Moran: ‘We owe’ Iraq veterans
Jim Moran was a critic of the Iraq war when being a critic of the Iraq war was not only not cool, but was considered by more than a few to be treasonous.
The Virginia Democratic congressman spoke Thursday on the day that the U.S. officially declared the end to the military action that began in 2003 with a focus on the ongoing price that will be paid by a nation that came to be divided over the controversial war.
“It’s our obligation both as taxpayers and as legislators to assist all of those returning veterans as they transition to civilian life – by providing the proper health care and the education and employment opportunities that they deserve and they will need,” said Moran, who voted against authorizing then-President George W. Bush to go to war, co-authoring a resolution that would have required the administration to have fully exhausted all diplomatic options before taking military action. Continue reading “Moran: ‘We owe’ Iraq veterans” »
Obama offshore drilling ban draws bipartisan criticism
A bipartisan group of Virginia leaders will work to get the Obama administration to reverse its move to block drilling off the coast of Virginia until at least 2017.
“As a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, we learned a number of lessons, most importantly that we need to proceed with caution and focus on creating a more stringent regulatory regime. As that regime continues to be developed and implemented, we have revised our initial March leasing strategy to focus and expend our critical resources on areas with leases that are currently active. Our revised strategy lays out a careful, responsible path for meeting our nation’s energy needs while protecting our oceans and coastal communities,” Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said Wednesday in a statement announcing the shift in administration policy.
The administration had said in March that it would move to open up areas in the Atlantic, including off the coast of Virginia, to oil and natural gas exploration. That announcement came less than a month before the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that pushed a re-examination of the earlier policy direction.
Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell and Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Warner both indicated today that they will push back.
“Advances in technology continue to make offshore energy production more cost effective and safe. Instead of using that technology to produce more energy in a responsible manner here at home, this administration apparently prefers that we continue to depend more and more on oil from other nations and foreign cartels with far-less stringent environmental regulations and policies,” McDonnell said in a statement today.
Warner spokesman Kevin Hall told The Washington Post that the senator “sees no reason to delay this process” even given what we have learned since the March announcement.
“Sen. Warner will continue to work with Governor McDonnell and other state and local officials, as well as the bipartisan Virginia delegation, to explore ways to re-examine this decision,” Hall told the Post.
The Obama admnistration did get one note of support from an elected Virginia leader. Eighth District Democratic Congressman Jim Moran offered praise for the move to delay future drilling in a statement today.
“It clearly reflects the lessons learned from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster and recognizes the inherent risks of drilling in environmentally restricted areas and where economic and national security interests are in conflict,” said Moran, who has long opposed offshore drilling not just off the coast of Virginia but also elsewhere given the potential long-term environmental hazards.
“We will never achieve energy independence by drilling for more oil on land or at sea – even if we open up every restricted area to drilling,” Moran said. “To pursue such a reckless policy only advances the day we exhaust our limited reserves and undermines our effort to transition to cleaner and more sustainable alternative sources of energy.”
Story by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
WhenVirginiaWasBlue.com: Virginia Dems mum on NYC mosque
Democrats are falling over themselves to comment on the proposed Muslim community center in New York City two blocks from the former World Trade Center. Just not, to their credit, Virginia Democrats.
Chris Graham reports on the WhenVirginiaWasBlue.com blog.
What Virginia’s delegation had to say on health-care vote
The House of Representatives voted 220-215 late Saturday night to approve legislation that includes mandates to insurance providers and consumers and creates a public option for the provision of insurance coverage.
One Republican, Joseph Cao of Louisiana, joined 219 Democrats in voting for the bill; 176 Republicans and 39 Democrats voted against the legislation, which next goes to the Senate. It can be expected that whatever health-care bill makes it to the Senate floor will have some differences in language with the House version, so if and when the Senate were to pass similar legislation, it would be up to a House-Senate conference committee to work out differences and present a compromise bill for additional consideration by the two legislative chambers.
Which is to say, it’s not over yet, not by a long shot.
