Speaker Howell Vows to "Win Back" Loudoun

Is this a joke or what?

House Speaker William J. Howell made it clear yesterday that he is looking to Loudoun County to help Republicans keep control of the House of Delegates in the 2009 elections.

"I know this sounds self-serving, the presidential stuff is important, but next year we've got House of Delegates seats, and there's a couple that are representing Loudoun and parts of Loudoun County that I know we can win back," Howell told a meeting of the Loudoun County Republican Committee.

Yeah, after Tim Kaine won Loudoun County (52%-46%) in 2005, Jim Webb won it (50%-49%) in 2006, and Karen Schultz won it (52%-44%) in 2007, that's really likely to happen. Maybe after Judy Feder beats Frank Wolf in Loudoun County this November, then Bill Howell can start his great comeback? Or not. :)

Wolf is a Bush Rubber Stamp, Part 2,753

George W. Bush this morning:

Speaking at a White House news conference Tuesday morning, the president said one solution to the energy crisis would be drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR.

"This is a litmus test issue for many in Congress," President Bush said. "Somehow, if you mention ANWR, you don't care about the environment. Well, I'm hoping now people, when you say ANWR, it means you don't care about the gasoline prices."

Sen. Schumer's response:

In his remarks on Capitol Hill, Mr. Schumer took particular issue with Mr. Bush’s characterization of the energy crisis, saying that the president’s proposed solution of drilling in ANWR would reduce the price of oil by a single penny in 20 years. During that time, Mr. Schumer said, Americans would continue to pay higher gas prices at the pump, while profits for oil companies would soar.

Frank Wolf=Bush Rubber Stamp:

From the 2006 League of Conservation Voters scorecard, "Wolf supported drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), with its 'abundant and diverse wildlife, including rare musk oxen, polar bears, grizzlies, wolves, millions of migratory birds, and more than 120,000 caribou.'"

Once again, what the press conference this morning proves is that it's time for a change in the 10th CD, time for someone in Congress who won't be a rubber stamp for any president, who will fight for the environment and the people, who will not just do the bidding of the oil companies like Frank Wolf does. In sum, it's time for Judy Feder.

Judy Feder #11 Nationally in Cash Competitiveness

Over at Swing State Project, they've compiled a list of the top 75 non-open seat House races and ranked them in terms of their cash-on-hand competitiveness. Judy Feder ranks #11 nationally, with an impressive 98% competitiveness rating against incumbent Frank Wolf. The 5th CD's Tom Perriello checks in at #15, with an 84% rating vs. Virgil Goode based on the latest filings. 2nd CD newcomer Glenn Nye clocks in at #44, with a 38% rating so far against Thelma Drake. Not bad at all!

Obviously, money isn't everything, but nonetheless this is encouraging news for Feder, Perriello, and Nye. And it doesn't even count the open seat in the 11th CD, which is a very likely Democratic pickup. In short, things are looking good for the "blue team" here in Virginia, especially considering that Republican turnout in the Virginia presidential primary February 12 was around 490,000, compared to over 950,000 for the Democrats (Barack Obama alone received 100,000+ more votes than all the Republican candidates combined). Take one guess who's more fired up in Virginia this year, Democrats or Republicans? :)

McLean Connection: Feder and Wolf Set the Money Pace

The current McLean Connection makes it clear: Judy Feder and Frank Wolf are in a 10th CD league of their own when it comes to money.

U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10) and Democratic challenger Judy Feder raised nearly the same amount of money and significantly more than their primary opponents during the first three months of 2008.

Wolf has $715,358 headed into a primary against Ashburn Republican Vern McKinley, who has raised $18,325 overall. Feder has $700,046 to face Air Force veteran Mike Turner, who has raised $82,193 overall, in the Democratic primary.

In short, Judy Feder's the only challenger -- Republican or Democratic -- who is keeping pace with Frank Wolf in terms of money raised. And that's important. As Luke McFarland, Judy Feder's campaign manager, noted, "Part of what is different about Judy is that she is even with Frank Wolf in her ability to spend and get her message out to the voters."

