These links are sponsored by the letters VA and the number 10.

A temporarily radioactive Gulf of Mexico can only encourage Virginia tourism. – Dan Sullivan, Blue Virginia

• Gulf Spill Solutoins: Low Yield Nuclear Device – Some great local snark based on the prospect of drilling off the Virginia coast. Blue Virginia has filled a void in the Virginia blogosphere empty since the end of RK.
• Excluding Cellphones Introduces Statistically Significant Bias in Polls – Somewhere between 1 in 3 and 1 in 4 adults only or mostly-only use cell phones for their calls. My wife and I operate this way. We have a landline, but I only use it to make outgoing calls when I’m working from home. Thus, we don’t get polled. Now, we’re pretty regular Democratic voters, not showing up in any models of voting behavior. Go read what Nate has to say about this and November.
• What’s The Matter With Virginia – A new resident of the Old Dominion reflects on his new home.
• Ableist Word Profile: Why I Write About Ableist Language This writer and her series on language is terrific. Remember that you never know who is reading or listening and that words have meanings.
• Henderson Leaving Library Post For SC – Another member of the County’s senior staff is leaving. It’s remarkable how well regarded Loudoun’s public servants are, considering how many other localities seem to be courting them for jobs.
• How the Pill Gave Birth to the Women’s Health Movement. WOW! I didn’t know this! Did you know this?

What has Congress done for you lately? Quite a bit, actually.

And that list, if anything, understates the 111th Congress’s productivity, as some of the larger bills included secondary provisions that would’ve been massive achievements if they’d passed on their own: Think calorie labeling at chain restaurants in the health-care bill, or the consumer financial protection agency in the financial-regulation bill, or any of a half-dozen infrastructure and technological-investment projects passed in the stimulus. – Ezra Klein

Go linky, go now.

• What The 111th Congress Has Done – Ezra Klein starts pushing back against the “paralyzed Congress” false narrative in this great fact-based column about the accomplishments of this Congress. I published something similar in March. Special bonus link to Joe Klein in Time, who examines the politics of this moment.
• Constitution of the Confederate States of America – If you want to know where the Tea Party gets its ideas, it’s here. No internal improvements, no general welfare clause, and state supremacy over the central government. These ideas aren’t new, and they aren’t good. We fought a war on that basis, and these ideas lost. It’s useful to remind ourselves of origins sometimes, as understanding origins can help us understand goals.
• What Hath Reagan Wrought, Part 1 – A historical perspective on the ideology of the great communicator and its results.
• Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) Introduces The “War Is Making You Poor Act” – It’s about time.
• Why Rand Paul Matters Pandagon on the connection between racism and sexism, and the oil spill and mining disasters.
• More Than Just an Oil Spill. Bob Herbert looks at what the oil spill is doing to the folks who fish for oysters.
• Chip Berlet On The Tea Party – Tristero writes a wonderful paen to liberal values in an era of compromise. Hullabaloo provides the progressive movement, once again, with a north star.
• Families’ Every Fuss, Archived and Analyzed – Researchers in UCLA have just completed a remarkable study of two-income, middle class families.

As people who have become active in the past decade or so, we get tons of email from various organizations asking us to sign this petition or fax that senator, not to mention the constant “send $10” requests. In some cases, we even sign this, or send that if the request strikes us so.

Follow below the fold for some of the progressive solicitations we’ve actually responded to recently including supporting the Clean Air Act and accuracy in history textbooks.  

• Oppose a Border-Only Immigration Bill – Reform Immigration for America is running a campaign against a proposed “border only” Republican immigration bill. Reinforcing the border without addressing the millions of Americans here without documentation is not reform, it’s reaction. We need to make sure Sen. Webb is on the right side of this legislation and votes against it.
• Say No to ahistorical, anti-science textbooks rewritten by the Texas State Board of Education – Texas reviews and adapts textbook standards for the major subjects every six years, and because of the size of the state’s market, textbook publishers often print books consistent with the Texas standards. However, the Texas State Board of Education is an elected body currently dominated by the Religious Right and intent on rewriting textbooks according to a right-wing world view and revisionist history. Send a message to those publishers.
• Ask Senator Webb to support Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal in the defense bill mark up – Mark up starts Wednesday. We need one vote to make this happen – his. The time for study is over. This has been studied to death already, and it’s past time that all Americans who want to serve this country be able to do so honestly and openly. Better yet: Call him at 202.224.3121.
• Support the Clean Air Act – Sen. Murkowski is proposing a resolution that would eliminate the EPAs authority to regulate certain greenhouse gases. Our Senators are especially vulnerable on this issue, as they represent a coal-producing state. They need to know that there are Virginia voters who like clean air more than coal.

(I am posting this on behalf of TonyF, who would’ve written this post himself, but is out of town today. -P13)

A friend and long-time Democrat here in Loudoun wrote a letter to Sen. Mark Warner regarding the Citizens United decision. TonyF is a veteran and thoughtful citizen who has been community leader in Leesburg and Loudoun for a long time. He fought hard for Mark Warner throughout the Governor’s career.

Click below to read the Senator’s response to TonyF’s question about Sen. Warner’s position on corporate money in politics.  Here is what the Senator had to say.

Dear Lt. Col.,

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Supreme Court ruling in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (FEC) and legislation that has been proposed to address this issue.

On January 21, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its 5-4 ruling in the case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission where it found long-standing government restrictions on corporate independent expenditures on elections to be unconstitutional in violation of the First Amendment. However, the majority of the Court did find disclaimer and disclosure requirements constitutional.

I share your concerns regarding the negative impact the Court’s decision may have on future elections. Those with immense resources now have the potential to drown out the voices of individual Americans who wish to actively participate in our democracy. On April 30, 2010, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) introduced the Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act (S. 3295) to address this issue. As a member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration I have the opportunity to review S. 3295 and will certainly keep your thoughts in mind.

Again, thank you for writing. As we move forward in the 111th Congress, please continue to be in touch with your opinions and concerns.

Sincerely,

MARK R. WARNER

United States Senator

If you want to ask Sen. Warner to support the DISCLOSE Act, you can contact his office:

459A Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

Phone: 202-224-2023

Fax: 202-224-6295  

Board of Supervisors Public Hearing on Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act Regulations Monday, May 24

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on the proposed Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act regulations at 6:30 p.m., Monday, May 24, 2010, in the Board Room of the Loudoun County Government Center, 1 Harrison Street, S.E. in Leesburg. More information is online at www.loudoun.gov/chesapeakebay.

The health of the Chesapeake Bay is directly related to the health of our local streams, rivers and water table. Loudoun is considering adopting a policy that would require it, by statute, to take efforts to reduce point source pollution and implement measures to preserve and improve the health of the Bay through our own tributaries.

That may sound onerous, but click below to read just how simple and basic the requirements would be. This is quite literally the easiest step we could take to start improving the quality of the water we share with our neighbors along the Potomac.Loudoun has been examining its role in protecting the Bay since the new Board took office in 2008. For the past year, a series of stakeholder meetings have been held to gather public input about proposed changes to development requirements that would reduce Loudoun’s pollution of the Bay. The essence of the Act is to provide a 100 foot buffer around waterways and wetlands that feed the Bay. It’s the most basic and simple of protections, but one which has been sorely ignored by Loudoun’s development culture.

Supervisor McGimsey has been a strong voice for the environment throughout her career, and on this issue, she is out in front, as usual.

Many of you have already spoken with me about your thoughts on the proposed Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act regulations.  The official public hearing is on Monday evening (more information below), which is your chance to speak directly to all nine supervisors.  I hope you will take advantage of this important opportunity to communicate with us.

Andrea McGimsey

Interested members of the community should come to the hearing at the Loudoun Government Center on Monday evening. If you are wondering how adoption of a program under the Bay Act would impact you, the County has provided an excellent presentation explaining what is involved and an interactive map of areas of the County that would be impacted.

Our neighbors in Fairfax and Alexandria have already adopted their programs for the Bay Act. As the northernmost County in Virginia feeding into the Potomac, our ability to influence the water quality going into the Chesapeake (From Broad Run and Goose Creek, just to name two tributaries) is great.

The health of our water is the health of all of us. Providing a buffer around streams and wetlands is a way for us to do our part for our future, and the future of the Bay. The Board should adopt a program of action under the Bay Act.

(This is something I wrote in March, but given Tuesday’s results, I felt it was worth reprising here as a reminder of how far we’ve already come. -P13)

A moment of levity from the healthcare denouement over the past few weeks was the shout of “Yes, we did” from a Congress member during the President’s signing ceremony. The President had commented about the amount of abuse many members of Congress had suffered during the debates, and “Yes, we did” was Congressman Ackerman’s response.

But “Yes, we did” is also a fitting reminder for what has been accomplished since January, 2009. In the face of united and vitriolic opposition from the Republicans, as well as outright lies and slander, our Democratic Congress and President Obama have delivered on progress for the American people. It’s cumbersome progress, and the change we want is not arriving as quickly as we might have wished, but turning the ship of state is not a rapid maneuver. Our President promised change we could believe in, not change that would happen quickly, or even change that would be revolutionary.At this point, it is worthwhile to review the changes that have happened since January 2009, and reflect. These changes are, after all, what we as Democrats believe in.

• Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act – Reestablishes a woman’s right to seek justice for pay inequality at work. Fair pay for fair work has been a founding principle of our party for centuries.
• American Reinvestment and Recovery Act – This law mitigated the worst of the great recession, delivered a tax cut to 95% of Americans, and began the reinvestment in our public infrastructure the nation needs to be competitive for the next century.
• SCHIP – Before there was HRC or HIR there was SCHIP. We might forget, but making sure kids get access to healthcare was actually controversial thanks to the Republicans. Among the first things Democrats did upon gaining the majority and the Presidency was reasserting our belief that children shouldn’t get sicker because their parents cannot afford healthcare.
• Credit CARD Act of 2009 – Rebalancing the relationship between credit card companies and consumers, this bill prevents credit card issuers from arbitrarily raising interest rates and changing terms, and gives consumers full visibility into the long-term cost of credit card debt on their bills. No longer will credit card companies be able to use unannounced fees and term changes to gouge people.
• Justice Sotomayor – After a decade of conservative judges being appointed to the high court, we added a Democratic Justice whose experiences so closely match the struggles and triumphs of millions of Americans. Regardless of race and gender, Justice Sotomayor’s life and experiences give her a perspective on justice that has been sorely lacking on the Supreme Court.
• Withdrawal from Iraq – Without too much fanfare, Iraq’s recent elections continue the American road to withdrawal from a misguided war.
• Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – Health insurance reform. This Congress and this President cross the finish line on a race that was 100 years old. Every American will have the opportunity to get insurance. No one can be turned aside for pre-existing conditions. There will be no “lifetime cap” on benefits.
• Health Reform Enhancements – Not only did Congress pass the reform, they improved it in the same week! The reconciliation package provided greater assistance for those who will have the most difficulty affording insurance, while reducing the deficit by over $100 billion over the next 10 years.
• College Loan Reform – For years, our government has assumed all the risks of student lending, while allowing private banks to take all the profits. This year, Congress changed that to make more money available for grants, make student lending more efficient and cost-effective, and expand the availability of college loans for students across the country.

And those are just the big ones. There are other, lesser known accomplishments that are equally worthy of pride, for example:

• Civil Rights History Project – In 2009, Congress and the President directed the Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress to begin a project collecting the oral histories of the Civil Rights movement. Fifty years later, this is an idea that was long overdue.
• Fraud Enforcement and Recovery – There was some question as to whether the massive frauds in the mortgage industry that led to the financial meltdown of 2008 were actually illegal. This act answered that question, and ensured that banks that perpetrated such acts would be criminally prosecuted.
• Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform – After years of no-bid contracts and missing pallets of cash, has begun the work of reforming and accounting for how Defense acquisitions are managed.
• Tobacco Regulation – Thanks to Congress and the President, the FDA can finally regulate one of the last unregulated drugs.
• Human Rights Enforcement – Did you know that before this Administration, there was no dedicated division in the Department of Justice for enforcing international human rights laws? Now there is.

Change, when it is happening, can be hard to see. A glance back at some of the things accomplished in the past year is important, because none of these things would have happened without a Democratic Congress and a Democratic President. And there wouldn’t be this Congress and this President without the time, money, energy and support of Democratic activists and volunteers, as well as millions and millions of voters across America, joining together in election and campaign, month after month, to make it happen.

Yes, we can. Yes, we did.

Tonight, for the first time ever, two incumbent Democratic Senators failed to win primaries in a single day.  That has never happened before, and is greater than the number of incumbent Democratic Senators who lost primaries over the past decade combined.  Further, both challengers had little to no establishment support (especially Sestak), and one was in a red state (Halter).  Most importantly, both challengers took on the incumbents from the left. – Chris Bowers, OpenLeft

2010 has been billed as a bad year to be a Democrat, but yesterday’s results proved otherwise. In the only race actually deciding a Congressional seat yesterday the Democrat won (just as Democrats have won every special election this year). In the vast majority of races with Democrats in them, the more Democratic candidate either won or pushed the less Democratic candidate to a runoff.

You’d think the narrative would be “progressives triumphant” but for some reason the media is obsessed with a man named Rand.

That’s fine, it’s okay for them to be wrong for a while. It gives us a chance to build our fight for VA-10. Jeff Barnett is poised to ride a wave of anti-establishment opinion into the hallowed halls of Congress.There are few Representatives in Congress who are more “establishment” than Frank Wolf. He came in with the Reagan revolution and has been a muddler in Congress ever since. While Chair of the Transportation committee he accomplished nothing as Loudoun county began to experience the growth that required action on roads, trains and buses long before today. He is the “dean” of the Virginia delegation, having served longer than any other member from our Commonwealth, and yet he is quite possibly the least-known Congressmember from Virginia.

Jeff Barnett and Democrats like him will have an opportunity in the Fall to run on Democratic accomplishments. Frank Wolf’s record in Congress is thin while he was in power, and retrograde while he is in opposition. As my colleague Daverunner has cataloged, Mr. Wolf has voted against the very legislation which is putting our country back on the right track. Just a few bills Mr. Wolf voted against, bills that will directly benefit his constituents, include:

• The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act – In a supreme act of hypocrisy, Frank Wolf voted against the bill, and then criticized the Governor for not spending its money fast enough.
• Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010 – Energy conservation in our appliances is just good sense, of which Mr. Wolf apparently has little.
• The Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act – Which Frank Wolf opposed because apparently my wife and daughter shouldn’t be paid the same money for the same work as a man. Because that is staying in touch with the needs of his constituents in VA-10.
• Health Insurance Reform – Nevermind the number of families with children over 18 who need to stay on their parents’ insurance. Nevermind the number of people in our district who have run up against “lifetime caps” on benefits, or been dropped from coverage after getting sick, Frank Wolf voted against this bill, and his fellow Virginians.

Tuesday showed America, and Virginia, one thing. It showed that when given a choice, voters choose the candidate who is fighting the hardest for them.

(P.S. Go read KathyInBlacksburg at BlueVirginia today. This post could have been titled, “What Kathy Said.”)

It’s all about the links, really and truly.

I’ve noticed a tendency among wingnuts to respond to cartoons like this one and last week’s (about pre-polluted babies), with accusations that I just want to go back to the stone age. I marvel at this quaintly simplistic, binary way of thinking. As if any suggestion that we apply more reason and caution to how we do things means I want to return to a purely agrarian lifestyle living off my own yams. It must be nice to live in a world where everything fits into a neat little box. – Jen Sorensen

• New Uses For the Gulf of Mexico – Jen Sorensen went to UVA, so her stuff is doubly awesome.
• Rt 28 Stakeholder Meeting – There’s a meeting for people interested in what’s going on on the Rt 28 corridor next Monday.
• Out Of My Mind – A CBS news reporter is recovering at Walter Reed from getting blown up while covering Afghanistan. She is recording her saga through this little-known blog. This post is just a taste of the price of war, and everyone should read it, and then consider that she wasn’t even a combatant.
• Bitter First Fruits and Sarcastic “Academics” – A nice peek into the smoke and mirrors that is the marriage movement. And an answer to the question, “what happens when you call a conservative’s bluff.”
• ATM’s a Mystery to Senator – An incredulous story about how out-of-touch some legislators are with regard to ATM’s (and simple technology as a whole), especially Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE).
• On Rand Paul – Vivian Paige’s take on Rand Paul proves why she is in the pantheon of best bloggers in Virginia. Read it.
• Biodiesel from Sewage Sludge Within Pennies a Gallon of Being Competitive – Gas from sewage at competitive prices? Man, I love human ingenuity. Perhaps this is a fitting tribute, in some way, to our 43rd President.
• Three Reasons a GOP Landslide Won’t Happen – Worth reading if only for this quote, “The Tea Party can fit inside the GOP because it is more a mood than a philosophy: surly, bitter, and above all entitled (cut my taxes, but keep your hands off my Medicare and Social Security).

This is just a reminder that American Flatbread is having their Relay For Life benefit bake today. If you can eat there today, tell them you want 15% of your bill to go to the Relay For Life team that the LCDC is sponsoring.

There’s a map to American Flatbread below.  
View Larger Map

Apparently, some Loudoun residents are taking transportation planning into their own hands, after seeing the mess that Richmond has made of things, and the plan that the County is currently revising.

Steve Hines of Citizens for a Countywide Transportation Plan says the initial plan has been using the wrong traffic patterns, overestimated traffic volume and ignored options to ease congestion.

“Instead of simply fixing intersections or chokepoints, they expand the roads between each chokepoint,” Hines says.

Hines also says the plan doesn’t take into account the effect Metro’s Silver Line will have on county traffic.

“The feeder bus network to support (the Silver Line), the Park N’ Ride lot, that’s very underestimated,” Hines says. – WTOP.com

I applaud my neighbors’ initiative to come forward with an actual plan for a presenting problem rather than just complaining about things. However, I remain skeptical that all of our traffic woes can be solved with roundabouts and buses. We’re going to need more and wider roads in some places that may make people unhappy. It sucks, but so does traffic backed up 20 miles on our throughways and the attendant pollution and frustration.  A quick search on this effort reveals that the mind behind this alternative plan, Steve Hines, has made his opinions about roads and development known in a letter to the Middleburg Eccentric.

The CTP, as drafted is over reaching, at a projected $2, 000,000,000, it appears to be too costly to implement, would end the concept of walk-able neighborhoods as envisioned by the Board, would attempt to use new roads to promote residential development in the Transition Area, attempts to create the allusion of residential housing as economic development, ignores the needs of existing communities and calls for a vast north-south road network when what we need are east-west improvements

…

If the Loudoun Board approves the draft CTP, they will be writing a check that our children and grandchildren will be forced to pay. The bill for the hundreds of miles of new roads proposed in the CTP will fall to the citizens of the county as they will be expected to cover the cost of the residential rezonings which will result as county officials trade massive residential development for unneeded ‘developer’ roads.

Steve Hines

Aldie, VA

Overdevelopment in Loudoun is frustrating. The agreements entered into by previous Boards (which were legal if odious) have left the County with a surfeit of already-approved residential development still being built-out. The lack of state funding for our roads means that the County has only two choices for new, necessary roads: proffers or taxes. To criticize the proffer system is not a free critique, it implies that the preference would be for an alternative form of funding necessary improvements to our transportation infrastructure, be they roads, roundabouts or buses. If not proffers, then taxes.

The false choice is not to build any more roads at all. Traffic is growing, and regardless of what Loudoun does, West Virginia is building out their panhandle like mad. Those people are going to commute through Loudoun on our roads, whether we want them to or not. Avoiding that reality, or denying it, is a path to even larger problems in the future than those Mr. Hines worries about in his letter.

I fear that the plan offered by Mr. Hines and his colleagues is based on flawed assumptions about the leveling off of traffic in Loudoun. The advantage that the County’s plan has is the months of public input and hours of work that have gone into it. The County’s plan is truly reflective of a democratically inclusive process.

As Mr. Hines knows, the hearing process used by the Board of Supervisors is one of the many elements of the constant solicitation of public input on important public issues.

• Step one is publicly referring the issue to a Board or Commission, and the public is welcome to comment at the Supervisor meeting at which the issue is initially brought up.
• Step two is for the Board or Commission to study the issue and make a recommendation. All meetings of Boards and commissions are public, and people are welcome to come and make their views known.
• Step three is for a recommendation to be referred back to the Board of Supervisors, once again the public can come and comment.
• Step four is for the Board to act (or not) on that recommendation.
• Of course, throughout this process, citizens are welcome to call and write their Supervisors. As we have geographically and population delineated Districts, our Supervisors are generally quite responsive to inquiries and comments from their constituents.

By my count, that’s at least five different opportunities for the public to let their opinions be known.

Part of the issue, however, is that just because you are heard, that doesn’t mean you get your way.

The alternative plan offered by Mr. Hines does not have the benefit of massive public input and official deliberation. It is an important part of the public discussion, but given the preponderance of public scrutiny the County’s plan is being subjected to, I believe. Citizens for a Countywide Transportation Plan carries the burden of proof that their plan is both more viable and more widely accepted than that of the County. As yet, that proof is lacking.

But that’s just how I see it.

(Once again, a tip-o-the-hat to Loudoun County Traffic for the story.)