But the Saturday vote was historic nonetheless, and no matter as to what side of the political or ideological aisle you happen to be on.
We collected on-the-record comments from Virginia’s congressional delegation on the legislation from yesterday and late last night. Here’s what your congressional delegation had to say. Continue reading “What Virginia’s delegation had to say on health-care vote” »
A View from the Right | Moran’s town hall almost town brawl
Much akin to throwing the Christians to the Lions, and by Lions I mean the winless 2008 Detroit Lions, so anemic they haven’t the will to devour their potential prey, US Rep. Jim Moran of Virginia’s eighth Congressional District faced a mostly convivial if not staged audience Tuesday night at South Lakes High School in Reston. Continue reading “A View from the Right | Moran’s town hall almost town brawl” »
Sanford D. Horn | More Morantics, and Mrs. Morantics, Too
Usually we can count on the irascible Eighth District Democratic Congressman Jim Moran for entertainment whenever he decides to open his mouth, but this time the irascibility was a tag-team effort with his wife LuAnn Bennett who both caused a scene on Inauguration Day at the Capitol. Continue reading “Sanford D. Horn | More Morantics, and Mrs. Morantics, Too” »
Sanford D. Horn: The unfair and unbalanced media
Posted by afp on April 14, 2011 · 4 Comments
Moran treated Wayne Tunick, a disabled 27-year veteran rudely following an important question regarding military pay in the event of a government shutdown. In his typical low-rent manner Moran attacked Tunick accusing him of using caustic language.
The video proves Moran’s accusation to be just another lie by a politician who was clearly hell-bent on belittling and demeaning a United States military veteran, a veteran who put his life on the line defending the right of Moran to behave like a petulant child.
None of the exchange between Moran and Tunick appeared in the Post article on April 8 – surely the liberal media covering up the “Morantics” of an elected official who for years has embarrassed both himself and the district he supposedly represents.
The spectacle of our member of Congress shouting at a veteran with such contempt and disrespect dripping from his voice, calling the question insignificant and simple rhetoric designed for Tunick to hear himself speak. During his tirade directed at Tunick, Moran shouted at him to either sit down or leave
And while it is embarrassing to see this video on Fox News, Facebook, and other sites, it is necessary for the citizens of Virginia’s Eighth Congressional District to see how their elected official behaves.
On the flip side of the Moran coverage, the liberal media continues its witch hunt of former Governor and Senator George Allen by parsing every syllable out of his mouth in an attempt to create another “macaca” moment and thwart his effort to return to the US Senate.
Allen, who paid with his job in 2006 for a verbal gaffe, is now being accused, by some, of racism simply for asking a black news reporter what position he may have played in sports in his younger days. There was no reporting that white scribes were asked the same question.
As most people know, Allen has an impressive sports pedigree. His father, the late George Allen, coached nine teams in college and the NFL, during a career spanning 40-plus years, most notably with the Washington Redskins.
George Allen, the current Senate candidate also penned the tome What Washington Can Learn from the World of Sports, published in 2010. It should come as no surprise that Allen would ask the aforementioned reporter what position he might have played. According to Allen he asks that question of most people he encounters, usually as a form of an ice-breaker. To suggest there is even a hint of racial undertones to the Allen query is absurd. I’ve had several conversations with Allen with subjects ranging from sports to religion to education.
This unbalanced treatment by the liberal media of Democrats and Republicans is not an aberration. Instead it is typical of the double standard by which candidates and elected officials alike are treated. Even after Moran blamed the war in Iraq on the Jews at a town hall meeting, the Post still endorsed him for reelection. Despite numerous ethics complaints, Moran once again received media endorsements.
Yet an innocuous question about what position a reporter may have played in sports becomes a racial epithet in the eyes of a media so partisan it is attempting to create a scandal where none exists and derail a candidate whose campaign is barely out of the locker room and on the field.
Oops – a sports metaphor. What could that possibly mean
Filed under Blogs · Tagged with george allen, jim moran, liberal media, media bias