A warning to all religious fundies!!

STOP PLAYING POLITICS WITH RELIGION!

I have long wondered whether this law was ever actually enforced, especially after Mike Huckabee made an appearance/campaign stop at Jerry Falwell's church in Lynchburg earlier this week.

Southern Baptist pastor Wiley Drake said Wednesday that he is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service for endorsing GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee in a press release written on church stationery.

Under federal tax law, church officials can legally discuss politics, but they cannot endorse candidates or parties without risking their tax-exempt status. Most who do so receive a warning.

Drake, a prominent pastor in the Southern Baptist Convention, said he received a 14-page letter from the IRS on Feb. 7.

On Aug. 11, Drake wrote a press release on letterhead from the First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park that announced his personal endorsement of Huckabee and asked all Southern Baptists to get behind the candidate.

Americans United for the Separation of Church and State filed the complaint with the IRS, and Drake had the following to say about the situation:

"I think I'm perfectly within my rights and I am upset," he said in an interview.

No sir, you're not by any stretch within your rights. I realize the Constitution is something easily disregarded by the religious fundies of the right wing, but you are certainly NOT within your rights to mix politics and religion, and you're certainly not within your rights to keep your tax exempt status if you do so. I commend the IRS and the Americans United for Separation of Church and State on this.

The politics of Northern Virginia; A look back at 2006, a look ahead to 2007, and 2008

Cross posted at Raising Kaine, and KOS.

Here's an interesting article from today's Richmond Times Dispatch on the shift of politics in Northern Virginia. Think Virginia isn't shifting from "red" to "purple?" Consider this: In 1996 Senator John Warner (R) defeated Mark Warner (D) in Fairfax county by 53,000 votes. Move ahead 10 years to November 2006, and George Allen (R) was defeated by Jim Webb (D) in Fairfax by 64,000 votes. In 2000, George Allen (R) lost the city of Alexandria, and the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William by a combined 42,000 votes. This past November he lost them by a combined 120,000 votes. According to the RTD:

"Politicians attribute the turnaround to changing demographics, a Republican Party that appears to be too conservative for the region and the unpopularity of President Bush and the war in Iraq."

However, some residents of Northern Virginia had a different perspective:

"It's roads and development," said Matt McShea, a businessman who lives in Loudoun. "Before, people thought the Republicans would take care of things. Now they think the Democrats will."

Dale Eavey, who calls Harrisonburg his home but lives in Loudoun during the week to be close to his work, said many people blame the Virginia Department of Transportation. "They think all the money is going to Richmond when we need it up here."

Joan Shergalis of Ashburn added: "We have this growth up here, and nothing is being done about the roads in Northern Virginia."

Many others, myself included, believe the shift in politics in Northern Virginia is partly due to the area becoming much more urban, and partly due to a surge of voters moving down from northern states, which tend to be more Liberal anyway. Immigration, and "anti" voters also played a role in Northern Virginia:

"Carrie Smith, a businesswoman in Herndon, said the entire Town Council was voted out of office on Election Day because of a dispute over an immigration center.

She said voters were in an "anti" mood, and that's why they voted against Allen and for Democrat Jim Webb.

In addition to the urbanization of Northern Virginia, and the influx of more Liberal Northern voters, Northern Virginia also has a high minority population, which also generally tend to vote for Democrats over Republicans. In fact, of the estimated 1 million residents of Fairfax county, about 40 percent are considered minority, but according to the RTD, only about half of those are registered to vote, however, they still remain a powerful voting block:

"Republicans in Richmond and Washington engaging in immigrant-bashing haven't helped them up here," Democratic State Sen. Richard L. Saslaw added.

Shortly after he won reelection (by a more narrow margin than 2 years ago) U.S. Congressman Tom Davis (R-11th) wrote an op-ed piece to the RTD describing the influx of new voters to the region:

"A highly educated multiethnic pool of knowledge-based workers moving into Northern Virginia, mostly from out of state."

So what's attracting these highly educated workers? High tech jobs that pay well, of course. Gerald Connolly said in the RTD article that 27 percent of the adults in Fairfax have master's degrees. "Highly educated, high-tech people are more likely to vote Democratic," he went on to say.

