Mark Warner had just said that Congress won’t be able to come up with a solution to federal-budget and national-debt issues until both Republicans and Democrats put some “skin in the game” to work toward a compromise solution.
A member of the audience at the Waynesboro YMCA put those words back at the centrist Democrat, challenging Warner on a point about congressional health care that you hear often from Tea Party critics of both parties. Read more
Mark Warner might be in D.C., but he’s definitely not of D.C.
“No matter how many challenges you’ve got in the Valley or on City Council or others, they are not as wacky as the people that I work with up in D.C.,” Sen. Warner, D-Va., said during a visit to Waynesboro on March 2.
Talking with leaders from local government and the local business community at the Waynesboro YMCA, Warner talked up his efforts through the Gang of Six – a bipartisan group of six senators – to build coalitions in the Senate and the House of Representatives to work toward solutions to the nation’s fiscal and economic problems. Read more
For Mark Warner, it risked being a Michael Dukakis moment.
“This is politician rule #1: You’re never supposed to wear a hat,” Sen. Warner, D-Va., said after being handed a Dr. Seuss hat that otherwise seemed sensible given what he was about to do.
And you thought banging the gavel to open and close sessions of the United States Senate was tough. Try getting a dozen preschoolers just up from their afternoon nap to sit still for 10 minutes to listen to Green Eggs and Ham.
“I, like probably most adults, grew up with Dr. Seuss. I grew up as a kid with him. I read Dr. Seuss stories to my kids when they were growing up. And so the chance to come to the Y and pick out a Dr. Seuss book – my two favorites were Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham – is big for me,” said Warner, who read to preschoolers at the Waynesboro YMCA on Friday. Read more
Of course it would rain. U.S. Sen. Mark Warner was in Waynesboro on Friday to get a firsthand look at the $100,000 thermal-solar project being installed at the Waynesboro YMCA, and the rain was coming down in sheets.
So instead of climbing on the roof to see the panels that will cover approximately 1,600 square feet of roof above the Y’s indoor swimming pool, Warner was dry inside the facility going over the details of the project with YMCA executive director Jeff Fife and Andy Bindea and Shawn Cooke of Sigora Solar, the project partner taking the lead on the installation. Read more
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner will visit the Waynesboro YMCA on Friday, March 2, to get a tour of the $100,000 thermal-solar installation project at the Y and be briefed on the details of the project by officials from the Y and project partner Sigora Solar.
The project is the largest thermal-solar installation in the state of Virginia. The panels being installed will save the YMCA more than $13,000 a year in energy costs.
After the tour of the solar project, Warner will participate in Read Across America Day by reading selections from the works of Dr. Seuss to children in the Y’s preschool program.
Any Virginia residents that need assistance with a federal agency such as the IRS, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or the Social Security Administration, or would just like to pass along a concern to Sen. Mark Warner, please feel free to come and speak with a representative from Sen. Warner’s office on Tuesday, Oct. 11, from 10:30 am to noon at the Staunton City Hall Caucus Room, 116 W. Beverley St.
Constituents can always contact any one of the senator’s offices directly. The Roanoke office can be reached at 540-857-2676.
When I asked Virginians in 2008 for the privilege of serving them in the United States Senate, I pledged to go to Washington to try to lead a “radical bipartisan center” that would work together to find common ground to solve our nation’s biggest challenges.
As our country’s $14.7 trillion national debt grows by more than $5 billion each day, and as a divided and dysfunctional Congress seemingly punts on responsible solutions to many of our toughest problems, is it any wonder that close to 9-in-10 Americans in a recent opinion poll said they strongly disapprove of the partisan gridlock they see in Washington?
At the beginning of August, Virginians witnessed an especially ugly and embarrassing political fight over raising the nation’s debt limit. The deal ultimately reached by Congress cut nearly $1 trillion in federal spending in the current budget, and created a bipartisan commission of six senators and six representatives to identify by Thanksgiving an additional $1.2 – $1.5 trillion in savings over the next decade.
I am hopeful this new commission will succeed, despite my belief that even $1.5 trillion in additional debt reduction is not nearly enough to truly begin fixing our nation’s finances. That’s why I have encouraged the 12 members of the Joint Select Committee to build upon the solid work and recommendations already proposed by several other bipartisan groups, including the Senate’s so-called Gang of Six, which I was proud to have formed earlier this year with my Republican colleague, Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia.
Every independent, bipartisan analysis, including the Gang of Six, has concluded it will require at least $4 trillion in debt reduction to begin responsibly tackling our fiscal challenges. Every independent and bipartisan analysis also has concluded it will require a balanced approach that includes a blend of spending cuts, tax reform that eliminates some deductions while lowering overall tax rates, and phasing-in rational reforms to entitlement programs to protect and strengthen programs like Medicare and Social Security over the long-term.
We have a second chance to do the right thing with the creation of this Joint Select Committee, but we will never be successful unless we finally break out of our partisan trenches and agree to work together.
That’s why Sen. Chambliss and I in recent weeks have been reaching out to our Senate colleagues, on both sides of the political aisle, in a bipartisan effort to broaden and expand our Gang of Six. And I can tell you that the response from our colleagues has been remarkable.
On Sept. 15, more than one-third of the 100 members of the United States Senate stood with us to encourage the members of the Joint Select Committee to go beyond their mandate and reach for more than just $2.2 trillion in debt reduction.
