Vanke fights Capitol Hill convention

Chris Graham

A question for Jeff Vanke. You’re an independent candidate for Congress. Let’s say you’re elected. Who do you caucus with? The answer will surprise you. “I wouldn’t caucus with either party. I would have a vote on the House floor,” said Vanke, a self-described “independent centrist” from Roanoke who is challenging Republican incumbent Bob Goodlatte…

Peter A. Bradford: DOE ignores openness pledge

AFP

Column by Peter A. Bradford Submit guest columns: [email protected]   Over the last half century, the government has repeatedly kept information secret because it would be embarrassing. President Obama wants the federal bureaucracy to reform this harmful tradition. The Department of Energy website proclaims, “From his first day in office, President Obama has pushed to…

Webb: ‘Clarity’ needed on Afghanistan strategy

Chris Graham

U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., said this week during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing that, in its congressionally-mandated December report, Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan, the Obama administration “must provide us some clarity, not only as to specific programs, but as to what their policies are expected to accomplish in a larger…

Cuccinelli joins group backing Arizona immigration law

Chris Graham

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has joined a coalition of nine states filing an amicus brief in federal court supporting Arizona’s new immigration reform law. “In creating immigration laws over the years, Congress created a joint federal-state cooperative immigration enforcement program,” Cuccinelli said in a statement released on Wednesday. “States merely report the immigration status of…

Frank Knapp Jr.: Restoring balance between Wall Street and Main Street

AFP

Column by Frank Knapp Jr. Submit guest columns: [email protected]   The South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce and small business organizations and owners across this country want Wall Street Reform. But you wouldn’t know that from the attention the media gives to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which…

DREAM to reality

Chris Graham

Isabel wanted to create an impression on her visit to Washington, so she had members of the group there to lobby Sen. Mark Warner for support for the DREAM Act to wear their graduation caps. “We weren’t sure if we would actually be able to meet with him one-on-one,” she said. But the senator was…

Webb marks one year of Post-9/11 GI Bill

Chris Graham

Edited by Chris Graham [email protected]   Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va. marked on Wednesday the one-year anniversary of the implementation of the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which has offered more than a quarter of a million veterans and their families the opportunity to attend college or training programs. After introducing the bill on his first day in…