Too Progressive

Potential Republican VP Eric Cantor continues his assault on all things that make sense by once again calling for offshore drilling.

“If we in America demonstrate that we are serious about unleashing our energy resources, we will send a significant signal to the global markets that the supply issue will be addressed . . . ,” Cantor said during a news conference at a local gas station.

Cantor said more drilling in the United States will send a signal to the global markets that the U.S. is not so dependent on foreign sources of oil.

Cantor stood in front of the Village Exxon station at Three Chopt and Patterson Avenues to make his plea. He was joined by two other Republican officials, Del. William R. Janis of Henrico County and Henrico Sheriff Mike Wade, and by John Cox, who owns an Ashland trucking company.

Cantor went on to declare that drilling should be party of an energy “plan”that also includes, what else, “clean coal.”  Haha.

So not only is he using oxymoron’s like “clean coal” but he’s also advocating that we pursue an energy “plan” that pretty much everyone agrees won’t have any affect on gas prices what so ever.

Mr. Cantor, how about we invest more resources into real alternative forms of clean energy rather than some fictional BS?

All I have to say to John McCain and the Republican party is please make this happen so I can watch Obama and the DNC have a field day as they easily roll over the McCain/Cantor ticket on November 4.  Like McCain, Cantor has been in virtual lock-step with George Bush and also likes to tout his pretend foreign policy experience as if he’s actually ever done anything useful while serving in Washington.  Not only that, but Cantor is also a known bff of the Cheney family and he even operates his own PAC, creatively (and hilariously) named “ERIC” or “Every Republican Is Crucial.”  Seriously.

Read more after the jump including details on just who is behind the push to get Cantor on the ticket (HINT: K STREET)!!

 Virginia presidential and vice presidential polling [Not Larry Sabato and Democratic Central]

How many cops does it take to monitor a clean energy rally? [The Green Miles]

No surprise here: Thelma Drake votes against renewable energy and jobs [VB Dems]

Senator Jim Webb appears on Letterman [Raising Kaine]

Have a great weekend everyone!

Virginia NOW blasts Gerry Connolly [Raising Kaine & Bryan J. Scrafford]

Gerry Connolly sucks, Part 14 [Not Larry Sabato]

Virgil wants to let taxpayers pay more taxes [Democratic Central]

DEQ gives Dominion an “Out Clause” to pollute [VB Dems]

What’s your commute like? [Leesburg Tomorrow]

Happy Earth Day! [Not Larry Sabato & Bryan J. Scrafford]

Governor Tim Kaine signed twelve bills into law yesterday that will pave the way for expanding benefits for Virginia’s military veterans, active service members and their families. The bills covered health care, voting rights, driver’s licenses, benefits and more. One of the longest over-due pieces of legislation being the “Wounded Warrior Initiative” provides $4.5 million to expand treatment for mental-health disorders which effect nearly two-thirds of those returning from active military duty according to the Richmond Times Dispatch. Also, Kaine signed bills into law that make the process of establishing eligibility for veterans services much easier and a bill that makes it easier for service members to continue to hold an active driver’s license and vote while serving overseas.

“These bills take important steps toward improving the lives of those who have served or are serving our country, as well as their families,” Kaine said in a statement, noting later that one of every 10 Virginians is a veteran.

Take a look at the complete run down of the bills signed into law yesterday by Governor Kaine after the jump!

Governor Kaine has put a moratorium on all executions in Virginia pending a supreme court ruling on the constitutionality of lethal injections. It’s time for Conservatives to pick a side. They cry and holler over stem cell research and a women’s right to choose but they’re all for murder and “playing God” when it comes to the death penalty. So which is it?

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine ordered the moratorium on Tuesday in delaying the scheduled April 8 execution of Edward Nathaniel Bell until July 24.

It is the 30th such stay of execution nationally since September, when the Supreme Court agreed to hear a Kentucky case that challenged the constitutionality of lethal injections. Other executions are not being scheduled pending the ruling, expected in late June.

“That’s the pattern all over the country–dates are not being set,” Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said Wednesday.

Since the Supreme Court allowed states to reinstate capital punishment in 1976, 1,099 executions have been carried out in the United States, including 98 in Virginia, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Only Texas has carried out more executions, at 405.

VA-02 is, in my opinion, one of our best chances to pickup a congressional seat in Virginia and as Lowell pointed out early last week, the DCCC agrees. Let’s help VA-02 elect Glenn Nye and thereby put one of America’s worst public servants in the unemployment line!

