Governor Kaine Acts on Legislation

RICHMOND–Governor Timothy M. Kaine today announced that he has vetoed several bills passed by the 2009 General Assembly. Additional action on legislation will be announced in the coming days. Legislators are scheduled to consider the Governor’s actions during a reconvened session on Wednesday, April 8, 2009.

Governor Kaine released information on his vetoes of the following legislation:

Death Penalty

SB 1069, HB 2358, SB 961, HB 2638, SB 1409

“Pursuant to Article V, Section 6, of the Constitution of Virginia, I veto , Senate Bill 1069, House Bill 2358 , Senate Bill 961 House Bill 2638 and  Senate Bill 1409, which expand the capital murder statute to increase the number of offenders who would be eligible for capital punishment.

“Virginia is already second in the nation in the number of executions we carry out. While the nature of the offenses targeted by this legislation is very serious, I do not believe that further expansion of the death penalty is necessary to protect human life.”

Guns in Bars

“Pursuant to Article V, Section 6, of the Constitution of Virginia, I veto ,Senate Bill 1035, which would allow persons to carry concealed weapons into restaurants or clubs that serve alcoholic beverages.

“Allowing concealed weapons into restaurants and bars that serve alcohol puts the public, the employees, and our public safety officers at risk. I take seriously the objections of law enforcement to this measure.”

“Pursuant to Article V, Section 6, of the Constitution of Virginia, I veto SB877, which would allow retired law enforcement officers to carry concealed weapons into restaurants or clubs that serve alcoholic beverages.

“While it makes sense for current law enforcement officers to be permitted to carry their firearms when in such establishments, there is no compelling reason for retired law enforcement officers to have weapons in locations where alcohol is served.”

Lie Detectors

HB 1613, SB1374

“Pursuant to Article V, Section 6, of the Constitution of Virginia, I veto HB1613 and SB1374, which would allow unlicensed law enforcement officers to operate new, unregulated lie detection devices.

“I proposed an amendment to HB 1613 that would have allowed additional devices, but regulate them in a way similar to the existing rules for polygraph machines. Unfortunately, that amendment was defeated by the House.“Untested, unregulated devices should not be used in police investigations. Law enforcement conceded as much when they added an amendment prohibiting the use of these machines in internal investigations.

Guns

”Pursuant to Article V, Section 6, of the Constitution of Virginia, I veto House Bill 1851, which would create a new exemption to Virginia’s one handgun a month law.

“The new exemption would apply to active duty service members, whether Virginia residents or not. Because holders of valid Virginia concealed weapons permits are already able to purchase more than one handgun per month, House Bill 1851 only extends the ability to buy more than one handgun a month to nonresidents or those Virginians unable to obtain a concealed weapons permit.”

“Pursuant to Article V, Section 6, of the Constitution of Virginia, I veto SB1528, which would allow the firearms training required to receive a concealed weapons permit to be completed online.

“The state requires an applicant for a concealed weapons permit to take a written safety test to demonstrate that the individual understands how to use a weapon in a safe manner. Allowing the testing to be done online would weaken the ability of the Commonwealth to determine who is actually taking the test and open up opportunities for individuals to receive a permit under fraudulent circumstances with no guarantee that they can use a weapon safely.”

“Pursuant to Article V, Section 6, of the Constitution of Virginia, I veto House Bill 2528, which unnecessarily interferes with the operations of local governments.

“Specifically, the bill prohibits local law enforcement from choosing to conduct voluntary gun buyback programs and then destroying the weapons. “Some localities have found this program to be effective in reducing the number of illegal firearms in their communities. It is not a mandatory program, and law enforcement in each locality have made the decision whether such a program is desirable in their own county or city.There is no compelling reason for the General Assembly to take this decision out of the hands of local law enforcement.”

Are You Kidding Me?

Today, while cruising over to Terry McAuliffe’s website in response to yet another unsolicited email from McAuliffe’s campaign, I found something interesting. There, in the center of the page, was a plea for help with a cause.

Terry McAullife wants to clean up politics, and he wants your help!

What? I was surprised to see that this classless, morality deprived candidate was asking me to help clean up politics. Well, I thought to myself, why don’t we start with you, Terry?

McAuliffe is crying foul over having a fundraising event at or with the generous folks over at BRG, a lobbying firm that says they do “bipartisan lobbying”. He says that someone has said unkind things about this fundraiser and that they should stop it. Or at least Mike Henry says that in their clever email.

You see, the email is really a plea to donate to McAuliffe before the fundraising deadline at the end of this quarter gets here. (March 31, 2009) The subject of the email is that people who are criticizing McAuliffe should not be so cruel and heartless. I am paraphrasing here, but you can see it for yourself at the website and in the unsolicited emails sent by the campaign:

Today, one of our Democratic opponents took their attacks against Terry too far. Virginia Democrats have worked too long and too hard to stand by and watch the divisiveness that’s plagued the Republicans start poisoning our Party just when we’ve had great success.

