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Last Tuesday afternoon, the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee appeared to send a major reform to oblivion without having to go on record: Although it had jurisdiction of HJ 615, a proposed constitutional amendment to prevent tax increases from appearing in the budget bill, it decided instead to refer it to the Finance Committee. Such referrals this late in session normally are a quiet way of killing a bill without having to vote to do so. Furthermore, it was done without the notification of the resolution’s patron, also a normal telltale sign of no good.

However, today, the Finance Committee announced it would, in fact, hear the resolution Monday afternoon! There is no time to lose. Please contact members of the Finance Committee to vote for this resolution that will bring much needed reform to Virginia’s budgeting process, slow down tax and fee increases, and bring some transparency to the way our lawmakers raise and spend our hard earned tax dollars. We need you to contact members of the committee, urgently, and encourage a vote for HJ 615!

HJ 615, patroned by Delegates Bill Janis (R-56, Henrico) and Bob Marshall (R-13, Manassas), will safeguard your tax dollars by banning tax and fee increases, as well as banning the termination of tax credits, in the budget bill. The budget bill is supposed to be a spending bill only. But in recent years, governors and legislators of both parties have stuck tax and fee increases in it (such as when Mark Warner pushed through his infamous tax increase). The budget bill, which contains more than $70 billion, is given to lawmakers on the last day of session and they only have a few hours to digest it. It is nearly impossible to identify tax increases of any type.

HJ 615 would subject the budget to the Single Object Rule, which prohibits non-germane amendments to bills, a rule all other legislation must live by in the General Assembly (unlike Congress where members attach pet projects to must-pass bills, such as funding military personnel). Unfortunately, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that the budget bill, which takes precedence over all other laws once enacted, is not subject to the SRO.

This resolution passed the House 80-15. It even passed a Senate P&E sub-committee 5-1 before the full committee sent it to Finance. So there is widespread support for it, but that doesn’t always translate into victory when a few people hold the fate of legislation in their hands. Let’s not let this second chance go to waste.

If the General Assembly needs more revenue to fund its projects and programs, it should have the courage to propose and vote on ending tax credits and increasing taxes and fees separately, up or down, on the record. Increases in our tax burden should not buried in a must-pass budget with deadline pressure to approve so that state government can continue to function. But with transparent, separate tax increase bills and up-and-down on-the-record votes, we doubt lawmakers will be in any hurry to raise our taxes. So, this not only is a reform of the budget process that adds transparency, it’s a step toward reducing the size of government.

Click here for links to contact information for Senate Finance Committee members.

This Tuesday afternoon, the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee will consider an important constitutional amendment that will bring much needed reform to Virginia’s budgeting process, slow down tax and fee increases, and bring some transparency to the way our lawmakers raise and spend our hard earned tax dollars.

Contact members of the committee, urgently, and encourage a vote for HJ 615!

HJ 615, patroned by Delegates Bill Janis (R-56, Henrico) and Bob Marshall (R-13, Manassas), will safeguard our tax dollars by banning tax and fee increases, as well as banning the termination of tax credits, in the budget bill. The budget bill is supposed to be a spending bill only. But in recent years, governors and legislators of both parties have stuck tax and fee increases in it (such as when Mark Warner pushed through his infamous tax increase). The budget bill, which contains more than $70 billion, is given to lawmakers on the last day of session and they only have a few hours to digest it. It is nearly impossible to pick out tax increases of any type.

This resolution passed the House 80-15. If it passes the Senate this year and both chambers again next year, Virginia voters will vote on it in November 2012. But we must start with a positive committee vote Tuesday so it can get to the Senate floor.

If the General Assembly needs more revenue to fund its projects and programs, it should have the courage to propose and vote on ending tax credits and increasing taxes and fees separately, up or down, on the record. Increases in our tax burden should not buried in a must-pass budget with deadline pressure to approve so that state government can continue to function. But with transparent, separate tax increase bills and up-and-down on-the-record votes, we doubt lawmakers will be in any hurry to raise our taxes. So, this not only is a reform of the budget process that adds transparency, it’s a step toward reducing the size of government.

This resolution received a positive vote in sub-committee this week (5-1 with one abstention), but some of the senators who voted for it and the abstention expressed reservations and said they may still change their vote in full committee. Your voice is crucial to ensuring this much needed open government resolution passes so that we voters eventually get a chance to pass our own judgment on it.

The pace of the General Assembly moves very fast, especially during the short session when committee hearings are compressed into a shorter period. Just this morning we were notified that four important proposed constitutional amendments, passed last week by the House, already are scheduled for tomorrow morning in a Senate Privileges and Elections sub-committee. Usually, there is at least a day or two respite and time to regroup right before or after “crossover,” but the pipeline is full of bills and the legislation continues to flow.

We need your urgent help to contact members of the sub-committee and ask them to vote for these important constitutional protections. Only four votes stand in the way killing these highly popular and needed measures without the full debate of the Senate, much less the full committee. So, your action is needed now.

HJ 615, patroned by Delegate Bill Janis (R-56, Henrico) and Bob Marshall (R-13, Manassas), would safeguard your tax dollars by banning tax and fee increases in the budget bill. The budget bill is supposed to be a spending bill only. But in recent years, governors and legislators have stuck tax and fee increases in it (such as when Mark Warner pushed through his infamous tax increase). If those revenues are needed, delegates and senators should have the courage to vote on tax increases separately, up or down, not buried in a must-pass budget with deadline pressure to approve so that state government can continue to function.

HJ 539, patroned by Delegate Mark Cole (R-88, Spotsylvania), is another important safeguard to your hard-earned tax dollars. It would require a three-fifths super majority vote of the General Assembly to raise state taxes and the same super majority for your city, town or county governing body to raise local taxes.

HJ 593, patroned by Delegate Bill Carrico (R-5, Galax), would protect Virginians’ right of religious expression by allowing prayer and the recognition of religious beliefs, heritage and traditions on public property, including public schools. This will safeguard from court action, for example, students who offer prayers at school assemblies.

HJ 614, patroned by Delegate Tag Greason (R-32, Potomac Falls) would allow the General Assembly to provide for loans and grants to, or on behalf of, candidates for the military chaplaincy who attend in-state nonprofit institutions of higher education whose primary purpose is to provide religious training or theological education.

Urgent action is needed since the sub-committee meets tomorrow! If these resolutions die in sub-committee, the opportunity to incorporate them into the Virginia Constitution will be set back three more years. Contact the members and ask they vote for HJ 615, HJ 539, HJ 593 and HJ 614 tomorrow morning in Senate Privileges and Elections sub-committee.

Despite a recent election where Americans rejected their radical agenda,  Congressional Democrats, during a lame duck session, are trying to force an end to the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy regarding open homosexuals serving in the military. While the economy still struggles and nearly 10 percent of Americans are out of work as we approach Christmas, Congress focuses on repaying their shrinking base.

To learn more about this battle, Family Research Council Action (see Tom McClusky at FRC’s The Cloakroom blog) will host a live national video Webcast tomorrow, December 2, at 1:00 p.m., entitled, Mission Compromised: How the Military is Being Used to Advance a Radical Agenda.

Veteran military commanders, Members of Congress, and policy experts will join FRC President Tony Perkins . . . 

to assess the Pentagon’s study on the impact of open homosexuality on combat effectiveness and readiness. … and discuss the report’s shortcomings and plans by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to rush a vote during the lame-duck session of Congress without thorough hearings and testimony by battlefield commanders (see entire alert).

According to FRC, the Defense Authorization Act, on which the U.S. Senate may soon vote, not only would force open homosexuality on the military if enacted, it also will turn military medical facilities into abortion centers. Since the vote is expected to be very close, it’s vital that you encourage your friends and family to tune into this live Webcast. Participants also will learn how they can help to stop this last ditch attempt by outgoing liberal senators to force a liberal social agenda onto the military.

In addition to briefing on the significance of this legislation, guests will answer viewer questions via SMS text or e-mail. Guests include: Gen. Carl Mundy, former Commandant of the Marine Corps; Sgt. Brian Fleming, Afghanistan war veteran and Purple Heart recipient; Douglas Lee, Chaplain (Brigadier General, Ret.); Lt. Col. Bob Maginnis, (Ret), Senior Fellow, National Security, Family Research Council; Cathy Ruse, Senior Fellow, Legal Studies, Family Research Council; and Peter Sprigg, Senior Fellow for Policy Studies, Family Research Council.

Please register now (click here) and help spread the word about the live Webcast on December 2.

Virginia U.S. Senator Jim Webb is a key vote in this fight. (Virginia’s other U.S. Senator, Mark Warner, has indicated he supports repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell”). Because of the nature of this crucial vote, we have partnered with CitizenLink (see “DADT” article by Catherine Snow) and FRCAction on this ad running now throughout the commonwealth. Please listen and share this link with as many people as you can.

