Decision Virginia

It is not something that blogger Norman Leahy enjoyed doing, but in his mind it had to be done.  The conservative blogger at Tertium Quids had long been annoyed at the way Virginia’s government routinely provided funding for non-profits and charities, despite the practice being unconstitutional.

Leahy blogged about the problem shortly after Governor Bob McDonnell announced plans to provide $1 million dollars to two different Virginia charities.

Here is an excerpt of what he wrote:

Individual and corporate giving to charity is a perfectly fine and laudable activity and these two organizations provide essential services to their clients. However, the state is specifically barred from supporting them with taxpayer dollars. And just to refresh our memories, here’s the section of the constitution in question:

“Nor shall the General Assembly make any like appropriation to any charitable institution which is not owned or controlled by the Commonwealth; the General Assembly may, however, make appropriations to nonsectarian institutions for the reform of youthful criminals and may also authorize counties, cities, or towns to make such appropriations to any charitable institution or association.” (Va. Constitution Va. Con. Art. 4 § 16 (1971))

Leahy asked Del. John O’Bannon to seek an opinion from Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli as to the practice and it turns out Cuccinelli agreed with Leahy.

“Because that’s what the constitution says,” Leahy told me during an interview on NBC12 First at 4. ” It’s rather unambiguous about it. The state can’t give money to nonprofits it doesn’t own or control.”

Leahy’s quest has forced Governor McDonnell to step back from plans to donate $500 thousand to the Virginia Food Bank and another $500 thousand to Operation Smile.  In a statement to the Washington Post, the Governor’s office said the Governor “requests the General Assembly join him to ensure that all appropriations and pending budget amendments conform to the Constitution.”

To be fair, Governor McDonnell is not the first government official to attempt to wrangle state money for charitable projects.  Every other year the effort has been met with success, until now.  Leahy believes someone finally took the time to read the document that guides the government’s work.

“It raises an uncomfortable question is that probably because no one has really read it,” he said. “I’ve gone around with reporters, too. Has nobody read this section? It’s right there.”

In fact Leahy and Cuccinelli’s view was backed up by the man the originally crafted that section of the Virginia constitution, Dick Howard.

“He said Cuccinelli got it right. It’s right there,” said Leahy. “It’s of essentially it’s the saving the legislature from itself clause. Otherwise, everybody beats on the door, ‘we want some money’. Who in the legislature does not want to play Santa Claus?”

You can see my full interview with Norm Leahy below. A complete transcript from our conversation can be found on NBC12.com.

Not surprisingly, both Governor Bob McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli are lauding a decision by Florida federal Judge Roger Vinson that ruled the Obama Administration’s mandate to require health care insurance unconstitutional.

You can see the entire ruling here.  (via MSNBC)

“Constitutional principles have scored another victory today,” Cuccinelli said in a written statement.  ” Liberty has scored another victory today.”

McDonnell meanwhile, used the opportunity to reiterate his plea that the Department of Justice fast track the case all the way to the Supreme Court.

“Today’s decision adds to the growing uncertainty surrounding federal health care reform,” McDonnell wrote in a prepared statement.  “That uncertainty is leaving states, businesses and individuals unable to properly plan for 2014 and the scheduled implementation of this new law.”

McDonnell said the sooner the Supreme Court can hear the case, the better.

The Department of Justice has to this point, refused to request an expedited calender. Attorney General Cuccinelli asked that the federal appeal be heard at an earlier date, a request that was granted. At this point he has stopped short of asking to have the appeal stage bypassed all together.

The full statements from both McDonnell and Cuccinelli can be found after the jump:

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PolitiFact gives U.S. Senate candidate Jamie Radtke a “true” rating on her claim about George Allen and the Federal Debt.

See the PolitiFact Virginia Report below:

You can read the entire report in this weekend’s Richmond Times-Dispatch or on the PolitiFact Virginia web site.

In the wake of news  that Social Security is on the road to insolvency, House Majority leader Eric Cantor said the only way to fix the system is to change the benefits structure.

In a live interview on NBC12 First at Four, Cantor said there is no way programs like Social Security and Medicaid can continue to deliver the same type of benefits they currently are,  forever.

“The benefits that many people are expecting are not going to be there because of the bankrupt nature of these programs,” said Cantor.

A new report from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office projects that there will be no money left in the Social Security account by 2037. It also reports that for the first time since an overhaul in the ’80s, Social Security paid out more money than it took in.

