February 18, 2011 · 9:52 pm

Proposed cuts could close work force centers | GoDanRiver.com

From the Danville Register and Bee…

Robbie is at it again and the people of  VA-5 should be starting to realize when they voted for him, they voted against their own self interest.

Key word is “should”.  I don’t have much confidence in my old home town…

Seems all he cares about is deficit reduction.  He never mentions jobs…

I keep saying this:  creating jobs=creating taxpayers & consumers to drive the economic recovery…

I also find it amusing even the Chamber of Commerce- which worked hard to elect Republicans- is coming out against this…

“How can you say ‘we want jobs’ but you don’t invest in work force?” asked Laurie Moran, president of the Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce and member of the local work force investment board.

U.S. Rep. Robert Hurt, R-5th District, said in a statement Wednesday that while he supports work force training, he’s also working to balance the federal budget.

“… I will continue to look for ways to support those programs within the context of a balanced budget,” Hurt said in the statement.

“But let’s not forget, that on Nov. 2, the people of the 5th District made it clear that we must put a stop to out of control government spending. … I am committed to making the tough choices to rein in spending so that our employers will have the confidence necessary to create the long-lasting private sector jobs the people of the 5th District need and deserve. The decisions we face are not easy, but we have not been given an easy task. …”

But without the local program, residents may not be able to get funding for job training to fill positions in the region, said Kim Adkins, executive director of the West Piedmont Workforce Investment Board. Financial burden would also fall to employers.

The region’s work force centers — how employers and job seekers link up and where residents can access job search and career guidance resources — would shutter, Adkins said.

And, the West Piedmont Workforce Investment Board, which monitors and funds the local work force system, wouldn’t exist anymore, she added.

“I just hope the community sees the value of what these job training programs do for communities nationwide, especially communities like ours where we’ve been devastated by downsizing and closure of industries and working hard to get people retrained to fill the positions that are now available,” Adkins said. “Without that, it’ll be another blow to the hardworking families in our area.”

via Proposed cuts could close work force centers | GoDanRiver.com.

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February 18, 2011 · 9:28 pm

ThinkProgress » Rep. Chris Murphy Announces Bill To End Supreme Court Immunity To Judicial Ethics Law

This would be one small, but solid step toward rebuilding integrity in Government and force accountability…

The Code of Conduct for United States Judges provides that in almost all circumstances, “a judge should not personally participate in fund-raising activities.” Yet, because the Justices of the Supreme Court have exempted themselves from this Code, conservative Justices Scalia, Thomas and Alito have all participated in high-dollar fundraisers for right-wing political causes. In response to this unethical — but technically legal — conduct by these three justices, Rep. Chris Murphy (D-CT) is pushing a bill that would end the Supreme Court’s immunity to federal ethics law:

After learning about outrageous actions by Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, Congressman Chris Murphy (CT-5) is working on legislation to end conflicts of interest at the nation’s highest court.  In the midst of the Citizens United case, Thomas and Scalia were hosted by the infamous Koch brothers, who funded many of the attacks ads this fall, at lavish retreats intended to discuss their radical agenda and plot political strategy on issues like the Citizens United case. . . .

Murphy’s bill will:

apply the Judicial Conference’s Code of Conduct, which applies to all other federal judges, to Supreme Court justices.  This would allow the public to access more timely and detailed information when an outside group wants to have a justice participate in a conference, such as the funders of the conference;

require the justices to simply publicly disclose their reasoning behind a recusal when they withdraw from a case;

require the Court to develop a process for parties to a case before the Court to request a decision from the Court, or a panel of the Court, regarding the potential conflict of interest of a particular Justice.

Murphy’s bill would make Scalia, Thomas and Alito’s fundraising activities unambiguously illegal. Yet, while ending the justices’ ethics immunity would be an important step towards restoring the wall between the Supreme Court and partisan politics, there is some reason to fear that the three conservatives would simply flout the law.

via ThinkProgress » Rep. Chris Murphy Announces Bill To End Supreme Court Immunity To Judicial Ethics Law.

