Rachel Maddow made this assessment of the war in Iraq:

Two American things have been accomplished in Iraq. Tens of thousands, more than a million Americans served their country in a horrible war for seven and a half years under horrible circumstances and under political leadership that was not honest about why they had been sent there. Those Americans are to be honored for what they did and what they gave and they are to be taken care of as veterans now that they’re home.

The other accomplishment in Iraq is that we have finally found a way to leave, to get combat troops out, now.

Those two accomplishments belong to this president, who’s overseeing the withdrawal from Iraq, and to the people who served — the people who served honorably for these seven and a half long years.

Credit for all the rest of it, for the made-up reasons for going in, for going in in the first place, for letting Afghanistan spill out of control in favor of this war, for the constant revisions for the justifications for war to obfuscate the craven petty radicalism that really started — Republicans, you guys can go right ahead and take that credit. Go right ahead. Credit where credit is due.

Republicans, this one’s yours. It’s got your name on it.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

In two columns today, in the Washington Post and Richmond Times-Dispatch, the ABC privatization notion under further scrutiny looks increasinly less and less palatable. Honestly this is no surprise.

What is disheartening is that people liked and voted for Bob McDonnell because he had a “transportation plan”. It was not well thought out, it was not endorsed by any notable transportation experts, and the plan would not even solve Virginia’s transportation problems. Nothing new: a pretty candidate, running for office and telling people he had easy solutions to their problems. When times are tough and people are looking for answers there is a tendency to look for scapegoats and easy solutions. 

We had eight years of Bush and Cheney, now you get mad!?

• You didn’t get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President.
• You didn’t get mad when Cheney allowed energy company officials to dictate energy policy.
• You didn’t get mad when a covert CIA operative got “outed.”
• You didn’t get mad when the Patriot Act got passed.
• You didn’t get mad when we illegally invaded a country that posed no threat to us.
• You didn’t get mad when we spent over 600 billion (and counting) on said illegal war.
• You didn’t get mad when over 10 billion dollars just disappeared in Iraq.
• You didn’t get mad when you found out we were torturing people.
• You didn’t get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping Americans.
• You didn’t get mad when we didn’t catch Bin Laden.
• You didn’t get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed.
• You didn’t get mad when we let New Orleans, a major US city drown.
• You didn’t get mad when we gave a $900 billion tax break to the rich.
• You didn’t get mad when the deficit hit the trillion-dollar mark.
• You finally got mad when the government decided that people in America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are sick.
• Yes, illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, are all okay with you, but helping other Americans…oh hell no.

We have two major forces in our government, one fights to protect private industry, corporations and the status quo and the other fights to protect the people .  Private industry spends far more time and money to get what they want and they usually get it.  They spend billions of dollars each year to write their own legislation, influence policy, and receive the benefits and protections of our government at the expense of the people.

They do it by controlling a majority of our U.S. Congress; most of them Republicans and some of them Democrats.  They use divisive, hot button issues to fear monger and deceive people into voting against their own interests.  They divide and isolate voters and privately rile them up with bigotry and hatred to win elections.  And they do it all for profit and power.

The Republican party can’t use the word VOTE the same way we can.  They can’t compete in a wide open campaign like we had in 2008, where we registered and encouraged so many new voters.  I think we need to take ownership of the word VOTE and use it in big bold letters to the point of making the other side look like they are against people voting and likely to suppress the vote, which they often do.

Placing a focus on voting helps create a distinction that can not be countered and it makes Republican attacks look like an attack against people’s right to vote, which it is.  Voting is patriotic, honored and valued and is an excellent rallying cry to unite the coalition of different voting blocks we need to win elections.  We usually just bring it out at the end of a campaign but we need to pull it out early and keep it in the forefront; beginning with voter registration, leading non-stop to GOTV.  VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE!

–
Todd Smyth
Fairfax, VA

In a coordinated manner, Republican candidate for Governor Bob McDonnell and Delegate Tim Hugo (R-40, Fairfax), both took swipes at Tim Kaine for his work as DNC Chairman, suggesting as they frequently do blowing smoke praying that idiots believe that means there is a fire, that somehow Kaine’s DNC work is short-changing Virginians for what the Governor should otherwise be spending his time doing.

Apparently these two pachyderms do have memory problems forgetting that Republican Jim Gilmore was acting as RNC Chair and Governor in 2001, but oops, forgot to think that was a problem then. Well, we really know what this is about: the Republicans have turned down $125 MILLION dollars for Virginians, and acted at every turn in the House of Delegates to block efforts to move the Commonwealth forward, so now with only a relatively short time before the Labor Day push to the General Election it’s time to focus group test their attack messages to confuse Virginians (rather than discuss real issues).

We’ve got better memories, and aim, than these two, and come November 3rd we’ll sure remember to NOT vote Republican – don’t you forget either.

