Tom Perriello: Permanent Medicare reimbursement fix

AFP

Last week, Congress took an important step to make sure that our senior citizens can continue to see their doctors for care by protecting the reimbursement rates for doctors who participate in the Medicare system. The House passed bipartisan legislation that blocks the 25 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors that could have gone…

Tom Perriello: Middle-class tax cuts

AFP

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…

David Reynolds: Think Virginia

David Reynolds

This column is not for wine lovers. Rather, it is directed to my conservative friends who have no love for government, who think that all governments are nothing more than intrusions into our private lives, who never met a tax they liked and who believe that all public budgets should be filed under fiction. Sorry,…

Lt. Gen. John Castellaw: Put the inspectors back to work

AFP

Dec. 5th marks an important milestone in relation to America’s national security – the one-year anniversary since the U.S. inspection of Russian nuclear facilities expired. But the obstacle to resuming inspections isn’t an intransigent Russia, but Senate delays in ratifying the New START arms reduction treaty – delays that put political considerations ahead of U.S….

Webb: Congress should end ethanol subsidies

Chris Graham

U.S. Jim Webb, D-Va., today called for an end to costly ethanol subsidies and tariffs. In a bipartisan letter, Sen. Webb and other senators urged Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kent., to eliminate the protections currently manipulating ethanol costs and restricting U.S. trade. The current subsidies and tariffs on domestic…

Virginia fights bank scams

Chris Graham

A new program involving state government and a group of Virginia banks and credit unions aims at protecting consumers and financial institutions from fake-check scams. Sixty-one banks and credit unions participating in this effort will hand out a brochure created by Consumer Federation of America about fake-check scams and similar frauds to every consumer who…

Cuccinelli opinion sparks debate on documents for drivers licenses

Chris Graham

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli issued an official opinion last week informing the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles that it is not required to accept federal work permit cards as proof of lawful presence in the United States for the purpose of issuing a driver’s license, permit, or special identification card. The Cuccinelli opinion was highlighted…