From a message I received this morning on Facebook from Glenn Nye:

Friends,

March 31st is an extremely important deadline for Glenn’s Campaign–its the day he has to file his first fundraising report! Thelma Drake, our opponent, had Dick Cheney host a fundraiser for her, but we can win if YOU help.

Can you contribute $25 or $15 or even $5?

http://glennnye.com/contributions

We’ve been seeing it a lot this year, time and again–change begins when we all work together. Small donations, when lots of committed people stand as one voice, can beat the rich and powerful.

Can you get five friends to contribute $5?

http://glennnye.com/contributions

Thank you for your interest in changing America, and for supporting our campaign.

-Glenn Nye

Republican State Senator Ken Cuccinelli is expected to possibly finalize the 2009 Republican ticket on Monday by declaring for Virginia Attorney General on Monday.   With Bill Bolling having declared last week that he will run for re-election as Lt. Governor and AG Bob McDonnell having already declared he will run for Governor, it could be a McDonnell-Bolling-Cuccinelli ticket for the Republicans.  Apparently Virginia Republicans still haven’t wised up to the fact that the politics of Virginia are rapidly changing and we’re no longer going to elect ultra conservatives to office.

A patent lawyer and conservative Republican, Cuccinelli was elected to the General Assembly in a 2002 special election. He has been re-elected to the state Senate twice, most recently last year when he retained his office by a margin of about 100 votes.

His office Friday announced a Monday afternoon press conference in Fairfax County.

In a seldom made move of intelligence (as of late, at least) today Governor Tim Kaine signed legislation immediately repealing the unpopular abusive driver fees.  The fees, which applied only to Virginians, were part of a plan to raise money for transportation and mainly supported by Dave Albo and Governor Kaine.

“In the earnestness of trying to solve the transportation issue, a mistake was made,” said Sen. R. Edward Houck, D-Spotsylvania, who sponsored Senate Bill 1 in the 2008 session to repeal the fees. “This was simply the wrong way to go about funding transportation. And today is the day we correct all that.”

Kaine signed the Houck bill along with the House of Delegates version authored by Del. Tim Hugo, R-Fairfax.

“After six months of implementation, it was clear that the fees did not improve the safety of Virginia highways,” Kaine said.

Virginians who have paid any fees will get a refund from the Department of Accounts. No further action is required, Kaine said. All outstanding fees will be waived and considered satisfied. Individuals should not pay any bills they receive from the courts for an abusive driver fee.

Senator Mary Margaret Whipple live blogs and responds to reader questions [Raising Kaine]

Glad to see I wasn’t the only one bewildered by this [Not Larry Sabato]

ACLU Fights for In-State Tuition to US-Born Students [VB Dems]

You stay classy, media [Huffington Post via Daily Whackjob]

On Creigh Deeds and Del. Brian Moran [Fred2Blue]

Frank Wolf’s scare tactics and other nonsense [Farewell Frank]

Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling will seek a second term next year instead of challenging Attorney General Bob McDonnell for the Republican Gubernatorial nomination. Bolling stated that “family finances” and “the necessity of building a new business” prevented him from running a costly full-time campaign. Bolling also stated that he would fully support Bob McDonnell.

Bolling said he will support McDonnell and said his decision would unify the GOP ticket next year after two consecutive gubernatorial losses.

“Bob McDonnell and I are stronger running together than either of us would be running individually,” Bolling said.

“The party will line up behind this ticket, a ticket that can beat anything the Democrats throw our way,” he said.

Bolling also hinted at a 2013 run:

Bolling, 50, said he finalized his decision about two weeks ago but had been leaning toward staying put for several months. By 2013, he said, he will have his mortgage paid, the last of his children out of college and his business on sounder footing.

Look how pathetic you’ve become. The Constitution has been trashed for eight years and John McCain is still gathering plenty of support. America deserves another Republican in the White House because apparently it just hasn’t learned it’s lesson yet. What happened this morning in DC was not America, it was a totalitarian state.

3:50pm UPDATE: Now the police at the protest happening in San Francisco are threatening to arrest the media!! THE MEDIA!!!!!! Uhmmm, first amendment violations much?

4:36pm UPDATE: More than 51 were arrested this morning in DC. Apparently the group that organized this has about 600 other events going on around the country. Also, MoveOn.org has candle light vigils planned across the country including dozens planned across the Commonwealth. Click here to find the closest one to you.

