Dem legislator to RPV chair: ‘The people expect you to lead’

Ken Plum

A snarky letter sent by Republican Party of Virginia chair Pat Mullins to Democratic state legislators prompted a response in kind from Del. Ken Plum, D-Reston. “Your party controls two of the three bodies necessary to pass legislation, the House of Delegates and the governor. The people expect you to lead. I do not think…

Palin: The road back to nowhere

AFP

Rampant speculation continues over what Sarah Palin’s plans regarding 2012 might be. The conventional wisdom: She’s running, no question about it, yep, she is, damn the torpedoes, or she’s not, because she’d rather be a conservative celebrity, because being a conservative celebrity pays more than being a presidential candidate. I’d like to throw in a…

Brian Miller: Hostage-takers and the Obama-GOP tax package

AFP

As millions of unemployed Americans struggle to make ends meet amidst an economy still in shambles, a note is quietly slid under the door: “Give us $800 billion in tax breaks or your unemployment benefits are history!” In a classic made-for-television cop drama, this is the part where the heroic police captain would emphatically declare,…

The umpire strikes back

Chris Graham

It didn’t take me doing the quick bio check on Henry Hudson to figure out his political proclivities. (For the record, Hudson, the judge who ruled Monday that the purchase mandate that is key to the implementation of the health-care reform signed into law in March, was appointed to the federal bench by George W….

A move on moment from House Dems

AFP

“Just say no! Just say no!” Seriously? That’s the best House Democrats can do these days – is mirror House Republicans? Any semblance of sanity on the Dem side is now officially history, which means, for all intents and purposes, there isn’t any semblance of sanity in D.C. anymore. Not that there was much even…

Erik Camayd-Freixas: The DREAM Act and the wealth of nations: An educator’s perspective

AFP

Against all odds, 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school each year, many with honors. They are among America’s brightest, most driven and underprivileged. We have invested much in their K-12 education, and they have much to contribute to our society. National identity and allegiance are established during adolescence. This is their homeland. Brought here…

Chris Graham: Smaller government, with a catch

Chris Graham

I don’t personally have any issue with the notion that government needs to be run more efficiently and run more like a business. Anybody with experience managing a business or organization knows that there are inevitably inefficiencies that can be accounted for and corrected to make things run more smoothly. A problem I have is…

Dem leader pushes McDonnell on interest in WH run

Chris Graham

Virginia Democrats are seizing upon an apparent attempt at hedging by Gov. Bob McDonnell in an interview with The Washington Post about whatever interest he might have in running for president in 2012. “Either he intends to serve his full term as Governor or he doesn’t,” Democratic Party of Virginia Chairman Dick Cranwell said,

Chris Graham: Thanks, Filibuster!

AFP

Republicans have found a handy tool – the filibuster – in their ongoing battle to kneecap Barack Obama and congressional Democrats. That’s the good news. The bad news – well, good luck to the GOP when it gets the keys to the White House and majorities in Congress back. “With little time left in this…

Chris Graham: Repealing 50 years of advances in basic civil rights

Chris Graham

“The federal government,” says Bill Howell, the speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, “has long ago usurped the power reserved to the states and the people via our Constitution.” Here we go again. Looks like we’re about to refight the Civil War. Howell is in Washington today to talk up something called the Repeal…