VB Dems

Anti-Romney Team-Up?

David Campbell — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:13:47 +0000

After failing to qualify for the Virginia Republican primary ballot, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum may ask their supporters to vote for Ron Paul in an attempt to deny Mitt Romney Virginia delegates. In the open primary, Democrats and independents would be free to pile on as well.

Share on Facebook

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Forbes v. Ward

David Campbell — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:17:49 +0000

Chesapeake City Councilwoman Ella Ward has announced her intention to run against Rep. Randy Forbes in (my own) 4th Congressional District.

Her candidacy may be considered a long-shot:

On the one hand, the district was held by moderate Democrat Norm Sisisky for 10 terms until his death. Forbes (who was then a state senator and Chairman of the state Republican Party) managed to win a low-turnout special election against state Sen. Louise Lucas 52-48% in 2001.

On the other hand, the Republican-dominated General Assembly has racially gerrymandered the district twice since then, methodically slicing black voters out of the 4th district and into Rep. Bobby Scott’s 3rd district. Rep. Forbes has either run unopposed or has dominated token candidates ever since.

Back on the first hand again, the district narrowly voted for Obama 50%-49% four years ago, and Obama will be back on the ballot this year in a high-turnout election. Also, Ward is the most credible candidate Rep. Forbes has ever had to face since taking office. She has already proven to be electable within the district. If this shapes up as a Democratic wave election, she may get swept in with the tide.

Rep. Forbes’ lifetime League of Conservation Voters score on protecting the environment is a truly abysmal 4%. He voted to privatize Medicare and repleace it with a voucher. His biggest legislative accomplishment was a nonbinding resolution redundantlyaffirming that ”In God We Trust” is still the national motto. I will be very happy to support Ward.

Share on Facebook

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Greenhouse Gas Map

David Campbell — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:15:43 +0000

The EPA has made available a searchable map of the nation’s major stationary sources of carbon dioxide and other global warming greenhouse gases.

The proposed ODEC power plant in Surry County would be the largest coal-fired plant in Virginia and would release 11.7 million tons of carbon dioxide per year for 50 years. Let’s keep it off the map.

UPDATE: From NASA, global warming visualized.

Share on Facebook

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday

David Campbell — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:38:28 +0000

Just once per year, we honor Martin Luther King, Jr.

We tend to forget Ralph Abernathy, Julian Bond, Medgar Evers, James Farmer, James Lawson, John Lewis, Dianne Nash, A. Phillip Randolph, Bayard Rustin, Fred Shuttlesworth, Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young, and all of the countless anonymous men and women, black and white, who risked their lives for civil rights. It didn’t happen because of one great man, it happened because of hundreds of ordinary people.

We celebrate the “I Have a Dream” speech as if that was the only thing King ever did. We tend to forget that he was anti-war, pro-union, opposed to extreme income inequality, in favor of universal health care, and, always, an advocate of nonviolence. His dream has not been realized. If he were alive today, he would still be striving toward social justice.

The most eggregious affront to history is that conservatives have misconstrued a single quote to make the absurd claim that King actually opposed the Civil Rights Act and other anti-discrimination laws.

Don’t reduce King’s legacy to one day about one man who gave one speech. Take advantage of this opportunity to expand your knowledge. That same spirit is needed today.

Share on Facebook

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

How health reform controls health cost

David Campbell — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:11:42 +0000

Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius wrote a letter to the Washington Post defending health reform, citing another letter recently submitted to the House Budget Committee by 272 of America’s top economists. According to the economists:

“The Affordable Care Act contains essentially every cost-containment provision policy analysts have considered effective in reducing the rate of medical spending…

…The budgetary impact of repeal also would be severe. The Congressional Budget Office concludes that repealing the Affordable Care Act would increase the cumulative federal deficit by $230 billion over the next decade, and would further increase the deficit in later years.”

UPDATE: Here is an easy-to-understand animation explaining the Affordable Care Act, written and narrated by M.I.T. health care economist Jon Gruber (who advised both Governor Romney and President Obama on health reform).

UPDATE (01/20/2012): Under health reform, most insurance will now be required to cover contraceptives as a free preventive service. Preventing unwanted pregnancies should help control medical costs as well as reduce the incidence of abortion.

Share on Facebook

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Resistance kills

David Campbell — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:00:46 +0000

70% of the antibiotics used in the U.S. are not prescribed for sick people, but are routinely fed to healthy animals in overcrowded factory farms.

Many of the same antibiotics fed to animals are deemed critically important in human medicine by the FDA, including penicillin, tetracyclines and sulfonamides. In recent years, public health experts say there has been an alarming increase in the number of bacteria that have grown resistant to antibiotics, leading to severe, untreatable illnesses in humans. In 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that nearly 3% of salmonella tested was cephalosporin-resistant.

The FDA has tried to limit the use of antibiotics in agriculture since 1977, but its efforts have repeatedly collapsed in the face of opposition from the drug industry and farm lobby.

The European Union banned the feeding of antibiotics and related drugs to livestock for growth promotion in 2006.

In 2008, the FDA issued an outright ban of cephalosporin for livestock. But the agency withdrew the plan after strong opposition from industry groups.

In 2010, the FDA issued voluntarily guidelines urging the judicious use of these drugs. But those have yet to be finalized. Last year, several environmental and public health groups sued the FDA to force it to stop the industry from adding certain antibiotics to the feed of healthy animals.

Last Wednesday, the FDA finally said it would limit the use of cephalosporin in cattle, swine, chicken and turkey. This is just a first step. The meat industry must stop giving antibiotics to healthy animals.

As discussed previously, meat production also creates more greenhouse gasses than transportation.

Nobody expects everyone to go “whole hog” and become vegan, but we would all be healthier if we cut back on our consumption of meat. Here are some helpful tips.

Share on Facebook

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Nominees for Election to the VBDC Steering Committee

Joel McDonald — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 18:44:55 +0000

On Thursday, December 8th, all Democrats in Virginia Beach were invited to participate in a caucus electing members to the 2012-2014 Virginia Beach Democratic Committee. After membership was elected, the nominating committee reported their nominees for officers and directors on the Steering Committee. Nominations from the floor were asked for, but no additional nominations were made. Below is the list of nominees that will be elected on January 9th.

Chair: Tyra Fitch
Vice-Chair: Adrianne Bennett
Secretary: Yvonne Leonard
Treasurer: Alicia Fernandez-Bobulinski
Finance Director: Greg Turpin
Precincts & Elections Director: Joel McDonald
Outreach Director: James Cabiness
Candidate Recruitment Director: Eric Schmudde

Congratulations to the 2012-2014 membership of the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee and nominees for officers and directors.

Share on Facebook

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Regressives

David Campbell — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 14:48:27 +0000

“They call themselves conservatives but that’s not it, either. They don’t want to conserve what we now have. They’d rather take the country backwards – before the 1960s and 1970s, and the Environmental Protection Act, Medicare, and Medicaid; before the New Deal, and its provision for Social Security, unemployment insurance, the forty-hour workweek, and official recognition of trade unions; even before the Progressive Era, and the first national income tax, antitrust laws, and Federal Reserve. They’re not conservatives. They’re regressives. And the America they seek is the one we had in the Gilded Age of the late nineteenth century.” – Robert Reich

Let’s start calling them what they really are: regressives.

Share on Facebook

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Reorganization of the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee

Joel McDonald — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:07:38 +0000

Today, the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee announced details on their biannual reorganization. Every two years, both the membership and officers of the committee are elected. Reorganization provides the VBDC with an opportunity to set new priorities, chose new leadership, and move in new directions.

This reorganization should prove to be somewhat different than in the past. There will be additional focus on organizing at the precinct level with the understanding that all committee members should have a role and responsibility in building the Democratic Party of Virginia Beach so that the local Party brings value to the table when recruiting and supporting Democratic candidates at all levels.

A related change that may be noticed is the clarification that not all Democrats in Virginia Beach need to be members of the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee. The committee is the leadership organization of the Party, and not the Party itself. Following the example of the Democratic Party of Virginia, the Democratic Party of Virginia Beach is made up of all residents of Virginia Beach who believe in the principles of the Democratic Party. One of the major tasks that the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee should undertake is the identification of these residents in order to keep them informed and ask for their support.

To summarize so far; those interested in working directly to build the Democratic Party and win campaigns should become members of the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee, and those interested in staying informed and providing support should identify themselves as a member of the Democratic Party of Virginia Beach. There has never been a process for identifying yourself as a Democrat to the VBDC, but I would expect that to be in place after reorganization is complete in January. For now, the best option is to subscribe to the mailing list of the Democratic Party of Virginia Beach.

A Nominating Committee has been established to give a report of nominees for each office of the VBDC Steering Committee. Nominations will also be taken from the floor. All 2012-2014 members of the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee will be eligible for nomination and to vote for officers. The officers to be elected are as follows:

Chairperson
Vice Chairperson
Secretary
Treasurer
Outreach Director
Finance Director
Precinct & Elections Director
Candidate Recruitment Director

Any persons interested in being considered by the Nominating Committee for any office should email Sandra Brant, Chairwoman of the Nominating Committee. Current officers are listed on the VBDC website.

Key Dates:

December 8th at 7:00 PM, Meyera Oberndorf Central Library
Unassembled Caucus to Elect 2012-2014 Members of the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee

January 9th at 7:00 PM, Meyera Oberndorf Central Library
Election of Officers of the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee

Share on Facebook

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Villanueva Misrepresents Adrianne Bennett’s Position on Transportation

Joel McDonald — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:52:33 +0000

Not only did hopefully outgoing Delegate Ron Villanueva ditch the Lynnhaven River NOW forum without notice, he then tried to tell voters through a mailing that Adrianne Bennett wants to “double” the gas tax to pay for unfunded transportation projects.

If Villanueva had bothered to show up, he would have known that he wasn’t telling the truth in his mailing.

Voters in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake deserve to know the truth, not only about Villanueva’s record of supporting legislation cutting education, and criminalizing the medical choices of women; but also where Adrianne Bennett stands on these issues, and more, including transportation.

To find out where Adrianne Bennett really stands on the issues, visit her website by clicking here.

You can also watch the video the forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of South Hampton Roads, and hear about the issues directly from the candidates.

Remember to VOTE on November 8th!

Share on Facebook

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh