Decision Virginia

Many groups that buy television advertising during campaign season are organizations dedicated to one specific cause.

The League of Conservation Voters generally supports democratic candidates, but their priority is protecting the environment. They have already bought a $1 million ad buy across 3 states including Virginia.

In 2012 they have made defending Barack Obama and attacking Senate candidate George Allen their priority.

Here is the ad that was shown in Richmond:

That first TV ad of the 2012 season attacks an “unnamed” politician, that unnamed politician represents those who vote against measures they claim won’t protect clean air.

They get a bit more specific in a web ad that “congratulates” George Allen on being named to their “dirty dozen”.

So who are the league of conservation voters, and where do they get millions of dollars to invest in TV advertising?

Most of their donors contribute somewhere between $200 and $5 thousand dollars, and the vast majority of their money has come from sources outside of Virginia.

Their PAC most disclose their donors, and who show where that money goes. So far in 2012 they have filed 13 different independent expenditures for Virginia senate candidate “Timothy Michael Kaine”, a total of just under $20 thousand to this point.

They also have established a SuperPAC for 2012 which allows them to bring in big donations without much accountability. But their real power could come from a partnership with the Obama endorsed SuperPAC “Priorties USA” which will help fund pro-Obama ads across the country.

While the organization is not afraid to cross party lines for a candidate that shares their views, its rare. In 2010 less than 2% of their money went to republicans. In 2012, so far every single dollar spent has been in support of democrats.

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Here is where we got our information:

*The League of Conservation voters has a list of all their endorsed candidates and television ads on their web site

*The list of donors to the LCV can be found on the Federal Election Commissions web site.

*The LCV’s expenditures, specifically those to Tim Kaine, can be found here.

*The Center For Responsive Politics breaks down who the LCV supports on opensecrets.org.

In a show of bipartisanship, this Friday, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell will greet President Barack Obama at Richmond International Airport and then attend the president’s event in Prince George County.

Obama is scheduled to speak about the economy at the growing Rolls-Royce plant in Prince George. Earlier this week, McDonnell announced that the company was planning a major expansion. Obama is expected to talk about that expansion during his remarks.

A sitting governor welcoming the president to his state is hardly breaking news, but in this highly contested election season it is no longer a given. Obama had made many visits to Virginia, many of them short jaunts across the Potomac. McDonnell has attended very few of those events, but he did attend an event in Norfolk during the president’s summer bus tour of North Carolina and Virginia. He also met the president on the tarmac in Hampton in the spring of 2010 before Obama’s commencement address at Hampton University. The governor rode in the motorcade with Obama and attended his speech.

All of McDonnell’s meetings with the president have been largely uneventful. This despite the republican governor being a big critic of Obama’s policies, a top surrogate for his potential opponent Mitt Romney and perhaps a candidate for Vice President.

Obama has dealt with at least one dust up on an airplane tarmac. Earlier this year, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer challenged the president over his immigration policy during their brief meeting after he de-planed. The exchange left behind a lingering image of Brewer with her finger pointed in Obama’s face.

Don’t expect anything that exciting this time around. McDonnell and Obama are both hoping to take part of the credit for Rolls-Royce expansion. Senate candidate Tim Kaine, a former governor and an ally of the president applauded both sides for their bi-partisan cooperation to make the deal happen.

We will have complete coverage of the president’s visit on NBC12, including live reports from the airport and Prince George.

Good Morning! It is election day. Perhaps the least dramatic of the four year election cycle, but there are still some important story lines.

Here is what we are following:

Control of the Virginia Senate: This is the story line that has the potential to have the biggest long term impact. A GOP flip in control gives Gov. Bob McDonnell‘s party control of all three layers of Virginia’s government. It will make his agenda much easier to push through, while at the same time giving him complete ownership of the Commonwealth’s success/failure for the remainder of his term.

If the flip happens it will also provide more evidence of McDonnell’s popularity in Virginia. He has campaigned heavily with republicans in tight races. Gaining the four seats necessary could send a powerful message to GOP Presidential candidates looking for a running mate that could help deliver a key swing state.

Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney: This race took a sharp turn when republicans tried unsuccessfully to oust their chosen candidate Matt Geary. He wouldn’t go and that forced Del. Bill Janis to run as an independent and allowed democrats to field a strong candidate in Shannon Taylor. This race has had a little bit of everything and should lead to an interesting finish.

Voter turnout: With no statewide or federal candidates on the ballot, turnout is expected to be dismal. It could be 10% or less in some places. It will be especially slow in the Richmond metro, where there is not one truly competitive race in the General Assembly. In fact both parties rolled out their heavy hitters for statewide get out the vote efforts over the weekend, and they both ignored Richmond.

TELL ME WHAT YOU SEE: As always, I’m looking for the view from the ground. Tweet and Facebook me what you are seeing and I will post the dispatches below (pics too!). Then tune in tonight for the latest results on NBC12. Happy Election Day!!

From the ground…

Carmen Crater:  I voted in Cumberland about 10:30 this morning…was quite busy for that time of day…took 45 minutesof standing in line to vote, but well worth it……………anyone who doesn’t vote has absolutely no right to give their opinions or COMPLAINTS…be part of the system and maybe…just maybe we can make things better…

Vic Tench I just voted in PG not many people there just a few people in front and behind me we were all in line no more then 3 min.

Pat Coffey voted at Beaverdam Elementary – saw John Cox there about 9:30 this morning.

Brandon Satterwhite Voted here in Henrico, I was the only one there.

Erin Sutton I voted at pole green elementary in Hanover co. Sean Davis was shaking hands. Sadly there where not too many voters… I’m hoping I just came at a down time.

Janet Murphey I am in Charles City County — voted a little while ago..small county didn’t have to wait too long (1 person in front of me)

Mark Hopkins I voted. A good number of people at the Chesterfield polls.

Andrea Stephenson Epps: Was # 488 at Swift Creek in Chesterfield 10 min. ago. Higher than I expected before the rush hour

Lynn Davis Cranmer  Voted in rural King William County about 10:30 this morning. One person ahead of me, Two or three behind me. (Most people round these parts – vote before and after work, I think.)

Betty Paschall Tate  No one there but me and the poll workers this morning at Hening Elem. at 7:45am. Please everyone get out and vote …it is a privilege!!!!!

Classic: Governor McDonnell happens to run into former Governor Doug Wilder at their Richmond polling location.

@TheBenBrown: I voted absentee. Today is just another day…

From my polling place in Chesterfield, pretty slow I was voter 220

Robin Belcher Liesfeld Yes – pretty steady at the Centerville precinct in Goochland. I see that’s also been busy in Hadensville. I predict a pretty good turnout county-wide. I believe there may be some surprises, because many Goochland citizens want change!

Susan Coral Moss It was a bit quiet in Chester (Bermuda District-Wells). I was the 271th voter at 10:30. There wasn’t any problems. I was expecting more fireworks especially with the heated Supervisor race down here in Chester.

Margie Rutherford Gausby I voted in Ashland. They moved the polling place. It was difficult to find the correct room at the school to vote, I think it will impact turnout there. I was ready to give up and I ways vote.

Mary Eldredge Only had to wait about 30 seconds to vote this morning at Beaufont Towers (Precinct 412). There were only three voters when I was there about 9:15.

Ron Gallier i left my house at 10 am to vote and back home at 10:25 am i voted at donahoe elem school

@rosscatrow: I saw a big empty gymnasium.

@DaeHarris: I saw basketball hoops, a few volunteers and 1 other woman voting

@KDavisDesign: lots of signs, friendly people willing to help, and lots of people outside the library shoving information in your face.

@marioc: pretty quiet over at Clover Hill Elementary. At 6:30am I was No. 42.

Connie Warriner Mason I voted in PG. Steady flow. Nothing to exciting…did have a paper jam but was fixed quickly with no issues.pretty quiet over at Clover Hill Elementary. At 6:30am I was No. 42.

Al Neill In Hadensville (District 1 in Goochland) they were ahead of the count for the same time last election day. There had already been over 100 voters by 7AM. generally I think about 700 vote.

Tommi Brandt Just got back from voting in Powhatan. Not very busy right now.

@JaysonRachael Lots of fog when we voted @ 6am!

Never one to follow the crowd, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Newport News) was one of only 9 Members of Congress to vote against a resolution to reaffirm “In God We Trust’ as the official motto of the United States of America.

Rep. Scott’s aide David Dailey explains the purpose of the measure:

H.Con.Res. 13 is only a non-binding resolution resolving that Congress “reaffirms” the motto and encourages the public display of the motto. The resolution does not have the force of law and would not be presented to the President for his signature if passed by the Senate. Even without this resolution, the 1956 statute (Pub. L. No. 84-851) establishing the motto would still remain the law of the land.

It was sponsored by Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Chester).

Scott said the resolution is inconsistent with the pledge he took when he entered congress to “uphold the Constitution.”

Scott’s full statement is blow:

One look at the invited guests for this afternoon’s event in Chesterfield and you know what President Barack Obama will be talking about.

In a very small venue, the president is expected to lay out how his American Jobs Act will benefit local police, fire and rescue crews.

The president spoke this morning at a military base in Hampton. He was joined at that event by Governor Bob McDonnell. McDonnell, his wife and President and Mrs. Obama had a private, 10 minute meeting at that event.

Here is the dispatch from that meeting according to the governor’s office:

The Governor and Va First Lady Maureen McDonnell met privately with the President and First Lady Michelle Obama for approx 10 minutes.

It was a friendly visit.

The Governor and Mrs McDonnell welcomed them to Virginia and the Governor thanked the President for making the hiring of veterans a priority. The Governor let the President know that there is much common ground to be had on this important issue and he looks forward to hearing the President’s proposals on the matter. Ensuring that our veterans who have selflessly served our nation can find the good paying jobs they deserve is a top priority of the McDonnell Administration.

The Governor again made the case for federal assistance for Louisa County in the wake of the August earthquake and the two discussed Virginia’s coming appeal of FEMA’s initial rejection of that assistance request.

The Governor also spoke to the President about the strong support in this community and across the Commonwealth for making Fort Monroe a National Park, and his strong personal support of such a designation.

The president is expected here in Chesterfield at around 2:40. We will carry the event in its entirety on NBC12-TV and NBC12.com.

Thanks to Politico!

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/59954.html

This week was Sunshine Week across the country, an effort to bring a attention to transparency and openness of government.  We took advantage of the opportunity to introduce you to two of my favorite organizations doing incredible work shining a light on government business.

On Thursday we talked to Megan Rhyne. She is the Executive Director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government. They lobby the state legislature to prevent limits on public access to government work. They also help average citizens obtain information by helping them with the FOIA process (Freedom of Information Act)

We talked about all of the good things VACOG is working on during a live interview on NBC12 First at 4:

Then on Friday we welcomed David Poole, the Executive Director of the ever expanding Virginia Public Access Project.  VPAP is an incredible tool to track down everything you could ever want to know about about campaign finance. A resource that is very important in a state like Virginia that has no campaign donation limit.

VPAP recently expanded and is now covering donations to County Supervisors in Henrico and Chesterfield. An incredibly important addition to a group of leaders that don’t often get much attention.

My conversation with David is below:

VPAP is also doing some incredible work tracking the progress of redistricting in the Commonwealth.

Note: *This story is a special contribution to Decision Virginia from former NBC12 Anchor/Reporter Andrea McDaniel

How Far are Taxpayers Willing to take the Revolution?   Looking at Alternative Ways of Doing Business
By Andrea McDaniel

Tea partiers, flush with their successful November 2 revolt, are anticipating the fruits of their success expecting to soon see less government and lower taxes. Budget battles though are only just beginning and they can be nasty as witnessed by the current legislative fight and loud protests which started in Wisconsin and are now spreading to other states.

With the still struggling economy, job losses and revenues way down, cutting the size of government and taxes are admittedly daunting challenges. Interest alone on Virginia’s debt has grown 50% in 3 years. Virginia’s $14 billion dollar a year budget was balanced only after lawmakers made $4 billion in painful cuts and more are recommended.

