Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell had just explained, with a heart-breaking letter and a sotto voce delivery, that his marriage was in shambles. He went on from there to describe how those personal woes sucked him into a public corruption case.
He testified that first lady Maureen McDonnell was seeking money, attention and maybe even affection from a charming, free-spending businessman. McDonnell told the jury he was in the dark about his wife’s affairs, both financial and (non-physically) romantic.
And so the first criminal case in history against a Virginia governor could come down to this: Does McDonnell, self-professed micromanager and 2012 vice presidential prospect, make a convincing chump?
“Maureen, I manage the finances,” McDonnell said he told his wife upon learning (belatedly, he claimed) that she had borrowed $50,000 from then-Star Scientific executive Jonnie R. Williams Sr.
Did he manage them or not?
I have been sucked into this political soap opera just like it is Dallas, back in “Who shot J. R.” days. I tune in after each day in court. It isn’t even that I dislike Bob McDonnell. I dislike some of the things he did–extremely dislike. (Gov. Ultra-sound) On the flipside, I also like some of the things he did, like just saying NO to Common Core. So this isn’t a matter of like or dislike. It’s a matter of just being incredulous.
RICHMOND — The private law firm hired to represent Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and his staff in the embezzlement case against the former chef at the governor’s mansion has billed Virginia nearly $54,000 for its first five weeks of work, according to documents released Monday.
About $24,000 of the bill was for legal work performed on behalf of McDonnell (R), said Tony Troy, the firm’s lead attorney on the matter. The remainder was for representation provided to McDonnell’s staff and for handling Freedom of Information requests related to the case, Troy said.
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II appointed Troy’s firm, Richmond-based Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, to represent McDonnell and his office because the attorney general had conflicts of interest related to the chef case. The attorney general ordinarily would represent the governor and state employees.
At first I just thought it was an awkward situation getting a lot of attention…high roller Republicans buying in to a company to make healthy smoking. Now I think it is a far more serious situation that involves influence peddling.
The Washingtonpost.com:
Williams offered the wedding gift at a time when Glen Allen, Va.-based Star Scientific, which makes a dietary supplement and facial cream under the brand name Anatabloc, was suing the state to challenge a property tax assessment.
The governor and his wife have been high-profile boosters for Star Scientific, which has lost money for 10 years and is the subject of a federal securities investigation and two shareholder lawsuits. Maureen McDonnell traveled to Florida to talk up Anatabloc to investors three days before the wedding, and she and the governor hosted a gathering at the mansion to mark the product’s arrival in stores.
Does the above paragraph send up red flags? In Virginia, this behavior is not illegal but it sure is unethical to most of us. McDonnell says the money was given to his daughter, even though he signed the contract and put down an $8,000 deposit which was later refunded to Mrs. McDonnell. It all just sounds like weasel words at this point.
McDonnell isn’t much of a businessman. Saslaw is right. Why should Virginians absorb the entire cost when clearly 1/3 cars on our highways are out of state. McDonnell shoots himself in the foot, again, with this proposal. The metrics aren’t on his side.
Gov. Bob McDonnell on Monday unveiled a two-year, $84.9 billion spending plan that balances increases in transportation, higher education and the state’s pension system with $882 million in targeted reductions largely to Medicaid and public education funding. The proposed budget for July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2014, contains no tax increases but raises certain fees, including $10 million worth from the Department of Motor Vehicles.
If fees are increased at the DMV, doesn’t that really constitute a tax increase, by another name?
Additionally, if items like Medicaid and public education get shortchanged, doesn’t that simply make local governments more strapped for much needed cash? The real estate market has not rebounded all that much which is where the taxes come from in most localities. There is also a movement under way to do away with the BPOL tax.
Somehow politicians need to accept that we are not all that stupid. We know that neither PWC nor Virginia can print money. We know that a certain amount of money is needed for schools and for medicaid. If the buck stops here, we either do without cops and other public safety services or we have 40 kids in a classroom.