ACLU: Last call to Governor Kaine [VB Dems]

More lies from Dominion Virginia Power [Raising Kaine]

The Odd Dominion [Daily Kos]

How About Frank Wolf’s Money? [Farewell Frank]

No, John! A great video highlighting John McCain’s constant flip flopping [Cobalt6]

Is there a difference between liberal and progressive? [Anonymous Is A Woman]

Blessing vs. Damning [Democratic Central]

Senator Jim Webb is “profoundly concerned” about the resignation of Admiral William Fallon and says the sudden resignation raises concerns about whether or not the Bush administration considers or even tolerates dissenting views.

“I know a little something about resigning,” said Webb, who resigned as Navy secretary in the 1980s to protest cuts in shipbuilding. “Those are not easy decisions to make. And I would also point out that this administration is not an administration that has tolerated dissent from our military leaders.”

Webb took to the Senate floor to speak about the resignation and pointed out that Fallon was the third Middle East region commander to express concern with the Bush administration’s Mid East policies.

“This is a region that is in chaos all the way from Lebanon to Pakistan, as we well know,” said Webb, a freshman Democrat. “And we need the advice and the contributions of global thinkers. Adm. Fallon is one of them … . So I am profoundly concerned that Adm. Fallon has decided to take this measure, and I’m hoping that we can hear from him in a more specific way in the future.”

Having some server problems today and not sure if/when this will show up but for the seventh day in a row the average price of gas across the Commonwealth has hit a record high. The average price is now a staggering $3.21 a gallon, a full 30 cents higher than 30 days ago and about seven cents below the national average.

Travel organization AAA Mid-Atlantic reports the average price for a gallon of self-serve regular has hit a record high for the seventh time in seven days. Triple-A said the average price in Virginia on Tuesday was $3.21 a gallon — 30 cents a gallon higher than 30 days ago.

Locally, the average price of a gallon of gas is $3.18, the highest price ever recorded in Hampton Roads. A month ago, gas locally was at an average of $2.91 and a year ago it was $2.40.

Here in Arlington we’re seeing prices about 10-20 cents higher than the Virginia average. What are you seeing in your neighborhood?

Thelma Drake has got to be one of the most batshit crazy members of Congress and Eric Cantor certainly isn’t far behind either. Via Daily Press:

Police in many localities now use the honor system, asking suspects from other countries about their immigration status when they’re arrested. A national database lets police check their criminal history.

But Republican Congressman Eric Cantor said that database doesn’t include immigration status, which is maintained in a separate database by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In a letter to the Department of Homeland Security, Cantor and fellow Virginia Republicans Thelma Drake and Rob Wittman ask officials to create a solution, like linking the two databases or giving police automatic access to the ICE database.

Instead of focusing on those “sissy Liberal” issues like education and health care, this is what some Virginia Republican representatives are making a top priority. Pathetic.

Tim Kaine says he won’t leave the VA Governor’s office early for a cabinet spot were Barack Obama to become the next President. However, Kaine hinted that he likely would leave his current office early were Obama to call upon him to run as a Vice Presidential nominee. Kaine is a national co-chairman of Obama’s campaign and is often mentioned as a potential VP candidate were Obama to win the Democratic nomination.

Kaine will say later that he will not leave the governor’s office early for a seat in an Obama Cabinet. While he’s convinced he will not be asked to be Obama’s running mate, he says the offer would be difficult to refuse.

“I’m not going to leave before the end of the term,” in January 2010, Kaine said, when asked about a possible role in an Obama Cabinet.

Also rumored to be on Obama’s “short list” of potential running mates are Senator Jim Webb and Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius.

VIDEO: Thelma Unflappable? [VB Dems]

David Albo continues his pathetic quote festival. [RK]

Tim Hugo about to enter Lieutenant Governor’s race [NLS]

A great entry on Geraldine Ferraro. [Vivian J Paige]

Bush’s EPA Rewrites Clean Air Standards “Based on the Interests of Polluters” [The Green Miles]

Over the past few days I’ve posted quite a few times regarding Dominion Virginia power and their plan to launch energy conservation programs as an assault on the intelligence of Virginians, their plan to build yet another power plant in Buckingham county and of course, their plan to build a dirty coal power plant in Wise county despite enormous public opposition to the plant. I usually keep a pretty close eye on visitor information through sitemeter as far as the persons location, how they found me, etc. etc. and lately I’ve noticed quite a few hits coming from visitors accessing my site from Dominion Virginia Power internet servers, meaning Dominion is reading the blogs and they know Virginians all across the state are not happy with recent decisions of the company.

So I’m curious to know why Dominion has failed to even acknowledge the public outrage against them and also whether other bloggers covering Dominion Virginia Power have noticed anything similar with their traffic. Are you all also seeing several dozen hits coming from Dominion internet servers??