Cantor believes that is enough to put every possible option on the table.

“The decision that we have to make as a country is, are we going to restructure for those younger folks, looking to right now start a career and get a job, are we going to try and address the obligations of these programs off into the future?” he said.

In the past Republicans have floated the idea of privatizing at least a portion of Social Security. That is something Democrats have passionately resisted.  Cantor promised that he would never advocate a plan where benefits would change for people 55 and over. He does however believe that the return on Social Security benefits for people 54 and younger must be on the table.  And he accused Democrats of not doing enough to address the problem.

“The leader in the senate, Harry Reid has said there’s no problem with Social Security,” said Cantor.  “So we’re going to have to do some convincing, if you will, of the Senate Democratic leader to come along with us and engage in the discussion.”

How would you solve the Social Security problem in America? You can give your take on the NBC12 Facebook page.

You can see the full interview with Rep. Cantor below. The full transcript can be found on NBC12.com.

It is an image Jamie Radtke would like people in Virginia to see.  Radtke, the prominent Tea Party activist from Chesterfield,  is running for the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate.  The self-described “stay- at- home mom” was on Capitol Hill today, appearing on a panel hosted by the Senate Tea Party Caucus.

This photo, from Radtke’s facebook page, shows her on the dias with Kentucky Senator and Tea Party favorite,  Rand Paul and Utah Senator Mike Lee.  (Radtke is all the way to the left in the photo)
As Radtke makes the jump from the domestic world to the political world, the more she can be seen on the same level with people already serving, the more impressive she becomes.

The release from Radtke’s campaign on her appearance can be found after the jump:

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The U.S.  Court of Appeals has granted Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s request to speed up the appeal of his victorious challenge to the Health Care Reform law.  Cuccinelli and the Federal Government both asked the court to expedite the process because of the impact the law has on country.

Cuccinelli is still deciding if he will ask the court to forgo the Fourth Circuit all together and take the case directly to the Supreme Court. Most legal experts familiar with the case believe it will be the Supreme Court that will ultimately decide if the law is constitutional.

The release from the Attorney General’s office, which includes the new schedule can be found below:

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Fourth Circuit court expedites hearing of Virginia’s health care lawsuit

RICHMOND (January 26, 2011) – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit today granted a joint motion from Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and the federal government to expedite the hearing of Virginia’s suit against the federal health care law.  The case is tentatively scheduled for hearing sometime between May 10 and 13.  This replaces a briefing order previously issued by the court.

“Right now, there is a great deal of uncertainty for states, individuals, and businesses.  Major decisions are already being made and money is already being spent to comply with a law that may not be around two years from now.  We need this suit resolved as quickly as possible, for the good of our citizens and our economy,” said Cuccinelli.

Cuccinelli is still weighing whether or not to request that the U.S. Supreme Court take the case directly and skip the Fourth Circuit altogether.

The court ordered the following briefing schedule:

Opening briefs due February 28

Response briefs due March 28

Reply briefs due April 11

A copy of this news release may be found on the website of the Attorney General of Virginia at http://www.vaag.com/PRESS_RELEASES/index.html.

More information on the health care suit can be found here:  http://www.vaag.com/PRESS_RELEASES/index.html#Health_Care

If we have learned anything over the past several years, it’s that no election should be taken for granted. It is a fact that George Allen has to have in the back of his mind as he mounts a comeback for his old seat in the U.S. Senate.

Before if he even officially announced his plans, Allen had one official opponent in the Republican primary and three other “potential” rivals.  In an interview on NBC12 First at 4, Bill Kristol, the editor of the conservative Weekly Standard magazine said a competitive primary will be good for the Commonwealth.

“I respect George Allen; I think he was a good governor of this state. But no one should anoint him,” said Kristol. ” Other people are free to run against him, free to challenge different votes he cast and different things he can as governor.”

Kristol will actually be with Allen in two weeks when the two appear at the Central Virginia Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner at the Richmond Marriott.

For Kristol, Allen’s past both good and bad will not be the primary focus when voters cast their ballot in 2012.

“If he seems to be running on the fact that I was governor and senator,  voters might say it’s time for a fresh look,” said Kristol.  “So a lot depends on how George Allen chooses to run the campaign.”