As to the source of money for the various candidates, here's the key, according to the McLean Connection article:

It is hard for any challenger — even those who can fund raise like Feder — to find money inside a district. Both Turner and McKinley also raised the majority of their money out-of-state.

And Luke McFarland is quoted, "Jim Webb won with only 51 percent of his money coming from in-state." In other words, that's just the way it goes in politics -- incumbents get lots of money from inside their districts, some of which comes from people who hope to get something from said incumbent. Challengers get some money from inside their districts, but also a significant percentage from other places. I believe it's been this way for, oh, forever. As even Judy's primary opponent notes, "I don’t begrudge Judy her out-of-state money. She is getting money anywhere she can get it and good for her." Good point.

You Are Cordially Invited...

Judy Feder at May 2 NV Democratic Business Council Meeting

The May 2 NV Democratic Business Council meeting sounds like an interesting one, with Del. Brian Moran giving a Legislative Update on the Veto Sessions, Special Sessions, Bonds & Transportation. Also, Judy Feder will share comments about how her campaign is going. The event will be held on Friday, May 2, 2008 at 7:30 a.m. at the Fairview Park Marriott. For more information, contact Scott A. Surovell at ssurovell@smillaw.com

Judy Feder: Frank Wolf will "keep on failing us"

"Whether it's health insurance, people seeing their neighbors lose their home because of the mortgage crisis, or people horrified by the seemingly neverending war in Iraq, people want change. Frank Wolf, 27 years; I don't think he's gonna bring people that change. He's told the voters of the 10th district, elect him again, he's gonna keep on failing us just as he's been. I'm running to bring about that change."

Frank Wolf on Earth Day

It's Earth Day, and here's a reminder why Frank Wolf needs to be replaced as the 10th CD's congressperson.

*Wolf has voted time and again against clean, renewable energy.

*Those votes have earned Wolf dismal ratings from the League of Conservation Voters - a 27% average over the past 5 years. Awful.

*On December 6, 2007, Frank Wolf voted against H.R. 846, "Providing for the Consideration of the Senate Amendments to the Bill (H.R. 6), Creating Long-Term Energy Alternatives for the Nation Act." Again, what does Frank Wolf have against the environment and energy security?

*On January 18, 2007, Frank Wolf voted against H.R. 6, the "Creating Long-Term Energy Alternatives for the Nation Act."

*Wolf has voted repeatedly to maintain tax breaks for Big Oil, even while those companies pollute the environment and rake in record profits.

The bottom line is this: on the environment alone, 10th CD voters should replace Frank Wolf with Judy Feder in November. If not, we'll keep getting the same anti-environment garbage that I've listed above. No thanks.

Pass the Fair Pay Restoration Act!

This is important:

Tomorrow marks the very important PA primary, but it's notable for another reason ... Equal Pay Day. And the cause is uniting some of the Senate's female Dems who have been on opposing sides during the contentious presidential primary contest.

Led by Sen. Barbara Mikulski, these senators will renew their call for passage of the Fair Pay Restoration Act (S. 1843), which ensures equal pay for women and minorities in the workforce. Mikulski will speak at 10 a.m. Scheduled to follow are: Sens. Patty Murray, Claire McCaskill and Amy Klobuchar.

It's particularly important to pass this since last May's outrageous, 5-4 Supreme Court decision, "Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co," which absurdly held that "that workers must sue for pay discrimination within 180 days after the original pay-setting decision, no matter how long the unfair pay continues."

P.S. Guess who is NOT a co-sponsor of this important legislation in the House? Gee, I wonder who...could it be...yes it is, Frank Wolf's name isn't on there. Ha, big surprise! :)

Exciting Times for Loudoun Dem's

These are exciting times for Loudoun Democrats:

The LCDC JJ dinner on Friday evening was great. The turnout was incredible, and our Governors (Warner and Kaine) gave stirring speeches about the mission of Democrats in 2008 and beyond. We need to recover the strength and dignity of our county, and Virginia can lead the way.

I completely agree with Leesburg Tomorrow that "We've come a long way in Loudoun County (a point which each speaker repeated) and we have just as much work to do to keep our majority and keep Loudoun on the right track." Keep it up!

Frank Wolf: $1,000 to Jim Oberweis

I've been looking through the FEC disclosure database to see where Frank Wolf got his money and where he spent it. Within a couple of minutes, I came across an interesting item: on February 13, Frank Wolf gave $1,000 to the Jim Oberweis For Congress campaign in Illinois. As far as I can tell, that is the only campaign contribution Wolf gave to anyone this past quarter.

Who is Jim Oberweis? As you may recall, Oberweis was the Republican nominee for the seat vacated by former House Speaker Dennis "page scandal coverup/Tom DeLay's puppet" Hastert. Oberweis was defeated by Democrat Bill Foster on March 8, in what was widely considered a major upset in the strongly Republican-leaning Illinois 14th district.

According to Wikipedia:

On December 13, 2007, Hastert endorsed Jim Oberweis to succeed him the 14th Congressional district seat. On February 5, 2008 Oberweis won the Republican primaries for both the special and general elections, defeating State Senator Chris Lauzen by a 56% to 44% margin. However, the Republican primary was bitter, and due to Oberweis's numerous negative ads, Lauzen refused to endorse him. In the special election, he ran against physicist Bill Foster, and was defeated (52,010 voted for Foster, 46,988 for Oberweis) in what has to be considered an upset in this heavily Republican district. Oberweis will again face Foster in the November 2008 general election. Some Republicans are hoping he withdraws from the race.

Here's some more interesting information about Oberweis:

During Jim Oberweis's 2006 gubernatorial campaign, two undocumented workers, Rosa Ramirez and Jorge Ibarra, from Chicago's northwest suburbs brought a complaint to the Illinois Department of Labor alleging that Oberweis Dairy and janitorial subcontractor Patmar Janitorial Service of Lake in the Hills, Illinois, knowingly employed the two and exploited their labor by paying them only $3.23 per hour (less than half of Illinois minimum wage, $6.50 at the time). Oberweis, an open critic of illegal immigration, said the complaint was a “smear job,” and says that “we weren’t paying them at all…they never existed as employees within our organization.”

Fascinating. But it gets better; check this out: Oberweis sent out a campaign mailer that had "pictures of some average families and then show how much more money Foster wants to tax them." The only problem is, there was a disclaimer in tiny letters at the bottom that said, "The four examples are fictional, and any similarity between these characters and any real people is pure coincidence." Hahahahahaha. Funny, I know. Almost as hilarious, the disclaimer continued, "The effects on the individual's tax bills was calculated using the tax calculator found at a link to the Heritage Foundation." Oh, wonderful, using the far-right-wing Heritage Foundation to "calculate" tax bills; sort of like using the Bush administration's ideologues -- you know, the ones Frank Wolf keeps voting to confirm? -- to override Nobel Prize winning scientists on global warming.

Finally, let's watch a little video (see above) that talks about Oberweis employing illegal immigrants at his dairy stores AND investing $1 billion in Chinese companies. Yes, that's right, Jim Oberweis was busy employing the former and investing in the latter. Gee, I could have sworn that illegal immigration and Communist China were two of the things that get Frank Wolf all hot and bothered. Was all just an act?

Loudoun Going Green; Where's Wolf?

This is great news from the Loudoun County:

Loudoun County officials pledged Tuesday to help reduce the region's greenhouse gas emissions and encourage more environmentally friendly buildings, which they said probably will save taxpayers money and cut the county's contribution to global warming.

The Board of Supervisors voted to join three regional environmental initiatives. One of them provides tools and guidelines to help the county adopt green building standards. A second would grant Loudoun the label of "green county" if it meets certain requirements.

The third measure signs up Loudoun for the Cool Capital Challenge, which aims to reduce the Washington region's carbon dioxide emissions by a billion pounds by next April...

Good for Loudoun County's (majority Democratic) supervisors -- with the major exception of right-wing Republican Eugene Delgaudio, who "mocked fears related to global warming." Which reminds me, where's Frank Wolf on global warming? Last I checked, he was busy giving big tax breaks to oil companies while voting against energy efficiency, renewable energy, serious measures to cap greenhouse gas emissions, and environmental protection in general. I'm pretty sure that Eugene Delgaudio approves, but what about he rest of us? And what about the planet, as Earth Day approaches?