As primary day in the Commonwealth rapidly approaches, I wanted to reach out to residents of Lee and Mt. Vernon Districts and let them know who I will be casting my vote for on June 9th in the Lieutenant Governor’s race. 

We are lucky to have two outstanding candidates in the Democratic primary.  Jody Wagner, who served in the administrations of Gov. Warner as Treasurer and Gov. Kaine as Secretary of Finance, has earned my vote for both her lengthy experience on fiscal matters and her dedication to continuing economic growth in Virginia.

I have worked with Jody for the last six years and know her as a dedicated public servant, an advocate for tolerant, vibrant pro-growth policies, and a successful small business owner herself.  I am confident in Jody’s ability to work with the General Assembly to enact common-sense policies that will aid Virginia’s economic recovery.

I strongly believe it is important to have a Lieutenant Governor with experience in Richmond, one who can foster relationships with members of the legislature to get things done.  And we definitely need someone with the resourcefulness to beat Bill Bolling in November.

I cannot think of a better, more qualified person for the job than Jody Wagner.  I urge you to join me in casting your vote for Jody on June 9th.

-Delegate Mark Sickles, 43rd House District

On the horizon there is a hum, a buzz, a disturbing noise that is fundamentally disquieting: the thoroughly trounced GOP whose policies and legislation were thought to be wholly discredited with the historic election of a Democratic President for the first time in 44 years by Virginians, are clamoring to return, and you can bet with a vengeance. The pound of flesh the discredited right means to extract is none other than the Governorship of the Commonwealth and continued control of the House of Delegates.

Faux news and other conservative talking heads have campaigned virtually non-stop to pull wool over anyone and everyone within range, and attempt to employ the Rovian tactic of stating falsehoods so often by so many that a smoke so thick could only mean a fire must exist.

Consider these …

• Progressives Lack a Limbaugh-Like Voice 
  understand more about framing and why it is positively necessary to NOT use language that validates the opposition, more here
• GOP’s McDonnell Pulls Further Ahead in Virginia Governor’s Race

… and if these aren’t scary enough, how about Bob McDonnell addressing the audience at Delegate Tim Hugo’s Campaign Kickoff May 1st in Clifton:

Since the very moment the hand of bipartisanship was extended by the President and bitten by the GOP, there has been an attempt to wholesale rewrite history to lay blame for all failings of the GOP controlled White House and Virginia House of Delegates at the feet of Democrats.

Such smoke being blown about over the world economic crisis inherited by Obama has somehow become fire and a failing of Democratic policies with these tactics. If it needs to be explained to someone that this particular crisis is the handiwork of the GOP it may indeed be too late for that person’s soul.

The prescription for thwarting the continuance and even return of Republican policies is that the Democratic faithful rise up from the buoyant results of 2008 with a determination to continue Democratic successes, work to elect Democrats to office, vocally support Democratic policies, to speak the truth to people  and in this effort to work tirelessly with the same understanding and even the sense of dread if we should once again fall under the neoconservative agenda we only recently emerged from.

In 2010, when the next census is conducted, the next General Assembly of Virginia will undertake the process of redistricting. The Virginia Senate (a four-year term office) holds a slim, one-vote, Democratic margin, and will not come up for re-election until 2011. The House of Delegates (a two-year term office) are all up for re-election this year. Six seats are need to retake Democratic control of the House and return common sense to this body that has been obscenely obstinate and obstructionist under GOP control.

The danger of complacency is that in our tired jubilance from the battle for the Presidency we overlook the unequivocally critical need to retake the House of Delegates and continue the positive stewardship of Democrats for the Governorship of the Commonwealth if the quality of life we value and the future we want for our children is to improve under Democratic leadership or else devolve to the Party of No and Roadblocks if our efforts fail. That is the question.

Are you with me?

-Steve Bunn
Co-Chair Lee District Democratic Committee

Here is the “new” approach to challenging Democratic candidates, and of all things it’s being proposed by the Washington Post (Saturday, March 7, 2009; Editorial A-12 ‘For Fairfax County Supervisor’). Running as a Democrat is ok, but beware if you could be another ‘yes’ vote along with a Democratic majority in the body you are seeking to join.

Don’t bother with whether or not the opposition actually is credible, but merely that they are opposition. This type of reasoning defies logic. What the Post editorial in effect says is that merely being in opposition to the party in power is reason to support a candidate – nonsense.

This logic appeals to the long since refuted old saw about balancing power in government by dividing seats among competing parties. This approach has led to nothing short of our catastrophic legislative logjams, rather than balance in government. There is an underlying assumption of this notion that opposing sides can come to agreement. Take for example the lack of bipartisanship demonstrated by Congressional Republicans when repeatedly offered that hand by our President. The same goes for the Virginia General Assembly.

