Month: August 2009

Days before his inauguration, President Barack Obama announced that he would create an organization that would continue the grassroots framework established during his campaign.

Six months later, this organization, Virginia’s Organizing for America (OFA) chapter, made its fifth stop on a “listening tour” at the main branch of the Madison-Jefferson Regional Library.

The town hall style meeting, attended by some 50 supporters last night, focused on soliciting local opinions about the best way to foster a continuing dialogue between individual voices and the highest figures in federal politics.

Charlottesville’s OFA will soon get a full-time staff member, who will help sustain the organization’s presence in the area. Organizers emphasized building a group that can be responsive to the president’s needs at a time when “the revolution has lost its momentum … When we won the election, it felt like we had moved the mountain. But that just got us to the starting line,” they said.

The forum later shifted to health care reform. Organizers stressed the importance of active civic involvement during this month’ congressional recess.

“This is the moment our movement was built for,” Obama wrote in an e-mail to supporters on Tuesday.

“[M]embers of Congress are back home, where the hands they shake and the voices they hear will not belong to lobbyists, but to people like you.”

Four of five proposed health care bills contain public option clauses; the last bill has not been announced. Congressional leaders have said that any legislation would likely have to wait until Thanksgiving before passage.

Green Scene knows you all have been waiting with bated breath to find out what we think about this week’s news. And we’re here to deliver: R.I.P., John Hughes. Welcome home, journalists. Congrats, wise Latina.

More relevant to the purview of this blog are the Fake Letters from Coal Scandal and the Guzzler Subsidy Program. Let’s take these one at a time. Fake Letters from Coal is the whole deal with Congressman Tom Perriello receiving letters opposing the Waxman-Markey climate change bill, for which he voted back in June. The letters looked like they were from Charlottesville-based minority groups (Creciendo Juntos and the local NAACP branch).

But, whoops, they were written by a lobbying group! And—oopsie—the group also sent fake letters to two other representatives! And gosh, what do you know: the lobbying group was working for the coal industry! And pulled another stunt like this in 2002! And seems to have been dealing dishonestly as far back as 1986!

Coal is so dirty, my friends—physically and morally. This is only the latest example. Of course the industry group is acting outraged by the scandal, but it’s unconvincing given the long association between coal and deceit. If that’s too broad a brush for you, consider that the coal group knew about the fake letters two days before the congressional vote even happened. Did they tell anyone? Take a guess. You’ve got a fifty-fifty shot.

On to the Guzzler Subsidy Program, better known as Cash-for-Clunkers. I wrote about this when the Senate passed it in June, pointing out that the program could conceivably reward consumers for buying "fuel-efficient" vehicles that get 14 miles to the gallon. Last night the Senate kicked Clunkers another $2 billion.

I still think this is a pretty questionable program. There’s no doubt it’s helping auto dealers, but it’s far from certain that it’s helping the planet (see Lee Schipper’s comments in this story). It’s been frustrating to hear so much reporting on this program that fails to give any numbers on actual gains in fuel efficiency.

Anybody taken advantage of Clunkers? Got an opinion about the coal letters?

Don’t you…

…forget about…

…me:

Additional weekend option: John Hughes memorial movie marathon.

President Barack Obama and Gov. Tim Kaine joined Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds at a fundraiser in McLean last night.

According to a pool report from last night’s meeting, Kaine introduced Deeds to a crowd of 200 top donors.

"As governor and lieutenant governor, I had a chance to work with everyone in state government," Kaine said. "I got to know Creigh very very well. In tough times, you’ve got to show you have a backbone; you’ve got a heart. I have to tell you, I don’t know of a finer man in public service than Creigh Deeds."

After chants of “We love Creigh,” the candidate welcomed President Obama. The President lauded Kaine’s work as a governor and as an early supporter, and said that for Virginia to keep the positive momentum, Deeds was the right choice for governor.

"He’s got kind of a funny name. I’ve got a kind of a funny name,” said Obama.

Although the crowd overwhelmingly chanted their support for Obama, the president cautioned that the race will be a close one.

Because Virginia is still a purple state, said Obama, all those who campaigned for him in the presidential elections need to pick up where they left off and help elect Deeds.
 
 

The gunman who opened fire and killed three women and wounded nine other people at an L.A. Fitness facility in Pennsylvania, is said to have bought accessories for his gun from TGSCOM Inc. of Green Bay, Wis., the same dealer that sold Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech shooter, his gun.

According to police, George Sodini, 48, bought his gun legally.
 

Gov. Tim Kaine announced yesterday  that additional state budget cuts will range from $700 million to $1.5 billion.

Kaine will have until August 19 to determine the exact amount of the cuts. He will announce exact amounts to all interested parties by Labor Day, September 7.

"While we’ve seen some positive signs, I’m not sure how much I’m going to take that into account in this adjustment," Kaine said.

Last month Kaine announced that higher education institutions, like UVA and PVCC, should provide plans for a 5, 10 and 15 percent budget cuts.