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House Majority Whip and Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Delegate Kirk Cox (R-66, Colonial Heights) appeared on Richmond’s Morning News with Jimmy Barrett this morning on WRVA-AM, with the Lee Brothers substituting for Barrett. Most of their questions focused on the budget and some of the myths promulgated by the left and certain media types.

Delegate Cox was refreshingly candid and said he was tired of the whine coming from certain local government officials, especially when it comes to education funding. Thus, the Stat of the Day:

In Virginia, since 2000, while student enrollment in Virginia K-12 public schools has grown by 7.2 percent, state spending on same has increased 60 percent!

Okay. You know me by now. I can’t stop there. Get this:

Two-thirds of the Virginia budget goes to K-12 public education and health and human services.

So much for the liberal charge about those mean conservatives in the House of Delegates who cut, cut, cut education whenever they can. The fact that Virginia has cut public education spending is a myth, plain and simple. There’s about as much truth to the fact that public education funding has been cut as there was that we were in a deficit when Mark Warner shoved through the largest tax increase in Virginia history.

But the education establishment (the educrats) use every opportunity to kick, scream and cry about a lack of funding to block any type of reform possible. Worse, they try to block discussion of reform with General Assembly lobbyists paid for by taxpayers and teachers’ dues. Thus, Virginia’s worst-in-the-country-charter-school-law, which has been on the books more than a decade and resulted in a meager three charter schools (with a fourth on the way).

Now, after eight years, there’s a new team in charge. Hopefully, that will be the catalyst for the truth finally to get equal billing with the myths — and for something positive to get done.

Click Here To Listen To The Entire Interview With Delegate Kirk Cox (5:45)

The biggest mystery since the Easter Island must be the myth the Mark Warner (contact) is somehow a “fiscal conservative,” not to mention these famous remarks (click here). Starting with his Virginia record tax increase (breaking a campaign pledge) in 2004 to his 50 percent increase in state spending while governor, it’s unfortunate that too many in Virginia’s business community helped perpetuate the myth.

Now, please, can we do away with it once and for all? Senator Warner voted for $787 billion stimulus last winter in his first major vote. Then, he voted for the omnibus spending bill (”stimulus 2″). Now, within the last two weeks, he’s voted for a $1.1 trillion spending bill (”stimulus 3″) (see Richmond Times-Dispatch) and for the trillions-dollar-plus socialized medicine bill. Please tell me how this is fiscal conservatism?

Of course, don’t tell that to the Washington Post, which published a feature Saturday on the senator’s first year. Poor baby. He’s frustrated that he can’t get more of his Democrat colleagues to take a more centrist course. It’s pretty frightening to think of Senator Warner’s definition of “centrist” after stacking up centuries of debt on us. His early record shows little sign of centrism and almost every sign of way-out-on-the-left-wing-Barbara Boxer-Harry Reid-John Kerry-(pick your favorite liberal here)-leftist-elitist-liberalism. Let the lie die now, please.

Here is the text of the letter sent today by Lt. Governor Bill Bolling to Virginia’s two United States Senators, Mark Warner (contact) and Jim Webb (contact), concerning their votes in favor of the Senate health care bill last night. In the letter, Lt. Governor Bolling outlines his opposition to the legislation and why it is bad for Virginians, and asks the two senators to vote against its final passage. A news release from Lt. Governor Bolling is posted here.

December 21, 2009

The Honorable Mark Warner

The Honorable Jim Webb

RE: Federal Healthcare Reform Legislation

Dear Senators Warner and Webb:

I have been following with great interest the important debate currently taking place in Washington with respect to the proposed reform of our nation’s healthcare system.

While I certainly agree that we face serious problems with respect to the affordability and availability of healthcare for many Americans, it is important that any reform legislation address these issues without creating other problems for American consumers and businesses or jeopardizing the quality of our healthcare delivery system, which is currently the best in the world.

For many reasons, I strongly oppose the healthcare reform legislation that is currently pending before the United States Senate and I encourage you to vote against this legislation and any procedural votes that would allow this legislation to come to a final vote.

In my judgment, the legislation currently pending in the Senate will ultimately increase the cost of healthcare and result in higher health insurance premiums and higher taxes for the vast majority of the American people.

In addition, I believe that this legislation will jeopardize the quality of healthcare that is currently available in our country and take important healthcare decisions out of the hands of consumers and turn these decisions over to government bureaucrats.

Perhaps most importantly, I am concerned that the cost of this legislation will be much higher than currently estimated, and it will inevitably add significantly to the cost of our federal deficit, which is, quite frankly, out of control and threatens the long term financial viability of our nation.

