Republican Party of Virginia Chairman John Hager’s interview with familyfoundationblog will begin here Monday and continue on Tuesday. His interview is one in a continuing series of party leaders. Previously, we interviewed — in his role as a legislator — Delegate Jeff Frederick (R-52, Woodbridge), who is challenging Mr. Hager for RPV chairman, which will be decided at the Republican State Convention at the end of May. You can read it by clicking here.

Democrat Party of Virginia Chairman Dickie Cranwell also has accepted an invitation for an interview. We expect to post that one by the end of next week or early the week after.

Questions to both current chairmaen examine their views on the role political parties play in advocating public policies which reflect and protect family values, their personal influences and general questions about the political climate in Virginia.

We hope you will read both and leave your comments on the corresponding threads. We look forward to the answers of the two chairmen, your feedback on them, and to bringing you other exciting interviews we have lined up in coming weeks.

What do you call a quarter of (however small) gross domestic product growth, rising worker productivity and dropping labor unit costs (an inflation factor); a month with a lower unemployment rate, rising factory orders and increased consumer purchases; two straight weeks of declining unemployment insurance claims and a year of increased wages?

If you’re a liberal running for office or a member of the Mainstream Media, it’s a recession. The economy surely isn’t in great shape with gas prices as high as they are, along with rising ethanol production decreasing food supplies and increasing food prices (thanks environmentalist wackos). But by no statistical measurement are we in a recession — yet.

We’re not the only ones who think that. A major institution agrees: Government.

Perhaps nothing is more disturbing during these unsure economic times than the fact that government, at all levels and across all regions of the country, continues to add jobs to their bureaucracies. According to a recent analysis of all employment sectors, despite the job reductions and efficiencies the private sector has been forced into — created primarily by government policies of high taxation, artificially high energy prices because of a lack of domestic production, and rising food prices because of farm subsidies to grow corn for ethanol at the expense of other crops — the public sector (i.e., government) continues to grow!

Here’s an excerpt from an AP dispatch (emphasis added):

On the jobs front, construction companies slashed 61,000 positions in April. Manufacturers cut 46,000 and retailers got rid of 27,000. Those losses were eclipsed by job gains in education and health care, professional and business services, the government and elsewhere.

For what good reason is government growing? If not now, in an economic slowdown, then when will governments clamp down and do more with less? Will it ever stop adding to its payroll? In Virginia, we face a governor and certain legislators ready to jack up the gas tax as that commodity makes its way to $4.00 per gallon.

So it seems government is un-bothered about the slow economy and unrestrained in its appetite to confiscate from those it purports to serve. These same state and local governments complain of tight budgets and revenue shortages, while they rake in ever more money in higher real estate and assorted state and local taxes from hard working families having enough of a time filling up their cars with gas. Politicians always brag about balanced budgets. But balanced budgets don’t mean a thing when they grow each year by taking more than is needed from hard working families to fund bureaucracies. That’s never right, even in good times. It’s especially cruel when times are tenuous.

When liberal Hollywood producer Norman Lear, of People for the American Way fame, created the hit 1970s show “All In The Family,” he admitted part of his motivation was to caricature conservatives through stereotype. The main character, Archie Bunker, was a bigoted, Second Amendment loving, homophobic, chauvinistic, xenophobic, jingoistic, racist ignoramus. Part of actor Carrol O’Connor’s portrayal involved Archie’s vicious stereotyping of anyone and everyone different from him — Poles (”Pollacks”), Jews (”Hebes”), Middle Easterners (”A-Rabs”) and blacks to name a few.

While certainly there are racists in every culture, there is no country where minorities of any type — racial, religious, ethnic — can succeed as in America. Where are these bigots that Lear tried to portray as everyday Americans trying to stunt the progress of our country? There is no country that, when they do raise their disgraceful voices, they are shunned as they are here. Nowhere in America do they hold real power.

The show got huge ratings, some calling it the best sitcom of all time. But Lear discovered the show actually backfired. Despite the buffoonish nature of Archie, what was exposed was the condescension and elitism of its liberal characters and the show’s philosophical bent.

For years this has been the case in real life. Now, perhaps thinking the country’s culture has moved comfortably toward their leftist view, liberal politicians and elitists are saying publicly what they think and work toward. In the fall of 2006, John Kerry — who wanted to be the Commander-In-Chief — said the military was the option of last resort for the dumb. During the last several months, front-running Democrat candidate for president Barack Obama has said that racism is “typical” in white people and that working-class folks in small town America “cling” to their religion and guns out of fear and nonacceptance of others.

