Connie Brennan comes out swinging against anti-family-farm laws, pledging to craft legislation to legalize family farms if she’s elected. If incumbent Watkins Abbitt has shown any interest in the recent arrest of his constituents, I haven’t heard about it.
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So, what does this require, in terms of bypassing existing food safety laws?
Watkins Abbitt is too busy threatening to use Connie’s record against her(see the Daily Progress article)to pay attention to actual issues. Fortunately, he also has a record, which is there for everyone to see.
He is definitely running scared. If you want a real big laugh, see his website donation page. It says, “Print this out, fill it in and mail it to me.” There is no ActBlue or RedStorm for Independents to use. Abbitt is a man without a party.
As for the farm arrests, it would be great if someone in this state could get around to paying attention to the fact that if there was not a market for this food, no one would be selling it. That’s the real issue here.
The market demands that there be a solution to this problem, and I can’t wait for Connie to get to work on it in January, 2008.
TO: Connie tell the truth
FROM: Bruce F. Jamerson
DATE: September 21, 2007
RE: House Operating Budget; Member Salary and Expenses/Return of Funds
In response to your recent inquiry regarding salary and expenses for members of the House of Delegates, I trust that the following information, which is authorized in the Appropriations Act, will answer your questions:
Salary $17,640/annually Has remained the same since self-imposed 2% salary cut in May 1991.
Office Expense $1,250/monthly Has remained same since January 2000.
Interim Meeting Per Diem $200/day For legislative meetings attended when not in session; paid according to roll call. Rate has been remained the same since January 2000.
Session Expense $135/day Appropriations Act authorizes $75 per day or maximum allowed by IRS. In October 2006, the IRS maximum was set at $156 per day, but the House Rules Committee only approved a rate of $135 per day.
Mileage $.485/mile Travel from home to Capitol for session (paid once per week during the legislative session) and interim legislative meetings. This rate is set by the IRS.
Additionally, due to responsible management of the budget of the House of Delegates, the 2007 budget, approved by the General Assembly, included the return of $2 million from the House’s unexpended balances to the General Fund, subject to the approval of the Rules Committee. The Committee authorized this transfer in June, and prior to the end of Fiscal Year 2007 a transfer of $2 million was executed from the House of Delegates to the General Fund of the Commonwealth.
Ms. Abbitt, what does that have to do with anything? Will your husband come out against the unfair treatment of family farmers in his district?
That was random.
Indeed. It’s a shame the delegate can’t speak for himself.
Mrs. Abbitt,
Now that you have commented, maybe you wouldn’t mind answering a few questions about any connection between the money your husband has taken over the years from the pharmaceutical industry and the fact that you are a lobbyist for that industry?
Why did your husband take a lot of money from Allied Waste, AEGIS Waste Systems, BFI, at the same time he was introducing and shepherding HB 2129 (2005) which reduced the required distance from a landfill to a public water intake?
Can you address the seeming inconsistency of taking money from Tenaska Corp of Omaha, NE at a time when that company was about to ask for permits to build the gas-fired power plant in Fluvanna County?
I don’t really expect any answers, but it was nice of you to drop by and insult Connie Brennan by implying she lied. Tell your husband also that I was not impressed with his and his friends’ remarks in Cumberland a few weeks ago at Ray Turner’s BBQ, when they intimated that Connie was married several times more than she has been. Stay classy like that.
Mull that over and get back to me.