Frank Knapp Jr.: The Corporate Attorneys Full Employment Act

Contributors

Congress is considering a proposal that portends to offer commonsense rules to affect how federal agencies analyze costs and benefits. Instead it will be disastrous to taxpayers, small and mid-sized businesses and the country as a whole. The Regulatory Accountability Act of 2011 (RAA), which passed in the U.S. House, provides extensively detailed procedures for…

Marshall: GOP loyalty oath requirement sends ‘wrong message’

Contributors

Del. Bob Marshall is urging Virginia’s GOP leaders to ask the State Board of Elections to rescind its ruling that voters, before taking part in the March 6 Republican presidential primary, must pledge in writing that they intend to support the party’s White House nominee in the Nov. 6 general election. “Ironically, requiring a loyalty…

FEMA approves funding for Louisa following quake

Chris Graham

The Federal Emergency Management Administration has approved federal disaster assistance for individuals and business owners in Louisa County who experienced damage as a result of a 5.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Virginia on Aug. 23 and caused more than 40 aftershocks.  Gov. Bob McDonnell had appealed FEMA’s initial decision to deny federal disaster aid to Louisa…

Ken Plum: Virginians leading the nation

Ken Plum

In the late 1990s the state teachers’ organization distributed a hopeful poster. With scenes from Monticello and colonial Virginia printed in the background, the text proclaimed that “Virginians led the Eighteenth Century, Virginians can lead the Twenty-first Century.” There is a plentiful supply of documentation of Virginians providing leadership in the Revolutionary period through the…

Kate Wofford: Congress should accept Valley’s caution on gas drilling

A dozen Shenandoah Valley residents and I went to Washington last Friday, where I served as a witness at a congressional oversight hearing. The focus was a U.S. Forest Service proposal to ban a controversial natural gas drilling technique – horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing – from more than one million acres of public land…

Warner introduces spending accountability, transparency proposal

Chris Graham

U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) today introduced legislation that increases federal fiscal transparency and accountability by establishing a single web-based platform to allow taxpayers and policymakers to more easily track all federal spending. The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA) is a Senate version of legislation introduced earlier this week by Rep. Darrell Issa…

McDonnell, Goodlatte tout offshore energy development

Chris Graham

Gov. Bob McDonnell used a Thursday photo op to bring attention to his continued push for offshore drilling off the coast of Virginia. “America has an energy policy problem. Today, Virginia businesses and families are paying, on average, $3.88 per gallon for gasoline. That’s up $1.00 from a year ago. The Energy Information Administration estimates…

Robert Hurt: The path to prosperity

Robert Hurt

This past week House Republicans continued to take action to bring real change to Washington by passing a long term budget plan for 2012 and beyond, which stops spending money we don’t have, lifts our crushing debt burden, and helps promote job creation. With $14 trillion in debt, $1.6 trillion in deficit spending, and the…

Robert Hurt: Continued focus on job creation

Robert Hurt

This past week in Congress we continued to focus on taking the necessary steps to help foster a better environment for job creation for the people of the Fifth District by shrinking the size and scope of the federal government, reducing unnecessary regulations, working to lower energy costs, and cutting spending. I was proud to…

Ken Plum: New legislative districts

Ken Plum

By the time you read this column, you will have had an opportunity to see the proposed district boundaries for the House of Delegates, State Senate, and U.S. House of Representatives. I write this column amidst much concern, angst, and fear among incumbents and potential candidates as rumors have been circulating about what the districts…