Over the course of today’s wanderings about the halls of the General Assembly Building I talked to (and, admittedly, overheard) a good number of conversations about House Republicans’ refusal to appoint Danny LeBlanc as Governor Kaine’s Secretary of the Commonwealth.
The overall impression that I get from Democrats (representatives, their staffs, and lobbyists) is that they’re happy. “Gleeful” might be a better word. It doesn’t matter who fills the position — it’s a patronage position, and just about anybody can do it. Having LeBlanc appointed would have been good, but the benefits that will come of Republicans’ overreach are much greater. Governor Kaine is likely to create a new position that won’t require legislative approval and fill it with LeBlanc, quite possibly a position that pertains to labor.
I didn’t talk to a single Republican who actually opposed LeBlanc for the reasons cited by the majority. (To be fair, this may be a result of the Republicans in Richmond with whom I’m friendly, who don’t tend to look kindly on the young upstarts that are running the show these days.) The LeBlanc opposition was a show of strength on the part of Republicans, an effort to show Governor Kaine that he might have won the election, but Republicans remain in charge in Richmond. The “this sends the wrong message to business” line was, it seems, just talk.
What happens now is, of course, a matter of popular speculation. It could be that nothing will happen — the LeBlanc nomination just dies, and that’s that. It seems to me, though, that Governor Kaine now gets a free shot. The House Republicans have to put their hands behind their back, tilt their chins up, and prepare for a pop in the jaw. They’ll complain mightily, but everybody from editorial boards to pundits will agree that they’ve got it coming to them. And what was it all for? A chance to wave their collective penis about and proclaim themselves virile? I hope it was worth it.
Oh not Waldo! You said the word “penis” and used it in the context of politics! There will be an effigy of your blog burned on the Internets!
Until that last line, I was going to tell Waldo he “didn’t know dick” about Republicans.
Waving your penis around and proclaiming yourself virile is always worth it. Performing this as a collective action is not. Then again, Young Republicans wear T-shirts proclaiming themselves to be “Hung Like a (picture of a pachyderm).” It’s a fixation among that crowd.
Young Democrats at UVa wear a t-shirt that says something about “getting more [picture of a donkey]” (or something like that). I think I prefer the YD’s shirt. :)
I saw you today…not sure if you saw me.
I have some research on this over at TC.
I think the vote was bad.
Don’t forget the other message that this sends out that has nothing to do with the appointment.
The House Republicans are unified right now – they will not bend on a Kaine tax increase. Now everyone knows it.
Mike is right, the peices are set.
Now its Kaine’s job to build up enough public opinion momentum to bend them.
Mike,
The House Republicans are unified on something that is of no consequence. Once you start talking about actual issues that the folks back home feel strongly about – like maintaining roads and figuring out how to pay for it – it’s a whole different ball game. There’s still a gap in that caucus plenty wide enough to shove a pry-bar into.
Let me try and explain this better. LeBlanc was irrelevant – that is correct. Most people won’t understand why it was done or why anyone really cares. But it proved that the House GOP is unified on how they are going to deal with Tim Kaine. Kaine promised all sorts of stuff about not letting LeBlanc interfere with right to work issues. But, the House GOP is showing him that they do not trust him – think no gas tax increase campaign promise and then what he proposed.
The LaBlanc vote is putting everyone on notice in the Senate and the Governor’s office that they will not be railroaded.
So, is Le Blanc an irrelevant issue to be unified on? Sure. But, it lets everyone know exactly where the majority of the House of Delegates is – and it aint with raising taxes.
The Republicans only goal is 4 years from now. They don’t want to create another Dem victory that will win the Governorship again, or create another Democratic rising star.
Their eye is on that ball exclusively, and at their peril.
(God forbid that they have a new agenda of there own, other than the tired old hard right and Grover Norquist agenda that the people are completely bored with)
Public opinion is trending Kaine’s direction, and every little stunt like this makes the House look more and more petty.