You may remember last Tuesday when I wrote about the extreme sprawl around Richmond, where retail markets are becoming WAY over saturated, and the ridiculous amount of sprawl that is moving further and further out of the city. Well, it appears this is a big concern of some Northern Virginia voters as well, and according to the RTD, citizens of Loudoun and Prince William counties are rebelling, and one Republican consultant says the GOP has been on the WRONG side of the issue:

As for the outer suburbs, J. Kenneth Klinge, a veteran Republican political consultant, said the Republicans have been on the wrong side of the growth issue. Residents in Loudoun and Prince William are rebelling against development and traffic, he said, and the Republicans were slow to realize this.

He went on to say that Republicans now are perceived as moving too far to the right on social issues, and this has hurt them in Northern Virginia. This is important to remember because Northern Virginia voted OVERWHELMINGLY against the constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriages.

Not everyone is thinking clearly though, Republican state Senator Jay O'Brien of Fairfax, whom according to the article is expected to face stiff opposition in his reelection bid in November 2007, thinks the November, 2006 election may have been an "aberration." Of this year's election in Virginia he said:

"Republicans were mad because they didn't like all the spending, independents were mad because they didn't like the scandals, and Democrats were mad at President Bush because of the war."

I guess Mr. O'Brien forgot how Tim Kaine (D) handily defeated Republican Jerry Kilgore in November 2005 to become the second Democrat in a row to be the Governor of Virginia. I guess that was just an "aberration" too though. Furthermore, not just Democrats are "mad" at Bush about the war, according to polls, about 75% of Americans are upset over the situation in Iraq.

Regardless, I think this is an excellent article that is just more proof Virginia is not the hands down "red state" that it was just a couple of years ago. More proof that the politics of the Commonwealth have shifted to the left, and Virginia is INDEED, now a "purple state." Not only is there the very real potential for voters to shift control of the state G.A. to Democrats in 2007, but I also believe a potential for Virginians in 2008 to vote for a Democrat for President for the first time since LBJ in 1964.

Verified voting for Virginia

Vivian Paige has been all over this. The "Verifiable Voting Coalition of Virginia," a seven member Coalition of citizens' groups, plans to to push for legislation in the 2007 Virginia G.A. that will require all voter machines to provide voter verified paper audit trails.

In an article which appeared in today's Richmond Times Dispatch, Jeremy Epstein, a co-founder of the coalition and a member of two legislative panels that studied the machines said:

"Every independent study of paperless electronic voting systems has shown that they are insecure; vulnerable to attack from insiders and outsiders; and preclude meaningful recounts or audits."

Epstein went on to say that the best approach would be to switch to optical-scan machines (which have paper trails). Locally, Chesterfield, and Hanover counties already have the optical-scan machines.

According to the RTD, the State Board of Elections has been reluctant to recommend paper audit devices until better technology evolves, because of cost.

Better technology? How hard can it be to setup a printer, or some sort of paper trail to have a hard copy of each vote cast that a voter can verify before leaving their polling station? The article went on to say:

"Lisa Wallmeyer, of the Division of Legislative Services, said there was a feeling that the state should wait before deciding whether to recommend adding printers or other technology."

Exactly what they're waiting for? I'm not sure. Hopefully though, this piece of legislation will pass, allowing voters to VERIFY (but not keep), a hard copy of their vote.

Please sign Senator Tim Johnson's get well soon card!!

As you should all know by now, on Wednesday, Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) fell seriously ill with "stroke like symptoms." While it turned out the Senator did NOT suffer a stroke, he did suffer a congenital arteriovenous malformation (basically, bleeding of the brain). A serious condition, but one Senator Johnson can hopefully enjoy a speedy, and full recovery from.

Yesterday, Johnson's doctor called the Senator's progress encouraging:

"Considering his initial presentation, his progress is encouraging," Dr. Anthony Caputy, chairman of the George Washington University Hospital department of neurosurgery, said in a statement released by Johnson's office.

