dagblog - Comments for "Governor Northam: Exhibit (A) In The Case Against Politicians"

Va. Democratic Party denies

artappraiser — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 23:29:32 +0000

In reply to Governor Northam: Exhibit (A) In The Case Against Politicians

Va. Democratic Party denies Justin Fairfax a table at June fundraising gala. In response, he denounced the party. https://t.co/91dIzOeqpA via @rtdnews
— Patrick Wilson (@patrickmwilson) April 23, 2019

In news that you can’t make

rmrd0000 — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 14:50:37 +0000

In reply to Governor Northam: Exhibit (A) In The Case Against Politicians

In news that you can’t make up, the First Lady of Virginia handed out cotton samples to black school children.

A Virginia state employee has complained that her eighth-grade daughter was upset during a tour of the historic governor’s residence when first lady Pam Northam handed raw cotton to her and another African American child and asked them to imagine being enslaved and having to pick the crop.

“The Governor and Mrs. Northam have asked the residents of the Commonwealth to forgive them for their racially insensitive past actions,” Leah Dozier Walker, who oversees the Office of Equity and Community Engagement at the state Education Department, wrote Feb. 25 to lawmakers and the office of Gov. Ralph Northam (D).

“But the actions of Mrs. Northam, just last week, do not lead me to believe that this Governor’s office has taken seriously the harm and hurt they have caused African Americans in Virginia or that they are deserving of our forgiveness,” she wrote.

Northam’s office and one other parent of a child who was present said the first lady did not single out the African American students and simply handed out the cotton to a group. But the incident highlights the scrutiny and doubt that envelop the governor as he tries to push past racist incidents from his past and ignore continued calls for his resignation. His first attempt at a “reconciliation tour” failed last week when the student government at Virginia Union University asked him not to attend a civil rights commemoration there.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-first-lady-under-fire-for-handing-cotton-to-african-american-students-on-mansion-tour/2019/02/27/e03dedbe-3ac4-11e9-aaae-69364b2ed137_story.html?utm_term=.41b881b57833

Northam ‘s redemption tour

rmrd0000 — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 13:36:06 +0000

In reply to The Furor in Virginia Has

Northam ‘s redemption tour begins on Thursday. We will see the response.

The last sentence of the Atlantic article says it all

If the GOP holds the legislature this year, it may have the state’s Democratic leaders to thank.

The Furor in Virginia Has

artappraiser — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 12:43:24 +0000

In reply to Governor Northam: Exhibit (A) In The Case Against Politicians

The Furor in Virginia Has Quieted

Public opinion might help the state’s embattled Democratic leaders survive.

By ANDREW KRAGIE @ TheAtlantic.com, FEB 18, 2019

Your post about the tax

rmrd0000 — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 18:02:35 +0000

In reply to Republicans weakened him by

Your post about the tax refund seemed to suggest that it was a good thing. Are you now saying that it is a bad thing?

Republicans weakened him by

artappraiser — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 17:38:56 +0000

In reply to Republicans are viewing the

Republicans weakened him by causing the politically correct to have an outrage fest against him. People with your inclinations are the intended accomplices. You will continue to be played like this through 2020. It's a favored technique of the Russian trolls as well.

Republicans are viewing the

rmrd0000 — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 13:13:42 +0000

In reply to Legislative leaders reach

Republicans are viewing the bill as a victory

This morning Democratic Governor Ralph Northam and Republicans in the state legislature announced they had worked out a deal on tax cuts. In addition to raising the deduction by 50 percent, to $4,500 for individuals and $9,000 for couples, the deal also provides individual taxpayers a rebate $110 and married couples a rebate of $220… to be delivered in October. That’s one month before every incumbent state legislator seeks reelection.

The October tax rebate will help the GOP incumbents in this November’s state legislative elections, while GOP challengers will be running ads “Senator/Representative-so-and-so opposed the tax rebate you’re now receiving.”

It’s less of a deal than a significant surrender; as the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports, “the compromise does not include any of the spending that Northam proposed in the budget plan he introduced in December.”

Why did Northam agree to the deal? Watching almost every member of his party in the state call for his resignation may have made him less motivated to fight for their priorities – particularly when his former allies take a less-adamant stance regarding scandals involving the lieutenant governor and state attorney general. Northam is reportedly toying with the idea of leaving the Democratic Party and governing as an independent. For Virginia Republicans, Northam may be transforming into the best of both worlds for them – a governor so damaged, he feels pressure to sign their priorities into law, but who is also simultaneously an albatross to Democrats

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/amid-scandal-northam-surrenders-to-virginias-gop-on-tax-cuts/

This goes along with a statement in the Times-Dispatch article

In the House, Democrats were upset about being denied credit for a solution that more closely resembles legislation Del. Vivian Watts, D-Fairfax, introduced than the tax policy bill sponsored by Del. Tim Hugo, R-Fairfax, which House Republicans passed on a party-line vote on Monday.

Watts, the ranking Democrat on the House Finance Committee, introduced legislation that also included a 50 percent increase in the standard deduction, but it was sent to the Rules Committee, headed by House Speaker Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, where it died without a hearing.

Hugo’s bill, championed by Cox and other House Republican leaders, “was not giving back money to the people hit hardest by the Trump tax plan,” she said Friday.

Watts said she is working with Norment and other legislative leaders to amend the compromise to retain a cap on total deductions of more than $313,000 that the federal tax law removes for the wealthiest taxpayers. Keeping the cap would save Virginia about $80 million a year, she said.

Northam stays in office.

rmrd0000 — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 12:53:30 +0000

In reply to Governor Northam: Exhibit (A) In The Case Against Politicians

Northam stays in office. Fairfax impeachment put on hold., Northam benefits from the Fairfax accusations. Fairfax benefits because Northam stays in place. Fairfax may be able to ride this out.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/virginia-lawmaker-backs-off-plan-to-seek-impeachment-of-lt-gov-justin-fairfax_us_5c61682ce4b0f9e1b17fb7de

And a reminder that Fairfax

artappraiser — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 04:02:19 +0000

In reply to And no more gaffes on race,

And a reminder that Fairfax has hired Kavanaugh's law firm and his accuser has hired Christine Blasey Ford's, and he has asked for an FBI investigation.

And no more gaffes on race,

artappraiser — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 03:55:45 +0000

In reply to Legislative leaders reach

And no more gaffes on race, as he'll be scripted by a pro to use politically correct language from now on, no longer sounding like an average person with faults:

Northam says he can lead Virginia in racial reconciliation from the governor's office

By Patrick Wilson @ Richmond Times Dispatch, Feb. 9

Gov. Ralph Northam, who has resisted a week of persistent calls for his resignation over a scandal that started with a racist yearbook photo, said Saturday that he wants to lead the state toward racial healing from the governor’s office.

“I have a lot more to learn. ... The more I know, the more I can do,” Northam told a Washington Post reporter in an interview on Saturday. “I want to heal that pain, and I want to make sure that all Virginians have equal opportunity ... and I think I’m the person that can do that for Virginia.”

Northam, who has hired a crisis communications consultant to help him navigate the scandal, declined numerous requests for an interview this week with the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Northam made the Post agree not to release audio or a transcript of his interview with them as a condition of granting it, and he limited the interview to 30 minutes, the Post reported [....]