Feder Nearly Eliminates Money Gap with Wolf

Awesome news, both on the money and endorsement fronts. Go Judy!

Feder Outraises Wolf and Wins Key Endorsements

Delegates Caputo and Vanderhye Join Feder’s Team

Feder has Outraised All Non-incumbent Candidates for Congress in Virginia this Cycle

McLean, VA – Today, Judy Feder announced the endorsement of two prominent Northern Virginia leaders, Delegates Chuck Caputo (HD-67) and Margi Vanderhye (HD-34).

The endorsements of Vanderhye and Caputo come on the heels of Feder’s strong first quarter fundraising, where she reported raising $311,000, besting incumbent Congressman Frank Wolf and nearly eliminating his previous cash on hand advantage. Wolf now has only $15,000 more than in the bank than Feder.

“Chuck Caputo and Margi Vanderhye are two leaders who know how to turn red districts blue and deliver change on behalf of Virginians, said Feder. Their victories and their record in the Virginia House of Delegates have paved the way for us to defeat Frank Wolf in November.”

“We need a Member of Congress who will bring a fresh perspective to Washington and deliver common sense solutions for Northern Virginia,” Delegate Margie Vanderhye said. “Judy Feder is the candidate who can defeat Frank Wolf and bring the real change we need in Congress, on health care, the war in Iraq and our struggling economy.”

As of the April 15th filing, Feder is now the best funded Democratic challenger in Virginia and has raised more money than any non-incumbent congressional candidate, Republican or Democrat, in the Commonwealth. Feder’s strong support -- with over 450 Virginians contributing in the last three months alone -- has also allowed her to open up a nearly $700,000 cash on hand lead over her primary opponent.

“Judy Feder will be a great leader in Congress, especially on the issue of health care,” said Delegate Chuck Caputo. “Her expertise on this critical issue is just what we need to fix America’s health care crisis. I hope all Democrats in the 10th District will join me in supporting Judy for the June 10th primary and in the November general election.”

A nationally recognized health care expert, Judy Feder mounted the strongest challenge to Frank Wolf in nearly a quarter century in 2006. She cut dramatically into Wolf's margin, revealing a growing call for change in the district. That call has grown, as voters in the 10th and across the Commonwealth are demanding that Congress begin to address rising health care costs, a weakened economy and a war in Iraq that has sapped the ability of our nation to focus on the priorities of the American people.

Frank Wolf Opposes Voting Integrity

Congressman Frank Wolf apparently does not want any verified records of elections. Given the opportunity to vote with Rep. Davis and 27 other Republicans for passage of a bill that would provide funding for paper trails in the November elections, Rep. Wolf chose to side with the Administration and unverifiable, hackable voting instead.

Here's what the bill's sponsor, Rep. Rush Holt, had to say.

Rep. Rush Holt today strongly criticized House members for blocking legislation – the Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act of 2008 (H.R. 5036) – that would encourage states to conduct verifiable elections by converting to a paper ballot voting system, offering emergency paper ballots, and conducting hand-counted audits. Two weeks ago, the same legislation passed the House Administration Committee with bipartisan, unanimous support, including from some of those who voted to block the bill’s passage today.

“This bill would represent a real step forward in our effort to protect the accuracy, integrity and security of the November elections,” Holt said. “The bill that the House leadership scheduled for a vote today is the same one that passed two weeks ago without the objection of a single Committee member. There is no reason why this should be a partisan issue but the Republicans evidently have chosen to make it so. The White House issued a statement opposing the bill and 176 of 203 Republicans voted that way.” - Rep. Rush Holt

That's our Representative, Frank Wolf. When George W. Bush says "jump," he replies, "how high?"

What's interesting is that the rationale for his vote - that the bill was to costly - is only applicable when trying to improve our system. If it's a bad idea, like limitless war funding, Rep. Wolf is all for it.

The cost of the voter verification bill? Probably $600 million.

The cost of the Iraq war through November? Probably $600 billion.