Mike,
Please, Please, Please keep letting EVERYONE know exactly where the majority of the House of Delegates is . . .
We’re lovin it.
This plus petty votes like the one against Jim Dillard are showing the Republicans in the House of Delegates true colors. They care more about petty squabbles than actual work and results. That will be their undoing.
Jon –
No problem – happy to do it.
Anytime you need help figuring things out, I am here for you.
Mike, I must agree with you — this show of force must be for something, of course, and there’s really nothing that it could be for other than demonstrating unity on the matter of the budget.
It seems to me, though, that Governor Kaine now gets a free shot. The House Republicans have to put their hands behind their back, tilt their chins up, and prepare for a pop in the jaw.
Why? That doesn’t logically follow. Governor Kaine (and the liberal side of the Va blogosphere) may wish it to be so, but I don’t see any reason why the Republicans should, or would “have to”, oblige.
The comments on this thread by Ghost of Tom Joad, remind me of John Steinbeck’s Tom Joad from “Grapes of Wrath”
“…I’ll be all around in the dark. I’ll be ever’-where – wherever you can look. Wherever there’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever there’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there. I’ll be in the way guys yell when they’re mad – I’ll be in the way kids laugh when they’re hungry an’ they know supper’s ready. An’ when the people are eatin’ the stuff they raise, and livin’ in the houses they build – I’ll be there, too.”
It blows my mind that a man would be not be permitted to serve the people of Virginia because he’s dedicated his life to improving the lot of working people in our Commonwealth. There are plenty of folks representing the interests of business in state government. Would it be asking too much for labor to have a single voice? What a world…
Whether people remember this vote two months from now is debatable; Virginia voters have shown an amazing propensity to forget recent events and even inconsistent statements from our public leaders.
Who can forget this gem?
“I will not be party to a deception. I will not go to the people and say, ‘Gosh, gosh, it would be nice to have more revenue for transportation’ when I know we’ve got a legislature that has shown a propensity to yank the money out of something else,” he added. “If money can be taken out of the trust fund, I’m not going to ask for more money. It’s just wrong.”
This priceless exchange is even better!
“He’s going to raise your taxes if he’s elected governor,” Kilgore told the TV audience
“There you go again, Jerry,” Kaine responded, “making stuff up. You’re not fit to be governor if you make stuff up on this stage.”
First, perhaps Kaine owes Kilgore an apology for lying during the debate. Second, if no one cares about these blatant statements of deception, in a year how many voters are actually going to care about a Cabinet position most Virginians aren’t even aware of?
If anybody has suggested that voters are going to change their vote on the basis of this one matter, I can’t recall it. If this does have any effect on upcoming elections, it may come in two forms: increased volunteerism for Democrats on the part of labor, who have taken Democrats for granted for some years now; and fitting into an overall narrative of House Republicans as being obstructionists, the party of “no,” a party that wastes time on irrelevant matters rather than working on issues that matter to Virginians.
Imagine John Kerry asking if anybody would care six months later about how he once threw a football. Did a single awkward catch change anybody’s vote? Probably not. But it fit into a narrative employed by Republicans, and supported the image of Kerry that may well have lost him the election.
Your last post is right on point. Yesterday was a very sad day. The House took an unprecedented action against a very good man.
But I do believe that over the longer time frame, this mean-spiritedness will hurt the Republican party. People in Virginia have differing ideas about many issues. But they are fair, and they aren’t mean.
First the attack on Jim Dillard and now this will, I believe, create an image that will hurt — badly — in swing districts (like Northern Virginia).
politicalopinion,
Election promises are one thing: Reagan slammed Mondale for Mondale’s admission that he was going to raise taxes. And then, guess what? Reagan raised taxes: by $18 billion per year or 0.4 percent of GDP.
So I am sure you idolize Reagan, is he a lier or just a smart politician?
But more importantly, don’t you understand the charge, “he lied, and raised taxes”, doesn’t work when the positives are so high. Thats why it didn’t stick to Warner, and also why charges against Bush, “he lied, people died”, didn’t stick. The public simply does not believe that people who they like are liars. Like it or not people like Kaine.
Also, I don’t know where you have been, but everywhere I go in VA, people seem to be very pleased with Kaine’s proposals regarding transportation. A couple of weeks ago, I was down at the Martinsville town-hall: and afterwards even Republicans who voted for Killgore because they didn’t trust Kaine on taxes, gave him thumbs up.
Plus, I see this as a big time defensive move by the Republicans, they are trying to jazz the base and hold the ship together. Defensive moves on their part, means that Kaine has the initiative.
The house Republicans are spending precious political capital trying to hold things together, while Kaine is able to appeal to the public. And he is doing an awesome job: he is putting political capital in his checking account while the Republicans spend theirs.
The net effect of the House Republicans recent actions, is they are starting to look like ideological, partisan, and petty obstructionists.
And at some point the House Republicans are going to have to be more responsive to their constituents than their caucus.
Kris, I have a hard time believing that most Virginians find it “mean-spirited” to hold a political figure responsible for his positions and actions (and BTW, no “very good man” holds that someone should be required to pony up money to another to get or keep a job). After all, isn’t that what the Bush-Haters want? But y’all keep believing that doing so is “mean-spirited.” That attitude alone will guarantee that the grownups in the GOP remain in charge.
James,
It seems like that everywhere I look the “grownups” in charge of the GOP are doing everything in their power to make themselves into a minority party, again.
It seems to me that people of good faith can argue whether it’s more unfair for workers to “have to pony up money to another to get or keep a job”, than it is for some workers to get the benefits of a union contract that others have paid dues to help secure. Some might refer to the latter as “freeloaders”.
I really don’t want to debate the morality of “right-to-work” laws, but I do take exception to James Young’s contention that those who disagree with his position, aren’t entitled to “very good man” status. Can’t we be a bit more charitable to those with whom we disagree?
Wrapping the Republicans’ actions in high-flown rhetoric about “hold[ing] a political figure responsible for his positions and actions” is a smokescreen. It obscures the fact that Danny’s past positions and actions are almost completely irrelevant to the job for which he had been nominated — as opposed to, say, holding a President accountable for the means used to take the country into war and to execute that war.
One thing that struck me as we went from committee to the floor was the Republicans’ shifting rationales for cashiering Danny. When the implausibility of the right-to-work argument became apparent, they tried concerns about restoration of rights to felons, then zig-zagged to solemn pronouncements on the role of the legislature, with side excursions to a couple of other straw men. What it comes down to is very simple: they had the power, and so they decided to exercise it. They did it because they could. And that, far from being “grownup,” is the attitude of a petulant adolescent.
Amen, Bob Brink.
Also, when I was growin up, I was taught to pay with cash not with debt, I was taught when something I owned was broke, then fix it. Not to put off fixing it to some god knows when or some other time.
I’ll say it again: comes a time when the House GOP goin’ have to be accountable to their constituents rather than their caucus.
“And what was it all for? A chance to wave their collective penis about and proclaim themselves virile?”
Simply brilliant Waldo!!!!!!!
Now they can all go hunting for moose, on the VA Sheriff’s Assc. tab courtesy of Mr Jones Dir. of VSA (and VA taxpayers), and feel like real men!!!!
http://carolinejustice.blogspot.com/2006/02/more-on-sheriffs-assc-lavish-hunting.html
http://carolinejustice.blogspot.com/2006/03/nothing-changes-but-date-and-names.html
Ah HA HA HA HA HA
Jon – P,
“Also, I don’t know where you have been, but everywhere I go in VA, people seem to be very pleased with Kaine’s proposals regarding transportation.”
This reminds me of that great opinion piece written by a prominent liberal after the 1972 Nixon victory who was “shocked” that Nixon won because she didn’t know of “anyone” who voted for him.