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February 18, 2011 · 9:15 pm

Robert Reich: The Republican Strategy

Robert Reich offers a good analysis and asks a valid question….

These three aspects of the Republican strategy — a federal budget battle to shrink government, focused on programs the vast middle class depends on; state efforts to undermine public employees, whom the middle class depends on; and a Supreme Court dedicated to bending the Constitution to enlarge and entrench the political power of the wealthy — fit perfectly together.

They pit average working Americans against one another, distract attention from the almost unprecedented concentration of wealth and power at the top, and conceal Republican plans to further enlarge and entrench that wealth and power.

What is the Democratic strategy to counter this and reclaim America for the rest of us?

via Robert Reich: The Republican Strategy.

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February 18, 2011 · 9:04 pm

The Other Secret Weapon of the Rich | Mother Jones

From Kevin Drum at Mother Jones…

I think there is a lot of truth in this…

In my post last night about Martin Gilens’ research showing that politicians don’t really pay any attention to the opinions of anyone but the well off, I quoted Gilens’ concluding guess that “the most obvious source of influence over policy that distinguishes high-income Americans is money.” Matt Yglesias isn’t sure this is right:

I would say the most obvious mechanism here is socialization. The president, the senior White House staff, the cabinet secretaries, the senators, the House members, the senior congressional staff, and the lobbyists, association heads, business executives, governors, mayors, foreign officials, and media celebrities who they interact with are all personally pretty high income. You get into the top decile of the US income distribution with a household income of $138,000, so the entire congress is in the top ten percent. What’s more, political elites tend to have college roommates, siblings, in-laws, etc. who are also prosperous.

Obviously the fact that rich people have money to spend on politics doesn’t hurt either. But I would never underestimate the human desire to believe that one is doing the right thing, and thus the importance of socialization to determining bias. Nobody in Washington seems to know that the public is clamoring for higher Social Security benefits and more federal spending on health and education largely, I think, because this isn’t what the people they know personally are clamoring for.

Full confession: I think there’s a lot to this, though I’d emphasize the raw power of money a bit more than Matt. It’s just that I liked that quote so much that I felt obligated to share it with everyone. But whatever the reason, here’s the takeaway: if you don’t have a six-figure income, Congress doesn’t much care about you. Sad but true.

via The Other Secret Weapon of the Rich | Mother Jones.

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February 18, 2011 · 8:58 pm

Rising seas threaten 180 U.S. cities by 2100: study | The Raw Story

I guess losing a few American cities might- just might- make GOP politicians finally believe in Global Warming…

But I’m still not sure even that would do it…

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Rising seas spurred by climate change could threaten 180 U.S. coastal cities by 2100, a new study says, with Miami, New Orleans and Virginia Beach among those most severely affected.

Previous studies have looked at where rising waters might go by the end of this century, assuming various levels of sea level rise, but this latest research focused on municipalities in the contiguous 48 states with population of 50,000 or more.

Cities along the southern Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico will likely be hardest hit if global sea levels rise, as projected, by about 3 feet (1 meter) by 2100, researchers reported in the journal Climate Change Letters.

Sea level rise is expected to be one result of global warming as ice on land melts and flows toward the world’s oceans.

Using data from the U.S. Geological Survey, the scientists were able to calculate in detail how much land could be lost as seas rise, said study author Jeremy Weiss of the University of Arizona.

Rising coastal waters threaten an average of nine percent of the land in the 180 coastal cities in the study.

Miami, New Orleans, Tampa, Florida, and Virginia Beach, Virginia could lose more than 10 percent of their land area by century’s end, the study found.

 

New York City, Washington DC and the San Francisco Bay area could face lesser impacts, according to the study.

via Rising seas threaten 180 U.S. cities by 2100: study | The Raw Story.