How do you cut back on Medicaid? Where do you start? Do you disqualify people? I don’t know the answers. It just seems that we are playing a shell game. The fed cuts what it gives to the states. The state cuts what it gives to the localities. The localities have things they must do like provide medicaid, education money and public safety. So we move it around.
This is like the song, Where have all the Flowers Gone. Gone to Flowers everyone. McDonnell is on Fox News bragging that he has a surplus. Not really. How about that money owed to VRS that has not yet been repaid? How about what is being shorted the localities? How about the increased fees? Just because we don’t call it a tax, is it still a tax? Yup.
I don’t really care. I noticed a huge hit since the last time I renewed my license. I expected it. But lets call it what it is. It’s a tax increase called a fee.
We hesitated before posting this picture. We still aren’t comfortable doing it. However, there is no way to convey the inappropriateness without the visual. We are going to post this montage for 24 hours, with reservations, and then take it down so as not to further contribute to something we don’t approve of. Update: as an alternative, we took the President out of the picture.
Congratulations to Loudoun Insider for calling out the Loudoun County Republican Party for their inappropriate Halloween montage featuring President Obama with a bullet hole in his head. According to Too Conservative Blog:
LCRC Goes WAY Too Far
By Loudoun Insider
This cartoon montage just arrived as part of an LCRC email blast. I am no fan of Barack Obama, but putting up a photo of him as a zombie with a bullet hole in his head???????????? Like him or not he is the legitimately elected the President of the United States and Commander in Chief of our armed services in a time of war. THIS IS DISGUSTING AND SHAMEFUL. Someone should send this to the US Secret Service.
WTOP.com printed that Governor McDonnell went on record opposing the depiction of such violence and said forcefully that it wasn’t to happen again:
Gov. Bob McDonnell, through spokesman J. Tucker Martin, called on the Loudoun GOP to “apologize for their actions, and to immediately ensure that such imagery is never used again.”
Virginia GOP Chairman Pat Mullins said such an image “has no place in our politics. Ever.”
Loudoun County GOP chairman Mark Sell said in an email response to The Associated Press that the graphic was “a light-hearted attempt to inject satire humor into the Halloween holiday.”
Chairman Sell needs to grow up and exercise some judgement if that is what he thinks. Remember how appalled most of us were when some reporter threw a shoe at President Bush? Many of those who were outraged weren’t Republicans. They were Americans who had seen their president threatened. I think the same sentiment leaps out at us here.
The above video explains the damage in neighboring Culpeper, Virginia. The main damage was done near the epicenter in Mineral, Virginia, 35 miles from Culpeper.
Gov. Bob McDonnell and Virginia First Lady Maureen McDonnell met privately with President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for approximately 10 minutes this morning in Hampton in what was described as a “friendly visit” by McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin.
The conversation ranged from Louisa County disaster aid to a park designation for Fort Monroe to the focus of the president’s event — veterans.
McDonnell and the first lady welcomed the Obama’s to Virginia and the governor thanked the president for making the hiring of veterans a priority, according to a brief description of the meeting by Martin.
Still fuming from a denial of federal aid for earthquake-battered Louisa County, Gov. Bob McDonnell has invited President Barack Obama to join him in Louisa next week during Obama’s swing-state bus tour.
McDonnell, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, wrote in a letter Tuesday to Obama that “it would benefit your administration to understand the devastation brought on by this historic earthquake, and to see how the community’s recovery will be hindered as a result of FEMA’s denial of important emergency relief funds.”
The Aug. 23 magnitude-5.8 earthquake that shook much of the East Coast was centered near Mineral.
The state was notified Friday that its request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for assistance for residents of Louisa was turned down. The declaration would have made federal grants and low-interest loans as well as unemployment assistance and crisis counseling available to homeowners, renters and businesses.
Gov. McDonnell wants to make some changes to the Virginia educational system. In particular, he has been impressed by what he has seen in Asian schools. According to Newsadvance.com:
Driven by what he’s seen of education programs in Asian countries and other parts of the world, McDonnell said Virginia needs to step up its efforts. Those nations, he said, have “phenomenal education systems training people in math and science and technology.”
