Ken Plum: Unraveling the mysteries of redistricting

Ken Plum

In the very near future Virginia will receive its official population numbers from the 2010 census. Our numbers are among the first to be issued because our off-year elections require us to redraw our legislative district lines in time for the 2011 fall elections. Follow the progress of the census results being made available at…

Obama offshore drilling ban draws bipartisan criticism

Chris Graham

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…

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…

Linda Tarr-Whelan: A New START for women around the world

AFP

The so-called New START, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia, is poised for an historic ratification vote in the Senate this year. Three more major international treaties are also lined up on President Obama’s ratification to-do list: the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and CEDAW,…

Poll: Allen leads GOP Senate field, but trails Webb, Kaine in ’12 matchups

Chris Graham

A new poll out today has former governor and U.S. senator George Allen well out in front of a potential 2012 Republican Senate nomination field, but also trailing in hypothetical matchups with Democratic Sen. Jim Webb and another former governor, Tim Kaine. Allen, who lost the seat that is up for re-election in 2012 to…

Mark Warner: A responsible step forward

Chris Graham

I wanted to let you know about the recent progress of legislation I have introduced that will make government work better and save taxpayer money. The Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010, which I’m proud to say is co-sponsored by two Republicans and two Democrats, requires each federal agency to set clear performance…

David Brodwin: The business case for fair elections

AFP

This year, the United States Supreme Court reversed years of precedent limiting how corporations may spend money to influence elections. This decision will substantially increase the importance of corporate influence in politics—both in determining who gets elected and how they decide once they are in office. As executives, owners, investors, and business professionals involved in…

Court hears arguments in AG challenge to health-care reform

Chris Graham

A federal judge heard arguments for the state and for the federal government in a case brought by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli challenging the constitutionality of the federal health-care reform bill passed and signed into law earlier this year. Judge Henry E. Hudson said in Monday’s hearing in Richmond that he will hand down…

The AFP on WREL: Oct. 15, 2010

Chris Graham

AFP editor Chris Graham joins WREL’s “Online with Jim Bresnahan” for their weekly discussion of Virginia politics. The segment begins with a look at the latest in the midterm congressional races in the Fifth and Sixth. Polls show the Tom Perriello-Robert Hurt race in the Fifth to be neck-and-neck. Sixth District Congressman Bob Goodlatte seems…