Virginia cities and counties are struggling too. Grayson County residents recently rallied to protest a 44% property tax increase. County officials say they had no choice given their economic realities and state funding cuts.

The Petersburg School System is facing a more than two million dollar budget shortfall for next fiscal year. Last year it was more than 8 million. Petersburg’s Superintendent said teachers can expect no raises for what would be the fourth straight year while none of Petersburg’s seven schools met the state’s 2010 “Adequate Yearly Progress” requirements. Petersburg’s newest school building is 34 years old.

Clearly taxpayers are in no mood to fork over more money and are ready to hold politicians feet to the fire. How do these newly-elected leaders turn campaign slogans into workable solutions?
Governor McDonnell said government can work smarter and cheaper by running the state more like a business and trim state bureaucracy by cutting down the current 24,000 pages of state regulations—ideas that will take years to fully implement.

Another of his campaign proposals that could reap potentially big savings is cutting the state’s power bill. Energy costs are becoming critical as oil prices skyrocket—an 8 percent jump Wednesday alone. Three succeeding governors have issued executive orders that state agencies take measures to reduce their energy bills. All three orders came with no money to pay for the new programs. This is where “performance contracting” could make a big difference. Basically it means that energy service companies, known as ESCO’s, upgrade a public building and taxpayers repay over the life of the contract, usually 15 years, using the energy savings realized from the renovations.

Trane is one of 15 ESCOs certified in Virginia. Local Trane representative Larry Cummings says current technology can save millions of dollars and that savings would allow government buildings to get long overdue energy renovations without hiking taxes or floating bonds.”

The Virginian charged with overseeing the state’s energy performance contracts agrees. “Performance contracting has been a boon to the Commonwealth,” Charlie Barksdale said. It uses existing dollars to upgrade aging, rundown state buildings instead of taking more money from taxpayers, he explained. The money has already been allocated, he said, but right now it is going to utility companies to pay heating bills. The renovations cut down on utility bills and that savings is then used to pay off the renovation loans.

Energy service companies (called ESCO’s) put their profits on the line instead of leaving taxpayers holding the bag. It’s gaining popularity at the state level and is just beginning to catch on locally.

Here’s how it works: agencies invite 4 ESCO’s to do preliminary audits of the agency’s energy use and then submit proposals on how much the agency could save with their recommended renovations.

Each company’s proposal is screened, negotiations are opened with the best two and then a finalist is chosen to provide a more comprehensive “technical audit” which contains hard numbers on how much the renovation will cost and how much energy savings will be realized. “It’s all itemized, Barksdale said. I make sure the technical audit has a fixed price make the contractors pull out even the contingencies (costs which turn out to be less or more than expected) as a line item.”

The technical audit is then used as the basis for requesting a bank loan which comes through an existing line of credit from the state Treasury. The loans are repaid from the money the agency saves on its heating and air conditioning bills and the contractor’s on the hook if the energy savings don’t pan out. The company has to pay the difference between the loan payment and the actual energy savings realized.

If it is such a good deal why hasn’t Governor McDonnell issued an Executive Order requiring state agencies to perform energy audits to get the process rolling as he promised during the campaign?

As Governor, Bob McDonnell will examine state agencies top to bottom and require state agencies to partner with Energy Savings Performance Contracting companies. ~~www.bobmcdonnell.com

Email and voicemail messages to the Governor’s office have so far not been returned.

Why aren’t more state and local buildings using performance contracts? “They are beginning to,” Barksdale said. The state currently has $200 million in performance contracts a jump of $160 million in the last five years, cutting the state’s energy usage by $20 million dollars a year–$20 million that is now going toward upgrading aging state buildings.

There could be more building involved but apparently inertia of long-time state bureaucrats has to be overcome along with state employees’ fear of losing their jobs. Barksdale believes it is a needless fear because state maintenance crews are already too lean and inadequate maintenance results in higher energy costs.

As Trane’s Cummings puts it, “it’s a bit of an education process. The federal government instigated performance contracting and has used it for the last 30 years but it has gained momentum here in the last 5 years or so. Trane has done two large projects (in Virginia).”