In this case in particular regarding the Braddock District Supervisor Special Election on Tuesday, March 10th, the positions of Moon’s opponent, John Cook, are granted explicit legitimacy by the Post merely by the fact that he is in opposition to the current board. The recent election of Sharon Bulova as Chairman was referendum enough on this very same hyperbole and positions espoused by the just say no county-wide candidate Pat Herrity.

If merely being in opposition warranted a seat at the table for decision making, Democrats should long ago been granted this privilege, and yet even when in the minority we have recognized this as a  fatally weak argument supporting such a silly proposition.

Supporting candidates with illogical reasoning like this does nothing to better the process of government, but rather promotes the same gridlock we’ve become accustomed to all across the country. Time after time good legislation has been defeated by just say no Republicans simply because a Democrat sponsored it.

It is failed logic to assume that opposing viewpoints are valid merely because they are in opposition, and in no way justifies seating candidates in positions of power / authority whose very supporters are advocates of blocking anything merely because the other side proposes it, which is EXACTLY who John Cook’s supporters are: Attorney General Bob McDonnell (running for Governor), Springfield Supervisor Pat Herrity, Delegate Dave Albo, and Senator Ken Cuccinelli (running for Attorney General).

In the case of Braddock District Supervisor, Moon who has worked successfully, and extensively with county-wide issues for 10 years in a non-partisan position is far more qualified than his opponent who has been president of his neighborhood association.

Presenting an opposing viewpoint is something that any board member can and will do. To assume that Moon will not present a fresh voice on the board merely because his is not a Republican is unfounded. As Democrats we are known for and characterized by our diversity of opinion, in stark contrast to Republicans who fall in line, and vote lockstep together.

According to the Washington Post, “[their] concern is that he [Moon] would be another yes vote on a board that is sometimes too devoted to consensus.” Devoted to consensus, hmmm…

Take note: this is an approach you will see more of as Republican candidates try to keep or regain seats in government, painting consensus as a ‘bad’ thing. Elephants don’t forget, let’s make sure that Donkeys don’t either, as George Santayana said: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." The past years of Republican rule at both the federal and state level prove the point that Republicans have not demonstrated good faith with the electorate in governing.

More incarcerations or more education, focus on weapons and war or healthcare, and on and on. Which would you choose? Don’t be further deluded into supporting a specious argument that proffers local Republican candidates who would support issues different than state or federal ones. Supporting a local Republican only bolsters support for state and federal Republican policies.

It is clear that Democrats can and do run things very well when in the majority, as evidenced by our even more Democratic neighbors Alexandria, and Arlington.

If it’s quality decision making and diversity of opinion you want, make sure to vote for a Democrat. If you like legislative gridlock, and want support for more of the same, by all means vote for a Republican on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

-Steve Bunn
Co-Chair Lee District Democratic Committee

The rationale for the economic stimulus bill, “the American Recovery and reinvestment Act,” was initially intended for those of the population that lived without much income or had lost their home due to foreclosure. The unemployment rate is now at 7.6% and climbing. In the past year another 2.8 million Americans who want and need full-time work had to settle for low-paying part-time employment. As a result of the wrangling on the content of the bill, funds were cut for the extended health care coverage for the unemployed. Also $30 billion in aid to state governments to prevent reductions in social services to the poor and those out of work was eliminated. In an effort to gain Republican support, significantly more tax cuts were included than originally intended. The package would have a much greater stimulative effect if it increased funding for food stamps and helped states maintain programs and services for their citizens. As Barney Frank testified on ABC TV, it is a testament of right wing messaging that the debate was centered over the cost of the package, while it is perfectly OK to squander at least three times as much on the war and occupation of Iraq. On the other hand it was considered wasteful to build roads, hospitals, schools, and keep people healthy, employed and housed.

The stimulus package was designed to ease the worst economic recession in generations, and combines hundreds of billions of dollars in spending to boost consumption by the public sector, along with tax cuts for the lower middle class to increase consumer spending. Currently, no one is spending, the banks are not lending, and business is not investing. Therefore, the only way to keep the economy stumbling along is by the government doing the spending. The Republican idea to bring the economy back to life is tax cuts, tax cuts, and more tax cuts. This medicine was tried before when the last tax refund we got went from the US Treasury went straight to the oil industry that decided we needed $4 dollar per gallon gasoline just as we received our tax fund checks. Now realize this, every single member of the House GOP, and all but three members of the Senate GOP voted not only against Obama’s jobs creation program, but against the biggest middle-class tax cut ever, after voting for Bush’s gigantic tax cuts for the rich. Now the House Republican leader maintains that “the bill that was about jobs, jobs, jobs has turned into a bill that is about spending, spending, spending.” Now the question arises how is one to provide jobs without spending. Possibly John Boehner was thinking about slave labor.