Please join me in signing Senator Johnson's Get Well Soon card from MoveOn.org

Time Person Of The Year; Open thread

As some of you may already know, Time Magazine's 2006 Person Of The Year will be announced tomorrow. I've thought about it a bit and I'm stumped, my brain keeps coming back to Virginia politics. My best guess would be Nancy Pelosi, Donald Rumsfeld, or PERHAPS Hillary Clinton. Last year's PERSONS Of The Year were Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, and Bono.

So, I was wondering what everyone else thought. I'd be interested to hear who other people pick, and why.

Keep in mind though that the "Person(s) Of The Year" is a person who has affected the news, for BETTER OR FOR WORSE. You can visit Time Magazine's Person Of The Year website to see a list of potential winners which include: George Bush, Condoleezza Rice, Kim Jong Il, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen (The YouTube guys), Al Gore, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hugo Chavez, and Nancy Pelosi.

Time will announce the winner tomorrow at 8pm ET on CNN.

Bush calls Mary Cheney a "loving soul;" also admits to pill popping on occasion

According to an ABC News blog, George and Laura Bush sat down last week for their annual interview with People Magazine. While a number of issues were discussed, I found Bush's comments on the pregnancy of Mary Cheney (Dick Cheney's homosexual daughter) to be most interesting:

Responding to a question about his 2005 comment that "a child is raised in a married family with a man and a woman", the President said that the Vice President's openly gay daughter is going to be "a loving soul to her child".

“The Vice President took me aside and gave me the good news. He and his wife, Lynne, are very happy for Mary,” Bush said. “I think Mary is going to be a loving soul to her child. And I'm happy for her.”

A loving "soul," eh? That's certainly interesting terminology. Excellent job dodging the question as well.

Among other topics were Condoleezza Rice, who Laura Bush said was "a good candidate, but not interested," Bush's "post-presidency" plans, and the fact that Bush sleeps better than he used to, but still pops an "Elvis" on occasion.

Update on SD Senator Johnson

Senator Johnson suffered from congenital arteriovenous malformation, which basically means he had bleeding in his brain. He underwent successful surgery this morning which ended at about 12:30am. Doctors said it was too soon to know if further surgery would be required. So far, CNN has had the best coverage of all the major news networks.

Jaime over at West of Shockoe also offers a perspective into how atrociously SOME "news" operations are choosing to cover this story. I'd also like to add that judging by some of the Republicans I know, whom I've talked to today, the right wing is pretty excited at the prospect of stealing the Senate from the VOTERS. How pathetic.

Once again, I wish Senator Johnson a swift, and total recovery.

UPDATE: Here's an interesting fact I didn't know about Senator Johnson (although it doesn't really have much to do with his health): he voted to authorize the war in Iraq, and his oldest son was serving in the army, and was sent into the war.

UPDATE #2: Thanks to a user submitted comment in one of the threads regarding Johnson over at Raising Kaine, I came across Johnson's Senate page which you can visit if interested in learning more about the great work he has done.

BREAKING UPDATE ON JOHNSON'S SITUATION!!!!!

Please note that since I am also covering the developments within the Virginia blogosphere tonight, I will be "LIVE BLOGGING" in this entry instead of posting a new entry every time I receive an update on Senator Johnson's health. However, I may change the title of the entry from time to time to ensure that updates are sent out to blog syndicators. All updates within this entry will be timestamped.

December 13, 2006...

BREAKING (7:11pm): CNN is reporting that Senator Tim Johnson did NOT have a stroke (or heart attack) as rumored earlier. He is however, in the hospital, and will hopefully have a speedy recovery.

UPDATE #1 (9pm): MSNBC is now reporting that a spokesperson from Johnson's office earlier today said it indeed was a stroke, but that has since been corrected. The official word now is that it was not a stroke, but was some other sort of undiagnosed serious condition. Johnson was delivering a radio address on Radio 570 WNAX when he began to studder. He seemed to recover, went back to his office on Capitol Hill, and then suddenly was barely able to move or speak. Johnson was then taken by ambulance to George Washington University Hospital where a stroke team is STILL CURRENTLY running tests and trying to diagnose the problem. MSNBC also said that they have reason to believe the situation is not "THAT serious." Let's hope they are correct.

UPDATE #2 (10:30pm): CNN reported a few minutes ago that they're getting word that it may be bleeding of the brain, or a possible aneurysm.

UPDATE #3 (1:18am on December 14, 2006)...

BREAKING: According to CNN's website, Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) is undergoing brain surgery at this early morning hour. His staffers say test have ruled out stroke or heart attack.

UPDATE #4 (2:00am): Reuters is reporting that the official word from the Johnson staff is that they expect to have more information in the morning.

DEVELOPING....

Charlie Rangel's draft proposal is still ridiculous; new poll numbers on Iraq

You may remember last month I wrote on Charlie Rangel's attempt to bring back mandatory military service to the United States for citizens aged 18-42, and then how virtually no one agrees with him. Well I ran across this piece of good news today, further proving that a draft in the U.S. is unnecessary, and ridiculous:

"Though Americans are increasingly pessimistic about the war in Iraq, the Pentagon said Tuesday it is having success enlisting new troops. The Navy and Air Force met their recruiting goals last month while the Army and Marine Corps exceeded theirs, the Defense Department announced."

According to the Associated Press article, the Army, bearing the brunt of the work in Iraq, did the best, signing up 6,485 recruits in November (it had a target of 6,150). The Pentagon released figures showing that in November, the Navy signed up 2,887 recruits (100% of it's goal), the Marines 2,095 (104% of it's goal), and the Air Force signed up all 1,877 of it's target.

The article also contained some new AP-Ipsos poll numbers:

63 percent of Americans said they don't expect a stable, democratic government to be established in Iraq, up from 54 percent back in June.

Dissatisfaction with President Bush's handling of Iraq has climbed to an all-time high of 71 percent.

Shocked? I'm not. In fact, I'm actually surprised the numbers aren't a tick higher.

The Immigration debate; Eric Cantor and others weigh in

Saw this in the Richmond Times Dispatch this morning. It deals with the current debate on immigration into the United States, and how it should be dealt with. My U.S. rep., Eric Cantor (R-7th) whom I almost never agree with, and has never gotten my vote (I voted for Brad Blanton (I) in 2004, and Jim Nachman in this past election) says:

"We need an entry system that has integrity."

Which completely contradicts his vote for a 700 mile fence along the U.S./Mexican border, especially since the border is 1,951 miles long. I wonder if Cantor even knows the definition of the word "integrity," which means adherence to a strict moral/ethical code, or the state of being COMPLETE. Placing a fence along the border with Mexico, aside from being ineffective, would be incomplete (by less than half), unethical, and immoral.

I do however, agree with Cantor's vote to allow more legal immigrant workers into the U.S., AND his acknowledgement that the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States will never be sent back to their original countries in total.

The President and chief executive of the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Michel Zajur, told the RTD:

"Virginia has some of the most negative anti-immigration legislation in the country. For example, proposed legislation would charge business owners with a felony if their employers are found to be undocumented. That's a burden owners shouldn't have to carry when they're trying to run a business."

Why? Every single job I've EVER had, has usually required two forms of identification (usually a driver's license, and a social security card), and they have ALL required that I give them my social security number. How is that a burden? If a business owner is not requiring social security numbers from employees, doesn't that in turn mean that the employee AND the employer are likely skipping out on paying income, and other forms of tax? A business owner shouldn't be the sole ENFORCER of the law, but c'mon, that's like saying that a drug user shouldn't be charged with using drugs, if the government didn't stop it from getting here.

The United States needs to implement a guest worker program, and INCREASE the number of immigrants coming here to work. We do NOT need to be erecting ineffective, over priced, incomplete WALLS along the border.

Update on plan to give DC real representation

You may remember I wrote on this the other day - a plan sponsored by DC's pseudo Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton and Virginia Rep. Tom Davis to give DC a Representative in the U.S. House, as well as adding another seat in the House from the state of Utah. The seat in Utah would have likely gone to Republicans, and the seat in DC to Democrats. However, according to a New York Times article out today, the Republicans want to continue to deny the citizens of DC representation:

Republican leaders in Congress said the plan was dead and would not be voted on this session.

