Well, it’s not like we didn’t see this one coming…

30-year incumbent Republican congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA-10) on Tuesday voted against a bill (that President Obama signed) giving aid to states that allows laid-off teachers to be re-hired and keeps police officers on payrolls.

Rep. Wolf represents the hypocrisy running rampant these days within the Republican Party. On the one hand, they criticize the Obama administration for their policies not reducing the unemployment rate quickly enough, yet when the administration passes a bill that saves jobs, the GOP howls. They’ll whine about the cost, yet will push for tax rate cuts on the wealthy that will increase the federal debt and deficit. This bill actually reduces the federal deficit by over $1 billion, yet 161 Republicans (and Frank Wolf) voted against it.

Where’s the logic in all that?This is the party that passed those massive tax rate cuts under the previous administration, claiming the cuts would create jobs. The unemployment rate shot up to over 10% during that time. Now, as the cuts are nearing their expiration, the Republicans (and Frank Wolf) are claiming that letting the cuts expire would hamper small business’ ability to create jobs. So let me see here – the initial cuts were supposed to create jobs, but they didn’t, so we need to extend those cuts so that small business can create jobs.

Where’s the logic in that?

The fact is simple; Frank Wolf has no ideas for creating jobs in this district. In fact, his vote on Tuesday showed that he’s not interested in saving jobs, just saving his career. His main congressional objective is to oppose anything favored by the administration and/or the leadership in Congress. He’s not a leader – he’s a follower, and he’s unfortunately following a path (and trying to get us to follow with him) that leads us right back to the problems that caused our whole economic mess in the first place.

Jeff Barnett, on the other hand, IS a proven leader. His 26 years of military service and years as a business leader are proof that he has the ideas that can turn this country around.  Jeff Barnett understands the importance that teachers have in educating our children. He doesn’t underestimate the role that public safety personnel play in our daily lives, unlike Frank Wolf, who voted against that yesterday.

Jeff Barnett wants people to hear about what he will do to help this district, not run away from his record, like Frank Wolf is doing.  

In November, you have a choice – return to the failed policies of the early 2000’s, or progress forward with a proven leader like Jeff Barnett.

I know how I’m voting. It’s logical.

Ballad of Steven Slater

+1 for style, definitely.

Please take the time to click, it is nearly the least you can do.

Google: Don’t Be Evil from MoveOn.org Official Channel on Vimeo.

• Tell Motts, No Strike Breakers – Motts wants to break a union over $1.50/hour. Motts made $550 million in profit last year. It should not stand.
• The end of the Internet as you know it – Net Neutrality is critical to the amazing freedom and entrepreneurship spawned by the digital age, don’t let a backroom deal by Verizon kill it.
• Stop Social Security Cuts – Social Security cuts are on the table as a “deficit reduction” strategy. Not okay.
• Don’t sell us out – Enforcement only immigration reform is mean, dumb, expensive and does not work. Tell Congress not to do it.

If you haven’t heard about this, you will. There’s a possible serial killer in Leesburg, but he’s not from here, he’s from Michigan. (Update – The police think the suspect has moved on to Toledo, Oh.) Here’s what the Post has to say:

Police in Leesburg are investigating a possible link between three recent unprovoked attacks in the city and a serial killer in Michigan.

The assailant is white, and in nearly all the cases the victims are black, prompting concerns the attacks may be racially motivated. Leesburg Police said a vehicle in which the attacker fled after one of the Virginia attacks – a dark green Chevrolet Blazer or GMC Jimmy that has two large grapefruit size dents in the hood – matches the description of a vehicle Michigan police believe the attacker may have used there. – The Washington Post

What’s worse is the racial tone of the attacks.

With a suspected serial killer conducting targeted, racially based attacks in Leesburg, in addition to as many as 16 additional attacks in Michigan, members of the African-American community are on high alert, and the Leesburg Police Department is working closely with Loudoun County NAACP to get the word out to anyone who could be a potential target.

Last week a 15-year-old boy and a 67-year-old man, both African-American, were stabbed in two separate incidents. Friday, a 19-year-old Hispanic male, who has been described as having a “dark complexion,” was hit with a hammer-like object. The stabbing victims are still in the hospital but are expected to recover, the third victim was released hours after his attack after being treated locally for non-threatening injuries.

During a press conference Monday, Leesburg Police Chief Joseph Price said law enforcement believes the victims are being targeted at random for their race and that no confrontation has occurred between the victims and the suspect. – Leesburg Today

We are a friendly, multiethnic community that has lived in harmony (more or less) for a while now, and violent hate has no place in my Leesburg.

Further complicating this story is the fact that members of Town Council were only told about the press conference, and the situation, as it was happening. Councilwoman Hammler had to get her information from the Leesburg Today website.

Councilwoman Katie Hammler expressed dismay that the council was not alerted to the press conference held Monday afternoon at police headquarters, where Chief Joseph Price said investigators were exploring links between the three attacks in Leesburg last week and more than a dozen attacks-five fatal-in the Flint, MI, area over the last few months.

Some council members said they were not aware a press conference was taking place until after the fact, with Hammler saying she was only able to see what was said via the Leesburg Today Web site, which provided video of the press conference. – Leesburg Today

Regardless of any process breakdowns in the notification of our elected officials, I’m very happy the Town Manager and Police acted swiftly to notify the public of the danger, especially considering the fact that one of the attacks took place right in the neighborhood of the Leesburg Public Safety Center.

In this tragedy is an opportunity for us to come together as a community in solidarity with our neighbors to say that we will not tolerate nor accept violence in the name of hatred on our streets. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of this crime and their families, and all of us must be vigilant and on the lookout for the suspect or his vehicle.

Police are looking for a dark green four-door Chevy Blazer with a light colored trim package on the lower portion of the sides. The vehicle did not have a front license plate and no inspection stickers or other window decals were displayed. There are two “grapefruit-sized” dents in the hood near the latch area, police said.

We can and will show how strong Leesburg can be, when we are united.

[Update] – David posted about this over on Equality Loudoun, and it is an excellent read. Go check it out.

And he provided a link to this video of the suspect’s video in the comments, below.

(Crossposted from Leesburg Tomorrow.)  

From my inbox:

The Loudoun County Community Services Board (CSB) is seeking applicants to serve as representatives from the Dulles, Potomac, Sterling and Sugarland Run Districts.

The Loudoun County CSB is appointed by and accountable to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors to set policy for, and to administer the provision of, community-based services for people experiencing mental illness, intellectual disabilities, and substance use disorders. That responsibility includes oversight of the Loudoun County Department of Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Developmental Services.

CSB members are drawn from the greater Loudoun community, and may represent a variety of backgrounds and interests, personal, professional or civic, that may give them insight into the issues that concern the CSB. The CSB is particularly interested in seeking members who have experience in the area of children’s services and communications, and who have multi-lingual skills. Each new appointee would be eligible to serve up to three, three-year terms.

By law, one third of the members of a Community Services Board must be self-identified as active consumers of a mental health, substance abuse, or developmental service (though not necessarily one provided directly by the CSB) or be the family member of someone actively receiving a service. No member of a CSB may be anyone who is employed by a CSB or by any agency that receives funding from a CSB.

CSB members are responsible for attending monthly CSB meetings, and each CSB member is expected to serve on one or more committees and to attend the meetings monthly of the groups on which they serve.

The Community Services Board will interview prospective members and will recommend qualified applicants to the Board of Supervisors for terms beginning January 1, 2011. The Board of Supervisors will make the final determination of who is appointed.

Interested applicants should visit the Community Services Board page of the county website at www.loudoun.gov/csb and click on the link under “Members” for an application and a summary of CSB roles and responsibilities.

The deadline to apply has been extended to Friday, August 20, 2010.

I sit on the Board of the CSB, and have found it to be an interesting, challenging, fulfilling experience.

At last week’s LCDC meeting, the Loudoun County Democratic Committee passed a resolution in support of the restoration of voting rights for people who have paid their debt to society after committing a crime.

Virginia is one of only two states that permanently revoke a felon’s voting rights after they have served their time unless the felon goes through a laborious restoration process. Gov. McDonnell got some bad press for attempting to further complicate the restoration process with new requirements (essentially, a literacy test) earlier this year.  

This burden on ex-felons is a last glaring remnant of jim crow on Virginia’s law books, and it is to the disgrace of our Commonwealth that it remains in force to this day. We must do something about it, which is why the LCDC joined her sibling Democratic Committees in passing a resolution on the issue last week.

Follow below for the text of the resolution and details on the legislation that will address this disgrace.There is a bill in Congress, the “Democracy Restoration Act” which addresses this historical wrong, and that is what the LCDC voted to support. The text of our resolution is as follows:

The Loudoun County Democratic Committee Endorses the Democracy Restoration Act

WHEREAS, the right to vote is the fundamental right in any Democracy and the chief obligation of citizenship; and

WHEREAS, the sacrifices people endured in pursuit of these rights have included the loss of life, liberty, and their ability to pursue happiness; and

WHEREAS, the Commonwealths of Virginia and Kentucky are the only two states in the nation in which felons are disenfranchised for life unless their rights are restored in the form of gubernatorial intervention; and

WHEREAS, over 300,000 people with felony convictions are currently disenfranchised in Virginia; and

WHEREAS, felon disenfranchisement is a relic of the Jim Crow era, enforced along with the poll tax and literacy tests explicitly to disenfranchise African-American males, one in five of whom cannot vote today in Virginia due to this injustice; and