Click here to listen to the new ad on the U.S. Senate’s vote to allow homosexuals to serve openly in the U.S. Armed Forces.

We all hear politicians talk themselves up, about how they got this bill passed and that amendment added, yada, yada, yada. But at last night’s Crusade For Voters candidate forum in Richmond, Congressman Bobby Scott, the Democrat who represents the 3rd district broke new ground. Responding to his Republican opponent Chuck Smith, he touted his credentials as the best friend children ever had in Congress and claimed that he got legislation into the health care bill that protected children.

Now, that’s very interesting . . . the bill was crafted entirely in the Senate. So, unless Mr. Scott inconspicuously swapped jobs with Mark Warner or Jim Webb, it’s inconceivable that he drafted one dotted “i” of the health care bill. Mr. Scott must be a new breed of legislator: Supercongressman, able to leap either chamber in a single bound.

FRC Action yesterday released its Congressional Scorecard for the 111th Congress. It was excellent for some Virginia lawmakers, a disaster for most. More about that below. First, here’s FRC Action President Tony Perkins’ explanation of the scorecard’s methodology:

From January 2009 through August of this year, Congress voted on an increasingly bold liberal agenda that covered everything from international abortion funding and “hate crimes” to a record ten votes on ObamaCare and the confirmation of two controversial Supreme Court justices. FRC Action has compiled those votes in its annual scorecard for the 111th Congress.

Taking into account 16 votes in the House and 24 in the Senate, we honor 110 Congressmen {5 from Virginia} and 17 Senators as “True Blue” — men and women who voted consistently with FRC Action’s position on a cross-section of issues affecting the family.

To download a PDF copy of the scorecard, click here. The scorecard details the specific votes and issues scored and provides an informative background on the 111th Congress itself, as well as other worthwhile information. We hope you take some time to look it over, especially during this crucial election season, to inform yourself on how your Congressman voted on issues important to the family, traditional values and economic and religious liberty. (Not ironically, see how similarly Virginia’s Congressional delegation fared from the Club For Growth, which monitors taxes, spending and economic matters.)

Quick thoughts: I never thought I’d see the day when a congressman who voted against Christmas (Bobby Scott) could receive a better score from a family values organization than other members from a Virginia delegation, but both Gerry Connolly and Jim Moran got goose eggs. As for our two senators, Jim Webb followed the Connolly and Moran lead, while that self-proclaimed “raging centrist” Mark Warner had the second lowest score of the 13 Virginians in Congress: A ”whopping” 4%! I guess it’s true. This really is what he thinks of us.

House (see page 7)

1st District: Robert Wittman (R): 100%

2nd District: Glenn Nye (D): 37%

3rd District: Bobby Scott (D): 6%

4th District: Randy Forbes (R): 100%

5th District: Tom Perriello (D): 12%

6th District: Bob Goodlatte (R): 100%

7th District: Eric Cantor (R): 100%

8th District: Jim Moran (D): 0%

9th District: Rick Boucher (D): 25%

10th District: Frank Wolf (R): 100%

11th District: Gerry Connolly (D): 0% 

Senate (see page 11)

Jim Webb (D): 0%

Mark Warner (D): 4%

Find $1.45 billion laying around your local VDOT recently? Kind of puts in question those “Best Managed State” awards Tim Kaine and Mark Warner loved to brag about.

Which got me thinking: Who did worse? Tim Kaine in mismanaging VDOT and letting nearly $1.5 billion languish in various accounts while trying to raise our taxes (against his own campaign promise) “for transportation needs”? Or, Mark Warner, who also violated his no-tax pledge when he grossly underestimated general fund revenue, saying we couldn’t pay teachers, police and firefighters unless we raised taxes, only to find a huge surplus weeks after signing the tax increase bill? Or, back to Mr. Kaine, who overestimated general fund revenue during a recession, despite advice to the contrary, so that when revenue fell short, he could kick and scream for a tax increase to fund his new programs?

We ask. You decide.

FRC Action President Tony Perkins just sent out an urgent appeal on legislation before Congress that is a high priority on the homosexual lobby’s agenda: Ending the military’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy and allowing open homosexuals into the U.S. Armed Forces. But it’s worse than that. there’s a major payback to the abortion lobby as well. In what is supposed to be a Defense Department authorization bill, the leadership of the most left wing Congress ever also have included language that would make American military medical centers, both domestic and overseas, full-service abortion centers — Planned Parenthood on steroids.

If this is what the American public so desperately desires, why won’t the leadership put these measures in stand alone legislation for an up or down vote? Why, instead, is it attempting to hijack the authorization process for our military during a time of war? As Tony requests, we hope you call our senators, Mark Warner and Jim Webb at (202) 224-3121, as soon as possible and ask them to oppose this bill. The vote is Tuesday.

Here’s Tony’s take:

With the economy still in the doldrums, and a massive job-killing tax increase scheduled for January looming over our heads, you would think that legislation to help average Americans find jobs in the private sector would be the top priority for the Democratic leadership in Congress. If you thought that, you would be wrong.

This Tuesday the Senate will vote on a bill that would overturn the 1993 law which codified the military’s longstanding prohibition of homosexual conduct in the ranks. The language that would force open homosexuality upon the military is found in the defense authorization bill — along with another anti-family provision that would turn U.S. military medical facilities here and around the globe into abortion centers.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has arranged it so that pro-family senators do not have an opportunity to offer any of their own amendments to counter his political abuse of our military. This means the only way to stop this monstrosity is to vote against proceeding to the bill.

This bill is not necessary to fund our military — an appropriations bill does that.

Senators should reject Reid’s distorted priorities by voting against advancing this bill at every step. Call your senators today at (202) 224-3121 and tell them to stop using the military to impose this administration’s radical homosexual agenda.

Thank you for taking action today and God bless you.

Nothing better illustrates the arrogance of the extremists in Congress who rammed into law government-run health care than these videos (thanks to my cousin B.J.). U.S. Senator Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) tries to tell constituents how great the new system will be until a much more informed mother of two disabled children, who has real life experience and who has read the bill, confronts her. Here’s the take at Freedom’s Lighthouse. The senator’s office had ignored the woman’s communications and now woe be unto the senator.

The power of the constituent’s intensity and focus is remarkable, not to mention her knowledge. She illustrates how she has been able to get coverage for her children up to now, but with the new law, it won’t be there — her husband’s company is cutting back on coverage because of the new law’s taxes and the government agencies created to do so won’t pick up the slack.

The senator is alternately in denial and unaware of the facts. But most of all, the woman defines America and its independent spirit and bluntly tells the senator (to applause) that she and her colleagues are redefining and diluting that spirit contrary to all common sense. Words can’t describe it. Watch for yourself:

A working mom of three read the bill and understands it. Is that too much to ask  of Senator Hagan and the liberals who voted for it?

If that isn’t enough, some college students — Students For Life — pin the senator on taxpayer funding of abortion in the law. Of course, the senator denies it. But it’s there.

First a mom, then college students for life, school a sitting U.S. senator on what’s in the bill, and that includes abortion funding.

These North Carolinians stood up to Senator Hagan and, quite frankly, embarrassed her (as inevitable as that is when defending the indefensible). Now, will Virginians be as bold to Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner?

It’s bad enough when Nancy Pelosi bungles the Gospel into an incomprehensible defense of her disingenuous and destructive public policy and legislative pursuits. Anything to rationalize the righteousness of ramming through unconstitutional laws against the will of the people.

But when U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) (see LifeNews.com) invokes Jesus’ Golden Rule on the Senate floorto excuse his incomprehensible decision to vote to confirm Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court, he not only ignores his constituents (see NewsMax.com), he shirks his responsibility to the U.S. Constitution by granting someone who doesn’t believe in it as written the power to redefine America (see TheRightScoop.com). The irony of invoking Jesus to put on the Supreme Court someone who believes in partial birth abortion and who, by virtue of that position, will have a huge say in determining the legality of that infanticidal practice, is abominable. But listen closely. In untwisting his verbal pretzel, Senator Graham is really saying that we must treat Barack Obama as he would treat us. If that’s true, then surely there was no reason to vote to confirm Ms. Kagan.

His bumbling foray into non-germane, nonsensical and impromptu theology is appalling and confounding. By contrast, his South Carolina colleague, Senator Jim Demint, voted against her confirmation (Miami Herald). The blowback from this, another in a long line of disappointments from the senator, is that a primary challenge in 2014 now is more likely, according to the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza at The Fix Blog. By the way, both of Virginia’s senators, Jim Webb and Mark Warner, predictably, voted to confirm her.

Here’s the video, but CSNNews.com has much more:

Senator cum preacher Lindsey “Call Me Billy” Graham on the Senate floor explaining how Jesus inspired him to vote to confirm Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court despite her disregard for constitutional principles.