As it stands right now, Allen will be facing Chesterfield Tea Party Activist Jamie Radtke in a Republican primary. Several other conservative leaning Republicans have considering a run. Among them Del. Bob Marshall, Corey Stewart, the Chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors and Bert Mizusawa, a former Congressional candidate from the Virginia Beach area.

You can see my entire interview with Bill Kristol below.  To learn more about the Central Virginia Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner, which will take place February 5th, visit their web site: lincolnreagandinner.com.

You can see a complete transcript of the interview on NBC12.com.

George Allen has made it official. He will attempt to retake his old seat in the United States Senate.

Here is his video announcement:

UPDATE:

His first press release as a candidate and a full transcript of the announcement can be found after the jump:

Read the rest of this entry »

He is probably going to run for governor in 2013, but in the meantime former DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe appears to be improving upon the weaknesses his opponents attacked him for in 2009.

The biggest attack from the ’09? That while the prominent democrat was a successful businessman, very little of his financial success led to jobs being created in Virginia.   A scathing Washington Post story during the primary campaign was used as fodder by McAuliffe’s rivals, Sen. Creigh Deeds and Brian Moran. (Deeds went on to win the primary by a wide margin)

At the time, McAuliffe told me that he never claimed to create jobs in Virginia.   He is hoping that by 2013 it will be a claim he can easily make.

McAuliffe has used his considerable personal wealth to purchase  a Virginia paper company and a Chinese electric car company. The car company, GreenTech Automotive,  is about to open a plant in Mississippi. The first completely American made electric car will roll off the assembly line in July.  McAuliffe then has plans for a “major” facility announcement later in the year, which could be a plant in Virginia.

“Three cargo ships are full of equipment which will be our first plant in Mississippi, and we’ll roll out our first car, all American made, on July 4th this year,” said McAuliffe.  “(We) will sell the cars back to China and to Europe, and here.”

And even though the cars will run on electricity drawn predominately from non-clean burning sources like coal, McAuliffe believes they will be a remarkable improvement over the internal combustion engines on the road right now.

“The electric vehicles are 90% more efficient than the internal combustion car engine,” he said.  “So, yes, you’re using electricity, but you’re only using 10%, if you use a gallon of gas, you use basically 10% of that for electricity.”

Most of  the current electric cars on the market cost somewhere in the $40,000 range, but McAuliffe said GreenTech’s first 100,000 vehicles will be sold for only $10,000.

If this company is successful, McAuliffe could be well on his way to convincing people that he is the job creator that he claims. An effort that would fit pretty well into a narrative for a second run for the Governor’s mansion.

My entire interview with McAuliffe can be seen below. You can see the complete transcript on NBC12.com.  In the interview, I also ask McAuliffe if he thinks Sen. Jim Webb will run for re-election.

The only announced candidate for the U.S. Senate in Virginia, Jamie Radtke will get her chance to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people she hopes to soon call colleagues.   Radtke will speak at an event put on by the newly formed U.S. Senate ‘Tea Party Caucus”.

The caucus, established by Tea Party favorite, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) will discuss holding the line on the debt ceiling and controlling spending in Washington. Right now the caucus is made up of DeMint, Kentucky’s Rand Paul and Utah’s Mike Lee.  Paul and Lee won their races based largely on strong Tea Party support in Republican primaries. Their support from DeMint in particular, went a long way to making their bids legitimate in the eyes of Tea Party advocates. (The group, at this point, lacks the participation of Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) and rising conservative rock star Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida).

That is what makes this appearance by Radtke so interesting.  Radtke told me today that she was invited to participate by Senator Paul, but would not say if any of the sitting Senators would be willing to endorse her primary campaign.  While Radtke is the only announced candidate, former Senator George Allen is expected to officially announce his run any day. (Allen is basically already campaigning right now, traveling around Virginia with the Americans For Prosperity group)

If Radtke were to score an endorsement from a sitting U.S. Senator, particularly one from Jim DeMint, a former colleague of Allen, her role in the race would be taken to the next level.  (It is important to point out that DeMint has not even hinted at endorsing Radtke.)

Radtke, like pretty much everyone else paying attention to this race, knows it is only a matter of time before Allen makes it official. She spent this week challenging the GOP heavyweight to a series of forums around the state and questioning Allen’s conservative principles. A challenge Allen did his best to avoid.

The Chesterfield resident, Radtke makes her debut on Capitol Hill a week from Thursday (1/27).  By that time, George Allen may have officially decided if he wants in.