If these concerns were not reason enough to vote against this misguided legislation, I am writing to you today to let you know that I am outraged by reports that surfaced this weekend regarding concessions that were made to Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson to secure his vote in support of this legislation.

As you know, one of our major concerns with this legislation is the potential impact it could have on the cost of Medicaid for Virginia’s state government. Many reports have suggested that this legislation could result in much higher Medicaid costs for state governments across the nation, costs that state governments simply cannot bear.

Against this background, I was amazed to hear that the Senate’s Democratic leadership had made concessions to Senator Nelson that would hold his home state of Nebraska harmless as to any additional Medicaid costs that might come about as a result of the enrollment of new Medicaid recipients after 2017.

I find these reports particularly troubling since they come on the heels of similar concessions that were given to Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana to secure her vote in support of this legislation just a few weeks ago.

In addition to the “pay offs” that were offered to Senators Nelson and Landrieu, unconfirmed media reports over the weekend have revealed that other Senators may have negotiated similar special treatment deals for their states. If these reports are accurate, this type of quid pro quo is unacceptable, and you and your colleagues should object strongly to the practice, which I have no doubt the American people will find offensive as well.

If the Senate’s leadership is so desperate to obtain votes to secure the passage of this legislation that they would make these types of concessions to these Senators, I would ask that you demand that the same concessions be extended to Virginia, and for that matter, to every other state in the nation.

Allowing key provisions in this legislation to be used to essentially buy votes from Senators Landrieu and Nelson at the expense of other states such as Virginia should be as offensive to you as it is to me, and it should give you all the reason you need to oppose this misguided legislation.

Thank you for your service to the people of Virginia and for considering my views on this important issue.

Very Truly Yours,

William T. Bolling

Lieutenant Governor

Commonwealth of Virginia

Below is the text of a news release issued today from the office of Lt. Governor Bill Bolling concerning the votes by Senators Warner (contact here) and Webb (contact here) in favor of a procedural motion that will allow the Senate health care bill to proceed to a final up or down vote, where it is all but assured of passing. The text of the letter referenced in the news release is posted here.

BOLLING CALLS ON WARNER AND WEBB TO VOTE AGAINST FEDERAL HEALTHCARE LEGISLATION

RICHMOND – Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling today sent a strongly worded letter to Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner expressing outrage over special concessions given to certain states to obtain support for federal healthcare legislation from their Senators and asking them to oppose this legislation, which Bolling called “misguided.”

“As you know, one of our major concerns with this legislation is the potential impact it could have on the cost of Medicaid for Virginia’s state government,” wrote Bolling. “Many reports have suggested that this legislation could result in much higher Medicaid costs for state governments across the nation, costs that state governments simply cannot bear.”

In his letter, Bolling cited reports from this past weekend that the Senate’s Democratic leadership had made concessions to Senator Ben Nelson that would hold his home state of Nebraska harmless for any additional Medicaid costs that might come about as a result of the enrollment of new Medicaid recipients after 2017, while all 49 other states would be required to pay a portion of the increased costs. This reportedly would save Nebraska $45M per year, while passing these costs on to other states.

Additionally, similar “sweet heart deals” were reportedly made to Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and other Senators to obtain their support for the healthcare bill, while the citizens of Virginia and other states were not afford the same benefits.

“I am outraged by reports that surfaced this weekend regarding concessions that were made to Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson to secure his vote in support of this legislation,” stated Bolling. “If these reports are accurate, this type of quid pro quo is unacceptable, and you and your colleagues should object strongly to the practice, which I have no doubt the American people will find offensive as well.”

“If the Senate’s leadership is so desperate to obtain votes to secure the passage of this legislation that they would make these types of concessions to these Senators, I would ask that you demand that the same concessions be extended to Virginia, and for that matter, to every other state in the nation,” continued Bolling.

In addition to the outrageous “pay off” tactics employed by Senate Democratic Leadership, Bolling encouraged Senators Webb and Warner to vote against the substance of the legislation, citing concerns that it will result in increased healthcare costs, increased insurance premiums, increased taxes on family and businesses and fewer options for individual patients.

Our friends at Americans For Prosperity have released this reminder about Code Red tomorrow to convince the U.S. Senate to defeat the so-called health care “reform” bill. If you cannot go to Washington, D.C., then rally in front of the nearest offices of Virginia’s U.S. Senators, Jim Webb and Mark Warner (click their names to get nearest office locations): 

Tomorrow is the day — Dec. 15 — of the Code Red Rally on health care. We hope to see you here in Washington, D.C., in Upper Senate Park at 1:30 p.m. wearing RED!