Davis said he plans to reintroduce the package in the next Congress, which will be lead by the Democrats, hopefully meaning DC will FINALLY GET THE FAIR REPRESENTATION IN OUR GOVERNMENT THAT IS LONG OVERDUE IN THE DISTRICT:

A spokesman for the chief backer of the plan, Representative Thomas M. Davis III, Republican of Virginia, said Mr. Davis would push for reconsideration. Failing that, the spokesman said, Mr. Davis would reintroduce the package in the next Congress, which the Democrats will lead.

Republican Party of Virginia elects Ed Gillespie

No surprise here. The Republican Party of Virginia elected Ed Gillespie as it's new chairman today.

The RPV's executive committee unanimously elected Gillespie as the parties new chair this morning at the annual "Advance at The Homestead." Gillespie will replace Kate Obenshain Griffin, who resigned and has since been serving as Chief of Staff for outgoing Senator George Allen.

Democrats take control in Pennsylvania!

As promised in last night's "Daily RunDown," here's a story which has not yet been widely reported in the media. The Pennsylvania state house has flipped to Democratic control after a recount in the 156th district revealed that Progressive Majority candidate Barbara McIlvaine Smith(D) won the election by a mere 23 votes. The results of the recount were announced yesterday (Nov. 28).

Smith had trailed opponent Shannon Royer by only 19 votes before military and absentee votes were counted. Yesterday's final tally showed that Smith defeated Royer 11,614 votes to 11,591.

Smith was one of dozens of candidates sponsored by the Progressive Majority, which has successfully helped 194 Progressives get elected to both state and national office. Gloria A. Totten, President of the Progressive Majority, has the following statement on the PAC's website:

The November 7th election was truly historic and Progressive Majority continued to build on our winning track record. In all, we elected 100 new progressives to office in eight states -- bringing the total number of progressives we've helped elect to 194 in just three short years!

Smith also thanked the PAC, and essentially credited them for the win:

I was confident that the voters had indicated to that this was a new day for a new agenda in Pennsylvania politics, there is no way I could have won this race without Progressive Majority’s tireless efforts on my behalf.

Dan Frankel, Chairman of the House Democratic Campaign Committee in Pennsylvania, and representative of Pennsylvania's 23rd district, contributed the victory to a failed Republican record over the past 12 years, and voter desire for a new direction:

Pennsylvania voters, including voters of the 156th District, weighed the Democratic vision for the future of Pennsylvania against the Republican record over the past 12 years. And they decided they are ready for a new direction. We look forward to welcoming Barbara McIlvaine Smith, along with 26 other new Democrats, to the new House Democratic majority.

That's right, 27 Democrats, including Smith, were newly elected to the Pennsylvania State House, giving the Democrats in the state a 102 to 101 advantage. Assuming the vote count stands up to any legal challenges that will undoubtedly arrise from Republicans, and Smith is indeed, the winner, it will be the first time in 12 years that the Democrats have controlled the Pennsylvania State House. HDCC executive director Dan Wiedemer said he expects House Republicans to challenge the official count.

In a Daily Local online article, Shannon Royer had not yet conceded, and has not yet made a decision as to how they will proceed:

I will be looking at all of my options and making a decision in the next few days of how we will proceed. We need to look at everything and make sure that every legal vote is counted.

That being said, the same article goes on to say that there are currently 11 vote challenges, and four other POSSIBLE challenges, but even if they all broke for Republicans, the Democrat would still win.

Let's just hope Virginia Democrats can also pull off a huge win in our own state elections in 2007!!!

How the state of Arizona gave the religious right the finger; a brief recap, and a look ahead

A friend of mine today suggested I do a recap of the 2006 ballot measures, more specifically the Arizona gay marriage measure which failed, the first one of it's kind to meet such a fate. At first I thought "no, that's sort of dated," but then decided it may be a good idea, especially considering the possible implications the amendments may have on possible 2008 presidential candidates. So here goes...

ARE MODERATE REPUBLICANS AND LIBERTARIANS NO LONGER WELCOME IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY???

