised us in 1980.

EDIT (3/10/10): And this, in today’s Wall Street Journal, from former Bush Attorney General Michael Mukasey:

Most recently, lawyers now employed at the Justice Department who, while in private practice, volunteered to represent suspected terrorist detainees, or argued legal positions supporting various rights of such detainees, have been portrayed as in-house counsel to al Qaeda.

This is all of a piece, and what it is a piece of is something both shoddy and dangerous. A lawyer who represents a party in a contested matter has an ethical obligation to make any and all tenable legal arguments that will help that party.

Frank Wolf Ignores You Again

2010-03-05T08:12:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a modest, $15 billion job-creation bill that would have given tax breaks to businesses that hire unemployed workers, and would also have extended highway construction funds through the end of 2010. It’s not much, but it’s a start, and it shows that congressional Democrats are trying to bring down unemployment and get the country moving again.

But not Frank Wolf (R-10th).

Our 15-term congressman (who stated when he first campaigned in 1980 that he would only serve 6 terms) voted against this bill. Wait…I thought Frank Wolf was all about improving transportation, and that Republicans were all for giving tax cuts to small business? Am I mistaking Frank Wolf for someone else?

No, I’m not. You see, Frank Wolf’s agenda in 2010 is to not vote for what is good for you or for his consituents. Frank Wolf’s agenda is to toe the Republican party line, to (borrowing a phrase from another Republican) “Just say no”, and to try and derail anything Democrats and/or President Obama put forward.

Frank Wolf doesn’t really care about you. Frank Wolf puts party politics first.

Remember that in November.

Momentum

2010-03-03T07:46:00.005-05:00

After the crushing defeats suffered by the Democratic Party of Virginia in the 2009 Elections, talk was how we could get back in the game and prevent a Republican takeover.

The first step was to capture the Senate seat vacated by the ultra-right-wing and now-Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. Dave Marsden ran a great campaign against another ultra-right-winger, Steve Hunt, and pulled it out. Sen. Marsden's win gave the Democrats a very important 22-18 advantage in the state Senate.

The outlook was bleak when we looked afar at Massachusetts, where voters in that state elected a Republican into the U.S. Senate after the seat that Teddy Kennedy held for almost 50 years was vacated upon Kennedy's death.

But after yesterday, Democrats are energized again. Eileen Filler-Corn ran a great, issues-based campaign and won a squeaker in a special election to fill the House of Delegates seat vacated by Marsden after he went to the Senate. Eileen won by just 37 votes, and her opponent can technically ask for a recount, but after reading "tweets" like this one from Congressman Rob Wittman's press secretary Tom Crosson, I'm not sure that's going to happen:

1st time I haven't voted... simply couldn't pull the lever for Bolognese who ran an abysmal campaign.

And Crosson posted that while the polls were still open!

Then there's this quote from Fairfax GOP chairman Anthony Bedell:

We were competitive, but the fact that we didn't get some of our base out, in places like Springfield, is disappointing. We did well, but we didn't do enough.

Not exactly a vote of confidence for Mr. Bolognese, huh?
On a smaller scale, in the race for a vacated Fairfax County School Board seat, Democrat-endorsed Sandra Evans defeated Samantha Rucker with 56.3% of the votes in Mason district, a convincing win for sure.

So now here's the tally - since the Republican whitewash in Virginia in November 2009, Democrats (and Democrat-endorsed candidates) have won 3 out of 3 special elections in Northern Virginia. Yes, two of them were close, and one went down to the last precinct reporting, but a win is a win.

Now we in Northern Virginia need to set our sights on Frank Wolf in November. He's part of the problem in Washington; the party of "No" whose main purpose is to see America fail. We should see to it that Frank Wolf fails in his attempt for a 16th term (after promising in 1980 to only serve 6 terms).

Let's make Northern Virginia "blue" again!!

Delegate Marshall is an Embarassment to Loudoun

2010-02-23T12:53:00.003-05:00

So I'm sure everyone has now seen the hateful and disgusting remarks made by state Delegate Robert Marshall (13th) last Thursday regarding disabled children being punishment for women who have had abortions.

From the News-Leader:

"The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children," said Marshall, a Republican.

"In the Old Testament, the first born of every being, animal and man, was dedicated to the Lord. There's a special punishment Christians would suggest."

Marshall made those statements at at press conference where he laid out his opposition to state funding for Planned Parenthood, a position that Governor McDonnell also opposes. Thankfully, this morning, McDonnell shied away from Marshall's statement, but is still in opposition to the state funding for Planned Parenthood.

Yet Planned Parenthood states clearly that their mission is to reduce "the number of unintended pregnancies, especially the alarmingly high number of teenage pregnancies, in the U.S.". They also believe that "every woman should have access to the full range of reproductive health care". Why the state government is against that, I am unsure.

This isn't the first time Marshall has made incendiary comments about abortion. In 1989, he said that women who are victims of incest should not be granted access to abortion because (paraphrasing) "sometime it is voluntary", and impregnated victims of incest become "a sin-bearer of the crime, because the right of a child predominates over the embarrassment of the woman."

I sent Marshall an e-mail this morning asking him to resign, but the e-0mail ounced back - apparently his e-mail address in Richmond is down or (more likely) overloaded. There is also a petition on-line asking him for his resignation; at the time of this posting, there were over 1300 names on the petition.

Nevertheless, it's time for Marshall to go. How he continues to pull upwards of 60% of the vote every two years is baffling, but hopefully the citizens of the 13th District can band together in 2011 to elect someone who truly represents the district. John Bell would be a good start.

Bravo, Senator Webb

2010-02-05T08:16:00.006-05:00

Senator Jim Webb continues to prove why he is a force to be reckoned with in the United States Senate. I don't always agree with him (especially with regard to his stance on coal sequestration), but more often than not, I find myself getting pumped up by his bold stances.

Yesterday, Senators Webb and Boxer (D-CA) introduced legislation aimed at recouping what is justly ours - the excessive bonuses paid to executives of the "bailed-out" banks.

These banks received government funds to save them due to the reckless nature of the trading done in exotic financial instuments (e.g., credit default swaps). These banks were deemed "too big to fail", and their failure would have possibly sent us from the Great Recession into another Great Depression. These financial institutions recovered, and eventually determined that thei employees were due outrageous bonuses again. Not so fast.

The Taxpayer Fairness Act intends to "impose a 50 percent tax on excessive bonuses paid by Wall Street banks and other firms that benefited from billions of taxpayer dollars in 2009." Bravo!! The tax would exempt the first $400,000 in bonuses (equal to the salary of the President of the United States), and is a one-time only tax.

Senator Webb referenced a Financial Times editorial from this past November that supported such a windfall tax, on the basis that the firms were basically the "beneficiaries of unlimited state insurance", and that profits that these firms made in 2009 are largely related to the bailout (i.e., government) funds, not solely by any decisions of the firms themselves. I can't agree with this more.

Now let's see how this bill fares in Congress. Opponents of this bill can surely be cast as being on the side of Wall Street "fat-cats" and not on the side of ordinary Americans.

What about it, Republicans and blue-dog Democrats? With whom are you going to stand? Your re-election in November could hinge on it.

More Ridiculous Blather From Frank Wolf

2010-02-02T13:01:00.004-05:00

I guess the threat of a primary challenge from a Tea-bagger has really forced Rep. Frank Wolf to swing hard to the right to protect his seat in Congress.

Watch:

So apparently, Rep. Wolf believes that the United States treats terror suspects better than we treat members of our armed forces? As a military veteran, I am appalled that a United States Congressman would think this.

But what’s more hypocritical is Rep. Wolf supporting a bill
that would hold back funding the trials of Guantanamo Bay detainees in federal court. This would directly affect the anticipated federal trial of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, alleged mastermind of the 9/11/2001 attacks. Why does Congressman Wolf believe that these terrorists should be tried in a military tribunal when so many others in the past have been tried in federal court, and some right even in New York City? Following is a listing of some of the 119 terrorists that have been tried and convicted in federal court recently:

• Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, Mohamed Salameh, and Ramzi Youssef, the 2 masterminds of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, were both tried and convicted in federal court in New York in 1995, with no incident.

• Mohammed Odeh, Mohamed Rashid al-Owhali, Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, and Wadih el Hage, all conspirators in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombing in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998, tried and convicted in federal court in New York in 2001.

• Richard Reid, aka “The Shoe Bomber”, tried and convicted in federal court in Boston in 2002.

• Zacarias Moussaoui, the alleged “20th hijacker” in the September 11th attack, tried in federal court in Virginia and convicted in 2006.

Statistics show that in 119 cases of international terrorism that have been tried in federal court since the September 11 attacks, over 91% of the defendants were convicted (195 individuals out of 214 tried).

Conversely, of the 3 military tribunals held since 2007, 2 have been “dismissed on jurisdictional grounds, and the other resulted in a plea bargain. That’s a 33.3% success rate.

But there was no backlash from Rep. Wolf or Republicans in Congress when President Bush’s Justice Department decided to prosecute the above named terrorists in federal court, and there was universal support when President Clinton’s Justice Department tried and convicted the 1993 WTC bombers in federal court.

No sir, the game has not changed; the name of the game is still finding, prosecuting, and convicting terrorists, and the most effective way, and the legal way (with precedent) is through the United Stated Federal Court system. And to demean our brave men and women serving in the military defending us from further attacks is plainly wrong.

Tagged For Silliness

2010-02-01T12:44:00.003-05:00

Freshman Delegate Thomas A. Greason on January 12th introduced a bill into committee (HB 752) that would have allowed "motorcycle, moped, and bicycle riders, in certain situations, to proceed through intersections controlled by traffic lights showing steady red signals". This was apparently spurred on by motorcyclists hampered after the recent snowstorm in December that left huge "snow mountains" at intersections where plows deposited the excess snow.

If anyone has driven in traffic in this area for any length of time, they would have to agree that this bill was completely out of bounds. For one, giving any driver (including motorcyclists) the ability to proceed through a red traffic signal is just a recipe for disaster. It would create a situation only seen in "Keystone Kops" films, where chaos reigns at intersections. Yes, I understand that there was a provision stating that the rider should be stopped for 120 seconds before proceeding.

Please; be for real. Drivers in this area do not even stop at stop signs where it is required, and that only takes one second. Heck, many drivers go through red lights even though it it against the law. Who in their right mind would think that motorcyclists would stop for 2 minutes before proceeding? And who would be keeping time?

Luckily, the House Transportation committee passed over this bill last Thursday, in effect killing the bill. A wise decision that would have had unthinkable consequences had it passed.

And to think, the voters in this district criticized former Delegate David Poisson for not doing anything in the General Assembly. Mr. Poisson, if anything, introduced rational bills into the Assembly, not reckless legislation like this.

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

2010-01-29T14:38:00.003-05:00

President Obama today addressed a gathering of Republican legislators in Baltimore, and sharply criticized them for taking credit for funds appropriated through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), aka, "The Stimulus Package", passed last February.

The President said of Republicans' hypocrisy, "a lot of you have gone to appear at ribbon cuttings for the same projects that you voted against." Some of those hypocrites have also complained that their states are not using those available stimulus funds. One of those hypocrites would be our own Representative Frank Wolf (R-10th).

Congressman Wolf is part of the "Party of No" who voted against ARRA last year, and complained in October that then-Governor Kaine wasn't putting those stimulus funds to work on Virginia's roads. In a conference call with Supervisor Pat Herrity (R-Fairfax) in October, Wolf criticized Kaine, saying "there are a lot of things up here that money could be used for."

But ARRA isn't the only thing Congressman Wolf has voted against that would benefit Virginia families. In 2008, he voted against H.R. 3221, The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Act of 2008, which would have established "a temporary and voluntary program...to allow homeowners who are unable to afford their mortgage payments to refinance in to fixed-rate, 30-year mortgages."

Earlier this year, Congressman Wolf also voted "nay" on H.R. 2847, the Jobs For Main Street Act, which would extend "expiring safety-net programs and spur job creation." The Act would also have created funds "for infrastructure and public sector employment" and would have extended "assistance for the unemployed".

So come this fall, you're probably going to hear a lot from Congressman Wolf about how he fought for getting the stimulus funds to improve your commute, and how he's fighting to create jobs and get people back to work. As I've shown here, it's a bluff. Frank Wolf doesn't care about you; Frank Wolf puts party first.

You Can Bank On It

2010-01-22T07:30:00.004-05:00

Reeling from the loss in the Massachusetts special election this past Tuesday, President Obama is wasting no time in his attempt to reclaim the populist mantle from the Republicans.

According to a Research 2000 poll taken for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, 51% of those who voted in the special election felt that the Democratic "economic policy is more focused on helping Wall Street than helping (M)ain (S)treet". To that end, President Obama is on the verge of proposing a bold policy that should help him bring back the independent voters who were so crucial to his decisive victory in 2008.

Obama, with the help of former Fed chair Paul Volcker, is proposing limiting the risk that big banks (the "Too Big To Fail" entities) take by limiting "proprietary trading", trading for their own accounts. This type of trading is highly speculative, and potentially puts the commercial deposits at risk. This is not a return of Glass-Stegall, but it comes tantalizingly close.

Secondly, the President last week propsed instituting a "bailout tax" on the nation's largest banks (those that were aided by the bailout funds). We the people provided these "too big to fail" banks with funds to help them recover and make loans in order to shore themselves up, yet they seem to have used those funds to continue with their speculative trading. Wall Street has also doled out close to $150 million in bonuses for 2009, a direct slap in the face to the Americans to whom they came perilously close to ruining.

And lastly, the financial regulatory bill before the Senate contains a provision to create a Comsumer Financial Protection Agency. Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) has considered removing that agency's creation from the bill, but President Obama is adamant that the CFPA be instituted, to give consumers extra protection against the large banks and their shady practices.

These measures are all things that disenchanted voters can get behind, but they also serve a good political purpose. The do-nothing Republicans, whose only mantra this past year has been to oppose everything the Obama and the Democrats have proposed, should now be forced to choose between obstructionism of the President (and in so doing, tacit backing of Wall Street and stoking the ire of the populus) or looking out for the best interests of the American people (and handing the President and the Democratic Congress the credit for attempting to rein in Wall Street excesses). Either way, it is a win-win situation for the President, assuming congressional Democrats don't bow to the moneyed interests that will be lobbying them to water down these proposals.

The Research 2000 poll showed that if Democrats do what is necessary to restrain Wall Street abuses, 53% would be more likely to vote Democratic in the 2010 elections. Not only is that good news for our party, it's good news for the country as a whole.

And So It Begins

2010-01-15T09:47:00.005-05:00

He hasn't even been inaugurated yet, but already Bob McDonnell has broken one of his chief campaign promises - to fix Virginia's transportation mess.

This morning's Washington Post has a story on page 3 of the Metro section that quotes McDonnell as saying "There are only so many things the General Assembly and I can do well in a short period of time," and "I don't think that there are enough hours in the day for the General Assembly to evaluate that plan and for me to build the consensus to get it passed."

Amazing.

For someone who campaigned hard on this, saying he'd be the right choice to fix Virginia's transportation troubles, hammering Democrat Creigh Deeds for not having a transportation plan, and pushing pie-in-the-sky funding sources for transportation (off-shore drilling, privatizing state-run ABC stores, etc.), he's sure backed away quickly from that stance. During the campaign, Democrats criticized his plan as unworkable. We've now been proven correct.

I'm sure there were many Virginia voters who were wooed by his strong stance on transportation and voted for him as such. Now, seeing that he can't run for a second term and can back away from campaign promises (even one that was THE basis of his run for governor), he leaves in the dust all of those Virginians who put their trust in him.

In short, he LIED to you, Virginia. He knew going in that Republicans would be in the minority in the Senate, and it would be a difficult task to pass his measures, but he went ahead and made the promises anyway. Perhaps he was confident that he could persuade a Democratic senator in a toss-up district to join his cabinet and flip the seat to Republican in a special election. More likely, it was more of the same Republican politics - look past the obvious, demean your opponent, and make grandiose claims in order to get elected, then back away when crunch time comes.

This is great campaign fodder for the 2011 state elections, when all 140 seats in the General Assembly are up for re-election. Maybe this is what Democrats need to win back some seats in the House and strengthen their hold in the Senate.

Purple Virginia?

2010-01-13T10:07:00.005-05:00

Last night's stunning victory by state Del. Dave Marsden in the 37th Senate district special election is proof that the Republican romp in the November elections was the result of two related items.

First, gubernatorial candidate Sen. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath) ran an absolutely listless campaign. He failed to adequately convey his message, which should have been to keep Virginia on the same track that former Governor (now U.S. Senator) Mark Warner and current Governor Tim Kaine had us on since 2001. But he instead focused on Governor-elect McDonnell's radical-right past, while McDonnell moved to the center and ran a well-thought out campaign.

Second, the loss of the 2 Democratic-controlled delegate seats in Loudoun County (as well as a few others throughout Virginia) can now be seen as McDonnell having extremely long coat-tails, and not, as the Republicans have been crowing, a repudiation of Democratic principles (and, by extent, President Obama).

Yes, Sen.-elect Marsden's margin of victory was razor-thin, and I'm sure the Republicans are going to make a strong run at that seat when Marsden is up for re-election in 2011. But remember, Attorney General-elect Cuccinelli won by a similarly razor-thin majority in 2007, so that district is truly a toss-up. Whichever candidate runs the most complete campaign will win (and probably not by much).

The result? Virginia has not swung back to being a "Red" state, but neither can it be classified now as a true "Blue" state, either (especially with Republicans in the Governor's mansion, and as Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General). We also will probably not see too much movement in the General Assembly this month, now that the House of delegates is strongly in GOP hands and the Senate is strongly controlled by Democrats.

So for the time being, we can likely classify Virginia as "Purple".

The GOP Follies

2009-12-30T12:17:00.006-05:00

So Republicans are upset that it took President Obama 72 hours to make a statement regarding “the (hapless) underpants bomber”, Umar Abdulmuttalab. That’s 3 days, according to my calculations.

But when “the shoe bomber”, Richard Reid, instigated his equally hapless terrorist attempt just before Christmas Eve, 2001, then-President Bush didn’t respond for 6 days – that’s 144 hours, according to my calculations. That’s also twice as long as President Obama waited.

Hypocrisy.

This Detroit incident is labeled by President Obama’s opponents as his weakness in fighting the war on terrorism, yet in the Reid incident, then-President Bush referred to it as a “law enforcement issue”. Why is this any different? A non-American, on a flight to America, smuggles explosives on board an aircraft, and attempts to light these explosives to bring down the aircraft.

Yet more hypocrisy.

Former Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge has stated that he doesn’t believe Abdulmuttalab deserves a criminal trial. Why not? Isn’t that how Richard Reid was tried, and ultimately convicted?

Back in 2001, Democrats (along with Republicans, ironically) didn’t criticize then-President Bush when he waited almost a week to comment on Reid, but this time, Republicans couldn’t even wait until after Christmas Day (a k a, the day the attempt took place) to break out the criticism of President Obama. If we are “at war”, why would Republicans criticize the President after a foiled terrorist attempt? Isn’t that considered treasonous, or are Republicans inoculated from that?

It’s becoming clear that the main objective of Republicans is to object, obfuscate, criticize, and generally act contrarian to any action taken by President Obama. This attempt to politicize everything coming across the desk of the President is mainly because the Republicans are devoid of ideas, and that they want to see this country fail so that they can be perceived as the knights on the white horse coming to save us.

Unfortunately, their ideas were soundly rejected by the majority of American voters in 2008, and I have the utmost confidence that the more Americans find out about the sheer and utter disdain the Republicans have for this administration (and, by extension, this country), that they will once again soundly reject this brand of politics from this Party of Nothing.

EDIT (2:30 PM): A report from ABC News is stating that the 2 al-Qaeda operatives behind the Christmas Day attempted bombing were released from Guantanamo Bay in 2007 - during the Bush administration. So again, more hypocrisy as Republicans blame a Democrat for something that traces its origins back to a Republican action.

A Good Start

2009-12-24T09:34:00.003-05:00

The Senate today is poised, after 24 days of wrangling (and blatant obstruction by Republicans) to pass their version of a Health Care reform bill, as promised, before Christmas. Now the bill must be meshed with the version that the House of Representatives passed in November, to create one final bill that President Obama can sign into law.

I'm not completely happy with the Senate bill, but I'm of the mindset that something has to pass the Senate, otherwise, the Democratic leadership would face a crushing loss of face. I would have much preferred seeing the "robust public option" that was bandied about in the House proceedings, but alas, that was not to be. Lacking that, I also was willing to accept the Medicare buy-in proposal in the Senate, but that, too, fell through.

I am troubled, though, by the fact that even though the bill prohibits the uninsured from being denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions, there is no cost containment provision to keep the insurance companies from charging exorbitant rates to these new customers as a hedge against the increased risk. This seems to be just another way for insurance companies to keep increasing their profits over the general well-being of the populace. A "robust public option" would have at least forced insurance companies to compete for business against a government administered plan, which would cost less simply because of the lack of overhead charges.

But this is the hand we are being dealt, and we've got to play it. Couple the passage of health care reform with a slowly improving economy, and Democrats in Congress can breathe a bit easier with regard to the 2010 elections.

It is my ultimate hope that the House-Senate conference can craft a bill that can not only cover most (if not all) Americans, but also make it truly affordable for all. I also am holding out hope that after the President signs the final bill, Congress can improve it even more through the reconciliation process, when they would only need a simple minority (and the filibuster would be off the table).

But as a first step, this is progress.

Name Our Team

2009-12-16T14:10:00.003-05:00

I ran across this on the Loudoun Times-Mirror website yesterday: there's a contest being sponsored by VIP Baseball to name the new Atlantic League baseball team that will be starting play at the Kincora site (junction of Routes 7 & 28 in Ashburn) in 2011.

This is very exciting news. This means that, in reality, in about 500 days I will be able to hop in my car with my son and take in a professional baseball game without having to make the trek to DC, Baltimore, Woodbridge, or even Frederick. The stadium will literally be 15 minutes from my garage. As a huge baseball fan, words cannot describe my euphoria.

Well, maybe 4 words can: Northern Virginia NightHawks.

That's the name I submitted in the "Name The Team" contest. If it makes the final cut early next year, please vote for that name. I'd love to get season tickets for Year 1 (haha).

The Atlantic League is equivalent in talent to a high Single-A league, bordering on AA ball. They're an independent league, which means they are not dependent on a Major League franchise to supply them with players. Teams in the Atlantic League sometimes hire former big-leaguers hanging on at the end of their careers such as Jose Canseco and Rickey Henderson. It's a win-win for the league: they get a known commodity on a roster, which may drive ticket sales, and the player gets to keep in shape and maybe turn his cameo into a job in the bigs again.

So before you go trashing this league as below-par, maybe take in a game and decide for yourself. Yes, you're not going to see MLB caliber play, but it is entertaining in the least. And the prices will be very family-friendly.

I can hardly wait.

"Take me out to the ball game; take me out with the crowd..."

A Matter of Ignorance and Discrimination

2009-11-10T12:13:00.005-05:00

The House of Representatives late Saturday night passed what was hailed as landmark health-care legislation (H.R. 3962). In the sense that many more Americans will be covered under this bill, then yes, it is landmark. But buried within this bill was an amendment that completely disrespects women.

The amendment was offered by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), and it basically stated that not only could abortion services (with specific exceptions) not be covered in any plan offered by the government (which, incidentally, is already covered by the Hyde Amendment), but that women who were receiving a government subsidy would be prohibited from purchasing private health insurance that included abortion coverage, even if they used their own money. This is a major blow to women's reproductive health issues.

The deal was basically offered up through Rep. Stupak by the Catholic Conference of Bishops as a way to attract anti-choice Democrats to support H.R. 3962. Even though the House bill will most likely have to go to conference to meld itself with the Senate bill, the amendment could possibly be included in a conference bill to keep the support of the anti-choice Democrats. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL) has promised to fight hard to make sure the Stupak amendment doesn’t make it into the final conference bill.

The Stupak amendment is basically a back-door way of outlawing abortion, since the original goal of H.R. 3200 is to provide health coverage for all Americans. The amendment does allow for insurance companies to offer riders to women for abortion services, but that equates to a woman purchasing coverage for a planned elective procedure for an unplanned event, discriminating against women by pushing them to pay more for their health care. It also would steer many lower income women to alternate means of reproductive care.

Of course, our own Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th) voted in favor of the amendment. Wolf is up for re-election in 2010, and is stridently anti-choice. Hopefully our progressive thinking Senators Mark Warner and Jim Webb will see the ridiculous nature of the Stupak amendment and push for its exclusion in a final bill.

EDIT (11/12/09): Politifact.com clarified this amendment further, and I was mistaken in my post to suggest that private health insurers would not be able to offer abortion services. Only insurers who participate in the government health insurance exchange would face restrictions. Still, this is a step back (albeit a small step) for reproductive rights, and would still affect lower-income women most, those who may need this coverage in the future.

Picking Up The Pieces

2009-11-04T09:56:00.004-05:00

Last night's election results were a disappointment, but there was some good to be found.

First, I am in complete shock at Del. David Poisson's loss in the 32nd District. Not so much the fact that he lost, since 52% of the vote (in the 2007 election) in a swing district means vulnerability, but the fact that David only garnered 42% this cycle. He was a tireless worker for the district, supported by business and public safety groups. He was the consummate citizen delegate. He will be missed in the House of Delegates.

Bob McDonnell winning the governorship was pretty much a foregone conclusion, but a 20-point margin was unexpected. And with exit polling showing that 56% of voters said President Obama did not figure into their decision at the ballot box, this cannot be construed as a referendum on the President, who enjoys a 50% approval rating nationwide. Also, historically, we as a state elect a governor from the party opposite the sitting president, so there was that dynamic as well.

The positive in all of this is that to win the state, Mr. McDonnell had to campaign away from the radical right-wing policies he advocated as a graduate student and in his 14-year tenure in the House of Delegates. He appealed to the centrist independents in Virginia, and they delivered for him. I'm hoping that he governs in the same manner that he campaigned. He is, technically, a lame-duck (thanks to term limits) with a Republican-controlled House of Delegates, so there would be no repecussions for him politically should he decide to slide back to the far-right wing policies he supported. But that would be a direct slap in the face of the independents who helped elect him.

So, unlike the Republicans with President Obama, I am hoping that Gov.-elect McDonnell succeeds, and continues to make Virginia a great place to live.

Hypocrisy

2009-10-23T10:31:00.004-04:00

After a long, long layoff, I'm back.

The haggling over health-care reform is really starting to heat up. A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll found 57% of Americans favoring a health care bill that included the so-called "Public Option". And even more recently, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office released a report showing that a health care bill including a Public Option would cost approximately $871 billion over the next 10 years, $29 billion less than President Obama's threshold for pushing a bill through Congress. Yet there are still a number of Congressmen and Senators from the "Party of No" that refuse to back such a plan.

Yesterday, in an appearance on C-SPAN, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) released an internal report showing that 151 members of Congress receive Medicare benefits, essentially a government-run "Public Option". of those 151 members, 55 are Republicans who refuse to back a health care reform plan that includes a "Public Option".

Why would it be good enough for Congress, who not only receive a government-run health care plan, but 151 members also receive Medicare, a "Public Option"? Furthermore, Representative Frank R. Wolf (R-10th District, VA) is one of the 55 Republican members of Congress receiving Medicare benefits while refusing to back such a plan in a health care reform package.

In my mind, this is hypocrisy at its worst.

Here is the text of an e-mail I sent to Rep. Wolf:

Rep. Wolf,

I saw Rep. Weiner on C-SPAN yesterday, and he released the names of 55 Republicans who receive Medicare, yet refuse to back the "Public Option" in a healthcare reform bill.

Since Medicare is essentially
a "Public Option", I find this stance of yours patently hypocritical. I'm sure you're also familiar with the CBO report than came out this week that said a "Public Option" would actually lower the deficit and cost $29 billion less (over the next 10 years) than the $900 billion threshold that President Obama set.

I'm sure you've also seen the recent poll that found 57% of Americans favoring a health care bill that includes a "Public Option". I am one of those Americans.

If a government-run "Public Option" such as Medicare is good enough for you and 54 of your fellow Republican legislators, Rep. Wolf, then it should be good enough for the millions of Americans who are without healthcare. If you don't agree, then maybe it's time you opt out of Medicare and stand by your actions.

But don't, on one hand, continue to deny people the medical coverage they deserve, which is supported by a majority of Americans and which would not add to the deficit, while continuing to benefit from the same type of program. It's completely disingenuous to do so.

It's time for Republican hypocrites in Congress to either put up, or shut up. But we are getting sick of their shenanigans.

Inauguration Fatigue

2009-01-13T07:46:00.002-05:00

I voted for Barack Obama this past November. I like the guy. He wasn't my first choice, but I am comfortable with my vote.

That said, I am exhausted with the amount of press coverage regarding the impending inauguration and all of the mindless minutae that is accompanying it. Do we really care where the Obamas are staying until January 20th? Is it really important to know what kind of dress Michelle Obama is wearing to the balls? Has it enriched our lives to see the president-elect bodysurfing in Hawaii or playing pick-up basketball?

The press is creating this mega-superstar of this ordinary man. Yes, he has a vision for America that is quite admirable. But to elevate him and put him on a pedestal is offensive. It is understandable that many in the press were/are ardent supporters of Obama. But all we want is a little balance. I thought that the fawning over Bill Clinton after his victory in 1992 was annoying, but this takes the cake.

Barack Obama has many good ideas for the future of this country. Time will tell if they turn out as planned. The idol worship, though, is only setting him up for a big fall. Should he encounter even a bumpy first term, the Republicans will be all over him for his "failure". We should expect change, but not to the extent and magnitude that the press is predicting.

All I want is a little sanity.

Senate Shenanigans?

2009-01-07T12:16:00.003-05:00

I've taken a short sabbatical, but now I'm back...

The happenings recently in the United States Senate are quite troubling and confusing. Here's my take on a few of the seats in question:

Illinois: Governor Rod Blagojevich has appointed former state attorney general Roland Burris to the seat vacated by Barack Obama. Much has been said about this appointment, and just yesterday, the Senate refused to seat Mr. Burris. The cold, hard truth is that even though the evidence against Blago is damning, he still is the governor. Until the Illinois legislature decides to either remove him, or if they would have enacted legislation that would have prevented Blago from doing such a deed, he legally has the right to make the appointment. Is the appointment tainted? Yes. Should Mr. Burris be seated? Legally, yes.

Had the Illinois legislature not played politics with this and called for a special election, then there would be no furor. But to worry that the seat might be won by a Republican is politics at its worst, and they deserve all the criticism that they get.

New York: This is the seat currently held by Hillary Clinton. Last I checked, she hasn't resigned the seat yet, and won't unless she gets confirmed as Secretary of State. Why the hub-bub over who's going to take her place then? I'm not 100% sure that she's a stone-cold lock to be confirmed at State.

Along these lines, I don't see any reason why Caroline Kennedy should be permitted to waltz to this appointment. I'm sure that there are many other politicians in New York more deserving of this seat than Ms. Kennedy; if I were a sitting member of Congress or the state legislature, I'd be fuming at the prospect of JFK's sole surviving legacy being handed the seat on a silver platter.

Delaware: Disclosure: I'm a Joe Biden fan. He won the exacta in November; he got elected as vice-president, and also won his Senate seat. In my opinion, once he was named as Obama's running mate, he should have dropped his bid for the Senate. How one can campaign for 2 offices at the same time is beyond me. And once the November elections were done and certified, Biden should have resigned his seat immediately, a la President-elect Obama. This is somewhat disrespectful to the citizens of Delaware.

I don't like the fact that governors get to appoint people to the Senate if the sitting Senator vacates his or her seat. Open seats should be left to the citizens to decide. I know we've had enough of political campaigns for the time being, but if i were in, say, Delaware, I'd be a bit bothered that the person I voted for Senate (who won) would not be the person sitting in the seat in January.

Loudoun's Field of Dreams?

2008-12-04T08:29:00.006-05:00

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors on Monday agreed to examine a proposal to initiate a Comprehensive Plan amendment (CPAM) for the property located southwest of the intersection of Routes 7 and 28 in eastern Loudoun County. The property, owned by NA Dulles Real Estate Investor, LLC, would develop a mixed-use community with a minor-league baseball stadium, should the CPAM be approved.

Other aspects proposed by the developer would provide 210 affordable living units; complete the build-out of Gloucester Parkway from it's current terminus at Loudoun County Parkway through to Route 28; complete Pacific Boulevard, which runs parallel to the west of Route 28; provide the county land on which to build a fire and rescue station at the Gloucester/Pacific intersection; and protect the Broad Run watershed in the process. This is a proposal which the Board and Planning Commission should strongly support.

I am a baseball fan. This there is no doubt, and a professional baseball stadium in Loudoun strikes very close to my heart. There have been a few comments on local newspapers' websites recently that decry this use for the Atlantic League, an independent professional baseball league. People have the right to question this, but should look at the bigger picture. The Potomac Nationals, single-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals currently based in Woodbridge, has quite possibly the worst stadium in the Carolina League. Owner Art Silber has been looking for years for a location to build a new stadium for the P-Nats. Would he be attracted to a stadium in Loudoun should the Atlantic League plan fall through?

A professional-quality stadium in Loudoun could also attract Virginia High School League tournaments. There are many high schools in the area who could benefit from playing in a top-notch facility. George Washington University currently plays at Barcroft Park in Arlington; with their Loudoun Campus practically across the street from this property, the Colonials baseball team may wish to play a few games there as well.

With a proposed 10,000 seat capacity, the stadium could also stage concerts and other special events. With events such as baseball, concerts, and what have you, there would also be tax revenue from ticket sales. For a county that is looking to promote tourism, I can't think of a better method than the American pastime. Thanks should be handed out to Chairman Scott York and Supervisor Lori Waters for bringing attention to this project.

As Moonlight Graham said to Ray Kinsella in the movie Field of Dreams, "Build it, and they will come."

Environ-mental Lapse

2008-11-25T12:59:00.005-05:00

There has been a lot of chatter recently about the single “no” vote that Loudoun County supervisor Lori Waters (R-Broad Run) cast last week in opposition to the “National Capitol Region Climate Change Report” issued by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. One can debate incessantly about the factors that are leading to climate change; for every 100 scientists who provide data in support, I’m sure there are an equal number who can disprove the data. But the fact is, pollution is a major factor in the daily lives of everyone, and making the environment cleaner for all is a noble goal. But Ms. Waters vote on November 11 is quite troubling.

Supervisor Waters was a participant in a July 23 strategic planning meeting where the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors hatched out a series of goals and initiatives for the next four years, and tasked county staffers to come up with recommendations on the methods of implementation. One of the sessions dealt with environmental and energy issues; initiatives ranged from promoting energy efficiency, using “green fleets”, exploring “Energy Savings Performance Contracting”, to, lo and behold, engaging with federal, state, and local governments “to reduce greenhouse emissions”.

In the MWCOG report on climate change that was introduced last week, some of the over 70 recommendations made to address climate change were: improving energy efficiency in buildings; promoting clean fuel vehicles and adopting a “green fleet” policy; promoting regional energy performance contracting and cooperative purchasing. All of these and the other recommendations tied into the goal of the report, which was to, lo and behold, reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

One can see that the goals and initiatives of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors regarding the environment are not too dissimilar from the initiatives that the MWCOG is recommending. So why would Supervisor Waters reject such a report when just a few months earlier she collaborated with her fellow supervisors on goals for the county that mirrored those of the MWCOG?

Here is MWCOG’s mission statement, as it appears on their website:

Enhance the quality of life and competitive advantages of the Washington metropolitan region in the global economy by providing a forum for consensus building and policy-making; implementing intergovernmental policies, plans, and programs; and supporting the region as an expert information resource.

Supervisor Waters, in her comments submitted on the report, surmised (in part) that “(t)he residents of the Washington region are looking to the COG to help solve real life regional issues”. Simply by reading the executive summary of the report and comparing that to their mission statement, it can be seen that this is exactly what the MWCOG is doing. Nothing in the report is mandated; every recommendation (including “cap and trade”, which Supervisor Waters opposes) is just that – a recommendation, as are the initiatives in the Loudoun County plan.

Supervisor Waters was put on the MWCOG to represent the county. If the county has stated goals that are similar in nature to the recommendations of a regional governmental organization’s report, one would expect that our representative to that body would carry our county’s vision with her. For Supervisor Waters to distance herself from the stated goals of the county that she serves and to make a personal statement on her beliefs is patently wrong.

Battle Royal for Governor

2008-11-20T14:26:00.009-05:00

A 3-way battle for the Democratic nomination for Virginia governor is already starting to turn ugly. Thus the spoils of Democratic gains have been uncovered.

Del. Brian Moran (Alexandria) has already fired shots across the bow at former DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe, who hasn’t declared himself in the race (but has already started an exploratory committee). McAuliffe’s aspirations to the governor’s mansion has elicited some negative press recently, most glaringly in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, where he was portrayed as Virginia’s answer to Sarah Palin. The Moran campaign exploited those remarks in a statement released on Monday, and McAuliffe’s people were none too thrilled at the negative tone:

"Brian Moran and his campaign have been spending a curiously large amount of time focused on someone who's not even a declared candidate for governor yet and their tone has been surprisingly negative," (McAuliffe senior advisor Mo) Elleithee said. "I've known Brian Moran for a long time, and I know he's a better Democrat than that. Terry McAuliffe is focused on having a conversation with and listening to what Virginians have to say as he decides whether or not to run for governor. He is saving his criticism for Bob McDonnell, not great Democrats like Brian Moran and Creigh Deeds. We hope that both of them and their campaigns follow the same approach."

Senator Creigh Deeds (Bath) was more gracious than Moran, and that strategy may pay him dividends in the long run if Moran and McAuliffe get into a knock-down, drag-out brawl.

I honestly don’t know yet who I’m going to support for governor in 2009, but this turn of events doesn’t bode well for the party. The Republicans already have their presumptive nominee, Attorney General Bob McDonnell, and he should waltz to the general election free from the scars of a primary or convention battle. Infighting among Democrats will only make it difficult for the rank-and-file to unite behind a candidate, once he has been chosen.

For the sake of the Democratic Party of Virginia, there needs to be civility and accord between all of the candidates who will be competing in the primary. No matter the nominee, Democrats have to be united behind that candidate if they have any chance of defeating McDowell. Mud-slinging that happens 8 months before a primary is not an indication that all will be well next Fall.

How the GOP Lost Me

2008-11-07T12:01:00.005-05:00

I'll admit it - I used to be in the tank for the Republican party.

I go back to when I first registered to vote in 1985. I was aboard a ship in the Indian Ocean, serving in the United States Navy. My commander-in-chief at that time was Ronald Reagan, and the advice I got from my superiors was that voting Republican was what military guys do. OK, so I indentified myself as a Republican.