Now, liberal horror novelist Stephen King, as with Kerry, has piled on the military. Speaking at the Library of Congress to a school group (nothing like indoctrinating students), King said:

“The fact is if you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don’t, then you’ve got the Army, Iraq, I don’t know, something like that.”

King, a major donor to liberal candidates and causes, and an Obama supporter, thought he could he get away with his comments, just as Obama thought he could when trashing mid-America in San Francisco. But he forgot about the blogosphere. NewsBusters’ Noel Sheppard brought King’s belittling comments about the military to light. (Click here.) What’s sadly ironic is that it is our military, who handle weapons and implement planning and logistics more complex than King could ever comprehend, secure his right to write his lunatic plots and say his imbecilic comments. Here’s Sheppard’s reply to King’s feeble response.

Ironies tend to come full circle. In this case, what further adds to it is that Archie Bunker was a God-believing, high school drop-out, working class, proud union man; a socio-economic class today described as “Reagan Democrats.” (In one episode, years before he was elected, Archie admitted that he wrote-in Ronald Reagan’s name for president.) Now, just who is it the Democrats are so desperate to attract? The same people they mock.

One of our highest priorities this past General Assembly session was HB 1135, which protects religious liberty in education. The bill was patroned by Delegate William Fralin (R-17, Roanoke) and it passed easily, including a 39-1 vote in the Senate. Governor Kaine made a minor amendment which was approved during the veto session last month. The bill takes effect July 1. This victory, along with one of our highest priorities for the 2007 session, a religious liberty bill protecting religious expression in public venues, patroned by Delegate Scott Lingamfelter (R-31, Woodbridge), which also was signed into law, make significant progress toward protecting our constitutional rights from their erosion by authoritarian educrats and activist judges.

I know, I know. We’re extremists and alarmists with such hyperbole. At least that’s what the usual suspects always claim. Okay. So is this recent case in Wisconsin hyperbole?

From www.onenewsnow.com (click the excerpt for the entire story):

School officials in Tomah, Wisconsin, are facing a lawsuit after a high school teacher there failed a student’s art project because it included a cross and a reference to John 3:16. The school district argues that the student voluntarily waived his First Amendment religious freedoms when he entered the classroom.

Funny, no one ever taught me the Constitution ended at the school door. I’m pretty sure Mr. Madison would be appalled. HB 1135 specifically defends students’ rights to include religious content in academic assignments. Not only that, it brings the code of Virginia in line with United States Supreme Court precedent — not to mention the intent of the Founders. The language for the new law was borrowed from federal guidelines for religious liberty in schools and modeled after a recently passed law in Texas. Virginia public schools currently use religious liberty guidelines developed more than a decade ago by then Attorney General James Gilmore. Since that time, the Supreme Court has clarified the rights of students to express their faith in the classroom. 

This recent Wisconsin situation, which has stirred up passionate feelings judging by the dozens of responses on the thread of the article linked above, isn’t just a product of an over zealous and misguided teacher, something ”that would never happen here.” The actual need for the legislation arose after several incidents of students having their religious viewpoint rights violated — here in Virginia! Just this school year, a first grade student in a public school was denied the right to read a story to her class simply because it contained the word “God.” 

Such incidents happen far too often and many go unreported. The law was necessary because teachers and administrators ignore Supreme Court precedent, federal guidelines and guidelines by the Commonwealth’s attorney general. Still think “authoritarian educrat” is hyperbole? Activist judges have done their part as well, making it difficult to remedy these problems through legislation. That’s changed now. 

This new law, the one last year, and the precedents and legal opinions, while they received little media attention, provide an unassailable legal foundation toward returning our Commonwealth to its rightful place as a beacon of religious freedom for the rest of the nation. Given the recent abuse of constitutionally guaranteed religious freedom in Wisconsin, could the enactment of HB 1135 had better timing?

Now that we know — as if we needed confirmation — that Governor Tim Kaine will outline a tax increase for his transportation plan come Monday, it puts a certain former governor with a, shall we say, shady history on the issue of taxes, in a bit of a bind.

Will former Governor Mark Warner embrace the plan? If he does, it will explode his already gaping tax credentials hole into a crater. If he doesn’t, he gives the low-tax General Assembly Republicans all sorts of cover and undermines his hand-picked successor. What will it be: His natural appetite for taking away hard-earned money from Virginia’s families? Or, will will he throw his pal, in what seems to be the trend this Democrat political season, under the bus? Most likely, he’ll use the time-tested political dodge. But he won’t get away with it.

Look at his record of broken promises and reversals of position, which is piling up faster than dead bodies during whack frenzy last-season of The Soprano’s:  

• Promise: Finish the car tax elimination. Result: Didn’t even try.

• Promise: End the death tax. Result: Vetoed it.

• Promise: No tax increase. Result: Largest tax increase in Virginia history despite a surplus.

Which brings about another question: Since we didn’t get into the “transportation crisis” overnight, who didn’t get the job done before Governor Kaine? I mean, who was the governor between 2002-2006? Oh yeah, the same Mark Warner who wants raise our federal taxes as well (after months of denying it, he went on record yesterday saying he wants to let the Bush tax cuts expire). 

Not that these are tax issues, but adding to the skepticism of his veracity and trustworthyness, Mr. Warner now says he’s not for a date certain for withdrawal from Iraq. Really? This is what he said at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in February:

“And come January, 2009, we need to start to bring our brave troops home from Iraq. . . .” Sounds pretty certain to me.

He also vetoed a Virginia energy plan agreeing to off-shore drilling if the feds ever granted such permission. But at the Shad Planking April 16, he said:

“I’ve said in terms of offshore, we ought to take a look.”

Who can trust this guy? Tim Kaine better hope he can or his plan will end up in the same place those Soprano’s characters did. We continue to hope.

Capitol Square sources just confirmed to us that Governor Tim Kaine on Monday will set the date for the special session of the General Assembly to address transportation funding and to release his own plan. We are told his plan will include a tax increase — okay, so maybe that’s not breaking news; what else to expect from someone so eager to establish his “legacy” by extracting hard earned money from Virginia’s families?

As always, stay alert and be vigilant. Those opposing tax increases will be under intense and immense pressure from big business, big-time real estate developers and special interests who want us to pay for roads so their shopping centers, office parks and condo complexes can make them big bucks. Low tax delegates and senators will need all the support they can get. Let them know we’ve got their backs.

Yesterday we posted the first part of our interview with Delegate Kenny Alexander (D-89, Norfolk). Here is the concluding part. We think you will find it interesting. Let us know what you think. 

familyfoundationblog.com: How important to your constituents are social issues such as divorce, abortion and parental authority?

Delegate Alexander: They are very important. My district clearly wants these matters to remain private. They should be left between the parties. They are family matters. Government should ensure, as long as those issues remain legal, they should be maintained. Government should ensure those persons have access to those services, but government should not advocate for them either.

I have a four- and a six-year-old. There are certain things I want to know about my four-year-old and six-year-old until they are 18 and leave the house. For certain decisions, such as counseling, I want to be included. As difficult as it may be, it should be an evaluation the family can accept, whatever the reality is, and it should be a neutral party not advocating for either side. There should be parental involvement at every level of a child’s growth and development at all times.

If children are under the impression or belief that they are without the input of parents or guardians, what else do they think? That can lead to other types of social ills. Parenting is key. But if there is evidence of abuse, neglect or retribution, somebody should weigh this - a neutral authority so there is no retribution. 

familyfoundationblog.com: Studies continue to show that the best way for children to succeed in life is to be raised in intact families. What policies should Virginia adopt to help keep families together?

Delegate Alexander: I agree. We can’t legislate that, though. Unfortunately, we can’t legislate a successful marriage. But what I do think is this: Education is key. Evidence shows why we have so many dysfunctional families and divorces. Some would think infidelity is the number one cause. But the primary cause is finances, poverty. You break the cycle of divorce and separation not by government but through faith, community, social and cultural organizations. And by families spending quality time together. Families need to spend quality time socially, through the arts, church, and vacation away from the stressors in life that plague families that lead to divorce, separation and dysfunction.

Even with infidelity, poor families stay together because of faith, love and a bond, and you can’t legislate that. But you can create an environment of healthy and safe communities to ensure that safety net. Government shouldn’t be there for the able bodied. When they get benefits, it leads to a cycle of dependency and that can become generational.

familyfoundationblog.com: You are on the House Education Committee. What types of educational reforms would you like to see in Virginia? (For example, perhaps more educational choice or more money directed to the classroom?)

Delegate Alexander: I think we need complete reform for how we educate our children.

One, we should recognize the global economy and we should expect global competition, meaning that competition comes from India, China and Korea for jobs in science, technology, engineering and jobs that require math applications. That’s the up and coming economy. Are we putting too much emphasis on history, social studies and political science SOLs? They are good disciplines, but is it too much emphasis? Are we setting up our kids for failure?

The second part of it is vocational. Some kids show interest in vocational and technical education. Are we setting those kids up for failure with history and social studies?

In middle school we should start developing students’ interests in career paths so their academic tract is geared to where they want to end up by the time they graduate. It could be military service, higher education or right into the workplace.

We still have the liberal arts tract because certainly being exposed to history, literature and the arts make you a better person.

Maybe that’s too progressive to think that way.

familyfoundationblog.com: You also are on the Commerce and Labor Committee. What is your view on the Pay Day Lending controversy?

Delegate Alexander: I want reform. I’d like to repeal payday lending. So many people are trapped in a cycle of debt. It’s not used for the short term. People go from one lender to another, trapped. You have seniors, military personnel, all using benefits to pay off those payday loans.

familyfoundationblog.com: What role does one’s personal faith play in public office and do constituents expect officials to be guided by something higher than political expediency?

Delegate Alexander: Certainly faith. Trust. Commitment. Allegiance. Honesty. A person’s faith will lead him in his political deliberations to be honest. Honesty. Trustworthy. Considerate. Be considerate of the opinions of all. 

familyfoundationblog.com: Delegate Alexander, thanks so much for answering our questions. We look forward to seeing you in the future to further explore ways in which we can work together. 

As we wrote on Friday, today we are posting the first of two parts of an interview with Delegate Kenny Alexander (D-89, Norfolk). We hope you enjoy it, let us know what you think, and return tomorrow around this time for part two. 

familyfoundationblog.com: Delegate Alexander, thank you very much for taking time out of your busy General Assembly schedule for this interview. You are the third elected official to take questions from us and the first Democrat. We hope some of your colleagues won’t give you too much grief over it. : - ) By the way, you’ve already been mentioned in our Capital Square Diary this session.

So our readers will get to know you better, tell us why you got involved in public life, who were your political influences, and how would you describe your political philosophy?

Delegate Kenny Alexander: My grandmother took me to work in campaigns in the city of Norfolk — at the local level — as a volunteer working outside polling places handing out literature and putting up yard signs. Later, my father got me involved delivering chairs and tents — we are in the funeral business — for campaigns. And my grandmother was the secretary of our church and the church had a non-partisan political action committee. Politicians often called the church or the political parties called and asked to speak, so I had first-hand knowledge of when they were coming and read the literature of both parties.

I am a moderate. I think I am progressive on social issues and conservative on fiscal issues. If you put those two together, progressive and conservative, I think that makes me a moderate. I believe in small government. It should only intervene when the free market and capitalism doesn’t work. It should intervene when there is evidence of abuses and for matters of law and order.

I think taxes and fees should be limited and when imposed should be allocated for core services. Just in that respect, I am very conservative on many issues.

familyfoundationblog.com: Many people think organizations such as The Family Foundation and Democrats cannot work together. Although we won’t agree on all issues, you and several other Democrats are examples of how we can work together on certain issues. What are some of the areas and issues where you think we have common ground and can work together?

Delegate Alexander: Pay day lending. I’m proud I was to be able to be on the same side of the payday lending issue. I was proud to be on the same side of The Family Foundation on the “Share The Ride Bill.”

There are some other social issues we can work on together, such as monies for trauma centers — an increase in funding for Virginia’s 13 or 14 trauma centers. Both agreed they could be better funded. Religious liberty is another area.

On pro-life bills, I strongly believe the government should not intervene when it comes to certain medical decisions. In my opinion, it’s a matter of personal choice. For my family — my wife and I have two great boys — we would not make that decision.

familyfoundationblog.com: What is the number one issue facing Virginia families and/or the general social/cultural climate right now?

Delegate Alexander: Parenting is the number one problem, and children who are attracted to gangs and violence, and who display unacceptable social behavior. The breakdown of the family has caused children to find conflict outside of the home that leads to violence, crime and drugs. That’s an assault on the family, these social ills and vices.

familyfoundationblog.com: Last year there was a funny moment where you saw one of our lobbyists in an elevator and complained about your rating on our 2004-2005 scorecard. You said your pastor got on you for not having a higher rating. But on our 2006-2007 you had a 55 rating, the eighth highest of House Democrats. Is your pastor taking it easy on you now?

Delegate Alexander: Ha! Ha! That’s actually not my pastor, the Rev. Calvin Duncan, but I call him pastor because he’s a friend of mine. When I was sworn in as president of the Civic League he presided over my swearing in. He knew me before I was elected and knows I have strong family values. He knows I am a churchman. I practice and am active in my church. So I guess he wanted me to display those same values in my voting record. When you are elected, your values and convictions don’t change. But I represent a district. We are not a real democracy. We are a representative democracy. So I look at the totality of my district: It has the largest Jewish population — all three synagogues in the area are in my district; the largest Orthodox Greek community in Hampton Roads is in my district; and the largest mosque.

So, knowing that, understanding that although I’m a practicing Christian, I understand this is a district that elected me to be its representative. In any vote, I have to be reflective of people who elected me. I also have the largest private schools in my district and I have the largest public schools in my district. Norfolk Christian and Norfolk Collegiate are in my district. In addition to that, three of the five public high schools are in my district.

In February, I asked Delegate Kenneth Alexander (D-89, Norfolk) for an e-mail interview to be posted on this blog. He agreed and, at the time, was only the third office holder to interview here, and still remains the only Democrat. (That’s about to change.) However, because of a heavy General Assembly schedule and several inherent conflicts, he could not get to it. Finally, during the last week of session (in March), he suggested I ask the questions in person. It’s not the way I envisioned it; it’s certainly not the Internet way. Plus, I don’t always take notes fast enough. But it was the only way to make it work. To keep it as much as originally intended, I stuck with original 10 questions, except one since his answer to another question covered it, and with my original introduction. Also, in keeping with an Internet interview, I did not offer follow-up questions to his (often detailed) answers. 

The downside to all this was that in the crush of other work and responsibilities, and with some of the technical problems we experienced earlier this spring, the task of transcribing all those answers got further down my things-to-do list. I started Wednesday and finally got it done and proofed today. As always, Delegate Alexander was incredibly pleasant and professional, and we greatly appreciate his time and cooperation with us. We also greatly appreciate your patience.

On Monday and Tuesday, then, we will post this very interesting interview in two parts. We hope you take the time to read it, find it of great interest and comment on it.  

- The admin

Another potential candidate with strong conservative credentials has backed out of the 2009 Republican nomination campaign. Former Delegate and Assistant U.S. Attorney General Paul Harris sent an e-mail to supporters explaining his decision. You may read it at Bob Gibson’s Virginia Politics blog, here.

Harris joins Senator Mark Obenshain (R-26, Harrisonburg), Delegate Rob Bell (R-58, Albermarle), and 2005 nomination contestant, Richmond attorney, Steve Baril. However, the field may yet expand.

David M. Foster, the former chairman of the Arlington County School Board, may announce his candidacy, according to The Shad Plank blog. Among the 54-year-old’s credentials are his long tenure on the Arlington County GOP Committee, his seven years on the Arlington County school board (2000-2007), and his membership in Attorney General Bob McDonnell’s Internet Safety Task Force. Foster is the co-chair of the antitrust and trade regulation practice group of the international Washington, D.C., law firm of Fulbright and Jaworski. But not much is known about him by grassroots activists outside of Northern Virginia.

The only officially announced candidate is Senator Ken Cuccinelli (R-37, Fairfax). The decisions by Harris, Obenshain and Bell are seen early on as leaving open more of the conservative activist field for Cuccinelli with his vast grassroots network, a significant asset since the nomination will be determined through a convention. Cuccinelli has hit the ground running hard and won last weekend’s Virginia Conservative Leadership Conference straw poll with 85 percent. U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia John Brownlee recently announced his resignation from that position and is expected to formally announce his candidacy soon. He received 9 percent in that straw poll while Harris received 6 percent. Delegate Steve Shannon (D-35, Vienna) is exploring an AG run for the Democrats.