The first was a $40-plus million dollar renovation of the Damn Neck Naval Base which won a Presidential award. Geothermal was the best choice for Oceana Naval Base: “To save on energy and maintenance we put the equipment underground to protect it from the elements.” Geothermal uses water and earth to heat and cool the buildings.
Cummings says locally, schools stand to benefit the most. “They usually have about 80% of the buildings in a county, so they have the biggest potential savings,” he says. College dormitories are a good bet for renewable energy: “They use lots of water—there would be a good use of solar power to heat water” and save energy dollars, Cummings adds.
Talk of geothermal and solar begs the question: Is this just a way for ‘progressives’ to push their ‘green’ agenda by using incentives, a type of ‘crony capitalism’ and the savings are not real? The companies get contracts but the taxpayer gets hit paying for someone’s political agenda?

“No,” said Barksdale, “to me it is all about the numbers when assessing whether to use new green energy options like biomass or solar versus conventional heating sources. He said he believes options like biomass are appropriate “only under the right circumstances.”

Barksdale points out another plus for performance contracts is they generate lots of work and that means jobs. “It’s huge,” said Barksdale. The ESCO’s have to bring in crews to do the work, crews who have to stay in hotels, eat in our restaurants, etc.,” a boon to the local economy. You don’t have to go to taxpayers to get extra money for renovations because it is already budgeted—you are just changing who you pay that money to,” Barksdale stressed.

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By: Ryan Nobles – bio | email

Abortion is never an easy issue for any politician and Barack Obama is no exception. While the President has a consistently reliable pro-choice political record, he never wants to spend too much time on the issue. Such was the case when we asked him about the controversial sting, by the conservative group LiveAction on a Richmond clinic.

The President deflected the premise of the question, instead trying to focus on the things he believes most Americans care about (jobs, the economy, etc.) But he wasn’t afraid to defend the work of Planned Parenthood at the same time.

Fast forward to today (Friday). After a lengthy and passionate debate, the Republican led House of Representatives voted to de-fund all of Planned Parenthood’s Title X funding. It is important to note that the Federal Government does not provide taxpayer assistance for abortions of any kind. However, pro-life politicians have often believed abortion providers should not receive taxpayer funding for any other services as well.

Here is my story on the House vote and how it pertains to  President Obama’s position from NBC12:

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) – It is a major development in Washington, The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to completely de-fund Planned Parenthood. Momentum in the fight to strip the organization’s funding came after an activist group went into a local clinic and captured allegedly damning video.

Earlier this week NBC12 asked President Barack Obama if the video warranted a review of Planned Parenthood’s funding. Funding which is now in danger.

It started at a clinic in Richmond, and ended on the floor of House. In an unprecedented vote, lawmakers passed a continuing resolution to de-fund Planned Parenthood.

Pro-life politicians have often gone after the abortion provider, while pro-choice politicians like President Obama have rushed to its defense. In our exclusive interview, the President deflected the impact of the video sting.

“I think sometimes these issues get manufactured,” he said “they get a lot of attention in the blogosphere.”

..you can read the full story on NBC12.com

President Obama’s complete statement on Planned Parenthood can be seen below:

Meanwhile, LiveAction president Lila Rose released the following statement in response to what President Obama had to say. You can see that after the jump:

Read the rest of this entry »

By: Ryan Nobles – bio | email

President Barack Obama and Eric Cantor need to work together in order to get things done in Washington. Both claim it is something they can and are willing to do.

Here is my report based on my one on one interview with the President on Wednesday:

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) – It is not a surprise that a station from Richmond was granted access to the President on Wednesday. He spoke to stations in Milwaukee and Cincinnati as well. All home to the top leadership in the House of Representatives.

By coming doing an interview with NBC12, he was pushing his message on his biggest critics’ turf.

The President of the United States, let us ask him whatever we wanted, but make no mistake, he found a way to get his message across.

“The vast majority of people right now, what they are thinking about right now are jobs and the economy,” said the President.

Read the rest of my report on NBC12.com..

We will have much more on our interview with the President tomorrow on NBC12.

UPDATE: You can watch last night’s report below: