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Gov. Bob McDonnell on Monday signed an executive order creating the Independent Bipartisan Advisory Commission on Redistricting, though its powers are limited to a review and recommendation capacity. “As Virginia redraws its legislative districts later this year, the process should take place in a manner that is fair and open,” McDonnell said in naming the…
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Last week, I left the U.S. Congress after a final legislative act – unanimous passage of my bill to make sure that no American soldier is welcomed home from duty with a foreclosure notice. For the next two years, our heroes in uniform will be protected from foreclosure for at least 9 months after a…
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I have had enough of hearing about death panels for the elderly and the sickly in the new health-care law. There is so much to try and understand. Each political organization has a different take in the outcome of this legislation. I believed it was removed, but it made headlines again during Christmas. Gee, how…
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The national conversation on our fiscal health for the past few months has been about whether to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for households with incomes over $250,000, or to allow them to expire on December 31st. To my amazement, lost in all this controversy and discussion has been any mention of what this would…
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Last week, Congress completed several pieces of overdue legislation to provide economic relief for the middle class and the unemployed, approve adequate reimbursements for doctors under Medicare, and to censure a senior legislator following an ethics investigation. In the weeks remaining in the 111th Congress, we have an opportunity and obligation to complete meaningful work…
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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…
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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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“Voluntary Stream Fencing Options to Keep Regulations at Bay” will be the theme for this year’s Conservation Programs Rollout Meeting, which will be held Dec. 9 at the Augusta County Government Center in Verona. The meeting will be in the Smith West Room at 7 p.m. Farmers and landowners will learn from conservation agency representatives…
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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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Renowned artist P. Buckley Moss of Waynesboro has created a new painting titled “Making a Joyful Noise,” which was released during the Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir Spring concert weekend last April as a fundraiser for the choir. Prints are available from the SVCC office at $80 each, with half the profit going toward the choir’s…
