If you didn't know that Republicans were in control of the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond, you should know it by now.
While "jobs, jobs, jobs" is the mantra across much of the country, Virginia's Republican senators and delegates have been hard at work during their 60-day session changing the state's cultural landscape.
Since starting work in Richmond last month, members have voted on an array of socially conservative issues including:
- Drug tests for aid recipients
- Requiring women considering an abortion to have a sonogram, and look at it, beforehand
- Ending funding of abortions in cases of "gross incapacity and deformity" for women on Medicaid
- Allowing state-funded adoptions and foster programs run by religious organizations to turn away gay couples—on religious grounds—as prospective parents
- Repealing the state's one-gun-a-month law championed by Gov. Doug Wilder
- Requiring photo identification when voting. (Some say this could deter voters who don't have a drivers' license for one reason or another.)
Voter ID Bill
The Virginia House and Senate have both passed bills requiring photo ID to vote; the National Conference of State Legislatures' offers a detailed map and information about other states that run the gamut on requirements.
"There are no documented cases of voter impersonation in Virginia and I believe prosecution of a felony is sufficient disincentive to discourage that kind of behavior and I believe the motives of this bill are purely political," Del. Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax), said in his blog, The Dixie Pig.
Del. Mark Sickles posted a photo of himself and others on his Facebook page to decry the legislation. "Today I stood with my colleagues in the House Democratic Caucus to oppose attempts at limiting the right the vote," he wrote.
Others are for the legislation. "I’m trying to understand what the controversy of the bill is," said Del. Dave Albo, (R-Fairfax), noting that the provisional ballots are reviewed the day after the election by the local electoral board.
"If they are legit, they get counted," Albo said. "If they’re not legit, they don’t get counted."
A provisional ballot, however, is not counted until the electoral board meets and agrees that the voter is legitimate, the ACLU points out.
A group called Virginia New Majority said Tuesday it went door to door Monday in Albo's district (which he won by 62 percent in November), talking to residents and asking them to contact Albo regarding dissatisfaction over voter ID requirements. Sara Wallace-Keeshen, a spokeswoman for the group, said in a news release that residents were "shocked" at Albo's stance on the issue.
One Gun-Per Month Repeal
Senate Democratic Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax) noted that if a person bought a gun each month for the past 20 years, they would have 240 handguns.
“If you need more than 240 handguns, I submit something’s wrong with you,” he said. “Something has gone terribly wrong in your life.”
Former Gov. Tim Kaine, who is running for U.S. Senate, said Tuesday that he is disappointed by the repeal of the "one gun per month" law.
“I am very disappointed in the General Assembly's actions toward repeal of one of Governor Doug Wilder’s signature achievements—Virginia's one handgun per month law," he said in a news release. "I was also disappointed to see that at least two of the individuals in this U.S. Senate race, George Allen and Bob Marshall, have already voiced support for repeal of this legislation."
Abortion Curbs
Women lawmakers last week spoke out against House Bill 62, sponsored by Del. Mark Cole (R-Spotsylvania), that would end funding of abortions in cases of "gross incapacity and deformity."
"Think about the human beings behind this," said Del. Vivian E. Watts (D-Fairfax), pointing to the "tremendous burden borne by someone on Medicaid" if her child is born in such a condition, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
"I'm sad to see that today we have no compassion for the poor," added Del. Charniele L. Herring (D-Alexandria), saying the bill would "cut the safety net for poor women."
Conservative Agenda: Help or hindrance to McDonnell's political future?
Some pundits say that by signing such conservative measures into law, Gov. Bob McDonnell, often cited as a GOP VP choice, could hurt his chances of becoming chosen for the Republican VP slot by offending independent voters some consider necessary for a general presidential race against President Obama.
The Virginian-Pilot notes in a headline: "Assembly's right turn could be problematic for McDonnell."
McDonnell has to balance politics and policy, Mark Rozell, a political science professor at George Mason University, told the paper.
"He has been very successful governing as a moderate conservative and projecting a bipartisan style of leadership that so much of the country yearns for these days. That's his calling card," Rozell said.
It's a political tightrope of sorts. Vetoing or amending the legislation, he said, risks alienating Republican donors and power brokers who demand solid conservative moorings for their 2012 national ticket.
McDonnell is slated to appear this week with GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney at a D.C. fundraiser Thursday night and in Reston Friday morning before a technology crowd.
My family applauds the hope and change we are seeing by the General Assembly acting in a thoughtful and socially conservative manner this session. If we don't protect the Sanctity of Life, Sanctity of Marriage, and check corruption in government we won't have any culture left in our great Commonwealth.
My point here is that it takes more than tolerance & compassion to build a culture. There will always be a status quo for any society & culture. So for the example I gave above, commiting a crime in our culture is generally perceived as "wrong". Imagine a culture where stealing,raping,killing is the "norm"?? can you tolerate that? So with the abortion issue, I beleive educating people to make responsible decisions should be the best way to lower the chances for abortion. If a person can't support a child, he/she should know hte risk and be responsible for it. Is the staus quo of our culture slowly viewing an innocent child as a "disease"? Something we are suppose to treat and eliminate? Getting sick & needing health attention is one thing - some people didn't have the choice to get sick.... Not being responsible and popping babies for fun only to be aborted AND piad for by tax payers is just irresponsible.
Also, I'm overjoyed that our legislators are standing up to the Gay Agenda. We need more brave politicians to keep family the way it should be, even if that means some children don't have parents (sorry kids, it's for the best of society). I don't hate gay people but they need to see that they can't just willy nilly raise children in our Commonwealth. It's not safe for the children. Let's keep voting for the true patriots who see that the government needs to get involved in our lives to keep things healthy and safe.
You were talking about solutions? best solution is to fix the root of the problem which is the change in our culture of becoming sexually irresponsible. I am not saying people should not have sex, I am only advocating responsibilty for an individuals actions. if we can promote this to the next generation, abortions, diseases, divorces, single mothers, crime, etc can decrease WITHOUT a burden to our society & tax payers.
Please check your facts before stating things like "Majority of abortions are from young teens who did not know better". Checking the most recent data gathered by the CDC, their report states: "Women aged 20--29 years accounted for 57.1% of all abortions reported in 2008 and for the majority of abortions during the entire period of analysis (1999--2008)... Adolescents aged 15--19 years accounted for 16.2% of all abortions in 2008...Throughout the period of analysis, abortion rates decreased among adolescents aged ≤19 years, whereas they increased among women aged ≥35 years."
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss6015a1.htm?s_cid=ss6015a1_w Also, for conservatives that support making abortion illegal, while still supporting the death penalty, here's some light reading: http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/DonohueLevittTheImpactOfLegalized2001.pdf
Is our culture slowly shifting towards being irresponsible? not being accountable for your actions? I dont know, but having sex is a choice, and we need to teach those who are not ready to be parents to be responsible for their actions. In China, there is a certain culture tht prefers men over women. Girls are aborted more than men, I personally know one who escaped and came here because the family was almost forced to have her aborted. Is this a right kind of "choice"? Would we want this in our 'culture'? Having the power to choose comes with great responsibility. It does not mean you can "do whatever you want"
For the China thing, they have their own issues to deal with as a result of their flawed policy. Read here: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMhpr051833 And to address your point that we can lower the abortion percentages, guess what? If you read the article, you'll see we have: "Reported abortion numbers, rates, and ratios remained 3%, 4%, and 10% lower, respectively, in 2008 than they had been in 1999." Using this small sample of data in this one very specific area, it seems we made some progress between 1999 and 2008 (the most recent available statistics). My main point is that, according to the CDC, you should think it's getting better, not worse. And if you think an abortion is the easy way out, talk to some women who had them and how they feel about it. Neither decision is without consequences.
One Gun a Month had so many exemptions and exclusions it had completely outlived its usefulness. Similarly, setting different standards for some to carry firearms (as the GA is poised to do *AGAIN* this year) will render permits obsolete in the near future. I'm prepared to actively work against, and campaign and vote against, those who insist on getting involved on the anti-choice or the homophobic bandstands.