“I want to raise the bar,” McDonnell said. “I’d like to have more competition. I’d like to have more charter schools, more college laboratory schools, and more virtual schools. I’d like to find ways to increase our teaching of important life skills, from financial literacy to civics to business, so young people will have a sense of the broader things that are going to make them good citizens,” he said.
More money for K-12 schools isn’t necessarily the way to achieve his goals, he said.
“I am suggesting we may want to look at the ways we allocate that (money for K-12) and put it more directly into instructional programs and less in non-instructional ones,” he said.
Governor McDonnell squawked loudly for Virginia and crowed about lower unemployment numbers and Virginia’s growth. VRS compares very favorably to most other pension plans but needs some tweaking to stay solvent, according to McDonnell.
McDonnell needs to be reminded that the VRS is not the state’s personal ATM. It was very solvent for many years, since 1908 to be exact. Funny how the Republicans discover its woes after all these years. Could it be that Mrs. Cantor wants to shift the burden of payment off the state and and the localities? Isn’t that the Republican way? Maybe the state should keep paying and the employee chip in a little more. That would should good faith. I sure don’t want to hear the Republicans chest thumping about how much money they saved the state in a few years.
During the 2009 gubernatorial campaign, Bob McDonnell said he wanted to investigate selling Virginia’s state liquor stores to private owners. Many of us went nuclear at the time but figured he would move on past that bad idea. Apparently we thought wrong. In fact, an article in the Washington Post slipped right past me on May 17.
From the WaPo, in its entirety:
Gov. Bob McDonnell’s administration has been quietly meeting for months with members of the alcohol industry and others in the community who would be affected by his proposal to privatize liquor stores.
Eric Finkbeiner, the governor’s senior advisor for policy, has been talking informally with representatives from the Restaurant and Hospitality Association, Diageo Beverages, Miller Coors, Associated Distributors, Retail Merchants Association of Virginia, Virginia Wine Wholesalers, Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, Beer Wholesalers Association, Total Wine, Virginia Wineries Association, Wine Institute, Sazerac (which owns Bowman Distilleries in Virginia), Virginia Retail Merchants Association, MADD, public safety organizations and faith-based groups.
Finkbeiner and his working group will bring possible ideas to the commission, which is charged with providing initial recommendations to McDonnell by July 16, and writing a final report by Dec. 1.
McDonnell estimates the sale of the ABC stores could bring in as much as $500 million for much-needed road improvements, but his critics argue that any one-time proceeds would be offset by the permanent loss of $100 million in annual revenue that goes to other state services.
Last week, at a public forum focused to kick off the government reform effort, McDonnell said he would not support holding a referedum to decide whether the ABC stores should be privatized.
“For 70 years, we’ve distributed beer and wine in every 7-Eleven, every Food Lion. But we’ve controlled the distribution of spirits,” he told the crowd of more than 100 people. “From a free market stand point, it doesn’t make sense to continue to control only one part of the distribution.”
Virginia has a long history of having state stores that dates back to the end of prohibition in 1933. The history and accompanying pictures can be found at the following link on the ABC website.
Additionally, Virginia makes money off the state stores–lots of money and that money goes in to other programs. See the 2009 annual report. Download here. (pdf)
What is McDonnell’s obsession with privatizing our state ABC stores? Any private industry will have one objective–making money. Virginia regulates the use of alcohol and its primary objective is not financial. McDonnell will run in to a big fight if he continues with this tradition-breaking stupidity.
Governor McDonnell has reiterated his position on releasing double murderer Jens Soering to his native Germany to Attorney General Holden. According to the Richmond Times Dispatch:
Last Thursday, Holder, responding to questions from Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte, R-6th, said his office was waiting for official word for Virginia’s position on the Soering matter.
McDonnell wrote yesterday, “in light of your public comments at last week’s hearing, I want to formally reiterate that Virginia has clearly revoked authorization for a transfer of Jens Soering to Germany. Soering is currently in Virginia’s custody for state offenses and he will remain so in order to serve out his Virginia sentence for the horrendous crimes he committed in our commonwealth.”
Additionally, McDonnell has stated that he is revoking the state’s consent to any transfer of Soering who was convicted in the 1985 vicious slayings of his girlfriend’s parents, Derek and Nancy Haysom in their Bedford County home.
Good for Governor McDonnell. Soering needs to cool his jets in a Virginia prison. I would hope that AG Holden upholds Virginia’s wishes.
Civil Rights are defined as: the right to vote, the right to serve on a jury, the right to hold public office and the right to serve as a notary public. if someone is convicted of felony, then one loses these civil rights. Virginia Constitution says, “No person who has been convicted of a felony shall be qualified to vote unless his civil rights have been restored by the governor.” There is no limitation on the governor’s power to restore rights, and no mention of having to report the names of such people to the General Assembly.
Virginia and Kentucky are the only two states that do not automatically restore convicted felons’ civil rights. Most states restore these rights upon the completion of a prison sentence, probation or parole. In Virginia, felons convicted of a nonviolent offense must wait three years after completing all court obligations—sentencing, fines and probation—then file an application for the restoration of rights to the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
If your conviction is for a violent offense —or a drug manufacturing or distribution offense—the process is much more difficult.
The nonviolent offender’s application is two pages. The violent application is 12. Iachetta calls the violent felony forms cumbersome. “They’re horrible,” she says.
After waiting five years after all court obligations, a person convicted of a violent felony must obtain a burdensome collection of paperwork: a letter from your most recent probation or parole officer, copies of your pre- or post-sentence report, certified copies of every order of conviction and sentencing orders, three letters of reference and, to top it off, a personal letter to the Governor explaining your convictions and how your life has changed.
Iachetta says that roughly half of the people she sees who start the process don’t complete it.
“There’s got to be an easier way,” says Iachetta. “I don’t know at this point what it is. The process can be streamlined. That being said, until it happens, we’ve got to deal with what we’ve got.”
[Note: Iachetta is Charlottesville’s general registrar]
Governor Bob McDonnell has added another hoop for former felons to jump through. He is now proposing that those who want voting rights restored must write an essay outlining their contributions to society since their release, Civil Rights leaders and many others interested in prisoner rights, are outraged by this plan. They say it targets minorities, the poor and the under-educated and denies them of their civil rights. Others are cheering on McDonnell for ‘meaning business.’
McDonnell’s administration said the essay requirement is designed to put a human face on each applicant and to help staff members better understand each person’s situation.
“It gives all applicants the opportunity to have their cases heard and have their full stories told,” said Janet Polarek, secretary of the commonwealth, whose office handles the requests. “It’s an opportunity, not an obstacle.”
McDonnell is revamping the entire system for felons to have their rights restored as he works to make good on a campaign pledge to process every application within 90 days, considerably faster than any other administration in recent history.
“Under Republican and Democratic governors, they have had to wait six to 12 months — longer in some cases — to get an answer,” Polarek said. “Under the McDonnell administration, our goal is to restore the rights of everyone who has fulfilled their obligation in the most timely manner in Virginia’s recent history.”
For those who have difficulty with literacy, writing an essay seems like an immovable obstacle. Where in the Virginia Constitution can this kind of requirement be found? Many prisoners and past prisoners suffer from the same malady; under-education plagues prisoners. To ask someone with limited education to write an essay might just fall into the realm of cruel and unusual punishment.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has directed state agencies not to discriminate against gay people, essentially overriding the state attorney general’s advice to colleges.
McDonnell’s directive Wednesday came amid a public uproar over Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli’s letter last week telling public colleges they lack the authority to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. Cuccinelli told colleges to rescind or change any anti-discrimination policies that include protection for gay people.
The Republican attorney general’s letter was denounced by gay-rights groups and Democrats. In the letter, Cuccinelli said colleges can’t include gays in their anti-discrimination policies without General Assembly authorization.
The Richmond Times Dispatch further adds that the AG is all happy that the governor has issued his ‘don’t discriminate’ decree. Now what’s wrong with this picture?
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who says there’s nothing in Virginia law to protect gay state workers from discrimination, is welcoming Gov. Bob McDonnell’s decree against bias on the basis of sexual orientation.
However, it’s not clear from a written statement just issued by Cuccinelli whether he backs the governor’s legal thinking in issuing a so-called executive directive protecting gay employees.
“I applaud Gov. McDonnell for the tone he is setting for the commonwealth of Virginia,” said Cuccinelli.
“I will remain in contact with the governor and continue to work with him on issues important to Virginians. I expect Virginia’s state employees to follow all state and federal anti-discrimination laws and will enforce Virginia’s laws to the fullest extent.”
So if you are feeling just a little bit confused, welcome to my world. Has someone contacted Jon Stewart to tell him its OK here in Virginia now? The Guv has nullified the AG. Maybe he will now retract his remark about our gay flag.
Perhaps Gov. Moderate McDonnell has discovered that Virginia really does want a mainstream governor and that this nonsense just isn’t going to fly. I am glad he made this decision.
EVEN BEFORE Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell took office a month ago, he made clear that he would force cuts of almost $2 billion from the state’s two-year, $30 billion operating budget. That’s on top of $2 billion-plus in cuts already proposed in the spending plan submitted by his predecessor, Timothy M. Kaine, shortly before he left office — to say nothing of the billions more Mr. Kaine had already lopped from the budget. Mr. McDonnell, who ran for election on a platform opposing higher taxes, was within his rights; having preached the Republican gospel of smaller government as a candidate, he has something close to carte blanche to cut the budget.
Past Virginia governors, faced with having to make cuts, proposed budget amendments and took the political responsibility. By contrast, Mr. McDonnell, after weeks of consultations with top lawmakers in Richmond, has made only private recommendations to make heavy cuts that would involve closing schools across the state, firing state employees and slashing health and social service programs.
The governor’s approach has left even Republican lawmakers seething. “I just wish he’d be clear with us and with the public right now and send down amendments that say exactly what he wants us to do,” an unnamed veteran GOP lawmaker told the Associated Press. “That’s how you lead.”
So far, Mr. McDonnell has proposed more government spending than reductions. He wants to pump up programs geared toward job creation, which is fine with us, and charge the state $29 million in the course of shifting more education funds to Northern Virginia from downstate: also fine. No doubt, it’s more pleasant to tell taxpayers how their dollars will benefit the commonwealth than to let them in on the news that services and schools will be gutted.
We’d ask the same question about his much-vaunted transportation plan. The governor said he would raise hundreds of millions of dollars to build roads by selling off state-run liquor stores. But at his urging, a bill in the legislature to do just that was killed last week. The probable reason? Profits from such liquor stores go directly into the state’s coffers, to the tune of about $100 million a year. Mr. McDonnell, having promised to tackle Virginia’s transportation funding crisis in his first year in office, still has time. What Virginians have yet to see are viable ideas that will yield cash for a transportation budget whose construction funds are just about gone.
The governor has taken the reins at a difficult juncture. He faces agonizing decisions. To his credit, he has appointed moderate, pragmatically oriented cabinet secretaries to help make those calls. There is no reason to expect the deliberations on budget-cutting or transportation to be quick and easy. But having ruled out new taxes to preserve schools and services, we wish he would level with Virginians about the pain, and shortfalls, to come — and take some responsibility for them.
If Republicans legislators are irriated, what about the Democrats and the rest of us. When is McDonnell going to shed some sunshine on what type of budget cuts he is going to make. Maybe he will find that it isn’t as easy from the Governor’s Mansion as it was from the campaign trail. Why is he not forthcoming with budget information? These are issues Virginians need to know and talk about.
The Post is to be commended on its catchy editorial title.
UPDATE: The Governor has released his budget. You may view it in the Roanoke Times. Click the blue.
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