Moving to Blogspot

I have moved Virginia’s 5th District to a new blog server. I like the format better at blogspot.com so have deiced to continue this blog there. I have been away from here as most people know working on Laurence Verga’s campaign but now that the primary is over I will be blogging on a daily basis about the happenings in the 5th and maybe other areas as well. I hope that everyone who visited this site will continue on at the new one. I realize that there has not been many postings lately but that will change. I have always enjoyed the comments even those that disagree with me and hope they will continue, good discussion is always enlightening.

Hope to see everyone at va5thdistrict.blogspot.

Money for Nothing

And now for a little entertainment.

McKelvey Doesn’t Walk The Talk

Jim McKelvey talks a good talk but doesn’t seem to be able to walk the talk. It turns out that the $500,000 in self funding is coming from a line of credit that has been set up with his bank. The key word here is credit, aka loan, this from someone who finds fault with the federal government for spending money that it doesn’t have. No double standards here.

I have more respect for someone like Ron Ferrin who is not exceeding his means but still wants to represent the people of the 5th District. Ron talks about fiscal responsibility and is living it by running his campaign on a shoe string budget, McKelvey on the other hand has borrowed money so he can make a big splash in the district with his gaudy motor home and his poorly done advertising. He doesn’t even know how to spend his borrowed money wisely. Is that an indication of what he will do in DC? Clearly Ferrin is the more responsible of the two and would make for a better representative.
With McKelvey we have man that goes out and sheds crocodile tears for his country and complains about our out of control government spending and borrowing of money then does exactly what he is finding fault with. He may sound good on the stump with his “inspiring rhetoric” but that is all it is.

We complain about how shallow President Obama is with his populous speech and fail to recognize the same problem with our own candidates; it is time we paid attention to the actions of our candidates as compared to what they say. Just recently we have had several candidates that have been exposed and whose campaign policies are contradicted by their actions. If we don’t act accordingly and these candidates end up running against Perriello in the general election I can guarantee you that the Democrats will tear them apart.

Congressman Perriello is not going to be easy to beat with his funding and the Republicans cannot yield any ground by putting forth a clearly flawed candidate. We need to choose wisely this June and cannot allow our anger and frustrations to supersede our thinking, after all it was emotions that got Obama elected and you see how well that has worked out.

McPadden Needs to Answer Some Questions

Michael McPadden has to answer a few questions concerning his most recent FEC report much better than he did when Bill Hay, Verga’s Campaign manager, questioned him on Joe Thomas’ morning show. When asked about personal disbursements to himself, his wife and his son in the total of $10,132.00 that was listed in the report, Mr. McPadden claimed they were reimbursements for money spent for the campaign. http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/dcdev/forms/C00466730/463208/sb/ALL

I have several questions concerning this answer, why were they not labeled as reimbursements like other entries were and why when questioned could McPadden not remember what the reimbursements were for. It would seem that he would recall what a $4,000.00 payment to his wife was about. Another curious aspect on these “reimbursements” is that they are all perfectly round numbers, ($4000, $2000, $3000) like they were payroll amounts. Other reimbursements to Michael have odd numbers including cents and have notations for travel or office supplies but not these major items, there was nothing to identify what they were for. As was brought up on the program nothing was illegal about these transactions but he seems to be the only candidate who is using donor money for his personal expenses. If Michael needs money to live off while he is campaigning then why not lend less money to the campaign and use personal funds for living expenses. One note to remember of the $9,000.00 paid to him and his wife not one cent was for repayment of the loan he made to the campaign. http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/dcdev/forms/C00466730/463208/sc/ALL

Mr. McPadden has just recently sent out an email requesting more donations, before people send him more money he might want to explain to his contributors what he has been doing with 1/3 of the donations he has received to date. Even though Michael considers this is a “piddling” issue, I believe those who have not drunk his cool aid would disagree. Conservatives for years have complained about this type of nepotism in government and now we have a candidate who claims to be a reformer doing it even before he gets into office.

A different perspective on 1st Quarter fundraising

The numbers on 1st quarter 2010 fund raising  have been in for a number of weeks now and now I will add my perspective on the numbers.

Let’s recap on who earned what

Boyd $19,305

Hurt $101,109

Feda $25,086

Ferrin $??? The FEC still isn’t showing his report.

McKelvey $13,750

McPadden $29,556

Verga $31,523

Total money raised in the 5th District $220,329.

Total raised by the Establishment (Hurt and Boyd -already elected to office) $120,414.

Total raised by the rest of the field $99,915.

The Establishment candidates raised about 20% more money than the others.  Nearly half of funds raised went to candidates who weren’t already in bed with the GOP.  I think this is significant as is shows what the mood of the 5th district is.

If we isolate Hurt alone and add Boyd to the rest of the group, the numbers look like this…. Hurt $101,109…….the rest $119,220.

The field raised about 20% more than Hurt.   This says to me that most folks would rather have anyone rather than Hurt.   And those folks are right that Hurt won’t be able to win against Perriello.    We’ll cover the Goode angle another day.

Alert – Watch the Other Hand

While the Senate is battling over financial reform, the House is moving along on the Progressive agenda to bring our great Republic to it’s knees. HR 2499 is a non-binding resolution in the House of Representatives that would allow Puerto Rico to decide if it wants to become a state in a two stage voting process.

Our liberal media is corrupt that this hasn’t been reported and its up to us patriots to once again call upon our Congressmen and women to prevent this from being passed.  Both Republicans and Demoncrats (my misspelling is deliberate) are co-sponsors of this bill.

Call Tom Perriello and tell him to oppose this bill and vote against it.

For more information

This is the transforming of America as Obama stated and the death toll for our great Republic.

Pot calling Kettle

This came in from Hurt’s campaign today.    How exactly would this work out in a debate?  ‘He voted more times for HIGHER taxes than I!’  ‘I only raised taxes by $1 Billion, he raised it by $663 Billion!’

Perriello Votes for $664 Billion in Tax Increases and Counting…

Congressman Perriello and Democrats in Washington have voted for tax increases totaling over $660B; the equivalent of more than $2,100 in tax increases for every man, woman and child in the United States.

Chatham, VA – Yesterday, The Committee on Ways & Means Republican Committee issued a statement outlining votes by Tom Perriello and his Democratic allies that add up to nearly $664 billion in tax increases (http://tiny.cc/pmkcf).

Despite dozens of town hall meetings where Fifth District residents pleaded for tax relief and asked Perriello to end wasteful government spending, Perriello voted for 24 of the 25 tax increases. Over half of the tax increases he voted for are on middle class families.

His party line votes with Democrats and Barack Obama to tax middle class families and small businesses made him one of President Obama’s favorite members of Congress(Chris Cillizza, “Five House Democrats to watch on health care,” 3/16/2010).

Following The Committee on Ways & Means Republicans statement, State Senator Robert Hurt, conservative Republican congressional candidate in Virginia’s 5th District released the following statement:

“During his 2008 campaign, Rep. Perriello promised Virginians that he would make job creation his top priority. Not only has he done failed to provide job growth and promote an environment for small businesses to start hiring again, he has ignored the calls for help from so many struggling families in the Fifth District.

Since his election in 2008, Tom Perriello has voted to increase wasteful government spending with the so called ‘stimulus package’, voted to increase taxes on small businesses through cap and trade and increase taxes on middle class families with government run healthcare. He has cast his lot with Democrats in Washington and ignored the people of the Fifth District.

We need a leader in Washington, D.C. who will fight for our families and demand that the Democratic controlled Congress pass tax cuts for the hard working families and small businesses of Virginia.

As your next Congressman, I will put Virginians ahead of Washington special interests. My first priority will be to work on legislation that will get the people of our district working again. We need leadership that recognizes that the best way to restart our economic engine is to cut taxes, get government out of people’s lives and let the free market work.”

The Dirt on Hurt

This arrived in my email this morning from the Feda campaign. It is an interesting read. Hurt isn’t the conservative that we need to represent us. He’s not conservative. He’s Tommy-lite.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

“Playing The Game”

Dear Virginian,

As I travel the district, representing Feda at different events and listening to voters, I am hearing encouraging things. There are still people who believe in liberty, freedom and most of all – America. Many, however, realize the task and challenges which lie before us. They understand that we are at a very real crossroads, unlike other election years in our nation’s history. We are entrenched in a battle for our liberties just as imminent as the battle which our founders faced. It is not a time for politics as usual.

Tonight, as I was representing Feda in Mecklenburg, something was said by a fellow Republican that was very disturbing to me. It was not only a statement of error, but was indeed a reflection of the mindset which has pulled us into the mess we truly are in today. In representation of Robert Hurt, a fellow Senator from Virginia stood before us tonight to share why Mr. Hurt should be sent to Washington. After immediately blasting the conservative ideals of two good candidates, this Senator proceeded to state that the idea of strong principles and determination in reclaiming our nation would only work if you were a “dictator” and in America our Congressperson would only be one voice of many and unable to accomplish these strong ideals. He further stated that it is imperative for our next Representative to be someone who “knows the system” and knows how to “play the game”.

As I listened to these remarks the thought hit me, “This is the mindset of the ‘conservatives’ who are ‘fighting’ for our liberties?” God help us.

This year, we can not afford politics as usual. We cannot afford the same political rhetoric which always brings the same results. The allusion Mr. Hurt’s representative made to “playing the game” shows the true mindset we are facing – it is a game. Play to win. Be nice. If we lose it is no big deal, we can always play again tomorrow. This mindset is absolutely unacceptable by someone seeking to represent us in such troublesome times.

We must send a Representative to DC who will have the backbone to stand against the enemies of liberty and the advocates of large, intrusive Government – whether these foes are Republicans or Democrats. Large Government is bad for America under Republicans, just as it is bad for America under Democrats. Higher taxes are just as bad when voted into law by Republicans as by Democrats. It is time we draw the line and say, “Enough is enough”.

If “knowing the system” and “playing the game” are the factors which led Senator Hurt, as well as the Senator speaking on his behalf tonight, to vote for the largest tax increase in Virginia’s history by “crossing the aisle” then I say we need someone who will stand in the aisle and say that we need to change the system and make it a battle for liberty rather than “a game” for career advancement.

Senator Robert Hurt has an interesting voting record. The more someone looks at this record, the more they can understand the “working the system and playing the game” concept. You may agree that we need someone who “knows the system”, I have listed a portion of his voting record for your inspection below to share with you the results of “knowing the system”:

• Mr. Hurt Voted YES on Largest TAX Increase In Virginia State History

SUMMARY:

This bill enacted the largest tax increase in the history of Virginia, in a time when Virginia had a budget surplus of nearly 1 billion dollars.

BILL PASSED

• Mr. Hurt Voted YES on HB 3202 which was deemed Taxation Without Representation

SUMMARY:

Established unelected bodies of public officials and bestowed upon them the power to levy taxes ostensibly for the the purpose of transportation income. The VA State Supreme Court overturned the General Assembly stating that this bill was unconstitutional when they defined it as taxation without representation.

BILL PASSED

• Mr. Hurt Voted YES on SB 945 Giving Same-Sex Couples Domestic Partner Benefits

SUMMARY:

New proposal allowing the transfer of health insurance benefits to the “domestic partners” of employees of Virginia businesses, essentially equating homosexual relationships to heterosexual marriage as far as state law is concerned as it regards employer health benefits. Virginia’s largest GLTB (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender) group, Equality Virginia, hailed this bill as landmark legislation for the homosexual movement.

BILL PASSED SENATE, FAILED IN HOUSE.

The proof is in the pudding and we must wake up. A vote for Robert Hurt will be a vote for another big government, tax and spend Republican who will not stand against oppressive Government in DC any better than he has stood here in Virginia. He has a large crowd of Republican Senators and Delegates campaigning with him, all of which voted for the same tax increase alongside Mr. Hurt, leaving we, the people, paying the bill.

This isn’t a game; it isn’t knowing the system; it is not about political career. It is about reclaiming our nation, her core values, and our freedoms. Patrick Henry didn’t “play the game” when he stated to a body of legislature unwilling to stand, “Give me liberty or give me death” and I say we need to stand with the same mindset of Patrick Henry and get serious about how to salvage this nation for our Grandchildren.

You and your surrogate “play the game” Mr. Hurt, I am going to do all that I can to engage and preserve liberty along with this nation for my grandchildren.

Liberty over the Game;

Aaron Evans
Campaign Manager
Feda For Congress

Broken Windows at Albemarle County GOP

Last night, three windows at the Albemarle County GOP office were broken by vandals.  Story here.

Last Fall on election day, the doors of this same office were glued shut.  And in the 2008 elections, a number of McCain signs were burned in Albemarle county.

Got Rope? What?

This interesting article popped up yesterday on the thinkprogress.org website concerning the TEA parties and the fiasco with Tom Perriello’s brother’s home.  More on the fiasco in an upcoming post. Pay particular attention to the paragraph right above the video.  Don’t forget to watch the video.

Excerpt:

“Another Tea Party member who approves of what Troxel is doing is Kurt Feigel, who “who frequently works and communicates with Troxel and runs a companion blog.” He told ThinkProgress yesterday that he had no problem with posting lawmaker’s home addresses. Feigel has posted YouTube videos advocating people to send “traitor” lawmakers ropes and stock up on guns and ammunition in case the political situation in this country gets too bad.”

Mike Troxel (virginia6thteapartywatchdogs.com Bandwidth exceeded at time of posting) and Kurt Feigel (http://virginiafifthwatchdog.com/)  have it all wrong.  They are acting like Leftist Democrat Activists and Revolutionaries.  We need to respect our representatives, even though we may not agree with them. We don’t publish their home addresses, and we don’t show up at their homes.  Sorry you don’t feel like Tom’s not listening, but don’t go to his house, that’s trespassing.  Leftists do that. You aren’t a leftist, so don’t act like one.  But you can show up daily at his office in DC or a local office and call everyday. Did you ever schedule an appointment to speak with him personally?  I know that it can be done, except when he locks his office door. (Sorry Tom, but  you deserve that.  You had no other business at hand other than listening to your constituents who made the effort to drive up to meet with you).

The Right is right. We use common sense and reasoning to validate our arguments.  We don’t threaten and we don’t publish addresses.  What side feels the need to destroy property when they don’t get their way?  The Left does. We do not. TEA Party members do not. TEA Party members gather in civilized manners, have discussions and cheers, and we leave the place like we found it. We don’t vandalize or terrorize or threaten. We are not thugs or hooligans.

Gun toting and arming up for the apocalypse-zombie-leftist-carbon-overtaxed-healthcare rationing-death panel meltdown?

Send a rope? What????   I’m speechless at this. Draw your own conclusions and comment away. I wouldn’t even consider wasting money on the bloated Post Office to send a potentially misunderstood message like that.

Now, I don’t know how many of you are aware but Kurt supports McPadden 100%.  That’s fine, everyone is starting to make their minds up on who they support.   But for Mr. McPadden’s benefit, I think he needs to distance himself from Kurt. Is Kurt representative of the grassroots of the district and the  TEA Parties?