As many of you know, there were so called "marriage amendments" on the ballot in eight states, including Virginia, Colorado, South Carolina, Idaho, Tennessee, South Dakota, Arizona and Wisconsin. The amendment passed in each state except for Arizona. However, despite the fact that the measure passed in seven other states, gay and lesbian activist groups were still encouraged because the measures, on average, passed by less than in recent years. Fierce battles were fought over the amendment particularly in Virginia, Wisconsin, and Arizona. In Virginia, an anonymous homosexual couple donated $1 million to The Commonwealth Coalition to oppose the measure, and in Arizona, the Human Rights Campaign donated $100,000 to fight the measure. Organizations fighting the amendments held out hope they would be able to pull out a win in both Wisconsin, and Virginia, but were unsuccessful. In Arizona however, they DID pull out a victory when the measure failed on November 7. Even in traditionally red state South Dakota, the amendment BARELY squeaked by.

Like Virginia, opponents of the measure in Arizona tried out a new tactic to fight the amendment. Instead of focusing on how unconstitutional the amendments were, they decided to focus on how heterosexual couples were affected, especially since gay marriage and civil unions are both already outlawed in both states. Steve May, co-chairman of the Arizona Human Rights Fund, had the following to say in May, 2005 when it was first proposed that the amendment be placed on the ballot,

This initiative would take away health insurance to unmarried couples across the state. Voters are intelligent and fair. They will know what this is really about.

Unlike most other states, the amendment trailed in the polls from the very beginning in Arizona. A January, 2005 poll done by the Arizona Republic showed 54 percent were not in favor of the measure, while 40 percent approved, and 7 percent were undecided. In the end, the voters in Arizona made the right decision, shutting the door on the measure by a two percent margin.

In Virginia, some bloggers, and commentators even speculated that the amendment possibly HELPED Democratic Senator-elect Jim Webb defeat incumbent Senator George Allen, since polls show that many people that voted "YES" on the amendment, also voted for Jim Webb (I don't buy it - voters DRIVEN to the polls for the soul purpose of voting "YES" on the amendment were probably never going to vote for Jim Webb to begin with). Might this perhaps mark the beginning of the end to the marriage fear mongering from the right in attempt to rally the religious zealots for votes? According to an Associated Press article, Matt Foreman (executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force) thinks it's a possibility,

"What we're seeing is that fear-mongering around same-sex marriage is fizzling out," said Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. He noted that the bans that succeeded won by much narrower margins, on average, than in the past.

Aside from gay marriage measures, other "Liberal" measures were very successful on election day 2006. In Missouri, voters passed a measure backing stem cell research, in South Dakota, voters struck down a law limiting a woman's right to choose to only cases where the mother's life was threatened, and in all SIX STATES holding a vote on state minimum wage (Arizona, Colorado. Missouri, Montana, Ohio and Nevada), voters approved wage hikes.

The Liberal Progressive believes the GOP is clearly alienating some "moderate Republicans," and "independents," which it could typically have counted on in recent years. The executive vice president of the Log Cabin Republicans agrees,

"Republicans lost this election because independent voters abandoned the GOP. Social conservatives drove the GOP’s agenda the last several years. Their divisive agenda alienated the mainstream Republicans and independents who determined this election's outcome. Social conservatives should take responsibility for this loss."

This brings me to my next question, which is, how will "socially liberal" Republicans do in their 2008 presidential bids? An argument could easily be made both ways. On the one hand, one could say that potential candidates like Rudy Giuliani (former Democrat, and mayor of New York), could potentially do well because Republicans feeling alienated from the party would come out in large numbers to support. On the other hand, one could also argue that "light R's" may not come out to vote in primaries, therefore more Conservative candidates like Mitt Romney will more likely advance to run as the Republican parties nominee for President in 2008.

Needless to say, it will be interesting to see how this all plays out in 2008. The 2006 mid term elections were certainly at least a slight step to the left for America, although I think it will take until 2008 for us to see just how FAR to the left we have actually gone. I hope Americans continue to wake up to the fact that Republicans use issues like gay marriage, and abortion to "divide and conquer" the electorate, and hopefully Americans will continue to reject these tactics of using bigotry and intolerance to win elections.

Update on George Allen's last "gift" to America!

I reported on this the other day, about how George Allen planned to give America one last "gift" by proposing legislation to allow guns in national parks. Well, it would appear that Jim Webb might plan to introduce similar legislation if it is not passed in the current lame duck session of Congress. According to a November 24, Richmond Times Dispatch article,

An Oct. 30 campaign letter by Jim Webb -- the Democrat who narrowly defeated Allen -- shows that he promised to introduce similar legislation.