Everyone knows that Terry McAuliffe supported Hillary Clinton in the primaries. But the day after she got out of the race, he hit the road fighting for Barack Obama. Terry spent the last 30 years of his life volunteering to advance Democratic causes; he even built from scratch the voter file that that helped Barack Obama win in Virginia. And to insinuate that he is a traitor to our Party is beyond nonsense — it is a Karl Rove-style attack.

I’ve always said that this primary was going to get rough, but in all the years I’ve worked in Virginia politics, I’ve never seen another Democrat use the kind of smear tactics that are being used against Terry for taking a bipartisan approach to politics – just like Mark Warner, Tim Kaine, Jim Webb and Barack Obama.

[emphasis in the original]

From the website:

Some have accused Terry of raising money from a “Republican lobbying firm.” BGR is a bipartisan firm. Terry held a fundraiser at BGR in March. Out of 11 event chairs, 10 were Democrats, including Terry’s longtime friend Jonathan Mantz, who has spent his career fighting for Democratic candidates and causes. Mantz was the principal host of the event. Throughout his career in Democratic politics, Terry has built relationships with many people, both Democrat and Republican. This ability to reach across the aisle is part of what will make Terry an effective governor.

This is all very silly. Ed Rogers, a well known Republican strategist and someone who only could spout invective against Obama last year, is a principal in this firm. Rogers is the type that refuses to pronounce the word ‘Democratic’ correctly. Notice it says 10 out of 11 hosts. Was Ed Rogers the eleventh, Terry?

For Terry McAuliffe and his campaign to be complaining and telling us we should run a ‘positive’ campaign is ludicrous to me. ‘Positive’ campaigning, to me, means that he would rather not have his record examined that closely. His minions in the blogs all preach the ‘Gospel of Terry’.

McAuliffe’s record would not stand up if it was promoted to the public. They can then decide for themselves whether he is someone who cleans up politics, or someone who has introduced many party-weakening items over the years to enrich either his clients or himself, or both.

Hey! Terry would like you to send him $25 to “…help fight the smears.”, [and] ‘fight the politics of the past.’

I have this one question.

Does this mean you would like us to help you fight yourself and everything you stood for up until you decided to run for Governor?

Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Seven Month Wait for an Interview?

16th Street Mall at Night (2008)

Ah, I remember it well. Marlowe’s, on the 16th Street pedestrian mall in Denver. A hot August night. There was plenty of conviviality and collegiality in the room. Charles Barkley even stopped by later.

I asked someone, as I was taking photos of the gathering at Tim Kaine’s party that night, “I would like to do an interview with the candidate.” We were all in town for the Democratic Convention.

I was told that it just wasn’t possible that night, given how many people were there to greet and say hello to. I said, …”I understand, but get back with me on this.” I was assured that if an interview didn’t take place in Denver, that we would do something back in Virginia.

Cut to the lobby of the Convention Center in downtown Richmond, in February. Lovely winter day, and I am walking through the lobby when I see this campaign person, the same one, standing there. It was the day of the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner.

I asked, “Can I have an interview yet?” He acted remorseful, and told me he would get back to me. ‘We’ll get that done.”, he said.

Am I somebody important? Not hardly. I write a couple of blogs, I do my gardening. I am semi-retired due to a disability. I don’t expect any special treatment from anyone. What I do expect is that if someone says they will get back to me about an interview of a candidate, that I will receive some word from them.

And yes, seven months is too long, Jesse Ferguson. I really expected more from you.

If this is an indication of the campaign’s interest in getting the word out, then it seems you have a giant problem.

Got all that Jesse?

Virginia Democrat is On Board!

Alan Zimmerman, otherwise known as ‘aznew’ around the blog-o-sphere, has started his own blog called, “The Virginia Democrat”. I was a co-volunteer last year with Alan on the Tom Perriello campaign for Congress. Fond memories of 2008.

I wish Alan all the best in this endeavor and here’s to hoping he is around the blogs a long time.

Mike Signer Coffebreak – Momentum

For those on RSS, please see the video here. Thanks.

This is How Cumberland County Administration Takes Out the Trash

Trash in the mud at Randolph Transfer Station.

Panorama Photo of Randolph Transfer Station.

A closer look at the area around and behind dumpster.

All manner of rubbish on the ground, including plastics, hazardous materials, and jagged lumber scraps.

The amount of trash on the ground prohibits the safe placement of the dumpster.

This isn’t something that only happens once in a while, like when there is a storm. This is all the time. It has to stop.

My Congressman Speaks About “Reckless” AIG Bonuses

“When it comes to holding corporations accountable, it’s time to move from rhetoric to results. This legislation will win back these bailout dollars for the American taxpayer. No more excuses, no more delays. My constituents’ hard-earned dollars should not be used to reward reckless corporate behavior, and I’m going to fight to get it back for them. Outrage isn’t enough; taxpayers deserve action,”

Congressman Tom Perriello (D-Ivy)