Rep. Frank Wolf believes that security in Iraq is one thousand times more important than the security of your vote. Needless to say, we need to elect Judy Feder to Congress and realign our national priorities.

Loudoun County Democratic Committee JJ Dinner

The Loudoun County Democratic Committee (LCDC) will hold its annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner this Friday evening. The keynote address will be delivered by former Gov. Mark Warner, and other Democratic luminaries -- Gov. Tim Kaine, Del. Brian Moran, Sen. Creigh Deeds, Mark Sen. Herring -- will be there. The chair of the event is Supervisor Kelly Burk (Leesburg). Last but not least, the 10th CD's next representative in Congress, Judy Feder, will be at the event. Details below are from the LCDC website. Definitely check out this event if you can make it, you'll be supporting the Democratic Party's ongoing growth in Loudoun County!

Jefferson Jackson Dinner
Friday, April 18, 2008

6:00 PM – Reception
7:30 PM – Dinner
Grand Ballroom Lansdowne Resort and Conference Center
44050 Woodridge Parkway Lansdowne, Virginia

___________________

Special Guests
Senate Candidate: Former Governor Mark R. Warner
Governor Tim Kaine

___________________

Honorary Chairperson
The Honorable Kelly Burk
Loudoun County Board of Supervisors – Leesburg District

RSVP:jjdinner@loudoundemocrats.org

John Foust: "Judy Feder deserves another shot"

From the Burke Connection, here are Dranesville Supervisor John Foust's thoughts on the 10th CD race:

In the Democrat’s 10th Congressional District primary, Foust said he would support McLean resident Judy Feder over Loudoun County resident Mike Turner. Feder ran against incumbent U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R) in 2006.

"I would say Judy Feder deserves another shot at it. One of the reasons we have not had a successful candidate against Frank Wolf is because the candidates run once and then they don’t try again," said Foust.

Well said.

You Call This a Campaign?

What do you call a campaign that raises no money, gathers no endorsements, has no particular grassroots support, and has absolutely no chance of defeating the overwhelming favorite for the party's nomination on June 10. I call that...the Vern McKinley for Congress campaign.

I mean, seriously, what is this guy doing? As far as I can tell, McKinley to date has a sleepy website that issues a press release or two every month. Even less impressive -- if that's possible -- at the end of 2008, McKinley had $12,143 cash on hand with $10,000 in debt. In contrast, Frank Wolf had $555,251 cash on hand and no debt. Also, Democrat Judy Feder just announced that she raised $310,000 in the first quarter of 2008 alone! Maybe I'm missing something here and McKinley's actually running a strong, off-the-radar-screen campaign. If so, he's certainly keeping it a nice secret. Does anyone know what's going on with this "Reagan Revolution" (whatever that means) Republican?

And if THIS Were Frank Wolf....

As part of our continuing series, if THIS were Frank Wolf, he'd be talking about...

*how we simply CAN'T reduce our greenhouse gas emissions
*how he's voted against alternative, renewable energy
*how he's voted against energy efficiency
*how he's voted time after time for tax breaks to Big Oil
*how we should do nothing about global warming

Luckily, we have leaders in this country who aren't stuck in decades-old thinking like Frank Wolf is. Luckily, we have leaders like Al Gore and Judy Feder who "get it" on energy, the environment, and many other topics. And luckily, we only have to wait another 7 months or so until Frank Wolf is no longer the Congressman from the 10th CD.

If This Were Frank Wolf...

If this were Frank Wolf, would he be bragging about how he voted over and over again to spend rubber stamp George W. Bush's strategic and tactical mistakes in Iraq? As Judy Feder said the other day:

...as the poorly planned and misguided war now enters its sixth year, Rep. Frank Wolf continues to be a rubber stamp for George Bush’s failed approach, consistently voting against a responsible end to the war.

Despite five full years, nearly 4,000 brave American soldiers killed, and more than half a trillion dollars spent, Frank Wolf continues to stand in the way of change...

Sad but true. Fortunately, 10th CD voters have a choice this year -- Judy Feder.

...if I'm elected to Congress, I will do what Frank Wolf refuses to do – end the war, support a responsible of redeployment of our troops, rebuild our military, and honor the debts owed to the brave men and women who have served their country.

Go Judy, and help get us out of this mess!

Judy Feder at Netroots Nation

From Raising Kaine:

Join Netroots Nation, future Congresswoman from VA-10 Judy Feder, Senator Russ Feingold, Rep Lloyd Doggett (TX-25), Rep Brad Miller (NC-13) and a team of celebrity bloggers this Wednesday, evening in Washington, DC for our annual grassroots, low-dollar fundraiser. RSVP NOW.

For more information, see here.

Feder Raises $310,000 in 1Q08, 95% from Individuals!

More on Judy Feder's incredible fundraising...

Judy Feder Raises More than $310,000 in First Quarter

More than 450 Virginians Contribute to Change Congress since January

Campaign has $700,000 Cash on Hand


McLean, VA – Judy Feder’s campaign to bring change to Congress continues to gain momentum. The Feder campaign will report raising more than $310,000 in the first three months of 2008 with almost $200,000 contributed in March alone and approximately 95% of donations coming from individuals in the first quarter.

“People want change.” said Feder. “They voted for it last November. They turned out in record numbers for it in February. They are contributing to my campaign because they know that’s what I stand for.”

Since announcing her challenge to Frank Wolf, Judy has raised nearly $900,000 and now has $700,000 cash on hand.

“Frank Wolf has been sitting in Congress for 28 years. Virginians are saying: “That’s enough.”

Over 450 Virginians contributed to Feder’s campaign in the first quarter of 2008 and 538 individual donors gave online, demonstrating the growing grassroots appeal of Judy’s message. Seven months out from the November election, the Feder campaign has already raised more than it had by Labor Day of 2006 when Judy Feder gave Frank Wolf his closest race in 24 years.

“Our momentum is building. Our fundraising success has built a foundation that will give us the financial resources and the grassroots capacity to win in November,” said Feder. Virginians are tired of empty promises and blue ribbon commissions, they want real leadership.”

In 2006, Judy Feder mounted the strongest challenge to Frank Wolf in nearly a quarter century. Though Feder entered the 2006 race a mere 10 months before Election Day, she cut dramatically into Wolf's margin, revealing a growing call for change in the district. That call has grown, as voters in the 10th and across the Commonwealth are demanding that Congress begin to address rising health care costs, a weakened economy and a war in Iraq that has sapped the ability of our nation to focus on the priorities of the American people.

$900,000 for Feder!

This is impressive by pretty much any standard. Go Judy!

Wow! It's been an incredible few weeks. On March 6th we challenged you to help us reach our goal of 2008 individual donations by our March 31st fundraising deadline. Your response was overwhelming - and we ended the quarter with 2,394 donations by individual donors since we began this campaign.

With your help we're shattering our own records and have now raised nearly $900,000 -- a level of fundraising strength we didn't reach until Labor Day in 2006.

To all of you who have contributed, and all you who have already signed up to volunteer, I want to say thank you.

Our success, our strength, is because of you -- and it's starting to get noticed. Just last week, Marc Fisher of the Washington Post noted our "strong challenge" of Frank Wolf as further evidence that Virginia Republicans are in trouble.

We've come a long way together over the past few months, but there is much work left to be done. We'll need to knock on tens of thousands of doors, make hundreds of phone calls per night and yes, raise another million dollars or more. But with the help of thousands of supporters who are hungry for change I'm confident we can get there.

Click here to join our campaign and volunteer.

I continue to be inspired by your support and I know that together we really can change Washington.

Gratefully,

Judy Feder

Judy Feder: "Triple-A health care reform-- NOW!"

Over at the blog Down With Tyranny, Judy Feder -- one of the nation's leading experts on health care -- has a guest blog post entitled, "LET'S KEEP OUR EYES ON THE BALL: Universal Healthcare Coverage Now!" From DWT's intro:

...Professor Feder-- who was also the Dean of Georgetown University's much heralded Public Policy Institute-- is a recognized expert on an issue topmost on many people's minds this year: health care. In Congress she will start out not as just another freshman, but as one of the policy experts on an issue that has to be dealt with seriously. Her work at the Brookings Institution, Urban Institute and as staff director for the bipartisan Congressional Pepper Commission for comprehensive health care, plus stint at the Department of Health and Human Services, where she worked to expand health insurance coverage and manage Medicare and Medicaid effectively, make her uniquely qualified to play a major role in developing solutions to the very real problems facing out country's medical system after 8 years of Bush Regime malfeasance.

