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Annotations & Elucidations

Built From Scratch

The communications department threw in the towel today, not providing its share of material for the News Stand. What to do? Build one from scratch. Go to traditional sources for national news and for the state stuff — raid blogs! You know what? I think this is one of the best News Stands, ever. Please read it all as most are short, but with loads of enlightening info. The Post’s Virginia Politics Blog provides self-explanatory headlines. Tertium Quids was a source of much to note, including a free-market health care plan that will be introduced at this year’s General Assembly. It’s about two pages compared to the 2,000-page PelosiCare federal version. The Shad Plank connected the links in a compelling post about a possible challenger to Representative Bobby Scott (D-3rd District), which is rare. 

Elsewhere, the T-D contributes one article — about Representative Tom Perriello’s tele-townhall on his health care vote, while TQ reports on a different type of meeting in Danville between Tea Partiers and the congressman. It looks like Representative Glenn Nye committed a mortal leftist sin. We also have reports on Governor Kaine’s out-of-state fundraising while Virginia gets flooded. A VDOT land grab is chronicled in TQ. Nationally, the ACLU is trying to force a high school into allowing a same-sex prom date and the RNC is dropping staff health insurance plans that cover elective abortions. In Analysis, Bernie Quigley of The Hill’s Pundits Blog debuts here with a look at the Dems and the South, while AFA looks at naughty and nice retailers (which ones say “Merry Christmas” and which don’t).

Finally, our friends at TQ provide something we don’t know how to describe, but it has to do with Glenn Beck, so we created our first ever Feature category. Look it over for a good laugh.

News:

Perriello telephone town hall draws 8,000 (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Burning Perriello Effigy (Tertium Quids)

Nye Targeted From the Left (Washington Post Virginia Politics Blog)

A challenger for Bobby Scott? (The Shad Plank)

McDonnell heads to Austin a GOP star (Washington Post Virginia Politics Blog)

Only 9th Street astir on quiet holiday (Washington Post Virginia Politics Blog)

McDonnell, House Dems to meet (Washington Post Virginia Politics Blog)

GOP criticizes Kaine for absence during storm (Washington Post Virginia Politics Blog)

VDOT’s costly attempt at a land grab (Tertium Quids)

Health Care Freedom for VA? (Tertium Quids)

National News:

GOP chairman ends abortion insurance for employees (AP/OneNewsNow.com)

ACLU defends lesbian student on prom issue (OneNewsNow.com) 

Evangelist gets 175 years for sex convictions (AP/OneNewsNow.com)

Analysis:

The South has won (Bernie Quigley/The Hill’s Pundits Blog)

Retailers can be naughty or nice, too (OneNewsNow.com)

Governor’s Travels (Tertium Quids) 

Feature: 

South Park does Glenn Beck (Tertium Quids)

Annotations & Elucidations 

Dirty Deeds, Dems In Disarray

If you want state campaign news, scroll to National News. Of course, we have a comprehensive list of articles from Virginia-based papers, but as most anticipated, the national media has taken a great interest in our beloved commonwealth. So, see USA Today, Wall Street Journal, ABCNews.com and Politico.com for the national perspective. When you do, you will see what we and the state press corps has come to see: That even Democrats don’t like Creigh Deeds’ gubernatorial campaign, from the White House down to Governor Kaine and other liberal electeds at all levels and regions of Virginia. (Deeds isn’t cozy with Governor Kaine, now, anyway, so one wonders if his comments aren’t a tit-for-tat.)

All this internal Democrat commotion brings us to a time of reminiscence, that first Deeds bumper sticker. What did it say? “Not Words. Deeds”? Or something to that effect. Yes, we have seen his deeds — not just in his big spending, anti-marriage and pro-abortion policies and flip-flops, but also in his terribly negative campaign. So bad, the inevitable has happened — an AC/DC knock-off video. (See it here.) One note of interest on another subject: According to The Daily Press, there are 100,000 fewer voters on Virginia’s books this year than last. Hmmm. Why do you think that happened?

News:

Kaine says it’s time for Deeds to make case to voters (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Moran Advises Deeds: Give People a Reason to Vote for You (Washington Post Virginia Politics Blog)

McCain, Holtz to rally for McDonnell (Washington Times)

McDonnell talks business during Charlottesville stop (Charlottesville Daily Progress)

BET co-founder apologizes after mocking Deeds’ stammer (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Words about Deeds stir a new controversy (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot)

Deeds uses video to swipe at McDonnell (Roanoke Times)

BET co-founder apologizes for mocking Deeds (Washington Times)

State will have fewer voters this November (The Daily Press)

Road Plans Differ in Details, Not Chances (Washington Post)

Term Limits Proposed (Harrisonburg Daily News-Record)

Bouchard, Stolle in a rematch for 83rd House District (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot)

Bell, Curren Talk Jobs, Spending (Harrisonburg Daily News-Record)

Valentine, Garrett debate voting records (Lynchburg News & Advance)

Longtime incumbent faces familiar foes in 82nd District (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot)

State senator wants GOP nod for 5th District; Hurt aims to unseat Perriello (Charlottesville Daily Progress)

National News:

White House Steps Back in Virginia Race (Wall Street Journal Online)

Deeds points finger at Washington (Politico.com)

Virginia race seen as referendum on Obama (USA Today)

National Parties Battle in VA and NJ to Set Stage for 2010 (ABCNews.com)

High Court Takes Up Case of Cross on Public Land (FoxNews.com)

In what must be one of the most devastating one-two combinations this side of Mike Tyson in his prime, Democrat gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds was on the receiving end of former Governor (and Democrat) Doug Wilder’s non-endorsement yesterday (in large part because because of Deeds’ insistence on new taxes).

Now, Democrat Senator Edd Houck — one of the most senior members of the Senate, the second ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee and one of only five Senate budget conferees — has released a statement in which he writes that a tax increase is not needed. It’s pretty bad when two prominent members of your own party sabotage the rationale for your entire campaign — to raise taxes for transportation and who knows what else. 

Senator Houck (D-17, Spottsylvania) wrote:

Fortunately, Governor Kaine’s proposals contain no tax increases. With salaries remaining stagnant, or worse, individuals losing their jobs, a tax increase is unneeded. 

Not that this is insurmountable for Senator Deeds. Anything is possible. But with friends like this, and two miserable days of news, we’re sure he’s glad it’s the weekend.

Annotations & Elucidations

Leftovers

The Communications Department was out today so I scrounged up some articles it passed along last week and some I found as well that I didn’t have time to post last week. But they’re evergreen, mostly.

Some interesting notes: Governor Kaine’s car was hit while at VITA, the agency his administration has mismanaged. Omen? Speaking of the governor, he’s abandoned the “Virginia way” for the that done by California — furloughs?! Oh yeah, more on Creigh Deeds “change” of thought on certain social issues. The Washington Times documents the growing importance of national issues in the gubernatorial campaign, while a study in the Richmond Times-Dispatch provides a demographic look at state legislatures. Meanwhile, that paper’s Jeff Schapiro, of all people, doesn’t quite think the Deeds’ thesis strategy is going to pay off. Funny, how Mr. Schapiro and his colleagues continue to beat the same tone deaf drum.

News:

National issues dominate Va. Race (Washington Times)

State legislatures becoming older, more diverse, study says (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Kaine’s SUV damaged in VITA parking lot (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Kaine’s budget plan includes unpaid day off for state workers (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Kaine to impose furlough for most state workers (Roanoke Times)

Deeds admits change in ideas (Washington Times)

Scott lays out case for health care reform (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Warner walks fine line on health care (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Controversy spreads before Obama’s school speech (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

President’s speech to schools: Pep talk or politics? (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot)

Candidates gather in Buena Vista for Labor Day parade (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Getting to Richmond, By Way of A Parade (Washington Post)

Deeds, McDonnell at Buena Vista Labor Day Parade (Roanoke Times)

Labor Day: Deeds shines at Scott picnic (The Daily Press) 

McDonnell works to move past thesis criticism (The Daily Press)

McDonnell Changes Topic Amid Thesis Issue (Washington Post) 

Deeds uses radio, Internet to attack McDonnell on thesis (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Deeds focuses on McDonnell thesis (Roanoke Times) 

Deeds jumps at opening to blast foe’s 1989 thesis (Northern Virginia Daily)

Deeds sticks to thesis talk (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot)

Democrats Look For ‘08 Magic (Harrisonburg Daily News-Record)

Morrissey to pedal 74 miles through 74th to kick off re-election bid (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Will feds find more e-mails to ODU? (The Daily Press)

Analysis:

Thesis fracas may not give Deeds the boost he needs(Jeff Schapiro/Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Video:

Cheers and Jeers (3:53) (Richmond Times-Dispatch.com)

About 50 percent of the crowd at Third District U.S. Representative Bobby Scott’s (D-Va.) health care town hall meeting was against the “reform,” or about 100 percent more than he likely expected. 

Annotations & Elucidations

Grades Are Good When Grading Yourself

In the queue today is the governor. According to the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, he’s grading himself on handling the disastrous budget problems, kind of like how some candidates this past spring, during the nominating contests, issued news releases quoting themselves as winning debates. Brilliant.  But isn’t Governor Kaine grading himself on the budget something akin to a guy causing a car wreck taking credit for saving his victim’s life? Just asking.

Also re: the governor: The Washington Post’s look at his unique position during the campaign — “not on the ballot, but on the spot.” Clever word play, but no matter how you phrase it, at least as of now, the campaign is a referendum on Virginia and national Democrats who, again according to the Post, still are running against former President George W. Bush. I thought the Dems were the party of the future. Speaking of blame, the policy party also is trying to make something said by Virginia GOP Chairman Pat Mullins into something it’s not. Where have we heard something similar? Oh, yeah, yesterday.

In our Commentary section, liberal Richard Cohen decries the “hate crimes bill,” with very good sense. The always brilliant Thomas Sowell takes apart socialism and the equally brilliant Walter Williams explains liberty. For his part, David Limbaugh demonstrates that as much as Barack Obama is spending and printing money at our expense (and borrowed Chinese money, too), one thing he can’t afford is the truth on “health care reform” —and most Americans wouldn’t buy (if we had the money) what he’s selling anyway.    

News:

Kaine’s Not on the Ballot, Just on the Spot (Washington Post)

Gov. Kaine touts his handling of Virginia’s budget cuts (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot) 

Democrats in Va. Still Running Against Bush (Washington Post)

McDonnell Awaits Rest Stop Reply (Harrisonburg Daily News-Record)

State GOP leader’s remarks decried (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Bell Is The Early Favorite In 20th (Harrisonburg Daily News-Record)

National News:

Dems vow health bill with or without Republicans (AP/GOPUSA.com)

Public passions are rising on health care overhaul (AP/GOPUSA.com)

Commentary:

The Folly of Hate-Crime Laws (Richard Cohen/Washington Post)

Utopia Versus Freedom(Thomas Sowell/GOPUSA.com)

Who may Harm Whom? (Walter Williams/GOPUSA.com)

Obama Can’t Afford To Tell The Truth On Health Care (David Limbaugh/GOPUSA.com)

By the way, media present include the Associated Press, Norfolk Virginian-Pilot and WVIR/NBC29 from Charlottesville.

I know Governor Kaine announced an energy saving initiative, but does that mean the AC has to be off in the GAB? We’re all sweating puddles in here!

Delegate Janis asked if news conference is because the governor hasn’t asked responded to your approach. He says, no, that he’s trying to take this out of the political realm. Governor has shown good leadership, but we have several experts, such as Brad Wilcox, who are willing to offer their help and not make it a political issue. We need to fireproof families during these hard times. Why wait until January? We can start now.

Victoria adds that the task force had no such experts on it panel.

Delegate Janis adds that, “We are rearranging the deck chairs of the Titanic if we don’t address” marriage.

Question: Explain the TANF funding:

Delegate Janis: We have a surplus of our allotted federal TANF funds, about $16 million. It’s not all for welfare to work. It’s supposed to be used for marriage promotion, too. Oklahoma uses its money to this effect successfully and can be a model for us in Virginia. This money should be distributed by non-profits like the Man Up Initiative, not government.

If we told you there was existing federal money that could be used to decrease poverty by 20 percent immediately, and found out it was not being used, you’d asked why not. That’s exactly what is happening. The facts are in, this will work.

Bob Ruthazer of First Things First of Greater Richmond is speaking now:

In Richmond, non-marital births are more than 80 percent among blacks and more than 60 percent for all residents. Fatherless children are:

Five times more likely to be poor;

Two-three more times likely to smoke;

Two times more likely to drop out of school;

150 times more likely have a non-marital teen pregnancy;

70 percent of juveniles in state institutions grow up in fatherless homes; and

72 percent of adolescent murderers grow up without fathers.

This is the time to make a modest investment in families. Just one percent investment of TANF funds would make a huge impact.

Now, Arne Owens, a former federal sub-cabinet official is speaking:

Academics throughout the decades, going back to the 1970s, stayed quiet. But in the late 1980s, they started to confront the issue as the statistics became undeniable. Dan Quayle was right about “Murphy Brown”! As one academic wrote, “The divorce experiment has failed.”

In the 1990s, a movement began to take shape to advance marriage and the two-parent family. The result was the 1996 welfare reform act. It was designed to negate the negative impact of AFDC (Aid to Families of Dependent Children). It paid a young mother to get divorced and more for each additional child she had out of wedlock.

One of the goals was to move people off welfare and into the workforce. While that has been successful, it has not reached its goals in strengthening families and marriage.

In 2005, Congress passed a $150 million appropriation from TANF funding, that would be dispersed through grants to non-profit groups, to promote fatherhood and intact families, encouraging marriage and preventing divorce.

The CDC said a few weeks ago that out-of wedlock births in this country still is more than 60 percent.

Victoria Cobb summarizes by saying that Governor Kaine cannot address poverty without addressing broken families.

We’re live from the GAB’s House Briefing Room where Delegate Bill Janis, The Family Foundation of Virginia, First Things of Greater Richmond and others are addressing the media and calling on Governor Kaine to add members to his poverty commission and look at different angles as to the cause of poverty, i.e., the governor thinks poverty is reduced by increased unemployment insurance.

Family Foundation President Victoria Cobb is addressing the news conference: Solutions include more choice in education to give individuals a better chance. But the major factor is marriage! U.Va. sociology professor Brad Wilcox sent statistics that show clearly the major reason for poverty is lack of intact families. Childhood poverty could drop as much as 20 percent if we increased the marriage rate in Virginia. Each Virginia tax payers are on the hook for millions of dollars because of the results of family fragmentation.

Increasing the number of marriages and strengthening existing marriages is essential to decreasing poverty. Governor Kaine did not mention these at all when creating his commission. The Family Foundation sent the governor a letter yesterday asking him to make marriage a priority of his commission in its efforts to reduce poverty in Virginia.

The great thing about marriage is that it works and costs tax payers nothing! But divorce and illegitimacy does in crime, poverty and lack of education.

Now, Delegate Bill Janis is on: He starts by quoting then-candidate Barack Obama about the importance of fathers in children’s lives. Hillary Clinton says, “It takes a village to raise a child.” But it takes a dad!

The governor has set the table. We want a seat at the table and a responsible discussion. He now repeats stats from here. Two-thirds of poor children live in collapsed homes and results in higher proportions of poverty, teen pregnancy and crime. We spend a trillion dollars in means tested poverty programs every year. This doesn’t count K-12 education, either.

This is not a Republican or Democrat issue. Forget about the Swine Flu, broken families are the real epidemic.

What can be done? First thing the government should do is do no harm. In 1996, the last time this country had a serious discussion on poverty was 1996 when President Bill Clinton signed the welfare reform act. The bill’s language included as goals the stablization of families, promote marriage, encourage the maintenance of two-parent families and prevent and reduce out of wedlock families. We need to get back to addressing the goals.

We have $16 million in TANF funds in Virginia that was supposed to be earmarked for these goals, but are not being used for them. Why study the problem further when we know what the problem is? Even the Brookings Institute, a liberal think tank, says that a significant percentage of single moms and their families would be instantly lifted out of poverty if they were married to the fathers of their children.

We want to take this out of the realm of partisanship and politics. The governor has led. That’s good. But if he wants to try to score political points, that’s a shame. If not, we want to help him, those in this room. We started this in 1996, let’s finish it now. There are federal funds available now, let’s go get them.

That was the the gist of a comment left on TimesDispatch.com today by a wit named Dave. I was going to blog on Governor Kaine’s whine in today’s T-D about the stress of taking on the DNC chairman job (here) when I saw Dave’s hilarious take on it. It’s priceless, really, calling out the liberal do-gooding spirit.

My take is more standard: Remember when Governor Kaine said it was no big deal doing both jobs? From the T-D on January 28:

“The governor again defended accepting the DNC position given the demands of his current job in a state facing hard economic times and wrestling with a budget deficit of at least $3 billion.

“‘How do they do it? They have great staff,’ Kaine said. ‘Being involved in politics is a good thing, not a bad thing. We need national unity right now.

“‘. … trying to be involved in a way, at the president’s request, to help him promote his agenda and have him be successful is something that I consider very important.’”

He would be governor at day, DNC chair at night and on weekends, keeping tabs as need be, and letting the staff run it day-to-day until his term expired. Now, it turns out, it’s much more than that. From today’s T-D:

“He thanked them (the DNC executive committee) for their support and patience as he tries to tend to both tasks during a difficult time. ‘I am trying to juggle two pretty challenging jobs,’ he said. ‘It’s not an easy time to be a governor.’”

When is it ever easy, even in good times? The recession started last fall, and he still took the DNC chairman job in January. Is Governor Kaine saying he did not realize the difficulties and conflicts involved then? Perhaps it’s no wonder he has missed each one of his budget projections — even with the so-called “stimulus” money — since his extracurricular activity started.

Since early 2008, the governor denied he was shirking his responsibilities here to campaign across the country for Barack Obama. Even with the state deficit rising and missing his revenue forecasts (despite General Assembly warnings), he kept campaigning. Now it’s getting worse according to the latest figures, creating the need for still more spending cuts — or more printed (inflated) bailout money from his boss in D.C.

What gives, governor — Virginia or the DNC? As Dave said, you’re multi-tasking, which means doing nothing well. So, perhaps, in such a crisis, maybe it’s time to help out a Democrat down on his luck  . . . and give him a job — your spare one.

We are back with the News Stand sooner than we thought, here at the close of business for April, where we learn, from the Wall Street Journal, that despite hundreds of billions of tax dollars spent since 1971, high school test scores have barely budged! How does that make you feel? Yet, the Commonwealth and the VEA seek more of your hard-earned money.

In other news, one has to wonder that if the gubernatorial campaign is like this now, what will it be like come September? October? We’ve seen the Dem candidates try to out-pander themselves to the teachers union and to homosexual activists. Now, according the Washington Post, it’s really getting nasty. On another burgeoning campaign issue, House Speaker Bill Howell and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell have whacked the ball back in Governor Kaine’s court, requesting the governor’s boss take the federal strings off before we accept it.

Meanwhile, the Democrat infighting is all to McDonnell’s early advantage, as a news SurveyUSA poll has him leading all three Dems. However, looking at the survey’s universe, it doesn’t look to be the best indicator. Contrary to some other polling, it has Terry McAuliffe way out in front in the Democrat primary. Still, it confirms what the more reputable Rasmussen poll a few weeks ago suggests: That McDonnell is making inroads among the general electorate.

Finally, in a commentary, Bobby Eberle documents a disturbing aspect of the Obama administration, something of which we’ve commented upon: Namely, his disdain for anyone — politicians, media or now, what with the Tea Parties, common folk — who disagree with him. More than disdain, it’s demonization . . . or worse. Now that the “hate crimes” bill has passed the House, we’re one step closer to being arrested for expressing our opinions.

News:

McDonnell, Howell say Congress should remove strings from stimulus money (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Democrats vying for governor debate over gun issues, energy (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Tone Toughens in Race for Governor (Washington Post)

New poll puts McDonnell ahead of 3 Democratic candidates for governor (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Teachers Offer Lessons in Race for Governor (Washington Post)

Surrogates Sling Mud in Va. Race (Washington Post)

Democrat seeking Bedford House seat (Lynchburg News & Advance) 

Virginia seeks education funding (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

National News:

House bill offers gays greater protection (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Few Gains Are Seen in High School Test (Wall Street Journal)

Commentary:

Obama Marks 100 Days in Office . . . By Mocking Concerned Americans!(Bobby Eberle/GOPUSA.com)