In the long run this is a none issue, and at least the front page of the Virginia Pilot was horrible for our governor. It showed a Kaine who had an expression in between rage and constipation with 36 point font “They’ll regret this.” Kaine looked a bit like a whiny child rather than an unflappable leader than Warner was able to portray for 4 years.
I somewhat agree that your average voter does not care if there are broken campaign promises as long as they personally like the man (Exhibit A: Bill Clinton). Personally, I am tired of the same old playbook of elected officials swearing up and down they do not support tax and spend policies but then get elected and do the exact opposite.
It took Warner two years to break his campaign pledge not to raise taxes, and one could argue he was pushed in a position that requried him to do so. It took Kaine less than two months to break his campaign pledges.
One, He would not raise taxes for transportation until a constitutional amendment protected the Transportation Trust Fund from budgetary raids by the General Assembly.
Two, He would fight for legislation that would clarify the power of local governments to block certain development projects that would generate more traffic than the local transportation system could handle.
[insert “read my lips joke here”]
Could somebody please explain to me what the alternative to “tax and spend” is? Why would we tax if we weren’t going to spend? And Gilmore tried spending without taxing, and that didn’t work out so good. Should we tax and save that income?
I genuinely don’t understand what dichotomy is being established with this phrase. What’s the alternative to taxing and then spending?
Uh, Harry, regarding your assertion that “it’s more unfair for … for some workers to get the benefits of a union contract that others have paid dues to help secure. Some might refer to the latter as ‘freeloaders'”; Homey don’t play that. But it’s a debate I’m happy to engage.
Monopoly bargaining is a privilege mandated by Federal law, upon the active lobbying of union officials for the Wagner Act. It’s a privilege jealously guarded by them since. When the AFL-CIO comes out for repeal of the monopoly bargaining privilege granted to them under Federal labor laws, then you can talk to me about “freeloaders.” Until then, your complaints — straight out of the AFL-CIO’s talking points — are nothing more than buying a horse/Porsche, and complaining about the price of oats/high-octane fuel.
And because it’s a phony argument, I’m not willing to be “a bit more charitable to those with whom we disagree.”
James, you’ve just attempted to rebut an argument about fairness with comments about the law. Unless you can demonstrate that the law is fair, you’ve only talked past Harry.
I agree with youy that one of the Gilmore’s Administration fundamental flaws (and he had many) was he cut taxes and boosted spending at an astonishing rate during the 1990s when revenues were at such a level that one could do both.
Cutting taxes is the easiest thing in the world to advocte, restricting the size, scope and growth of government is another issue entirely.
I would say the alternative from taxing and spending, is NOT raising taxes and NOT increasing the size of the budget at three times the rate of inflation.
The older I get, the more I think that Doug Wilder was one of Virginia’s truly great Governors. He faced a billion dollar deficit and cut spending in order to balance the budget without raising taxes during a recession.
There is something about his blunt, I-don’t-give-a-damn-what-you-think attitude that I’ve grown to love.
I agree with your statements on Slavery (from your Lincoln thread). The fact that Jefferson was the only one of our 8 slave holding Presidents not to emancipate his slaves at his death (as well a the whole Sally Hemmings issue) makes it extremely difficult for me to reconcile in my mind; or understand the extreme love affair so many people have with him.
politicalopinoin,
I submit that I might not have the full pulse of the state.
Side: didn’t people say that Reagan as well: that they didn’t know anyone who voted for him . . . hmmmmm, I am starting to get suspicious.
Anyway, all I know is all I know: Which is liberal activists who where way reserved about Kaine, re: “tired of the Dem’s being Republican lite”, are very pleased with him now. And also all the moderate Republican’s I know, my family included, seem to begrudgingly think that he is doing a good job.
Also, the upside for you, is Kaine’s numbers could tank, and then all those liarliarpantsonfire accusations stick like fly paper.
As far as politicians not doing what they run on: a couple things come to mind, like for instance all that noise Bush made on Gay marriage. And, again your hero, Ronald Reagan. Détente, ummm . . . increased taxes, didn’t do anything serious about abortion, increased the size of government, the list simply goes on and on.
And as far as your point to the budget increasing 3 times the rate of inflation: simple: the more people the more infrastructure expenses, and the more expensive those expense are.
Market economics, as things become in demand, their cost goes up, exponentially.
Also, because government builds our roads, educates us, process our sewage, subsides the infrastructure for utilities, subsidies tech RD, medical RD, so on and so on; the business that provide us various services utilizing all those nice things, don’t have to pay for them directly or actually pay for them at all (the cost is spread out), so we don’t pay for them directly in the form of general increase in prices against a fall in the purchasing value of our personal income.
LIke for instance oil, you ever looked into how much we REALLY pay for gas?
politicalopinion
“it took Warner two years to break his campaign pledge not to raise taxes, and one could argue he was pushed in a position that required him to do so. It took Kaine less than two months to break his campaign pledges.”
I had completely forgot . . . didn’t the house kill Kaine’s provisions to lock up the transportation fund?
Screaming from the GOP House, “he broke his promise because we did everything in our power to keep him from keeping his promise.”
Give me a break.
I cant believe they think they are going to win this fight. Come on guys, people have to drive on roads everyday. When the problem is not fixed they will notice!
They want responsible solutions to a very real and serious problem, that they have to deal with everyday; not half-baked craziness cooked up in a ideological addled haze.
“And, again your hero, Ronald Reagan. Détente, ummm . . . increased taxes, didn’t do anything serious about abortion, increased the size of government, the list simply goes on and on.”
First, Reagan never advocated “detente”; that was a Nixonian policy. Reagan DID advocate a stronger national defense and a refusal to back down to Soviet Agression. That he did in spades.
“Didn’t do anything serious about abortion.” Hard to do anything about abortion when the Democratic Party controled the House his entire 8 years of his Presidency and the the Senate for all but 2. He did appoint Rehnquist as Chief Justice and Scalia to the USSC.
“Increase the size of government.” Governmetn did grow under Reagan (like he has under every President in the modern era). For ever $1 of revenue that came in the U.S. Treasurery, Congress spent $1.29 during the Reagan years. Spending isn’t a Republican or Democrat problem, its a Washington DC problem and both parties are as guilty as hell.
Reagan also cut the top marginal rate from 58% to closer to 40%, and overall had one of the more successful Presidencies in modern American history.
I admit, I miss the man.
Ha, Congress spent $1.29. Reagan had nothing to with that did he? hmmm, interesting, only gets credit for the good things . . .
“Hard to do anything about abortion when the Democratic Party controlled the House his entire 8 years of his Presidency and the the Senate for all but 2”
Hmmm, still seemed to get a lot of other things–things that he really seemed to care about– through such hostile waters . . .
And I suppose that was some other guy talking to Gorbachev at all of those summits. Google it up, hawks where screaming bloody murder about that.
And please, give Carter some credit on Afghanistan, the man doesn’t deserve much regarding his presidency (though he did appoint Paul Volcker, who finally busted inflation). Anyway, Carter took the original hard line on the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
“Reagan also cut the top marginal rate from 58% to closer to 40%, and overall had one of the more successful Presidencies in modern American history.”
And we are still paying for it, of course now compounded by your new friend.
But give credit where credit is due, Reagan did not CUT TAXES AND SPEND anywhere near has bad as W.
“I admit, I miss the man.”
Yep, maybe we all do, because everyone wishs that there still exsisted a modicum of responsibilty in the modern GOP
Sorry, that was bellow the belt, but it was fun to say . . .
And of course there still is a modicum of responsibility in the modern GOP . . . but is all seems to be hold up in the VA State Senate.