Kaine’s Absentee Voting Plan = REJECTED

In a subcommitee of the Privileges and Elections committee, Governor (and DNC Chair) Tim Kaine was dealt a defeat of his absentee voting plan, which would have created an increase in vote fraud and allowed anyone to vote without an excuse.

This is welcome news, especially since there has been a rise in vote fraud and recounts throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. No excuses absentee voting also creates financial implications and staffing issues, and in an economic recession, this is one expense that is not essential.

Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch

**Cross Posted at Crystal Clear Conservative

Democrats Break Rules in Recent Fundraiser

Apparently, election laws and fundraising during the general assembly session do not apply to Democrats in Virginia. It appears that The Farm Team, which is a forum geared to preparing Democrat women to run for office, is violating a law that says no fundraising during the General Assembly session. The Farm Team is holding a fundraiser, which claims to feature several prominent public officials, the current First Lady, and former First Lady, Lynda Robb. For $1,000, yes…you too can become a Heifer (which is an ode to their founding).

Gee, you would think the Democrats would want to uphold their high ethical standards. Instead, they are focused on punishing the Republicans even if they have a slight reference to fundraising, etc. The Democrats in Virginia always try to hold Republicans accountable for every flaw, yet they always seem to be going against the rules. When the Republicans hold their counterparts accountable for their actions, the Democrats cry foul.

Since this announcement hit the internet, they have changed the site to cover their mistakes. Earlier this morning, this announcement on ActBlue referenced that First Lady Anne Holton would be in attendance and that this fundraiser included a tour of the Governor’s Mansion.

Several bloggers have also brought this into the limelight, including Bearing Drift, VA GOP Caucus, Scott’s Morning Brew, and Tertium Quids.

Maybe, it’s time to play by the rules, Democrats!

**Cross Posted at Crystal Clear Conservative

Obama’s crowds will grow larger…Thanks to Virginia!

Tomorrow marks the supposed day of Change for America. Barack Obama will be our next President-elect, and the crowds will reach epic proportions. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the Commonwealth of Virginia will be shuttling people into Washington for the festivities at a cost of $1 million dollars.

Now, where will Virginia be attaining these funds? The taxpayers will no doubt be footing this bill. The funds will be taken from the state economic contingency funds. Additionally, will these tourists be spending money to stimulate and boost our economy in Virginia? Probably not, as they will be fueling D.C.’s economy.

With Virginia facing the worst budget crisis in recent years, we should not be spending money that we do not have. Instead, we should be focusing on ways to cut the budget and innovative ways to get our economy back on track. Wasteful spending does not address our current budget woes.

Cross Posted at Crystal Clear Conservative

Early “No Excuses” Voting Could Lead to Increased Vote Fraud in Virginia

Governor Tim Kaine has requested that the legislature address allowing people to vote early in Virginia with no excuses. The prospect of allowing this legislation to pass would open the door for likely vote fraud and leaving overwhelmed local election officials to be able to handle the mess that would follow.

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, local Registrars believe that “no excuses” voting would allow people to vote without excuses taking a lot of stress off the elections staff. However, there is limited funding and staff available to make this a reality.

“No excuses” voting is currently allowed in 23 different states. Florida is one of the “no excuses” early voting states, and in the past, they have experienced several cases of vote fraud, including the 2000 recount between Al Gore and George W. Bush. Do we want the same thing to happen in Virginia? It is pretty sad that there were suspected cases on college campuses in Virginia that were investigated.

The current voting standards are appropriate, and if anything were to be done to improve voting, it would be to ensure that every vote is counted accurately and checked carefully.

**Cross Posted at Crystal Clear Conservative

Budget Crisis Looms over State of the Commonwealth Address

In yesterday’s State of the Commonwealth Address, Governor Tim Kaine’s speech was focused on the storm cloud known as the budget crisis and his proposals to address the current situation. Among Kaine’s proposals are raising the cigarette taxes by 30 cents, adding more “green collar” jobs, and adding more capital projects. While he mentions that there will be job cuts (performance based), there was no mention of cutting unnecessary programs. Here is the text of the State of the Commonwealth address.

Some legislators have released statements on the State of the Commonwealth address. Senator Ken Cuccinelli (R-Fairfax) released this statement:

Governor Kaine’s speech about the budget shortfalls facing Virginia was heavy on specific problems, but light on workable solutions. Effectively bringing back parole and raising taxes will only hurt Virginia businesses, employees and taxpayers.

The size of Virginia’s government has doubled in the last ten years, and yet I haven’t met many Virginia families whose income has doubled in that time. I hope that the legislature will see fit to roll back the last few years spending increases, preserving transportation and not releasing criminals early.

The budget crisis should serve as a reminder that you can’t solve a problem by adding to it (i.e. you can’t expect to solve the budget woes by raising taxes or adding new programs). The solution is cutting unnecessary programs and reducing the tax burden on the taxpayers.

**Cross posted at Crystal Clear Conservative

Contact your State Senators and Delegates for Transparency in Virginia

This session, there is a chance that transparency legislation might come up for a vote. S.B. 936, if passed will provide transparency that will allow Virginia’s spending records to be placed on display for the world to see. Sen. Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax) and Sen. Ken Cuccinelli (R-Fairfax) are the co-patrons of this bill that is now sitting in the General Laws and Technology Committee.

Contact the Senators on this committee and urge them to support bringing transparency to Virginia. This legislation will bring fiscal accountability to the Commonwealth, and in our current budget situation, the timing could not be more right.

H/T to Tertium Quids

Cross Posted at Crystal Clear Conservative

YouTube Shows Congress at Work

Transparency is moving to the forefront on the Federal front with YouTube’s recent partnership with the U.S. House of Representatives. YouTube has video channels categorized by state and lists all of the Congressmen who agreed to utilize this service as a means to make government more transparent.

Three of Virginia’s eleven Congressional Representatives are now utilizing the service. You can watch Reps. J. Randy Forbes, Eric Cantor, or Frank Wolf’s channel and see your Representative at work or addressing the issues important to your district. If your Representative is not listed, then contact and urge them to utilize this service and bring transparency to the Congress.

With this move, we are one more step closer to transparency at the Federal level.

Cross Posted at Crystal Clear Conservative

Budget Crisis Goes Green in Virginia

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Governor Tim Kaine is starting to leave a legacy that is going to leave Virginia in shambles by providing more financial incentives to those who invest in green technologies, like biodiesel and energy saving equipment.

We are in a budget crisis. One that needs to be solved using wisdom and common sense. This would come in the form of lowering taxes for Virginia’s working families (which would help VA families cope with paying their bills), cutting unnecessary programs and wasteful spending, and looking at other areas where you can trim the costs.

Green incentives will not yield immediate results. Look at ethanol subsidies.  Ethanol is mainly produced in Midwestern states, but you can see that it has created fiscal crisis.  It has not gained the steam that the hype produced.

In fact, taxpayers will be paying for Kaine’s pandering to the environmentalist lobby for quite a long time, if legislation like this passes in Virginia.

One Step Closer to Transparency in Virginia

In Virginia, government transparency is one step closer to being reality.  While advocates for government transparency generally prefer that a state’s checkbook is available to view on the internet, the recent move by Speaker of the House, Bill Howell will allow people to watch the proceedings on the House floor via streaming video.   This is a move in the right direction.

Speaker Howell said in a press release that this would be one step closer to making the House of Delegates more accessible and accountable for their actions.  Howell said,

“The House of Delegates is an essential institution in our representative democracy…”

Online video broadcasts provide not only a window into the seriousness and solution-oriented nature of the legislative process, but also a responsible and unfiltered method of allowing more Virginians to see the House at work doing the people’s business. When I became Speaker in 2003, I pledged to work to protect the institutional integrity of the House as Delegates exercise their constitutional duties. Online video broadcasts are the latest step toward meeting that goal.”

The General Assembly meets Wednesday, January 14, 2009 to begin the legislative session.  With measures such as this one, we are starting to pave the path towards transparency in Virginia.

Could Virginia Reject REAL ID?

The budget will not be the only issue discussed in the upcoming Virginia General Assembly session next Wednesday. Along with the budget proposals, legislation has been introduced to address exempting Virginia from REAL ID requirements. REAL ID is “a federal law, which imposes certain security, authentication, and issuance procedures standards for driver’s licenses and IDs for them to be recognized by the Federal government.” (Source: Wikipedia) REAL ID is a violation of our civil liberties and every state should challenge this law.

There will be two separate legislative proposals in the General Assembly for the 2009 session. One is H.R. 1587, which was proposed by Del. Bob Marshall (R-Manassas), and the other is S.B. 841, which was introduced by Sen. Ken Cuccinelli (R-Centreville).

REAL ID might be ended in Virginia. This law was a true violation of the Constitution and has not addressed the rise of illegal immigration. It is a mere intrusion of our privacy rights. Virginians, petition your State Delegates and Senators to vote for this legislation to end REAL ID in the Commonwealth.

**Cross Posted at Crystal Clear Conservative

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