Date: Saturday, July 26, 2006
Location: RCDC/VA Victory ‘08 Campaign Headquarters
Third floor of the Ruddle building
22 East Market St.
(Above Dominion Coffee Company on Court Square)
Time: 9:00 AM –12:00 PM
Working Session
Come and Help Clean, Organize, and Decorate Our New Party Headquarters
For our July meeting, we are asking
o Folding tables, folding chairs, office chairs, file cabinets etc…
o Laser Printers (to produce walk sheets with bar codes)
o Fax Machine, telephones
o Dorm refrigerator(s), Microwave(s)
o Window air conditioners, clock, clock radio
o Coffee Pot(s), coffee, creamer (powered), sugar, sweetener packets
o Copy paper, clip boards, dry erase boards, erasers
o Pens, pencils, high lighters, staplers, staples, paper clips,
o File folders, note pads, legal pads
o Trash cans and liner bags
o Plastic utensils, plastic cups, Styrofoam cups
o Snack foods (individually wrapped trail mix, microwave popcorn etc...), bottled water, flavored vitamin water, juice boxes
o Gift certificates for local restaurants throughout the area (to keep our hardworking volunteers strong as they go door to door, community to community!)
o First Aid Kit, Band aids, Tylenol, Advil, Vitamins (to help keep our volunteers healthy!), tissues
o Anything else you can think of that might not be listed!
Donations of dollars would also be a great way to help and are greatly appreciated!
To make a monetary contribution to this effort please click here
To prevent duplication, please contact
Vice Chair
540-405-1677
Thanks,
RCDC – Dedicated to working on the real issues affecting the Valley
WASHINGTON (AP) - Condoleezza Rice says it's a remarkable accomplishment that a black politician is on track for his party's presidential nomination.
The secretary of state said Democrat Barack Obama's likely nomination shows the nation's progress in race relations.
"I think it's great, and I think it's great for our country," Rice said of Obama's candidacy.
"If we are going to get this country back on the right track . . . we have to have a strong group of bipartisan 'radical centrists' in the Senate."
Before speaking, Mark Warner spent time shaking hands and talking to the crowd.After introductions by Tom Roberts and Dave Metz, Warner took the stage in the heat of the sun to talk about his plans as Virginia's next senator, quipping that "I'm unemployed and looking for a job. Will you hire me?Click the links for the Augusta Free Press or NB29 to listen to his remarks.A small group of Gilmore supporters is greeted by Staunton Democratic chair, Bob Dickerman. They hovered in the shade of a shop doorway so far up the street they probably couldn't hear the remarks of the man who will join Jim Webb in the Senate.That's Alex with the sign. I can't identify the Republican in lavender . . .cross posted at coarse cracked corn
Senator Chap Petersen (D-34th) has an editorial up in the Washington Post today - and he gets right to the point:Republicans like to pretend that state transportation funding, last meaningfully increased a little more than halfway through the Reagan administration, can be addressed by diverting existing general fund money to build and maintain highways, bridges, tunnels and rails. They like to pretend that those funds are not needed for public schools, the salaries of sheriff's deputies, the operation of prisons, or payments to Medicaid providers. The bills they offered this week on transportation -- proposing to divert future tax revenue from Dulles International and Reagan National airports, for instance -- were therefore fraudulent; if push came to shove, those bills would have been undone by Republicans themselves.Rather than meet their legislative responsibility to do the hard work of the peoples business, the Republican caucus has made high theater of rummaging through the sofa cushions down in Richmond to fund transportation. Anyone with a lick of understanding knows that transportation projects take steady and predictable revenue sources to span the multi-year course of design and construction. Yet the Republican majority would have you believe that we can scrape it up from this and that and it will add up to a solution - Gilmore Economics?
In fact, the GOP bills were not really intended to ease traffic at all; rather, they were meant mainly to fool Virginia voters into thinking that the Republicans want to solve problems. They don't. When the only serious transportation measure on offer came to the floor of the House on Wednesday -- it was a Senate proposal to provide hundreds of millions of dollars annually in new statewide and regional revenue while also lowering taxes on food and prescription drugs -- it was backed by most Democrats but received precisely one vote from aRepublican: Del. Thomas Davis Rust of Fairfax.So the special session, convened to find sustainable transportation funding ended with ...nothing. Chap puts a real fine point on it:
And then -- cynically, comically -- it was the Republicans who rushed out statements faulting Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) for convening a special session of the legislature without first achieving a consensus plan. Never mind that the Republicans themselves, so many of whom have either signed pledges to oppose new taxes or fear primary challengers who have, make any reasonable consensus impossible.So what is the plan Senator Hanger? How about you Matt Lohr - do you still think we should pay for our own roads? Delegate Cline, and Landes - where are you boys anyway?
Kaine had proposed a package of statewide tax and fee increases, largely to address a maintenance funding shortfall that is forcing the state to divert money from its road construction budget to cover the gap. He also wanted regional tax increases for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads to replace previous funding plans that were invalidated by the Virginia Supreme Court.The Republican controlled House rejected Kaine's proposal and countered with:
...chirp, chirp....nothing.So House Democrats stepped in with an alternative plan:
The bill (Senate Bill 6009) still called for increases in the retail sales tax and vehicle sales and rental taxes and a reduction in the sales tax on groceries, making it an impossible sell to most House Republicans.But that was also defeated. There will be no solution to the transportation funding crisis this year.
Everywhere I go, people want to talk about high fuel prices. It's like the weather, only ugly. Mostly it's like talking to someone with a substance abuse problem - part frantic worry about how to afford it, part angry self-hate, part la-la land about finding more, more, more.
And Chris Bowers, over at Open Left, has an interesting piece on the the "flip-flop" charge; here's a bit, but the whole thing is worth reading:Four years later, I have grave doubts that a "flip-flop" charge is actually effective in a political campaign, especially in an Obama vs. McCain campaign. Consider the following:
- If Obama is Kerry, then McCain is Bush. Bush argued that John Kerry was a flip-flopper, and everyone remembers that charge quite well. As such, for the McCain campaign to argue that Obama is a flip-flopper should actually cause voters to compare McCain to Bush just as much as they might compare Obama to Kerry. Right now, being tied to Bush is a lot worse than being tied to Kerry.
- Doesn't contradict Obama's image. Obama, unlike Kerry, has been running on his willingness to engage in bi-partisan compromise for over a year. So, it isn't clear how the "flip-flop" charge even goes against Obama's longstanding campaign promises. He has told everyone repeatedly that he will compromise, so it is unclear how attacking him for doing so will hurt him. (That isn't to imply that I think things like FISA are actually compromises, but it is how they are being portrayed in the media).
- Do people even dislike flip-floppers? A January 2007 poll from Pew showed that 75% of voters like candidates who "are willing to compromise." That was slightly higher than the 67% of voters who like politicians who stick to their principles.
- Has anyone flip-flopped more than McCain?: There are few politicians in the last twenty years who have flip-flopped more than McCain. E. J. Dionne covers some in his column today--taxes, offshore drilling--and a classic video by Brave New Films covers several more.
"Expect the clamor to grow louder as scores of wounded military service personnel return from
The RAND Corporation, in their 2008 study, reports that more than 30% of returning service personnel “have a mental health condition or reported experiencing a traumatic brain injury (TBI).” Nearly 20% meet the criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or depression.Multiple tours and inadequate time between deployments can increase the rate of combat stress by 50%.
Blow away the smoke and
It’s a public health issue that the current service delivery system is not prepared to address. So, Governor Tim Kaine and the 2008 General Assembly are dealing with this challenge through the Commonwealth’s Department of Veterans Services (DVS) and new state laws that take effect July 1, 2008."
Click here to gain a better understanding:
What is the Virginia Wounded Warrior Program?
The Virginia Wounded Warrior Program will coordinate support services for veterans with stress related and traumatic brain injuries resulting from service in a combat area. The program will ensure that these veterans and their families receive timely assessment,
treatment, and support.
Who does the Program serve?
The Program supports
What kind of services will be provided?
Primarily behavioral health services will be provided by the Wounded Warrior Program;
however, other services, such as case management, outpatient, family support, and brain
injury services may be available as well.
Where can people go for help from the Wounded Warrior Program?
If you or someone you know is a veteran—or the family member of a veteran who may have suffered stress‐related or traumatic brain injury as a result of their service in combat, call . . .
You may also get additional information by visiting:
The Virginia for Veterans website
And
The Virginia Wounded Veterans Program
Doesn’t the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provide all the services
necessary for veterans and their families?
The U. S. Department of Defense (DoD) provides treatment and health care for military service personnel up until they are discharged or retire. Veterans have access to VA health care services for five years after discharge. But, no care is available from the VA for their family members. For some veterans, access to a VA medical center or clinic may be difficult due to geographic distance or because of their injuries.
Dear Friend,
We need you now more than ever,
For together we have the opportunity to help elect
Good Solid Commonsense Democratic Candidates,…
TO ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT!!!
President of the
Senate of the
House of Representatives of the
Commissioner of Revenue of
Treasurer of
Our Candidates:
Join Valley Democrats and Candidates to show our support
at the 4th of July Parade and Celebration this Friday!
Our Special Guest in the parade:
Please contact Kai Degner and let him know you will
Yes We Can