WHEREAS, allowing people to vote after release from prison encourages participation in civic life and instills a sense of community that motivates law-abiding behavior; and

WHEREAS, there are no clear standards for the restoration of voting rights in Virginia and no law dictating the process by which the Governor may choose to restore rights; and

WHEREAS, legislation is pending in the U.S. Congress – the Democracy Restoration Act (S. 1516 and H.R. 3335) – co-sponsored by (among others) Virginia Representatives James P. Moran and Robert Scott, that would restore the right to vote in Federal elections to all felons upon release from prison and would affect about 5 million people nationally.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Loudoun County Democratic Committee (LCDC) urges Governor McDonnell to issue a blanket restoration of voting rights to all felons who have completed their prison terms and completed all conditions of probation and parole; and

THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the LCDC urges the passage of a Virginia constitutional amendment restoring voting rights to all felons who have completed their prison terms and completed all conditions of probation and parole; and

THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the LCDC urges all members of the Virginia delegation to the U.S. Congress to co-sponsor and vote for the Democracy Restoration Act to restore the right to vote in Federal elections for all felons upon release from prison and completion of all conditions of probation and parole.

Restoring the right to vote is a critical part of reintegration of ex-felons into our community. With a full 300,000 Virginians not only stigmatized but also disenfranchised by their past bad behavior, we as a society give them little incentive to seek paths to productive integration with our economy and community. Voting restoration is part, but not the whole, of an answer.  

Crossposted at Equality Loudoun

We pointed it out here in the context of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors action adding “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the County’s employment nondiscrimination policy, but in light of the ruling that found Prop 8 unconstitutional, it’s even more striking:

“The Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution prohibits discrimination without a rational basis against any class of persons. Discrimination based on factors such as one’s sexual orientation or parental status violates the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution.”

These words were issued by Governor Bob McDonnell in an executive directive in March, an effort to put out the fire started by his intemperate, activist Attorney General.  AG Cuccinelli, you’ll recall, insists that the law and public policy of Virginia requires the freedom to discriminate against persons on the basis of their sexual orientation, and that such discrimination cannot be prohibited. Kimball Payne of The Daily Press finds these words oddly similar to the language in Judge Vaughn Walker’s Prop 8 ruling – probably not the effect the governor was aiming for.

McDonnell’s office opted not to weigh in on the similarities on Friday.

Indeed. What more is there to say about this? McDonnell and Walker are both right.

Payne did predict that if push comes to shove, the governor “would almost certainly say that the executive directive was designed to tackle workplace discrimination and nothing more.” However, I’m sure that even a Regent University law degree equipped him with an understanding that the scope of the Equal Protection Clause is not limited to workplace discrimination. And even if we were to accept that narrow focus, I find myself moved to ask this question again: If he understands what the Equal Protection Clause requires, why did he not use the influence of his office to ensure passage of a legislative correction before the end of the 2010 session? And what is he going to do about Virginia’s compliance problem now?

My, what interesting times.

Due to reader input, we at Loudoun Progress are changing the rules for commenting. You no longer need to use a real email address to register. If you want to post anonymously, log in as Guest (the password is “guest”).

I, Liz, the Doorbell Queen, will be moderating comments. Here are the rules:

Anonymity is allowed, but we prefer signed comments.

No spam. If we want to sell something, we’ll sell it. If you want to sell something, get your own blog.

No ad hominem attacks.  

Don’t be offended if I call you out for using belittling language. It’s not censorship: it’s basic decency.

No matter what your view point on a topic, I will not delete your comment as long as it is politely stated and doesn’t break the other rules.

I am of the opinion that we don’t need to require real addresses to keep out trollish behavior. Please don’t prove me wrong.

Billy Joel – We Didn’t Start the Fire

Part 2 in what is definitely a series

From Daily Kos:

The guy’s a hard-core righty who isn’t even far-right enough for the Lunatic Fringe. I feel no sorrow over his primary defeat, but I’m glad he’s spilling the beans on the extremist tilt the Republican Party is taking.

Rep. Bob Inglis (R-SC), who in June lost his renomination bid by massive 38-point margin after criticizing Glenn Beck, isn’t backing down from his condemnation of the growing tide of tea party-fueled extremism in the GOP. Last month, he excoriated Republicans leaders as demagogues and said that anti-Obama sentiment was being driven in part by racism. Now he’s offering more details on how whacky conspiracy theories have come to dominate the Republican Party, thanks in large part to the GOP’s tea party fringe.

Maybe it’s sour grapes, who knows, but I don’t care. Watching the party eat itself from the inside is pure entertainment for me.

My hope is that the rational peopole in this country come to their senses and educate themselves before the November elections. We don’t need a return to the flawed and failed policies of the 2001-06 years. We may be struggling now, but we’re in a better place then we were less than 2 years ago, and improving, albeit slowly.