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“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…
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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,…
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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…
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Former state delegate and 2009 gubernatorial candidate Brian Moran is pushing a bid to become the chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia. In an e-mail sent out by Moran Monday morning, Moran said he is “ready to take on the challenge” of leading the state party, which is in freefall since winning control of…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Democratic Party of Virginia chairman Dick Cranwell announced Tuesday that he will retire from the position in December. “After 39 years in public life as a member of the House of Delegates and as Chair of the DPVA, and after much reflection and discussion with my family, I have decided that 2010 will be my…
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Independent Sixth District congressional candidate Jeff Vanke released a Contract with Western Virginia today at an event in Roanoke – highlighting a promise to voters similar to one made by nine-term incumbent Bob Goodlatte 18 years ago. “One point of my contract is to promise, on my Eagle Scout’s honor, to hold this seat for…
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