Parental Rights Amendment Gains Momentum in VA

Support for the Parental Rights Amendment is gaining significant traction in Virginia; the entire VA Republican delegation have now signed on as co-cosponsors to H.J.Res. 42, bringing the total number of co-sponsors in the House of Reps to 121.

As of yesterday, Congressman Randy J. Forbes of the 4th district has joined his fellow VA Representatives Rob Whittman (VA-1), Frank Wolf (VA-10), Bob Goodlatte (VA-6) and Eric Cantor (VA-7) in co-sponsoring the Parental Rights Amendment. This decision follows several meetings between Forbes staff and constituents of the 4th district regarding the latter's enthusiastic support for the PRA and desire to see their Representative sign on as a co-sponsor.
As the VA grassroots support network for the Parental Rights Amendment extends far beyond the 4th district, constituents in neighboring districts have good reason to believe that vocalizing their support will lead to more co-sponsors of the PRA.

Carry on, constituents!

Randy Forbes Thoughts on the Passage of Cap and Trade

This afternoon following the passage of cap and trade Randy Forbes sent out an e-mail with his thoughts on the bill. Randy Forbes offered his New Manhattan Project as an alternative to the bill.

Friends -

Last night as many Americans began their weekend, the US House of Representatives was voting to saddle them and their families with a large additional tax burden through legislation, known as the cap-and-trade national energy tax.

The effects of this tax will be far reaching. It will impact American families in all parts of their daily lives – when they turn on a light switch, watch TV, mow their lawn, or run their dishwasher. Over the course of a year, the average family of four will see their energy costs rise by $1,200. Electric bills will rise by $754 per year and gasoline costs will rise by $596 per year. All total, an average family will to have to find an additional $100 in their monthly budgets to cover this new national energy tax - which is on top of the taxes already paid on energy bills.

This is wrong – especially now when so many have lost jobs and are just trying to make ends meet. I need your help as I continue to try to stop this burden on our families.

Businesses will feel the staggering cost of this legislation as well. Farmers and manufactures will be among those hardest hit. All total, the National Black Chamber of Commerce estimates this legislation will cost 2.5 million American jobs. Other estimates suggest anywhere between 1.8 and 7 million net American jobs could be lost. Many of these jobs will be shipped overseas. American businesses will face declining competitiveness as they struggle to compete with foreign companies whose products are not subject to this tax.

As the Wall Street Journal noted "Even as Democrats have promised that this cap-and-trade legislation won't pinch wallets, behind the scenes they've acknowledged the energy price tsunami that is coming. During the brief few days in which the bill was debated in the House Energy Committee, Republicans offered three amendments: one to suspend the program if gas hit $5 a gallon; one to suspend the program if electricity prices rose 10% over 2009; and one to suspend the program if unemployment rates hit 15%. Democrats defeated all of them."

Any glimmers of economic recovery in our recession are likely to be threatened by this new tax. Under this bill, already-strapped small businesses will face skyrocketing energy costs and will have less money to retain their current employees let alone create new jobs.

Sadly, even if one could overlook the crushing results of this bill on our economy, the legislation does not even meet its intended purpose. As the Washington Post reported yesterday, even environmental groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth oppose the bill saying it will not help our environment.

Last night I took to the floor and fought strongly against the passage of this national energy tax. I even introduced my widely-acclaimed New Manhattan Project for Energy Independence as an alternative. My bill would spur green energy innovation without raising taxes. The majority of my colleagues chose taxation, rather than innovation.

My constituents, however, overwhelmingly supported my position and my alternative to the national energy tax. Supportive emails and phone calls poured in my office all day.

The sad reality is that there are too few of us fighting to lower taxes and bring innovative bipartisan ideas before Congress. There are too few of us fighting against big government. There are too few of us fighting to preserve the individual freedom and liberties on which this great nation was founded. And those of us left will very likely face opponents next campaign year. I am writing to you today because I need your help to stay in Congress and to be your voice in Washington. This year, my campaign must rebuild our financial footing. If you believe in what I am doing in Congress would you please help us to do that?

Would you consider donating $20 to my campaign today? If you could do more, I would appreciate it. If you can only afford $10 now, I want you to know that your contribution makes a difference. Please also consider a monthly donation of $10 or $20. Individuals that give on a monthly basis form a powerful financial base for my campaign.

The cap-and-trade national energy tax must now be considered in the Senate. I’ll continue to fight against it and the tide of bailouts, runaway spending, and taxation in Washington. Let's hope we can stop this terrible bill.

As always, I remain, yours in service,

Randy

PS – The list of organizations opposed to the cap-and-trade national energy tax was staggering. Below is just a partial list. Would you forward this email to a friend that is a member of one of these organizations – or post this email on your Facebook page via the link below? Please let your concerned friends know of my position, of your support for me, and ask them to also support my campaign. We need your help.

Tea Party Patriots
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
American Farm Bureau Federation
60 Plus Association
Americans for Prosperity
Americans for Tax Reform
Citizens Against Government Waste
Club for Growth
National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)
National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors
National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB)
National Taxpayers Union
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council)
Association of Builders and Contractors (ABC)
Concerned Women for America (CWA)
Eagle Forum
Family Research Council Action
Focus on the Family
National Cotton Council

Political contributions are not deductible for federal income tax purposes. Corporate contributions are prohibited. To comply with federal law we must use our best efforts to report the name, address, occupation and employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200. Contributions from foreign nationals and minors are prohibited. An individual may contribute $4,800 ($2,400 primary, $2,400 general).

Is the Executive Committee Pushing this, and not State Central?

During the beginning of this week, two of Jeff's most vitriolic detractors on the blogosphere, The Contemporary Conservative, and Loudoun Insider, referred to an article they believed was the best case for why Jeff Frederick should resign as RPV Chairman. As someone who reads most of what is being said about the issue online, I read the article. Even without comparing the piece to the vitriolic things that have been written by those leading the effort to remove Jeff, this was a very well written article.

The article is written by Col. William Flanagan, a party activist and RPV state central member from the 4th district. In it he responds to some of the reasons people have used when e-mailing him in support of Jeff Frederick. In the second paragraph he details how he came to sign the letter. He states that he didn't vote for Jeff at the convention, but tried to work with him afterwards. Here is the money quote describing the pressure used to get him to sign the letter.

In late November, just before the Republican Advance, I was asked to support his removal. I declined and advised against it. Since that time, more things have been brought to my attention. Only after separate meetings at the end of February, with three members of the Executive Committee and detailed questions and answers, did I sign on to ask the Chairman to step down or to be removed.

As a member of state central this party activist didn't see anything to justify removing Jeff by the Republican Advance in December. This was months after the website and budget issues had occurred, and a month after the general election. As a member of state central who wasn't predisposed to Jeff Frederick who couldn't find anythign worth removing him as chairman. It took three meetings with executive committee members, and the disclosure of things presumably not included on the letter to convince a former Hager supporter to sign the letter to remove Jeff.

State Central members have responded indignantly to the accusation that the effort to remove Jeff isn't a grassroots effort by saying that state central members are elected as well. However this story begs the question, are they acting independently, and how many of them originally wanted Jeff to resign? Is this really an effort by state central or a move by the executive committee? If these people were agressively talking and persuading people to help them remove Jeff, did it take a couple meetings with our elected officials to bring them on board?

Those trying to remove Chairman Frederick are insistent that this is a grassroots effort. If they believe this, I dare them to prove it. How many people did y'all have to persuade with unreleased information in private meetings to gather the support? How many people joined the effort of their own free will? Since Bob McDonnell was the first elected official to call for Jeff to resign, was he involved in any of the persuading?

These are all questions that need to come out as the RPV decides whether or not the man who was overwhelmingly elected by the grassroots will remain the party chairman. If this information is released soon, it will be found out eventually and released, and I can only pray it doesn't further destroy the party the McDonnell/Bolling ticket was supposed to unite.

If you would like to get involved in the We Support Chairman Jeff Frederick movement, please join us on facebook, or the RPVNetwork, sign the petition, and contact your state central members and the McDonnell campaign.