I defended the Reagan administration throughout Iran-Contra, and eventually supported George H.W. Bush in 1988. I became politically active in 1994 when I volunteered for Tom Davis' initial run for Congress. Living in Reston at the time, I met people involved in a local GOP club there, and joined. I made my way into the Executive Board of the group, until I veered away in 1998. The GOP's slow embrace of the Christian right started to make me uncomfortable. I was a moderate, after all, and my socially moderate views were becoming unwelcome.

I was the loyal anti-Clinton GOP'er throughout the 90's, and as could be expected, voted for George W. Bush in 2000. I supported Bush after 9/11, but something happened in 2002. I started realizing that with the impending invasion of Iraq that there was something more nefarious going on. I started to examine the neo-conservative movement.

I saw that the Republican party after the revolution of 1994 had become what they had railed against. They were against the growth of government, but the national debt ballooned after Bill Clinton left office. They called for balanced budgets in the 1990's, but squandered the budget surplus that Clinton left us. They were all for keeping government out of your life, but intruded into Americans' privacy with their stances on abortion, gay rights, and civil liberties. In short, they had become the hypocrites that they ran against in 1994.

But I was unwilling to commit to the Democratic party, based on the views I had when I was younger. I called myself "happily independent". And then came 2007.

There were some issues that my family had to deal with locally that I believed needed input from elected officials. I contacted all of the Loudoun County and US Congressional officials, along with citizens seeking those offices. What I found was startling: the only ones who were offering to help (save 1) were Democrats. I talked to many of these officials, and the best advice I got came from the Democrats. How could this be? For years I was under the impression that the Democrats were the bad guys.

Virginia state senator Mark Herring, delegate David Poisson, and Board of Supervisors candidate Phyllis Randall all helped me out tremendously when I needed it last year. And this year, I did what I never thought was possible: I volunteered to help the Loudoun County Democratic Committee on election day. Coming from someone who helped the GOP in the "Contract With America" election of 1994, the "Republican Revolution" as it was called, the election of November 2008 was much more satisfying.

And come November 20th, when I attend the next meeting of the LCDC, I can say without reservation that I am now a Democrat. More thought has gone into this than can be explained in a blog, but it all makes sense. I explained it this way to a fellow volunteer on Tuesday: the Democrats are more willing to embrace a fiscal conservative then the Republicans are willing to embrace a social liberal. Whooda thunk it?

Sarah the Socialist

2008-10-29T07:49:00.009-04:00

Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin has been throwing around the "socialist" moniker on Barack Obama ever since he told Joe the "Not a" Plumber that he wants to "spread the wealth" with his tax proposal, should he be elected. If she wants to use Obama's words against him, fine. She should just be prepared for the consequences.

A commentary in the current edition of the New Yorker identifies how taxes on the oil companies in Palin's Alaska are "redistributed" to every citizen of that state, to the tune of over $3,200 per person. And how does the New Yorker know this? Governor Palin, shortly before she was chosen by John McCain, sat down for an interview with a journalist from that magazine and bragged about her state's "sharing of the wealth".

“(W)e’re set up, unlike other states in the union, where it’s collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs.”

Senator McCain himself has extolled the virtues of redistributing the wealth. In an appearance on Hardball in 2000, McCain stated that "wealthy people can afford more", and "when you reach a certain level of comfort, there's nothing wrong with paying somewhat more".

For the next week, when you hear the Republican ticket bashing Senator Obama for wanting to "spread the wealth", you can think that maybe they're just jealous that he's beating them at their own game.

Campaign Tactics

2008-10-28T09:48:00.004-04:00

The news came out this weekend that a staffer for Virginia Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10) struck a campaign worker for Wolf's opponent, Judy Feder (D), who was attempting to ask Wolf questions and capture his responses on camera. The tactic, called "tracking" is when the a candidate uses video technology to record statements by his or her opponent (see: Allen, George).

Debate has raged over whether the Feder campaign workers were out of line in following Wolf and why the staffer from the Wolf campaign responded physically. An argument can be made that the Feder staffers were being simply annoying in their pursuit of Rep. Wolf. This is an unfortunate tactic being employed in political campaigns these days; following candidates with a video camera trying to catch them in their "macaca" moment in an attempt to score points with voters.

But even if the staffers were indeed being annoying, that is no reason for staffers of the opposing side to resort to becoming physical. Asking questions of the candidate is legitimate, even if it is accompanied by video recording. Rep. Wolf seemed to have the thicker skin - he apparently recoignized the staffers and was obviously ignoring the questions. The same could not be said of his staffer.

Politics has become so much more partisan, so much more divisive these days. I really wish that campaigns would return to the days of civil discourse and refrain from negative campaigning and "gotcha" politics. The country would be much better off.

How 'Bout Them Phillies?

2008-10-16T08:35:00.003-04:00

Well, my boys, the Philadelphia Phillies, won the National League pennant last night with a 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

It's been 15 years since the Phils last appeared in the World Series, and 28 years since they've won it all. No matter who they face, either Tampa Bay or Boston, I believe that they have a pretty good shot of winning it all. Even if they don't, it's been a pretty good season; very unexpected.

As a Philadelphia native and frustrated Philly sports fan since 1973, I'd love to see the "Fightins" do this, mainly to erase the "25 years without a championship" albatross that's been hanging over the city. The Eagles have come close the past few years and the Flyers surprised everyone with their run deep in the playoffs last year. So a Phillies win would be very therapeutic for the long-suffering fans of the teams from the City of Brotherly Love.

I'm wearing my Phillies hat today, and my chest is puffed out a bit more. I can't imagine what I'll do if they win 4 more games. It's been too long; make this Phillies fan proud, boys.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2008-09-18T12:43:00.003-04:00

With apologies to Andy Williams, the fall season is my favorite time of year. Hard to believe a statement like that after it was a scorching 96 over the weekend, but it's true.

Yesterday, we spent the day in Pennsylvania Dutch country taking in the sights on the Strasburg Railroad. The morning was crisp and cool, 49 degrees at 7 AM. As the day wore on, the temperature stayed very moderate, with a slight breeze and no humidity, and as we sat on the open-air passenger car on the train, it was actually quite chilly. Passing by pumpkin fields, with the gourds just starting to grow, it really felt like autumn.

In the next few weeks, the leaves will be turning, the afternoon temperatures will be dropping, and it will soon be time to bring out a light jacket or fleece for the trip to work. The shorts will be put away, and long-sleeved shirts will replace golf shirts. Every weekend will have some sort of Fall festival, and before you know it, the little ones will be knocking at your door for Halloween candy. Plus, football is underway and the NHL teams are organizing training camps. The baseball pennant races are heating up (Go Phils!!), and it will soon be World Series time.

Since there should be no threat of snow, the only lunacy we'll have to deal with will be the unending Presidential campaign commercials. Then, before you know it, we'll be talking turkey and making plans for Thanksgiving dinner. At that point, the romanticism of Fall will come to a screeching halt, as Black Friday and the inevitable mass-marketing of Christmas will commence.

So yesterday's weather was just something to whet my appetite for the next 10 weeks of what is, for me, the most wonderful time of the year.

Oh, My Legs

2008-09-02T07:35:00.006-04:00

In my quest for ultimate fitness, I've decided that one of my goals is to run in, and complete, a 5K. Thanksgiving is the usual time for 5K Turkey Trots, so I've got a few weeks to get in running shape. Plus, after all of the beers I consumed at my cookout on Sunday, it would be a good way for me to burn it all out.

So on Sunday, I was talking about this with a few neighbors of mine, when one suggested that we go running on Labor Day morning. Sure, I'm game - even though I haven't run in years. We'll do a quick 1 1/2 miles, and I'll work my way up to the 3.2 miles that make up a 5K. So at 8 AM, George shows up, and off we go. I've been doing about 30-40 minutes on a Stairclimber these days, so I figured 1.5 miles would be no problem (Ha!). Approximately 1/10 of a mile into my run, my legs were laughing at me, saying "Silly Dave - what were you thinking?".

But once I got over the initial shock, it wasn't too bad. We were approaching the turn-around point at 3/4 mile, but George said, "You're doing good - let's keep going". So male ego what it is, I agreed. And we kept going. And going. And coming back, as we turned on to my street, George suggested we sprint the last 1/5 mile. And male ego what it is, I agreed. Breathlessly, and thankfully, we reached my house, the finish line.

Later yesterday, I got in my car to estimate the distance I ran. At the point where we turned around, it was 1.8 miles from my front door. So double that, and I ran 3.6 miles yesterday, in about 35 minutes. This morning, when I got out of bed to take a shower, I resembled a baby fawn taking its' first steps, as I stumbled towards the bathroom. I'm going to regret sitting at a desk for 8 hours today.

But there's always Advil. And Aleve. And Motrin. But now I know I can run a 5K. Just not today.

Beach Traffic Nightmare

2008-08-12T12:14:00.002-04:00

The fatal accident on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge this past Sunday snarled traffic for miles as beachgoers attempted to return to points west. Unfortunately, I was one of those trying to get back. I thought I was fortunate in that I was only on the road for about 5 miles when I heard the news of the backups. I decided right there that I was going to try the alternate route. What I didn't expect was more of the same.

The alternate route diverted traffic from the Delaware beaches north on Route 1 towards Wilmington, DE, then south on I-95 from there. Traffic flowed smoothly until close to Dover, where the toll road begins. There, a back-up of about 4 miles took approximately 40 minutes to get to the toll booth. Fortunately, SmartTag works in Delaware, so once we cleared the backup, it was smooth sailing.

Approaching I-95, we were alerted to a backup on I-95 Northbound. I breathed a sigh of relief that the backup wasn't southbound. At least I didn't think it was. Entering 95 just north of Newark, I was about 5 miles from the toll booth at the Delaware-Maryland border. This backup took a little over an hour to clear. At one point, drivers were trying to beat the backup by driving through the service area, but that just added to the gridlock.

Once clear of the tolls (again, thanks to SmartTag), it was probably another 20 miles before ominous clouds appeared, and we were smack dab in the middle of a hellacious storm cell. The heavy rain was short in nature, but long enough to drop speeds well below the posted 65 mph speed limit.

After that, it was uneventful the rest of the way home. After a quick stop to grab a bite to eat, I arrived home, harried but relieved. What was usually about a 3-hour, 15 minute trip covering around 165 miles turned into a 6 1/2 hour slog of over 200 miles. But at least I made it home that night; the driver of the truck that ended up in the Bay wasn't so lucky.

Playin' Ball

2008-07-29T09:15:00.003-04:00

As a 3-time participant in an over-30 fantasy camp for the Philadelphia Phillies, I befriended a few people who genuinely love baseball. Last week, about 20 or so of us made our way to Landisburg, PA (about 20 minutes west of Harrisburg, outside of Carlisle) to play baseball for 2 days at a place called Doubleday Farm.

Doubleday Farm is owned by Brad Shover, former owner of a minor league baseball team. It's a bed-and-breakfast, mainly, but he carved out a professional quality field on a portion of his 80 acres, and every week during the summer, he invites a former major league player to hobnob with regular joes for a few days in a "Field of Dreams" atmosphere. Brad even provides wool blend "throwback" uniforms for the aspiring players to wear.

Last week, we went to play with Ricky Jordan, who played 8 seasons in the bigs, mostly with the Phillies. Ricky is also a "legend" at Phillies Phantasy Camp, so many of us already knew him from there. He is, without a doubt, one of the most likeable ex-ballplayers around. He took the time to learn all of our names, even if he didn't know us, signed as many autographs as necessary, and told us stories from his days in the majors.

But the best part was the fraternization with guys I've known from my days at fantasy camp, and with meeting other guys for the first time. I was only there for less than 48 hours, but I could have stayed for days. I have formed strong bonds with my fellow players through fantasy camp, and those friendships will last a lifetime.

The cost to attend Phillies camp has skyrocketed to the point of unaffordability, but $150 for 3 games on a beautiful field in July, playing with good friends, is priceless.

Two Wheeling It

2008-07-11T12:37:00.003-04:00

I got my bike back from the shop yesterday. I hadn't been on my bike, which I bought in 1994, since before my son was born in early 2006. The bike was in pretty rough shape - the gears were stripped, the brakes needed tuning, and it's quite dirty. But Bicycle Outfitters, in Leesburg, did a great job in fixing my ride and getting it back to me in a week, just as they promised.

So after my little one went down last night, I decided to test the new wheels. I went for a 30-minute, 6.25 mile ride through Lansdowne and the Loudoun Hospital area, and what have I been missing? A very invigorating ride on a very pleasant night. And my recent (15-month) kick into getting back in shape made it all that more easy to navigate the undulations in the area.

My biggest worry, though, the drivers, never came to fruition. I tried to keep to the bike paths, but when I had to ride in the street, I was pleasantly surprised at the courtesy afforded me by those in their cars. Kudos to them, and shame on me for assuming the worst.

So now I have another way to get my exercise in. Maybe one of these days I'll tackle the W & OD Trail again and try to bike to work. It's a 8.5 mile commute on the trail, so it shouldn't be that hateful. Hey, who knows - with gas prices the way they are and no relief in sight, it may save me some money, too.