In fact, 39 Senators in all – 20 Republicans, 18 Democrats and one independent – have now joined us to issue a strong, bipartisan appeal for the so-called super committee to “go big.” It was an impressive demonstration of bipartisan support and encouragement for their efforts.
“We know that this debt is choking this country. We feel it is time to check our political hats at the door,” Sen. Chambliss said.
“We’re with you,” said Senate Budget Chairman and North Dakota Democrat Kent Conrad. “Be brave. Be bold. Go big.”
“Let’s set expectations much higher than where they are,” echoed New Hampshire Republican Kelly Ayotte. ”Show some courage. We will be with you.”
“If you take a look at this picture of the gathered senators, it’s exactly the opposite of what the American people think is going on here on Capitol Hill,” said Illinois Democrat Richard Durbin. “What we’re trying to tell you is there is a real honest conversation taking place between Democrats and Republicans on tackling the biggest financial challenge this country has ever faced.”
This bipartisan statement by more than one-third of the members of the U.S. Senate may have been summed-up best by Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski:
“If you don’t leave here today feeling a little more confident that this Congress, or at least this Senate, can act together, not for the good of our respective parties but for the good of the American people, then I would suggest you didn’t pay close enough attention to those who are gathered here today.”
So yes, Virginia, I can tell you there is such a thing as a “radical bipartisan center,” and I am very proud to be one of its founding members.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner will visit the Waynesboro YMCA on Friday, March 2, to get a tour of the $100,000 thermal-solar installation project at the Y and be briefed on the details of the project by officials from the Y and project partner Sigora Solar.
Any Virginia residents that need assistance with a federal agency such as the IRS, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or the Social Security Administration, or would just like to pass along a concern to Sen. Mark Warner, please feel free to come and speak with a representative from Sen. Warner’s office on Tuesday, Oct. 11, from 10:30 am to noon at the Staunton City Hall Caucus Room, 116 W. Beverley St.
Mark Warner: A bipartisan center forms in the U.S. Senate
Posted by afp on October 4, 2011 · 2 Comments
As our country’s $14.7 trillion national debt grows by more than $5 billion each day, and as a divided and dysfunctional Congress seemingly punts on responsible solutions to many of our toughest problems, is it any wonder that close to 9-in-10 Americans in a recent opinion poll said they strongly disapprove of the partisan gridlock they see in Washington?
At the beginning of August, Virginians witnessed an especially ugly and embarrassing political fight over raising the nation’s debt limit. The deal ultimately reached by Congress cut nearly $1 trillion in federal spending in the current budget, and created a bipartisan commission of six senators and six representatives to identify by Thanksgiving an additional $1.2 – $1.5 trillion in savings over the next decade.
I am hopeful this new commission will succeed, despite my belief that even $1.5 trillion in additional debt reduction is not nearly enough to truly begin fixing our nation’s finances. That’s why I have encouraged the 12 members of the Joint Select Committee to build upon the solid work and recommendations already proposed by several other bipartisan groups, including the Senate’s so-called Gang of Six, which I was proud to have formed earlier this year with my Republican colleague, Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia.
Every independent, bipartisan analysis, including the Gang of Six, has concluded it will require at least $4 trillion in debt reduction to begin responsibly tackling our fiscal challenges. Every independent and bipartisan analysis also has concluded it will require a balanced approach that includes a blend of spending cuts, tax reform that eliminates some deductions while lowering overall tax rates, and phasing-in rational reforms to entitlement programs to protect and strengthen programs like Medicare and Social Security over the long-term.
We have a second chance to do the right thing with the creation of this Joint Select Committee, but we will never be successful unless we finally break out of our partisan trenches and agree to work together.
That’s why Sen. Chambliss and I in recent weeks have been reaching out to our Senate colleagues, on both sides of the political aisle, in a bipartisan effort to broaden and expand our Gang of Six. And I can tell you that the response from our colleagues has been remarkable.
On Sept. 15, more than one-third of the 100 members of the United States Senate stood with us to encourage the members of the Joint Select Committee to go beyond their mandate and reach for more than just $2.2 trillion in debt reduction.
In fact, 39 Senators in all – 20 Republicans, 18 Democrats and one independent – have now joined us to issue a strong, bipartisan appeal for the so-called super committee to “go big.” It was an impressive demonstration of bipartisan support and encouragement for their efforts.
“We know that this debt is choking this country. We feel it is time to check our political hats at the door,” Sen. Chambliss said.
“We’re with you,” said Senate Budget Chairman and North Dakota Democrat Kent Conrad. “Be brave. Be bold. Go big.”
“Let’s set expectations much higher than where they are,” echoed New Hampshire Republican Kelly Ayotte. ”Show some courage. We will be with you.”
“If you take a look at this picture of the gathered senators, it’s exactly the opposite of what the American people think is going on here on Capitol Hill,” said Illinois Democrat Richard Durbin. “What we’re trying to tell you is there is a real honest conversation taking place between Democrats and Republicans on tackling the biggest financial challenge this country has ever faced.”
This bipartisan statement by more than one-third of the members of the U.S. Senate may have been summed-up best by Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski:
“If you don’t leave here today feeling a little more confident that this Congress, or at least this Senate, can act together, not for the good of our respective parties but for the good of the American people, then I would suggest you didn’t pay close enough attention to those who are gathered here today.”
So yes, Virginia, I can tell you there is such a thing as a “radical bipartisan center,” and I am very proud to be one of its founding members.
Mark Warner is a United States Senator.
Filed under Blogs · Tagged with bipartisan, mark warner, sen. mark warner, senator mark warner, u.s. senate