Or, if you cannot make it to Washington, go to YOUR local U.S. Senate office at 1:30 p.m. your time.

Join Sen. Tom Coburn, M.D., Sen. Jim DeMint, Laura Ingraham, AFP President Tim Phillips and our 15 coalition partners as we tell the Senate: “Hands off our health care!” The Democratic leadership is trying to get to a final vote this week, so the timing couldn’t be better for us to take this stand.

If you cannot make it to Washington or to your local Senate office, please call your Senators’ offices at 1:30 p.m. You can make a difference tomorrow!

Let’s make sure they hear from all of us tomorrow.

Not exactly, but I did check out the health care bill protest in front of the Richmond offices of Senators Mark Warner and Jim Webb that started at noon and ended at 2:00. I arrived at Webb’s office around 12:45 to a crowd of about 50 people. There were plenty of signs and flags — U.S. and Gadsden (i.e., Don’t Tread On Me!). There was also a fair amount of horn blowing. Cars that is. Lots of drivers signaling their agreement. As for human spouting, there wasn’t any. A nice, jovial, peaceful, conversational crowd, although an occasional agitator swung by to try to stir trouble. They were  mostly ignored.

Senator Webb’s staff was very accommodating. They let people enter the office and provided us with forms to fill out to express what we were there for. One protester in the office writing his comments asked a staffer if he knew about an amendment that would require the 2,000-plus page Senate bill to be read in its entirety on the floor. He said, yes, and that the senator was in favor of that. We’ll see if there’s such an amendment, if it passes and what Senator Webb’s eventual vote is. I asked him a procedural question and we had fun comparing General Assembly procedures to the U.S. Senate.

Then there was the phone. It didn’t stop ringing. The poor receptionist couldn’t get any work done.

“Good afternoon, Senator Webb’s office. Yes, we’re taking a poll on that today. Okay, against the health care bill? And your name, please. …”

Call after call.

After mingling and promoting “Virginia’s best political blog” (”I should know because I write it,”was my catch line) and walked down to Senator Warner’s office, which is in a high rise. Very analogous to the two men. Webb, who fashions himself one of the common folk with his Southwest Virginia roots, has an office at street level. Warner, Mr. High Tech, very Northern Virginia high end, is waaaaaaaaaaay above it all in the SunTrust building. A staffer gave one of the organizers a pile of sheets that had room only for name, address, a box to check if you want to get on his e-mail list, and your concern. That’s it. Small boxes and no more. At least Webb let you write to your heart was content. Not Senator Warner. He should at least learn the value of appearances.

There were more people at Senator Warner’s office, although people walked the six or so blocks back and forth between the two, and lots of car honks (Main Street is busier than Franklin, anyway.) More networking on my part. Another great crowd, including former Virginia Senator Eva Scott of Amelia County. Everyone was concerned, but not panicked.

So, what if the Senate clears its first hurdle Saturday? Not to worry, but only to work harder. The process is long. Floor amendments, negotiations,procedural tactics, conference committee with the House, more debate and votes. The longer it plays out, with nothing to show for it, and the closer November 2010 gets, the hot passions of the left may very well turn to cold feet.

Just got a notice about this:

Tomorrow between 12:00 and 2:00 p.m. in Richmond there will be a protest in the form of an unbroken chain between the offices of Senators Jim Webb (507 East Franklin Street) and Mark Warner (919 East Main Street). Organizers are asking people to use a portion of their lunch hours to attend and keep the chain strong. 

The U.S. Senate is scheduled to have an important procedural vote Saturday which will determine whether the Harry Reid socialized medicine bill will proceed. He needs 60 votes to avoid a filibuster. Virginians opposing the bill hope the protest in Richmond will help sway Virginia’s two senators to vote against the bill. For more information, contact Jim Smyers @ teapartyjim@gmail.com.

Today, pro-family Virginians are celebrating yesterday’s election of candidates whom we believe hold to, and will govern by, values you and I share. After months of working hard either for candidates or organizations like The Family Foundation to educate voters, seeing the fruit of that labor is sweet indeed.

Exit polling found that evangelicals made up more than one-third of voters yesterday and 83 percent of those voted for the pro-life, pro-family candidates. Those numbers surpass the high water mark of pro-family involvement in any Virginia election to date!

No one can question that our Winning Matters campaign had an incredible effect on voter turnout. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the campaign by donating financially, distributing Voter Guides, Report Cards, holding voter registration drives, and a multitude of other activities. Your efforts made a huge impact yesterday.