In contrast to Judy Feder's extensive expertise on health care, Rep. Frank Wolf...well, to be polite, let's just say that Judy Feder has more health care expertise in her pinky than Frank Wolf does in his whole body. For instance, see here and read about how "Frank Wolf Fails on Mental Health." See here for "Frank Wolf's vote against [health care] coverage for children." Also read about how "Wolf's dismal record on healthcare includes voting to allow insurance companies, not doctors and patients to make healthcare decisions, gutting state protections for diseases like diabetes and breast cancer and repeatedly voting against potentially life saving stem-cell research."

This year, as we all know, it's time for a change in many areas. Health care is certainly one of those areas. Reason #1 to vote for Judy Feder, the next representative from the 10th Congressional district of Virginia!

Are You Better Off Now Than You Were 4 Years Ago?

Back in 1980, Ronald Reagan asked Americans considering whether to vote for him or for President Jimmy Carter, "Are you better off now than you were when this Administration took office?" The answer was clear to the majority of voters, and Ronald Reagan went on to a landslide victory in the elections that year.

Well, today we have evidence that this same question could be a potent one in 2008, just as it was in 1980. The New York Times reports:

Americans are more dissatisfied with the country’s direction than at any time since the New York Times/CBS News poll began asking about the subject in the early 1990s, according to the latest poll.

In the poll, 81 percent of respondents said they believed “things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track,” up from 69 percent a year ago and 35 percent in early 2002.

[...]

A majority of nearly every demographic and political group — Democrats and Republicans, men and women, residents of cities and rural areas, college graduates and those who finished only high school — say the United States is headed in the wrong direction. Seventy-eight percent of respondents said the country was worse off than five years ago; just 4 percent said it was better off.

Breaking this dissatisfaction down a bit, we've got 71% of Americans concerned about health care costs, 69% about housing costs, and 82% about having enough money for retirement.

As if to emphasize the poll's findings, the economic news this morning was not encouraging:

The economy shed 80,000 jobs in March, the third consecutive month of rising unemployment, presenting a stark sign that the country may already be in a recession.

[...]

“Three months in a row of payroll job losses and a sizable negative revision: these are clear signs that the job market is in recession,” said Jared Bernstein, an economist at the Economics Policy Institute. “I’m hard-pressed to imagine anyone who would raise doubt to that at this point.”

In short, the The Bush-Republican economy is in freefall, yet their response is to do nothing. In February, for instance, they opposed extending unemployment insurance, even as around 200,000 Americans have lost private sector jobs in the first three months of the year.

In March, Republicans blocked consideration of legislation to address the housing crisis and the foreclosure explosion. That's bad enough, but Republicans weren’t even willing to offer their own solutions, they just blocked the Democratic solutions from coming to a vote. As they did so, the number of homes in foreclosure and mortgages behind in payment were jumping in every state, further driving down home values.

Faced with increasingly dire economic news this month, Republicans have (finally) agreed to consider a scaled-back version of a bill to address the mortgage crisis, but only after insisting on replacing assistance for homeowners with bailouts for home builders who made bad investment decisions.

The bottom line is that Bush-Republican economic policies don't work for the middle class in this country. Instead, the Bush-Republican economy means falling wages, lost jobs, rising prices, foreclosed houses, and record debt. And, of course, Republican "trickle-down" never seems to actually trickle down from the super-rich to everyone else.

Obviously, this is a "change" year politically, one in which people will be looking for a new approach and a new hand on the tiller. The question is, who will be most credible -- John McCain (and GOP congressional candidates like Frank Wolf) or the Democratic nominee (and Democratic congressional candidates like Judy Feder) -- when THEY ask, as Ronald Reagan did in 1980, "Are you better off today than you were when this Administration took office?" Given that John McCain and Frank Wolf offer nothing but the same old Bush-Republican economic policies, it's a good bet that it won't be them.

Frank Wolf Would Probably Oppose This

Given his consistent opposition to energy efficiency, conservation, alternative energy and the environment, it's highly likely that Frank Wolf would oppose this:

Loudoun County government has saved nearly $1 million thanks to energy efficient measures undertaken by its employees, an ad-hoc committee chaired by Supervisor Andrea McGimsey (D-Potomac) found.

Sadly, Wolf would probably vote against this if it came up in Congress. Reason #4,258 why it's time for a change in the 10th CD!

Frank Wolf's, er, Misstatements on Energy

Check this out from Frank Wolf's latest "E-Newsletter" (received yesterday late afternoon):

Ultimately, America must find ways to curb its dependence on foreign oil and become more energy independent. I support efforts to increase conservation, develop alternative fuels, tap domestic sources of energy, as well as making the machines we use, especially automobiles, more energy efficient. I will continue to work to find both short- and long- term answers to the country's energy needs.

Oh, really Congressman? So if you supposedly "support" energy efficiency, alternative fuels, etc., then why have you consistently voted against energy efficiency, against renewable energy, and against measures to reduce our nation’s dependency on foreign oil? Is your memory failing you, or are you simply willing to tell your constituents anything in order to perpetuate the myth that you're a "moderate" (and to get re-elected for the gazillionth time)? Oh, and when are you going to tell residents of the 10th CD about how you've voted time and again for tax breaks to Big Oil at a time that people are paying $3.50 per gallon for gasoline and Big Oil is making enormous profits? C'mon, Congressman, I'm sure they'd LOVE to hear all about that! :)

Frank Wolf and the White House Torture Memo

Given that Frank Wolf is against banning waterboarding water torture, what does he think of this?

The Justice Department in 2003 gave military interrogators broad authority to use extreme methods in questioning detainees and argued that wartime powers largely exempted interrogators from laws banning harsh treatment, according to a memorandum publicly disclosed on Tuesday.

[...]

Some legal scholars said Tuesday that they were amazed at the scope of the memorandum.

“This is a monument to executive supremacy and the imperial presidency,” said Eugene R. Fidell, who teaches military justice at Yale Law School and the Washington College of Law at American University. “It’s also a road map for the Pentagon for fending off any prosecutions.”

The memorandum gave the military broad latitude to use harsh interrogation methods. It reasoned that federal laws prohibiting assault were not applicable to military interrogators dealing with members of Al Qaeda because of White House authority during wartime. It also argued that many American and international laws would not apply to interrogations overseas.

Given Frank Wolf's well-known commitment to human rights in China and Darfur, you'd think he would have vocally denounced this memorandum, later rescinded by the Justice Department, as immoral and illegal (not to mention deeply unAmerican). But since we didn't hear a peep from Frank Wolf on this, apparently we can assume that he agrees with this definition of torture:

“The victim must experience intense pain or suffering of the kind that is equivalent to the pain that would be associated with serious physical injury so severe that death, organ failure or permanent damage resulting in a loss of significant body functions will likely result,” Mr. Yoo wrote.

The Army Field Manual, by the way, explicitly bans coercive interrogations. Apparently, Frank Wolf agrees with the Bush Administration's lawyers and disagrees with the Army Field Manual. Also, apparently, Wolf is more concerned with human rights violations in China than he is with human rights violations authorized by the Bush Administration. Can we say "partisanship over principle?"

Meet Judy Feder!

From the Feder for Congress campaign, two excellent chances to meet the next representative from the 10th district!

Dear Friends,

Two opportunities to meet Judy are coming up:

- Thursday April 3 from 7-9 PM at a supporter's home in Sterling.
- April 13th (tentative) at the home two supporters in Leesburg.

For more information contact:
Judy Feder for Congress at 703-286-9208 or visit (JudyFeder.com/events)

I want to know what you would like to see from your next Member of Congress. You can reach me by email at Judy@Judyfeder.com. You can also follow all of the latest news on the campaign at www.JudyFeder.com. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your past support and I look forward to working with you again in 2008.

Sincerely,

Judy Feder