"And I intend to get it to the floor for a vote," added Webb, who also noted his possession for many years of a concealed-carry permit and his regular shooting activity. A spokesman for the senator-elect said Wednesday that Webb had not studied the Allen bill.

Apparently, David Barna, a National Park Service spokesman doesn't think the measure is necessary,

While the National Park Service did not take a stand on Allen's bill, the spokesman said serious crimes against individuals in the parks are extremely low and that there is not data demonstrating a need for visitors to carry concealed firearms.

Allowing people "with minimal or no training to carry firearms in national park areas will not lower the already negligible crime rate but will most likely increase the possibilities of basic altercations turning into something much more serious," said Park Service spokesman David Barna.

With that being said, and the fact that some parks ALREADY ALLOW FIREARMS DURING HUNTING SEASON, The Liberal Progressive cannot understand why such legislation is necessary, and remains opposed to the measure.

Senator John Warner loves the failed No Child Left Behind Act

In a letter to be published in the Wednesday, November 22, 2006 edition of the Richmond Times Dispatch, Senator John Warner writes Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings or, as he calls her, "The Honorable Margaret Spellings" to address the No Child Left Behind Act in Virginia:

"I firmly believe that the goals of NCLB are solid. However, we all recognize that there have been challenges in implementing the law."

NO KIDDING!? He also urges her to continue to work with Virginia officials to address issues raised by the Dept. of Education's rejection of the required test by NCLB to gauge the progress of students learning English as a secondary language. He also goes on to tout Virginia's "Standards of Learning" test:

"Virginia is now nearing the completion of its 9th school year of SOL testing. Not only have SOL scores for all students in all ethnic groups risen dramatically since the launch of SOL testing in 1997, but so have the scores of Virginia students on national tests such as the SAT, Stanford 9 and NAEP."

Why? Because the "Standards" of Learning test are nothing more than a complete JOKE, and should be done away with?

I was in Henrico County Public Schools through four years of high school (1999-2003) and took the SOL tests all four years. My experience with them was that they were exceptionally EASY, and really didn't challenge me (or anyone else for that matter). In fact, I believe the test are counter-productive! Think about it... Teachers in Virginia's public school system are judged based on the performance of their students on the SOL tests. The SOL tests cover an exceptionally LARGE amount of material. Therefore, teachers are RUSHED throughout the year to cover ALL the material as quickly as possible, and they cannot stop to take the necessary time it takes to work with students to make sure they fully grasp all the concepts being taught. Furthermore, students who have difficulty understanding a particular subject, or topic, are at a big disadvantage when material is rushed through, and a teacher cannot stop to fully explain to students, and work with different learning styles that people invariably have.

I am not saying I don't think we should have some way to gauge our students, and our teachers' success, but, (and I can say this from personal experience) the SOL's seem to be doing more harm than good.

Gas prices going up following Democratic victory!

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only person who noticed this. Huffington Post reporter David Goldstein is reporting gas prices near him have increased by about a dime since the election. Prices are up in Oregon and California as well, according to the article.

I live just outside of Richmond's city limits in Henrico county, and gas prices just before the election had fallen below two dollars, down about one dollar from their Summer highs. However, they've gone up anywhere between 10-15 cents since the election on November 7. At one gas station in Massaponax, I noticed prices up over TWENTY CENTS! Do the math: that's about a 10 percent increase, in just over a week.

I'd also like to point out that according to Opensecrets.org contributions from "big oil companies" in 2006 to Republicans so far total about: $11,849,320, in 2004 the number was $20,587,439, and in 2002: $19,896,682! Compare these numbers to their contributions to Democrats which broke down like this: in 2006 (so far) a mere $2,380,812, in 2004 donations totaled $5,037,885, and in 2002 just $5,012,632. In fact, from 1998 to 2004, the top FIVE candidates who received most from "big oil" companies were Republicans, including Tom Delay (R-TX) who received $498,375 in contributions. Tom Delay, now THAT'S someone Exxon-Mobil should be proud to be affiliated with. Check out the entire top ten: