Things are getting a little heated

At a recent Democratic Governor’s Forum in Danville recently, there was a smackdown of epic proportions over whether or not Terry McAuliffe would support offshore drilling. In this video, Brian Moran simply calls McAuliffe out for his lack of silence on whether he supports offshore drilling. This is where things really start to get heated. McAuliffe starts attacking Moran on supporting legislation that would increase the development of natural gas. Watch the drama unfold.

Click here to watch the video

Now, let the festivities begin as the Democrats are eating themselves alive.

**Cross Posted at Crystal Clear Conservative

Amy Frederick out of the House Race

It appears that there will be only one candidate for the Republicans in the 52^nd District, as Amy Frederick decided not to seek the seat that her husband, Jeff Frederick once held. Citing the Republican party’s shift from focusing on core principles by playing politics, Frederick said she would not serve under “broken leadership.”

Now, Rafael Lopez will be the sole candidate for the Republicans in the 52^nd.

Here is the text of Amy’s speech:

Dear Friends:

Since first beginning to explore the possibility of campaigning to represent the people of the 52nd District in the House of Delegates, I have been humbled by the support and encouragement I received from across eastern Prince William county, and indeed, beyond. Having been honored to stand by Jeff’s side for the past six years as he has served, I’ve had the opportunity to meet and get to know many of the people of this district. They have made this job a rewarding experience for both of us, and the lasting friendships will always remain.

Today, it is with mixed emotions that I announce my withdrawal from the race to succeed Jeff in the House of Delegates.

Unfortunately, some in the leadership of the Republican Party have demonstrated a greater interest in playing politics than in advancing our conservative principles and making life better for the families and the citizens of Virginia. I’m not interested in running for office to serve under broken leadership, where the Speaker compromises principle for what he perceives as immediate political gain. What so many entrusted with leadership in our party fail to recognize is that ignoring our core principles in pursuit of titles and power without purpose is exactly the behavior that severely reduced our ranks in the House, handed the Senate to the Democrats, and has resulted in one statewide loss after another.

Although my campaign ends today, it has been a pleasure to travel around the district and introduce myself as a potential candidate to so many wonderful people.

I want to first thank my friends and family for supporting me and encouraging me to run. I also want to thank Kris Morris and my supporters, who have spent hours volunteering on my behalf. To these people, I will remain forever grateful.

I’m excited about the future, and I will be working hard to make sure that people of principle who share Jeff’s and my commitment to service are elected and re-elected this year. I’m confident that in years to come, our party will have new leadership and a new direction, which will bode well for fresh, new ideas — and ultimately, handing our children a better Commonwealth than the one we inherited.

Most sincerely,

Amy Frederick

**Cross Posted at Crystal Clear Conservative

McDonnell/Bolling Energy Plan Released

The McDonnell/Bolling Energy Plan was released today with proposals of more energy and more jobs for Virginia. This plan will include a great focus on green jobs and promoting Virginia as the “Energy Capital of the East Coast.” With oil and natural gas located off the coast in Virginia, there would be more jobs created and this will assist in reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

Here are some of the highlights from the plan:

• Supporting Virginia’s coal industry and nuclear energy
• Expedite the permitting and approval processes for energy facilities
• Support affordable Energy Efficient improvements
• Improve Energy Reliability and Affordability through SMART Grids and Buildings

McDonnell said during his speech at Old Dominion University:

“This morning I traveled to Old Dominion University to launch our energy plan at The Virginia Coastal Energy Research Consortium. The Consortium is researching and developing the energy solutions of the future. However, to do this work for tomorrow they need the energy of today. And that is what our “More Energy, More Jobs” energy plan is about. We need more energy in Virginia at a reasonable price, and that means we must utilize all the resources available to us. Thankfully in Virginia the resources are plentiful, and if we fully develop them all we can be the “Energy Capital of the East Coast.”

McDonnell continued, “Right now Virginia is the second largest importer of electricity behind California. The time has come for bold action to harness the energy available to us today, while continuing to develop the energy sources of tomorrow. In a McDonnell administration we will safely drill offshore for natural gas and oil, and reap the significant economic benefits documented in recent studies. We will use a portion of the revenues from this effort to fund alternative and renewable energy research and development and a portion to fund transportation infrastructure. We will support Virginia’s coal industry which supplies 43% of our energy, creates thousands of jobs in Southwest Virginia and Hampton Roads, yet is under constant attack from national special interest groups. We will leverage Tobacco Commission funding to make Southside and Southwest Virginia a hub of energy research and development. We will expedite permitting and approval for new energy facilities to reduce bureaucratic delays in getting necessary projects underway. And we will make Virginia a national leader in the burgeoning field of green energy by establishing the Commonwealth as a “Green Jobs Zone” which will bring entrepreneurs, and the jobs they create, to Virginia. We need more energy, we need more jobs. We need our lights to stay on at an affordable price, while we develop our future energy sources. Our comprehensive energy plan will power the Virginia of today and tomorrow and create thousands of good paying jobs for our citizens in the process.”

Bolling mentioned the anticipated success from this plan.

“As Governor and Lieutenant Governor we are committed to supporting a comprehensive energy policy – a policy that recognizes the importance of developing new sources of energy, like wind, solar, biofuels and the like; while at the same time doing more to expand traditional sources of energy like nuclear power, clean coal, oil and natural gas, all of which are in abundance in Virginia.”

Bolling added, “As we all know, the most important issue currently facing our state is the need to get our economy moving again and create the jobs Virginians need to protect their economic security. We are determined to do just that. At the same time, we all know that our nation faces another important challenge, the need to protect our national energy security. Fortunately, we have developed a strategy to help our nation enhance its national energy security, while at the same time helping Virginians protect their own economic security.

There is no doubt that the energy crisis will be a difficult challenge, but there is no doubt that we need to be looking at common sense solutions in this economy.

**Cross Posted at Crystal Clear Conservative and YR Dominion

Creigh Deeds is Mr. Popularity…huh?!??

Hmmm…is Creigh Deeds considered Mr. Popularity? Well, it depends if you ask the approximate crowd of 15 people (most of them dignitaries) who showed up at Stevens Miller’s campaign kickoff. Wow, one would think that one of the Democrats, who is running for Governor would be able to pack the house, even if it were for a third-tier House of Delegates candidate.

**Cross Posted at Virginia News Platoon

YRFV Attorney General Forum: Final Question

This is the last question in the YRFV Attorney General Forum. The last question was: Last year LG Bill Bolling stepped aside from the Gov race to run for re-election. In return the State Central Committee endorsed him for 2013. Will you do likewise?

John Brownlee

Ken Cuccinelli

Dave Foster

**Cross Posted at Crystal Clear Conservative and YR Dominion

YRFV Attorney General Forum: Question 3

There were four total questions that were asked at the YRFV Attorney General Forum last Saturday at the YRFV Convention. The third question that was posed to the candidates was: Economists believe that illegal immigrants could get thousands of stimulus jobs. What are your feelings on this issue, and What do you believe should/can be done on this issue?

John Brownlee

Dave Foster

Ken Cuccinelli

**Cross Posted at Crystal Clear Conservative and YR Dominion

More from the YRFV Attorney General Panel

This is next part in the YRFV Attorney General Panel series of videos, which can be found on my YouTube channel. The second question posed to all three candidates was: As AG, it would be your responsibility to judge the constitutionality of proposed legislation, which may be at odds with your public policy views. How will you handle that?

John Brownlee:
Click here to view

Dave Foster:
Click here to view

Ken Cuccinelli:
Click here to view
**Cross Posted at Crystal Clear Conservative and YR Dominion

YRFV Attorney General Forum–First Question

There were a total of four questions posed to the Attorney General candidates at the Young Republican Federation of Virginia forum. The first question was to describe how active they are with grassroots activism.

Ken Cuccinelli

John Brownlee

Dave Foster

**Cross Posted at Crystal Clear Conservative and YR Dominion

Scenes from the YRFV Convention

The Young Republican Federation of Virginia Convention on Saturday was no doubt exciting with the news of Sandy Liddy Bourne stepping aside to join Pat Mullins in his quest to become the next Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, but there were also other speakers who spoke.

Dan Mitchell of Cato Institute and author of Global Tax Revolution: The Rise of Tax Competition and the Battle to Defend It spoke about our current fiscal crisis with the bailouts and out-of-control spending by the Federal government. Mitchell emphasized that there is no way you can have a good tax system with massive government spending.

Speaker Bill Howell spoke to the YRs about the upcoming House races throughout the Commonwealth. He talked about the dynamic candidates who are running, along with several races to watch.

Budget was the topic of the Legislative Panel, which featured Del. Mark Cole and Sen. Ryan McDougle. Both Cole and McDougle discussed the smoking ban was also another issue that the media focused on this session, and mentioned that it was an intrusion on our liberties. Cole indicated that the strange thing about this year’s session was that there were very few, if any, proposals on transportation. When asked what were the strong points of the budget, the contentious points, and how the stimulus funds were used, both Cole and McDougle gave interesting perspectives.

Cole: The best thing about this budget is that it cuts spending. We cut $2 million dollars out of the budget. Last year, we had to create a two year budget, and this year, we edited the budget. Kaine is a political creature: politics first, work second. Cole voted for the budget, as it was a reduction in spending. Included limits on growth of support personnel within our schools, effort to do away with a reduction in the sales tax collections from businesses. Took the stimulus money. VA was given $4 billion in stimulus, and it was divided in two parts. It will be used in next year and the following year’s budgets. This would prevent cuts in first responders and teachers. We are in a depression, not a recession. Excessive spending and excessive debt.

McDougle: Budget was challenging. We went through this process. Revenue estimates. What we are projecting to collect, included increases in personal income growth (15% for the Commonwealth), we need to create new jobs or salaries have to go up. We can’t take more money than we take in. McDougle voted against the budget last year (July 1-June 30th Budget span).

After the legislative panel, Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling and former Attorney General Bob McDonnell gave insightful speeches about their campaigns. Bolling delivered his remarks first to get the crowd of YRs fired up. Bolling said we need to move forward, instead of looking back at past, unsuccessful elections. During his speech, Bolling mentioned that the united ticket with Bob McDonnell at the top of the ticket will provide the direction of how we can win again. Bolling also discussed how we need to focus on energy, protecting our status as a right to work state, and having fiscal integrity.

Bob McDonnell spoke next by touching upon his initiatives to bring more jobs to Virginia and working on a transportation proposal to help improve a problem that has plagued Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads for years. McDonnell also addressed how to improve education, and he mentioned that we need more charter schools and merit pay for teachers. While money is important, McDonnell said education needed to be about accountability and higher education standards.

Later in the afternoon, after the Attorney General’s Forum, the YRs heard from Brendan Steinhauser of FreedomWorks, who gave a great grassroots activism training.

Overall, the 63^rd Annual Young Republican Federation of Virginia Convention was a success, and we look forward to playing a key role in the 2009 elections.

**Cross Posted at Crystal Clear Conservative and YR Dominion

Rep. Rob Wittman at the YRFV Convention

Speaking to an audience of forty Young Republicans from all across the Commonwealth of Virginia yesterday, Congressman Rob Wittman spoke about the current session in Congress. Touching on the current economic woes facing America, Wittman spoke about the current deficits at the Federal level. Wittman said we have a deficit of $1 trillion dollars, and the government has continued to add to this deficits by approving $1 trillion dollars with the stimulus, $400 billion dollars in omnibus spending, and now, a $3.6 billion dollar budget. Wittman further emphasized that there has been an increase of spending for all government agencies and the recent defense spending cuts.

During his speech, he said that the tea parties have brought out great dissent for those who are against the massive government spending increases. “They are thirsting for someone to provide direction, and we [the federal government] need to be good stewards of tax dollars.” Wittman mentioned that we need to be focused on helping small businesses and standing up for lower taxes, individual freedoms and liberties.

Wittman also mentioned the recent push by the Obama administration and Congress to pass universal health care. Universal health care is not the way to go, and Wittman said the Republicans in Congress are committed to pushing for an alternative plan for individuals to access care at different points in the system and control the current costs. Right now, only 17% of the GDP is being spent in health care.

**Cross Posted at YRDominion and Crystal Clear Conservative

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