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February 18, 2011 · 5:09 pm

Tom Perriello for Senate in Virginia? – David Catanese – POLITICO.com

This would be sweet revenge on VA-5 and Perriello can win this…

If he won once in a district as conservative as VA-5 and did relatively well under horrible circumstances last year, Perriello could really win a state-wide race.  Vote rich Northern Virginia would love him…

Conventional Washington wisdom suggests that Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine is the best candidate to carry the banner for Virginia Democrats in the Senate race to replace retiring Jim Webb.

But it’s not a certainty that Kaine would be the candidate most useful to President Barack Obama as he attempts to again lock down the Commonwealth’s 13 electoral votes in 2012.

Kaine is unquestionably an Obama loyalist. Before taking the DNC post, he was widely viewed as a finalist for Obama’s running mate in 2008 and was the first governor to endorse the president outside his home state of Illinois.

But some progressives argue that the unapologetic former Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.) would be better suited to ignite the fire of a complacent base than the more measured, milquetoast Kaine. While Kaine might carry the baggage of being an Obama “cheerleader,” Perriello would proudly wear the label and be more effective at rallying disgruntled Democrats to the cause, some progressives say.

Kaine also appears wary of jumping into the race and might have to be talked into running.

“Why Not the Guy Who Wants the Job?” wondered the Democratic blog Blue Virginia. “When we have a candidate like Tom Perriello — strong progressive values, hardworking and accessible, consistently beat expectations in a conservative district — why are Democratic Party leaders in such a rush to coronate the guy who apparently needs to be talked into it?”

via Tom Perriello for Senate in Virginia? – David Catanese – POLITICO.com.

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February 17, 2011 · 10:19 pm

The Record of VA 5th District Congressman Robert Hurt- So Far

Checking up on Country Club Robbie to see what he’s been up to since he went to DC….

Remember, he said he was going to bring jobs, so I thought I would check to see how his legislative record to deliver on that promise was shaping up.

Here is a list of the legislation he is sponsoring:

Sorry, nothing is listed in his website as being sponsored by him…

Here is a list of what he is co-sponsoring, or tagging along with on someone else’s work:

1. H.R.2 : Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act
Sponsor: Rep Cantor, Eric [VA-7] (introduced 1/5/2011)      Cosponsors (182)
Committees: House Energy and Commerce; House Education and the Workforce; House Ways and Means; House Judiciary; House Natural Resources; House Rules; House Administration; House Appropriations
Latest Major Action: 1/26/2011 Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 3.
Latest Action: 2/1/2011 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

2. H.R.3 : No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act
Sponsor: Rep Smith, Christopher H. [NJ-4] (introduced 1/20/2011)      Cosponsors(209)
Committees: House Judiciary; House Energy and Commerce; House Ways and Means
Latest Major Action: 2/8/2011 House committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Committee Hearings Held.

3. H.R.4 : Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011
Sponsor: Rep Lungren, Daniel E. [CA-3] (introduced 1/12/2011)      Cosponsors (272)
Committees: House Ways and Means
Latest Major Action: 1/12/2011 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

4. H.R.217 : Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act
Sponsor: Rep Pence, Mike [IN-6] (introduced 1/7/2011)      Cosponsors (167)
Committees: House Energy and Commerce
Latest Major Action: 2/1/2011 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

5. H.R.374 : Life at Conception Act
Sponsor: Rep Hunter, Duncan D. [CA-52] (introduced 1/20/2011)      Cosponsors (61)
Committees: House Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 1/20/2011 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

6. H.J.RES.1 : Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Sponsor: Rep Goodlatte, Bob [VA-6] (introduced 1/5/2011)      Cosponsors (119)
Committees: House Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 1/24/2011 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution.

7. H.J.RES.2 : Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Sponsor: Rep Goodlatte, Bob [VA-6] (introduced 1/5/2011)      Cosponsors (194)
Committees: House Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 1/24/2011 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution.

8. H.RES.9 : Instructing certain committees to report legislation replacing the job-killing health care law.
Sponsor: Rep Dreier, David [CA-26] (introduced 1/5/2011)      Cosponsors (8)
Committees: House Rules
House Reports: 112-1
Latest Major Action: 1/20/2011 Passed/agreed to in House. Status: On agreeing to the resolution, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: 253 – 175 (Roll no. 16).
Latest Action: 1/20/2011 Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.

In summary, he is co-sponsoring:

a.  Three anti-choice bills aimed at restricting a woman’s right to choose

b.   Two Job Killing Balanced Budget Amendments

c.  Repealing Healthcare for people with pre-existing conditions, blocking closing the donut hole for Seniors and making it impossible for college students and young adults to stay on their parent’s healthcare plans- among others.

d.  One bill to reduce small business paper work.

Uh, where is the job creation here?

Not exactly a dynamo…Typical Republican tool for the GOP leadership …and typical slack Hampden-Sydney Boy….

Well done, VA-5.  You replaced one of the hardest working, most effective Congressman with a slackard frat boy….

But that is the Virginia way.  They knew his family better….

 

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February 17, 2011 · 10:04 pm

Virginia Politics Blog – House panel kills bill to add legal protections for gay state employees

Yep, you can count on the VA GOP to always move backwards….

A House of Delegates subcommittee has killed a proposal to write legal protections for gay state employees into Virginia law.

The same GOP-led panel killed similar legislation last year. Democrats had pushed the bill hard this year, in part in response to a letter that Attorney Gen. Ken Cuccinelli (R) delivered to colleges and universities last year instructing them that, in the absence of a decision by the General Assembly to write protections for gays into law, they could not include language dealing with sexual orientation in their campus non-discrimination policies.

After Cuccinelli’s letter sparked a firestorm, Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) issued a executive directive outlining that the state does not discriminate, including on the grounds of sexual orientation, and that employees who violate the policy can be disciplined.

Opponents of the bill, which was sponsored by Sen. Don McEachin (D-Richmond), argue that there is little evidence gay state workers face discrimination and that the governor’s executive directive provides sufficient protections. Proponents note that without a change in law, employees cannot sue if they have faced discrimination.

“I can’t pretend it’s a surprise,” McEachin said of the vote. “It’s still a disappointment.”

The same subcommittee also killed a bill that would have allowed public colleges and universities to offer employees the ability to extend their health coverage to their unmarried partners, including gay partners.

via Virginia Politics Blog – House panel kills bill to add legal protections for gay state employees.

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February 17, 2011 · 9:18 pm

More Yogi Cameron

How to do Yoga on a Mercedes….

 

 

And does he think anyone is actually listening to him when he looks and (un)dresses like this?

Well, maybe some lesbians and straight men…

 

 

And I read for $20,000 lbs he makes house calls in the UK…

I don’t guess he’ll be coming to Triad Yoga…

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February 17, 2011 · 8:40 pm

Missouri senator wants to repeal child labor laws | Midwest Voices

Yep, the GOP wants to take us all the way back to the 19th  Century:

Ah, to be a kid in Missouri.

If state Sen. Jane Cunningham has her way, the under-14 crowd will no longer have to worry about those stuffy labor laws saying they can’t hold a job. Teenagers of all ages will be freed from restrictions limiting how many hours they can flip burgers. And if they want to staff the drive-through window all night long, Cunningham is for that too. To heck with those early morning classes.

To see Cunningham’s motives, check out the latest information.

The Missouri legislature can always be counted on to come up with bizarre legislation, but Senate Bill 222 is the strangest we’ve see in awhile.

Cunningham, a Republican from St. Louis County, would also repeal the requirement that 14- and-15-year-olds apply for a special permit in order to work. And the state Division of Labor Standards would no longer inspect workplaces tht employ children or require them to keep special records for their youthful employees.

Cunningham is totally pro-business, but this is over the top. Under her proposed legislation, a 12- or-13-year-old could be sent to work full time in Missouri, perhaps under the guise of receiving a home-school education, of which Cunningham is a big supporter.

This bill sounds too Dickensian to go anywhere, but you never know. One ominous sign: Cunningham’s bill is assigned to the Senate’s general laws committee, which is chaired by…Senator Jane Cunningham.

via Missouri senator wants to repeal child labor laws | Midwest Voices.

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