President Obama wanted to pass the stimulus bill in a bi-partisan fashion. In his inaugural address, he promised to reach out to those willing to unclench their fist. The GOP responded not only with clenched fists, but with swinging clenched fists. We heard from those folks how partisan the development of the bill was, that Republicans were blocked from being involved. This was far from the truth, as the Republicans were allowed to bring their own substitute to the floor where they were unable to muster a majority. In addition, many Republican amendments were considered and voted on, but did not pass as 40 to 60 Republicans voted with the Democrats. Senator Arlen Specter(R-Pa) said before the final vote on last Friday that more of his colleagues would have voted for the bill was it not for being afraid of the political consequences. The grassroots pressure from the far-right constituents was too much, raising fears of Republican primary challenges. The Republicans in Congress is not a group of people Obama should expect anything from beyond what has been demonstrably in evidence. No better bipartisan help can be expected from the GOP obstructionists when it comes to addressing sagging median income, a broken healthcare system, crumbling infrastructure, and global warming. President Obama can work with the Democratic majorities to pass future legislation, with possibly one Republican vote in the Senate. Without such a vote forthcoming he can dare the GOP to thwart popular legislation with a filibuster.

Most economists agree that the current stimulus bill is not enough to get us out the hole we have been digging for the last 8 years. As Churchill said in `1942 “this is not the beginning of the end, not even the end of the beginning”.

Why Sharon

• She has chaired the Board of Supervisors’ budget committee for 17 years. As chair, Sharon has worked behind the scenes to craft a county budget that works and balances the needs of the county’s many different constituencies. This is not an easy job – Fairfax County is required by law to have a balanced budget.
• She helped cut property taxes by 35%, helping to ease the burden during tough times including during the nineties when the economy was not as strong.
• She has the experience and the ability to balance the County budget while also protecting priorities like schools.
• Created and chairs the VRE to ensure that the rail to Dulles is built and thus reduce traffic in the county.
• Proposed cutting her own office’s budget to save the County money.
• She works with all her colleagues, Republicans as well as Democrats, to achieve a win-win budget.
• Much of Sharon’s work takes place behind the scenes, most of us never see how varying and opposing positions are ultimately brought together.
• Under Sharon’s budget leadership, Fairfax County has retained its triple-A bond rating from ALL of the rating agencies, which means that it saves hundreds of thousands of dollars on interest payments. Very few counties in the entire country have this rating.
• She has served on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for 21 years – experience matters.

Why Not Pat

• This is Pat’s first term on the Board of Supervisors and he hit the ground running – away from common sense and reality.
• Pat has missed a number of critical votes on the board – 103.
• In his short time on the board, Pat has developed a reputation as the non-team player.  He consistently throws out ideas and comments that have only a passing relationship with the truth and refuses to engage in dialogue.  When the board doesn’t go along with him,  he either leaves the room or votes against the entirety of a program – even when he agrees with most of it.  Pat doesn’t try to work out a compromise.  He just grabs his toys from the sandbox and skips out.
• For all Pat’s vaunted financial experience in the private sector, he doesn’t seem to understand the underpinnings of the County’s financial situation.  He accuses Sharon of (along with Gerry Connolly) running the County into the ground and growing the deficit.

Here’s the Reality

Fairfax County has been hit hard by the national and state financial downtown.  The County does not have a current deficit. Remember, by law, it’s budget must be balanced.  However, because of the tremendous drop in revenues since the last budget was passed, the County WILL have a deficit IF it funds its programs, services, and school system at the level that exists today.

By law, the County’s ability to raise general fund revenue is restricted.  (Virginia is a Dillon Rule state where counties may only pass laws and ordinances and levy taxes where specifically given enabling legislation by the general assembly.)  Fairfax County’s general fund revenues come primarily from three sources:

• personal property taxes
• real estate taxes
• sales tax

No one is buying houses; no one is buying cars; no one is buying….

Pat is against lots of things.

• He is opposed to the County’s work to ensure affordable housing and wants to see the ‘penny for housing’ abolished.
• Pat is on record saying that the County is the largest landlord in Fairfax County.  It is not!  (Lately, he’s waffling and saying that the County is ‘among the largest landlords.’)
• Pat is opposed to the County’s program to ease the foreclosure crisis.  He is on record saying that ‘it should be left to the market’.
• The board of supervisors currently has 7 Democrats and 2 Republicans serving. In order for the board to function effectively it needs a fair and able leader who can bring about compromise. Pat Herrity has proven that he will be unable to provide this kind of leadership. Time and time again he has voted against legislation solely because he was unable to reach a compromise.

If you haven’t yet decided who to vote for, who to lead Fairfax County in these tough times, decide now for effective, experienced, cooperative leadership.

Vote Sharon Bulova for Chairman: Tuesday, February 3rd.