The purpose of this blog is to explain why it's time to replace Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) with Democratic candidate Judy Feder. Frank Wolf has been in office a long time, and it's time for a change. Judy Feder will bring that change. Nothing against Rep. Wolf, but it's long past time to say "Farewell Frank!"
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! :)
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!
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.
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.
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 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?
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.
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.
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
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Special Guests Senate Candidate: Former Governor Mark R. Warner Governor Tim Kaine
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Honorary Chairperson The Honorable Kelly Burk Loudoun County Board of Supervisors – Leesburg District
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.
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?
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.
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Awesome news, both on the money and endorsement fronts. Go Judy!
The Loudoun County Democratic Committee (LCDC) 
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 