But now, the work begins.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m as thrilled as you that Virginians sent a clear message to President Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (not to mention Mark Warner, Jim Webb and the like) that we reject the debt riddled policies they are pushing. I’m excited that we have a Governor-elect, Lt. Governor-elect and Attorney General-elect who share our values. But I also know that we’ve been here before, in the days after elections, thinking that the work was done only to learn that it was far from over. We need to hold all of our newly elected officials to their promises.

Even with a larger conservative majority in the Virginia House of Delegates, the obstacle that our pro-family, pro-life agenda has faced for several years – the Virginia Senate – stands between us and our goals. While we hope members of that chamber also get the message of last night’s election results, they have two years before they face the voters. If history is any indication, they are hoping that you will have forgotten by then.

The first opportunities to affect the Senate will come with two special elections in the next few weeks. With Ken Cuccinelli’s victory last night, there will be an election to replace him in his Fairfax Senate seat. In addition, Senator Ken Stolle won election to sheriff of Virginia Beach, meaning that there will be an election for that seat as well.

Here is the commitment I’m asking you to make today: we will not stop, we will not rest, until the Senate of Virginia reflects our values! We will not stop working until that chamber joins the rest of our leaders in supporting common sense pro-life and pro-family proposals.

We have the opportunity in the upcoming session to give all 40 members of the Senate the chance to vote on legislation that reflects our values – and if they reject those values again, we have to make them pay the price at the ballot box in 2011.

I also encourage you to pray for all the newly elected candidates. In particular, over the next few months Governor-elect McDonnell will select key advisers, cabinet members and a multitude of officials on boards and commissions. Please pray that he appoints qualified, principled conservatives to those positions, the impact of which will go on well after he leaves office. It is often said that “personnel is policy,” so selecting those he will take counsel from in the years ahead is crucial for the new governor.

But today, celebrate. Enjoy a hard fought victory. Then get ready to join The Family Foundation as we look only to the future.

By the way, it never ceases to amaze me that the homosexual lobby thinks same-sex marriage and its other agenda items are necessary for a thriving economy. See the first bullet point in the Equality Virginia news release announcing its endorsement of Democrat Creigh Deeds for governor, where EV’s Jon Blair says:

To attract the best public and private employees, Virginia must be welcoming of diversity and avoid discriminatory practices. Anything else hurts employers and employees, stifles economic growth, and limits Virginia’s competitiveness.

Let’s see. Virginia has maintained one of the best economies in the country for decades without capitulating to the radical homosexual agenda, and somehow our economy has suffered? Well, then, take it to they guys who’ve been in charge recently, who say they are on your side — Mark Warner and Tim Kaine (not to mention Jerry Baliles), the men Deeds says he wants to tailor himself after (tax increases and all).

Annotations & Elucidations 

The Return Of The Editorial Comic/Twisted Tax Logic

When a friend sent me a comic today today, I thought it would make a good addition to the blog. Then I remembered that I used to provide a link to one or more editorial comics each week. So, enjoy. You don’t even have to click a link to get to it.

The big news in the campaign today is Democrat Creigh Deeds’ continuing saga of twisted tax logic. He put up a television ad, then pulled it because he realized it didn’t make much sense for Mark Warner to talk about Deeds lowering taxes yet continuing his (Warner’s) policies (which raised them considerably). Yes, not too clear (see here).

Nationally, the Supreme Court will hear a case about Crosses in the Mojave desert. In Commentary, we have the excellent Thomas Sowell writing on the Obama administration’s reputed brilliance, Bobby Eberle about the same’s indoctrination of our children, and Bart Hinkle about property rights (or, the government trying to take them away). But, in what may be the most entertaining piece today, aside from the comic, is an article from the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot about socialists — who say they are misunderstood. Let them talk to the Obama administration.

News:

GOP candidates tout controlled spending, budget reform (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Jindal boosts McDonnell; Linwood Holton backs Deeds (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Howell decries Deeds’ tax plan for roads (Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star)

Deeds New Ad Makes Mark Warner a Liar, Quickly Takes it Down (BearingDrift.com)

Deeds gambles on riding Obama’s coattails (Washington Times)

Campaign issue No. 1 (Virginia Business Magazine)

House candidates face off during evening forums (The Daily Press)

Socialists say their true beliefs are being misconstrued (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot)

National News:

The Old Secular Cross? (Washington Post)

Public plan debate could pit Democrat vs. Democrat (AP/GOPUSA.com)

Commentary:

Roanoke: Eminent-Domain Case Looks Like Kelo Redux (Bart Hinkle/Richmond Times-Dispatch)

The Brainy Bunch (Thomas Sowell/GOPUSA.com)

O.K. kids . . . Today’s lesson: Sing Praises to Obama (Bobby Eberle/GOPUSA.com)

Editorial Cartoon: