Fimian Raises Money From Same Old Rightwing Sources

Well, the good news for Republicans is that their candidate for 2010 congressional race in the 11th district, Keith Fimian, has raised $2,333,832. In fact, as VA Social Conservative, reports, Fimian has outraised incumbent Gerry Connolly. The bad new, though, for Fimian is that most of the money comes from out of his district and a fair amount from out of state. And once again, it comes from the same Legatus and Ave Maria supporters who funded him last time, including Legatus and Ave Maria founder Thomas Monaghan and his wife Majorie, both of whom maxed out with $4800 each.

Folks, call me crazy but the Monaghans and all those people from Michigan and Ponte Vedra, Florida (both headquarters for Ave Maria) are not donating to Keith Fimian because they have an overwhelming interest in the welfare of the 11th CD. Do they really care that much about our traffic problems, our roadways, our local businesses? I think not. But I think they care passionately about advancing their theocratic social agenda in Virginia.

Vote Democratic This Tuesday, November 4th!

This will probably be my last post before Tuesday, November 4, Election Day. I think you know what it is about, and what I’m going to ask you to do. Vote Democratic!

Barack Obama for President

Of course, you know that I support Barack Obama and I am urging you to do the same. Obama is the only one who can bring the substantive change that we need to Washington, DC. That includes replacing tired and discredited ideological positions with pragmatic, evidence-based programs. Whether it’s health care reform, fixing the economy, or building a new green economic infrastructure, which will create new jobs and move toward solving global warming, Barack Obama and his running mate Joe Biden have already pledged to undertake these challenges. John McCain and Sarah Palin, in contrast, can only encourage their followers to chant “Drill baby drill,” as a response to our energy crisis. And McCain showed the country during the recent mortgage meltdown that he had no clue how to fix the problem.

And bad news on the economy hits our doorsteps every day. Job losses, businesses going belly up, credit and markets contracting. These are serious threats not just to our prosperity but to our national security. And they are not separate issues. If we can’t fix the economy, we are not going to be able to fund the troops and weapons systems we need to combat terrorism and keep us secure either.

Of course we must also end our involvement in Iraq, which has gone on too long. Despite the success of the recent military surge, we also must have a political solution to the situation there and credible diplomatic efforts in the region. Once again, John McCain and Sarah Palin have no understanding of the difference between those two necessities. They are not capable of fixing the political problems or conducting the diplomacy that that region sorely needs. Joe Biden with his extensive foreign policy experience and Barack Obama with his calm and respectful demeanor are the ones who can restore American honor abroad, and protect our security and our prosperity at home.

Gerry Connolly for Congress in the 11th

Closer to home, I am also urging those in the 11th Congressional District to vote for Gerry Connolly for the House of Representatives this Tuesday. This is not a vote for a lesser of two evils. Gerry Connolly is the right man for the job and would be even if Tom Davis were running again.

Under Connolly’s able administration, Fairfax County has been consistently rated one of the best run counties in the United States. Fairfax County provides a business friendly environment that has led to its continued growth and prosperity.

At the same time, Connolly has come up with innovative and progressive policies that have won him national recognition. He brought the Cool Counties program to Fairfax, supported green initiatives, and smart growth, which encouraged developing housing, stores and offices along Metro routes. Connolly has encouraged the growth of walkable downtown areas and supported the expansion of rail to the Dulles corridor.

Recently, in answer to the increasing mortgage foreclosures, he came up with a program for the county to buy some of the foreclosed homes and turn them into workforce housing for low income county employees rather than let them stay abandoned, driving property values down further. This innovative solution to a problem that plagues not just Fairfax County but the entire mid-Atlantic region, won him kudos from the national media. In addition to helping county employees, many of whom are first responders, afford housing in Fairfax, Connolly has supported a living wage for county employees and big box legislation that limits the growth of large super stores like Wal-Mart.

In addition to this, Connolly has stood up to the demagoguery of the anti-immigration crowd and not allowed Fairfax to turn into a laughing stock, synonymous with jingoism and nativism, as Prince Williams County has done. Connolly instead concentrated on anti-gang and anti-crime efforts. He sought to solve the problems that are caused by illegal immigration without demonizing the many legal residents of Hispanic and Muslim descent. For that he is to be admired.

In addition to running Fairfax well and implementing many progressive programs of which we can be proud, he already has ten years experience serving on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He will enter Congress as a capable and experienced public servant.

Judy Feder for Congress in the 10th CD

In the 10th CD, Judy Feder is a smart, competent Democrat who deserves your vote. She served in the Clinton administration, where she was appointed in 1993 to the Department of Health and Human Services. She worked to expand health care coverage. She also has worked as a dean at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute. She is a scholar who is widely recognized for her work on ways to make health care more affordable. In 1988, she was Staff Director of the Congressional Pepper Commission, a bi-partisan commission on comprehensive health care. She's also worked at the Brookings Institute and Urban Institute on health care issues. Given her expertise in health care affordability issues, she is the perfect person to represent Virginians in the coming crucial discussion of health care reform, an issue that will be vital to efforts to expand health care coverage and get the economy back on track.

Mark Warner for U.S. Senate

Of course, Mark Warner deserves your vote for the U.S. Senate. He was an effective governor who worked across party lines to restore fiscal balance to Virginia when its previous governor – who also happens to be his opponent now – left the state a financial shambles with a $6 billion budget shortfall. Under Governor Warner, Virginia was named one of the best managed states by Governing Magazine.

Tom Perriello for Congress in the 5th and Other Virginia Races

Newcomer Tom Perriello in the 5th CD also deserves the votes of citizens there. Frankly, Virgil Goode has been an embarrassment to the good people of that district. It’s time for a change to somebody who demonstrates that being a person of faith doesn’t mean rejecting modern, progressive values including compassion, tolerance, intelligence, and knowledge.

I know less about the issues in the other races in Virginia but Glenn Nye and Sam Rasoul also deserve your votes.

Reject Gridlock and Republican Obstructionism

Some Republicans are trying to salvage what they can this year by making the case that if Obama wins, it would be dangerous to also give him a Democratic majority in Congress. What they are asking you to do is vote for gridlock. They are asking – hoping – that voters will ensure Obama’s failure by allowing four more years of a determined program of Republican obstructionism.

When the Democrats took Congress in 2006 – and took the Senate by the narrowest possible majority – the Republicans publicly vowed to block every initiative the Democrats brought. Their whole strategy was to force the Democrats into appearing to be a do nothing Congress. But nothing could be further from the truth. That truth was that Republicans consistently prevented majority rule.

If the Democratic Congress suffered low approval ratings, it wasn’t because the public hated Democratic reforms because there weren’t any. Between Bush’s vetoes and a Senate that couldn’t override them, the Democrats were never able to keep their promises. It’s time to break those obstructionists’ backs and return Congress and the White House to majority rule.

A New Direction

Republicans had their chance for nearly 8 years to show whether their ideology worked. It didn’t. It was a miserable failure that has left our country bankrupt. It’s time for a change. And it’s past time for new ideas that do work. But the only way to get them is for the voters to sweep Democrats into power and give them at least the same chance that was given to the Republicans. Let’s see whose ideas really do work and end the debate once and for all with evidence and accomplishment.

So Tuesday, vote Democrat. For every office.

Photos From Labor GOTV Efforts for Gerry Connolly

Compliments of George Burke, 11th District Chairman, here are some pictures of Gerry Connolly along with Governor Tim Kaine and other notables from last Saturday. The first two pictures were taken at Magill's in Anandale after a GOTV rally for Gerry and other Democratic candidates at the Northern Virginia Central Labor Council Headquarters, also in Anandale.

First is NoVA Central Labor Council President, Dan Duncan (left), Gerry Connolly (middle) and Governor Tim Kaine (right).


Next, Jim Leaman, state AFL-CIO president to the back and left of Gerry and Gov. Kaine to his right.


Finally, Gerry, with Chap Petersen at his left. Gerry was addressing a crowd of volunteers before they went out to canvass last Saturday.

Keith Fimian Blocks His Employees' Freedom to Choose

I think Bryan Scafford is officially my new hero. He's done an amazing job of research and citizen journalism and uncovered Keith Fimian's true beliefs when it comes to a woman's freedom of choice.

As readers may recall, Fimian admitted he was personally opposed to abortion, a position I actually have no quarrel with. But he danced around specifics and claimed that voters in the 11th CD didn't care about issues like reproductive freedom. Indeed, he and his supporters roundly criticized many women, who would be affected by Fimian's votes should he be elected to the House of Representatives, for bringing up the topic on blogs and in letters to the editor of various newspapers. The Fimian party line was that supporters of birth control and abortion rights were being intolerant of his personal beliefs.

Bryan, however, went out and researched not Mr. Fimian's personal beliefs, but his actions as an impersonal businessman attempting to impose those beliefs and values on his employees. According to Scafford's report on Left of the Hill:

Since Keith has repeatedly emphasized his experience as a business executive when trying to explain why people should vote for him, it’s rather safe to say he believes the way he ran his business and treated his employees should give the public a good glimpse into his character. It turns out that looking into the policies Keith promoted also provide us with an idea of where he really stands on the issue of contraceptives and abortion.

In the health care plan offered to employees from the mid 1990's to about 2003 of US Inspect and InVision Technologies (the companies that Keith Fimian was CEO and Chairman of), it explicitly says that “oral contraceptive[s] used for birth control” were not covered. This is despite the fact that over twenty states have laws that basically say oral contraceptives have to be covered if the plan covers other prescriptions or outpatient procedures.

As Scafford points out, Keith Fimian has consistently touted his experience and performance as a successful businessman as his major credential for seeking elective office. So, it's fair to examine his business practices and the way he treats his employees to get a sense of what his real beliefs are. Here's more about how truly restrictive his employee health policy is.

Looking through the policy I also found an addendum that informed employees abortions would not be covered, “including those performed when the covered person’s health is in permanent jeopardy.” This was sent out in an addendum in order to overturn the original policy which means that this wasn’t just an oversight but that the leadership took direct action to make sure a potentially life-saving operation wasn’t covered. Under Fimian’s leadership, in other words, the health insurance his employees received would not cover a certain operation even if their life was at risk. Not including abortions as a means of birth control would be understandable, but this type of leadership goes well beyond simply being anti-choice.

Please don't write me in high dudgeon because you want to defend Fimian's right to run his business any way he sees fit. Of course he does in Virginia. It's not one of the states that requires a business to provide birth control coverage in health insurance as long as the health care policy covers other prescription drugs, so what he's doing is perfectly legal. And I don't want to get into a discussion about his personal and business rights.

This is about his beliefs and his willingness to impose them on employees who may not share his particular faith tradition and might even believe that limiting the amount of children they have is a responsible decision. Good people can disagree on some values. But the real issue is whether Fimian is willing to impose his beliefs on the citizens of the 11th CD and the entire nation. And apparently he is. And equally apparent is that until recently, he has tried to hide that.

I just received a mailer from his campaign where he finally proclaimed himself to be pro-life. It's about time he told the truth and allowed the voters in the 11th CD to decide whether that fact matters to them. It's all we asked from the beginning.

And thank you Bryan for your tireless work to bring this to light.

Fimian Skips Debate With Connolly

Bryan Scafford, at Left of the Hill, has the story that Keith Fimian skipped a debate with Gerry Connolly last night for a last minute fundraiser. According to Bryan, The South County Federation scheduled this meet up between the two candidates from the 11th CD some time ago and Fimian canceled suddenly. Here's Bryan's report:

The South County Federation was scheduled to host a candidate forum last night. Both Keith Fimian and Gerry Connolly had agreed to come to the event and over the course of the last few months they had repeatedly confirmed that they would be attending the event. This was going to be a worthwhile event because it was going to provide the candidates a great opportunity to talk directly with the public and there were students from at least two government classes in attendance in order to see our great democracy in action. Unfortunately, the audience at the forum was informed that Keith Fimian's campaign decided to cancel at the last minute because Keith was going to be having a fundraiser.

The yet to be confirmed rumor is that Fimian's last minute fundraiser featured Karl Rove as the guest of honor. I agree with Bryan here.

Now no matter who the guest of honor was at this event, the decision to cancel at the last minute says a lot about Keith Fimian's character. Not only did this move show the campaign was willing to deprive a group of students an opportunity to learn about our government through direct experience, but it also illustrates how Keith would rather hang around a group of donors than speak directly to the general public....

There could be more than one reason why Fimian decided Rove and high rolling donors are more important than the students from a government class, there to see democracy in action, or the general public. One could be that he hasn't fared well in previous debates with Gerry Connolly. Unlike Connolly, who is experienced and knowledgeable about government issues, Fimian has proved that he's not quite ready for prime time. His policies and solutions are inadequate to deal with complex financial problems facing the country and he still refuses to answer where he stands on birth control and other social issues. So, it figures that he wouldn't want to face the public.

It's hard to imagine this millionaire, who already loaned his campaign $300,000 and has raised the bulk of his money from out of state sources associated with Ave Maria founder Tom Monaghan, is that cash strapped that he had to hold an emergency fundraiser. And since the debate was set several months ago and Fimian confirmed it several times, it makes it look all the more likey that he is simply trying to avoid any more public forums.

In fact, Bryan Scafford attempted to contact the Fimian campaign four times and he left a message which was never returned. You have to wonder if that is an example of the type of consitutent service Fimian's office would provide if elected.

Fimian at Less Than Finest in Springfield

Bryan Scafford, over at Left of the Hill, has done an incredible job of covering the 11 CD race between Gerry Connolly and Keith Fimian. For various reasons, I was not able to attend candidate debates. But Bryan provided great coverage of them. And at yesterday's Springfield forum between candidates from both the 11th and 8th CDs, Bryan continued to inform readers about the differences between the candidate.

He also reported on the attempts of one of Fimian's supporters to ignore the moderator's request that candidates focus on the actual issues relevant to voters rather than raise questions about negative campaigning. According to Bryan, the Republican Fimian supporter grew rude and started screaming an obscenity when he was blocked from raising what he thought was a more important issue than where the candidates stood on policy questions and what they would do in Congress to implement their policies.

There was a candidate forum this afternoon in Springfield that featured the Congressional candidates from both the 8th and 11th District. During the debate the moderator decided that the discussion would focus on issues that the candidates could address in Congress instead of a question about negative campaigning. This was accepted by most of the bipartisan crowd even with some applause, but one of the Republicans in the audiences started screaming bull**** until he was called out of order by the moderator. After the debate I asked Keith Fimian what he thought of the situation and this is the response I got from him followed by the rants of the Republican who caused all the commotion.

Below is Bryan's video of his attempt to question Fimian about the incident.



There's also an interesting discussion among commenters, including one disillusioned Republican, who said the following:

The sad thing is that this video represents Fimian's entire campaign. If he doesn't know the answer to something, he'll avoid details and launch an attack.

As a conservative Republican who has donated a lot of money to local candidates I am ashamed to say he is the candidate my wonderful party put forward. We used to pride ourselves on having smart candidates who know how to govern. Now we're stuck with Fimian who has no idea what he's doing.

October 8, 2008 7:09 PM

Bryan's response to the comments, with a fuller explanation of what happened at the event is also important reading.

It's interesting that Keith Fimian, at the beginning of the campaign, insisted that he wanted to discuss the issues pertinent to the voters of the 11th CD. I guess he thought he'd get to decide what was important to us and it would be only what he told us it is. Unfortunately, democracy doesn't work that way. We get to decide and candidates have to answer to us. Fortunately, Gerry Connolly is pretty good at that. Do you think 23 years of public service (13 years in elective office in Fairfax plus 10 years on the staff of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee) helped him to understand that basic fact?

Keith Fimian Not Even a Good Businessman

There's a new anti-Fimian TV ad, which points out that in addition to Keith Fimian opposing a woman's freedom to choose, his much vaunted business experience is less than meets the eye. Fimian's company, apparently, has been sued 40 times and even had an IRS tax lien against it.

H/t to Left of the Hill



That is hardly the type of judgment we need in somebody we send to Congress from the 11th CD.

The Stealth Campaign in the 11th CD

My Burke blogging colleague from the right, Bwana, had a great post up, decrying the lack of activity in the 11th CD race for Congress. Indeed, he termed our district the "Stealthy Eleventh." Actually, I'm beginning to see some activity.

Driving up Route 123 on Sunday I saw a bunch of Gerry Connolly signs. Although there seems to be much fewer Fimian signs, they're bigger. Also, I've gotten a robo-call from a Heather about Fimian and a couple of door hanger pieces asking "Where's Gerry?"

I'm not sure why Mr. Fimian can't find Gerry Connolly - perhaps it's because he needs a map of the district he hopes to represent - but I've seen Connolly around quite a bit. In fact, I've never met or seen Keith Fimian except for in a picture on his website. And while I was pulling into a parking space tonight, a nice looking young man who was hanging the lit on doors brushed past at a lightening speed. Normally people smile or stop to chat a minute when you find them near your door.

Meanwhile, Gerry's website has a rather humorous post that apparently shows that he and Fimian do have some scheduled debates and meetings together. In addition to the Prince William Committee of 100 hosting a candidates' program on September 18 at the Montclair Country Club, with Channel 8's Matt Brock serving as moderator, check out the following:

There are also debates scheduled with the League of Women Voters, Prince William Chamber of Commerce and various and sundry other organizations. I imagine each of these groups will be working to raise “awareness” for their respective events in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, the one thing I actually couldn't find in any of Fimian's campaign literature, road signs, or even from Heather's robo-call is any mention that he happens to be a Republican. Contrast that with Gerry, whose signs state plainly what his party affiliation is.

Connolly's not ducking but Fimian is running away faster than an Olympic sprinter from his affiliations both as a Republican and as an acolyte of radical theocrat Tom Monaghan. Speaking of who is hiding more, Fimian has yet to answer how he feels about separation of church and state and a woman's freedom to use birth control.

Fimian Dissed by McCain Rally Organizers

Left of the Hill has the story. Apparently Keith Fimian, candidate for the 11th CD, expected to have a "huge presence" at the recent McCain-Palin rally held in Fairfax City on Wednesday, September 10. Fimian anticpated that he would participate in the event and perhaps even have a speaking role. Instead here's what happened.

It turns out that "huge presence" was simply Keith walking up and down the line shaking hands with people waiting to get into the event. Not only did he not get to give that speech he was hoping to give, but reliable sources say that the Republican leadership never even gave him much consideration as a potential speaker. So much for the GOP having confidence in Keith Fimian.

Perhaps the the GOP professionals realize he's not ready for prime time yet.

How Does Sarah Palin Hurt Keith Fimians Campaign?

You know that Keith Fimian has got to be sweating about Sarah Palin as the vice presidential candidate. The last thing Fimian needs is to run down ticket to a campaign that is raising questions about social issues and religious ties.

Fimian has been running a stealth campaign, attempting to mute concern over his own ties to cult-like religious groups such as Tom Moneghan's Ave Maria, which has poured funds into Fimian's campaign. The last thing he needs is for social conservatives and their policies to be front and center during his campaign season.

Fimian was counting on John McCain’s maverick image from 2000, when McCain brought in lots of moderates and independents, to carry his campaign. And Fimian probably was hoping that McCain would pick an uncontroversial running mate like Mitt Romney for the ticket. Somebody who would satisfy the socially conservative base by being pro life but for whom it wouldn’t be a major issue that would grab the spotlight. But the choice of Sarah Palin has raised questions once again about the role of religion in the public square. And it's focusing women on their concern over the accessibility of contraception and safe abortions.

That just isn’t going to play well in the always moderate 11th Congressional District which is trending ever more blue. Tom Davis might have been able to finesse this ticket, but I don’t think Fimian will.

What the ticket does is put issues like the right to an abortion and contraception front and center at a time when Fimian’s whole campaign strategy is to hope that voters in his district don't focus on those issues. Given the Bush administrations recent executive order which would allow health care providers to deny women birth control and abortion options if it violates health care worker’s individual conscience, and this choice of a VP candidate, it’s obvious that in a presidential election year, the GOP thinks it must pander to its evangelical base. It’s them, not Gerry Connolly, who are driving these issues, front and center and complicating Keith Fimian’s stealth campaign for Congress.

Give Fimian a Map of His District, Please!

Maybe one of 41 percent of Keith Fimian contributors who actually lives in his district could give him a map. The novice GOP candidate held a press conference today to announce his energy plan. Frankly, it’s a decent one. I’ll give credit where credit is due. He doesn’t just go for the cheap shot about drilling more. He acknowledges that we need to invest in renewable energy as well.

The problem is that he chose a gas station in the 8th CD. This frankly confuses me. As a resident of Burke, part of the 11th CD, I’d be happy to take him to a gas station charging exorbitant prices right in my neighborhood. Better still, have the New Providence Republican Women, who sponsored the press conference, provide him with a map of his own district.

Who's Funding Fimian and Why?

According to this week’s Burke Connection, Keith Fimian has outraised Gerry Connolly in the 11th CD race. Fimian raised nearly $1.3 million to Connolly’s $936,484 as of June 30. Because Fimian had no primary, that gave him a greater advantage with cash on hand too – he had nearly $1 million. Connolly, who had an expensive four-way primary, only had $275,990 at the same point.

But the numbers alone don’t tell the whole story when it comes to political advantage. In fact, Connolly, an experienced elected official with greater name recognition, enjoys a 52 to 21 percent lead over Fimian, as of July, according to the Connolly campaign’s internal polling. In addition, Fimian’s cash advantage doesn’t reflect support in the district. As the Connection reports, citing the Center for Responsive Politics, Fimian raised only 41 percent of money from inside Virginia and only one of Fimian’s top donors lives in the district, compared to Connolly, who has raised almost 77 percent of his money from Virginia, with 10 top donors in the district. Add to this the fact that Fimian contributed $325,000 of his own money to his campaign, while Connolly has not given any of his personal funds to his race.

Nevertheless, Fimian’s campaign will try to spin his fundraising prowess as a sign of support within the 11th CD. In fact, his campaign manager, Zack Condry, said:

He is getting support both in the district and throughout the country. He has lots of friends and those friends support him running for Congress."

It may, however, be worth looking at some of those friends – 59 percent of whom don’t live in Virginia, let alone his Congressional District.

According to an article in the Examiner:

An analysis of Fimian’s recent donors shows he’s collected more than $100,000 from dozens of members — or relatives of those members — of Legatus, a national organization of Catholic business executives created by Domino’s Pizza founder and pro-life activist Tom Monaghan. Fimian reports taking in more than $1.3 million by the end of June. Legatus is based in Ave Maria, Fla., a planned religious community also co-founded by Monaghan, who drew protests from civil libertarians when he reportedly outlined plans to ban pornography and contraception from the town’s stores.

While Fimian, also a member of the Legatus board of governors, makes no attempt to hide his association with the group, it could prove problematic in a district that has voted less and less faithfully Republican in recent years. He is running against Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerry Connolly, a powerful Democrat.

Fimian said he’s pro-life and universally opposes the death penalty, but declined to elaborate on views on other social issues, arguing they are irrelevant to the 11th District.

First of all, Fimian may be wrong that it is irrelevant. He is trying to make it irrelevant because he knows being anti-abortion, anti stem cell research and anti gay are losing issues in a moderate district which has been trending blue. Even at its most Republican, when Tom Davis was unbeatable, it was never a socially conservative district. Davis ran as a moderate and was at least nominally pro choice.

But voters in the 11th might be even more concerned about those out of staters throwing their money at Fimian. A lot of that $1.3 million he’s raised has come from members of Legatus, of which he’s an officer, and family and friends of Ave Maria University, Ave Maria Law School, and Ave Maria township in Naples, Florida. All of those organizations were founded by Thomas Monaghan, who also maxed out to Fimian. Monaghan gave $2,300 and his wife kicked in another $2,300 to the Fimian campaign. For all that Fimian may want to pretend his election isn’t about social issues, somehow I doubt those donors are really concerned about Fairfax’s traffic problems.

In fact, Tom Monaghan, one of the major donors, has a reputation of being a single minded anti-abortion proponent with a history of backing ultra rightwing candidates like Sam Brownback, Rick Santorum and George Bush. He also has supported, and received favors from, Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida.

More troubling, however, than Monaghan’s political donations is that he is an autocrat who runs his schools and town almost like a cult. He’s a man on a mission and that mission is to impose his particular religious and social beliefs on the rest of society. Here’s a quote from a Washington Post article from 2007.

Tom Monaghan "is putting his money and influence" into making Brownback "the next president of the United States," McClatchy Newspapers' Matt Stearns recently reported. The extremely wealthy, and controversial conservative Catholic, "is advising the 2008 presidential exploratory committee for Brownback, a longtime social conservative who converted to Catholicism a few years ago," Stearns pointed out.

"In the Catholic community, he's looked upon as kind of on the fringes," the Rev. Robert Drinan, a liberal Roman Catholic priest and former Democratic congressman who teaches at Georgetown University, told Stearns. "The worldview is, 'We have to get back to a Catholic civilization'. They want to go back to a Christian society imposed from above...It's just another world they want to build."

Monaghan started building his alternative universe with Ave Maria Law School, which has been the eye of a storm of controversy almost since its inception.

To start with, Ave Maria Law School has had trouble getting and keeping its accreditation. When Monaghan decided to pick it up and move it from Michigan to Naples, Florida to become the centerpiece of his town, the faculty of the school protested and passed a vote of no confidence in Monaghan and his law school dean, Bernard Dombraski. Faculty members resigned in protest over Dombraski and Monaghan’s autocratic style, which puts Monaghan’s whims before the good of the school. (For the whole story, go to Ave Watch.)

Perhaps the most egregious firing, though, was Monaghan’s attempt to sack his provost, Father Joseph Fessio, a Jesuit priest beloved by traditionalist Catholics. Even for a school which places high value on absolute obedience from its staff and student body, this was too much and led to open protest. Father Fessio is a close personal friend to and former student of Pope Benedict, who is one of the most orthodox pontiffs to hold the office in modern times. But that didn’t daunt Monaghan.

Tom Monaghan rules Ave Maria like an autocrat. Indeed, his nickname is “King.” And he decides the dress code for females, including faculty. Here’s a story of his autocracy from Ave Watch:

The following is, by far, the most commonly heard "insider" story concerning Tom Monaghan. Ask a past or present employee from any of the Ave Maria entities about this story, and he or she will probably be familiar with it. Multiple current and former employees have offered AveWatch corroborating accounts. Yet, to date, it remains unpublished.

But, requiring a dress or skirt was not enough for Mr. Monaghan. It had to be of a 'proper' length at/below the knees.

Shirley Daum was a married mother who worked at Domino Farms. According to co-workers and friends, she was a solid employee who "always acted professionally" and was "a cheerful and delightful person to be around". As the account goes, in Mr. Monaghan's outer office area, he noticed one day that Daum was wearing a skirt whose length might not have met the knee dress code. In the presence of other employees, Monaghan then proceeded to tell Daum to kneel in front of him so that he could determine whether the skirt touched the floor and was subsequently in compliance with the dress code.

Can you imagine the humiliation of a married woman being told by her boss to kneel in his presence, in front of co-workers? To be clear, AveWatch is not implying that the instruction to kneel was done with sexual intent. But, it doesn't need to be overtly sexual to be humiliating. It should also be remembered that a perpetrator's private "intent" is not necessarily transferable to a participant or observer who may have very different perceptions about the intent.

And here’s a report from Bill Donahue writing in Mother Jones, describing the student body of Ave Maria.

"The first time i ever kissed a guy," a gentle, soft-spoken Ave Maria freshman named Mersadis said over her mozzarella sticks, "I thought it was disgusting. And now I don't want another guy to kiss me before marriage." She took a sip of her iced tea, then continued. "In high school, I found myself looking at every girl and asking, 'Has she given up her virginity? Is she still pure?' Here, I've stopped asking. I know everyone is."

Beside me sat a stern and erudite priest-in-training, a freshman named Aaron. "Here at Ave Maria, we follow the teachings of the magisterium," he intoned, meaning that students regard the pope's guidance as infallible. "We have not prostituted ourselves.... Other Catholic schools—and the rest of America—have embraced modernism and the culture of death. They have given wholehearted support to the death penalty, abortion, and euthanasia. The value of the human person is now entirely relative."

*****
Aaron argued that the United States can only be saved from moral perdition if it, like Ave Maria, embraces the magisterium as supreme. "We don't believe in the separation of church and state," he said, "and this country should orient itself toward Christ. The foundation of Western civilization rests on Christendom, which means that America owes its existence to the Catholic Church."

Parents and former students have expressed concern over the cult-like environment at Ave Maria, as this report from USA Today shows.

Some parents, too, have raised concerns. Guilbert Brown, budget director at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., says he was impressed when he visited the campus in 2004 with daughter Sacha.

But after she started her freshman year, he grew disturbed by changes in her behavior. A confident leader in her parish in Virginia, she became secretive and withdrawn. She worried her mother would be criticized for wearing sleeveless blouses or low necklines during campus visits. She called home only if no one was within earshot.

Eventually, Sacha transferred to the University of Dallas, where she has met at least four other former Ave Maria students.

It's not uncommon for students to transfer to other schools, but this was more than just a bad fit, Brown says. "We saw an environment where the free expression of the human spirit is thwarted."

And, as mentioned above, faculty who try to buck Monaghan’s iron will face the prospect of firings

In 2003, college staffers raised concerns about questionable financial aid practices to the Department of Education, which found, among other things, that students at the Florida university were not eligible to receive federal aid but were getting it through the Michigan college. Ave Maria College returned $259,620 to the department in 2004. Two lawsuits against the college have been dismissed, but Ave Maria College lawyers have appealed a third to the Michigan Supreme Court. That suit was filed by a whistle-blower who sparked the federal investigation.

Meanwhile, watchdog Internet sites mercilessly scrutinize each new development, be it the shake-up this spring in the admissions department or reports that yet another professor has been banned from his office.

Most complaints can be boiled down to one thing: Monaghan, who is the university's primary donor and chancellor, has too much control over an institution of higher education, of which shared governance is a hallmark.

"That whole organization is basically run like a sole proprietorship," says Christopher Beiting, a visiting history professor at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green who spent six years at Ave Maria College before quitting last year. Ave Maria College "was a very nice thing for a while," he says. "Most of the very competent people (who knew) how to run universities either left after a while or (were) pushed out."

Says Lee: Once colleagues "spoke of high academic aspirations and their personal devotion to Mary and to the Catholic Church." Now, the atmosphere is "dominated by the personal preferences of Tom Monaghan."

It’s important to note that none of this criticism is coming from secularists with their own hidden agenda. These are fellow devout, traditional Catholics, many of whom taught at Ave Maria or attended it as students and who grew disillusioned with Monaghan’s ham handed tactics.

More troubling, however, than the school, is Monaghan’s town, by the same name. It was built outside of Naples, Florida. Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida and convert to Catholicism, declared it a special tax district like Disney World. The difference, though, is that Disney World does not have any religious agenda or ties. According to Donahue in Mother Jones:

To conservatives, Monaghan is a deep-pocketed savior. Florida governor Jeb Bush, a converted Catholic, made Ave Maria Town a special tax district like Disney World, giving the self-appointed Board of Supervisors (run by Monaghan's development partner) wideonging powers and exempting the town from state and local laws.

That’s not the extent of the favor the town has received from local politicians as this article from the Naples News shows.

Think the Ave Maria project is financed entirely by private loans? Think again.

In the past four years, Ave Maria has received nearly $128 million in tax-free municipal bonds. The money has built a water and sewer plant, university student and faculty housing, and provided general town infrastructure.

Three separate governmental bodies — the Collier County Industrial Development Authority, the Collier County Educational Facilities Authority and the state-approved Ave Maria Stewardship Community District — have authorized five bond issues that benefit town developers and future residents.

Bonds issued by these entities are tax-free, making them equivalent to those from any government in the state.

****
As Ave Maria town and university develop, expect them to continue using municipal bond financing.

Similar to community development districts operating all over Southwest Florida, the Ave Maria Stewardship Community District, which at this point is run entirely by the town’s developer, has jurisdiction over nearly 11,000 acres in and around the town.
In 2006, the district approved and Collier circuit court validated more than $820 million in tax-free bonds for town infrastructure. So far, the district has issued just $52 million of that amount.

Tom Monaghan has won a lot of favors and financial rewards through cultivating wealthy and influential businessmen. And he’s attempting to extend his own influence further by carefully developing friendships with like minded theocratic politicians like Jeb Bush, Sam Brownback and now Keith Fimian. Don't let anybody kid you, the issues Fimian is trying to skirt around are very relevant to the district he hopes to represent. And so is the source of so much of his financial support.

Keith Fimian's Ideas Are Bad for Consumers and Business

Keith Fimian, the millionaire newcomer to politics, running for Congress from the 11th CD, is conducting the standard conservative Republican campaign based on anti-tax and anti-regulatory rhetoric. But if ever there was a bad time to be against government regulation of business, this summer would be it. In fact, this just illustrates how much Fimian is an ivory tower politican who is out of touch with the concerns of real people in his district.

According to a July 9, 2008 article in The Chronicle,

Fimian also has deep concerns about the economy. “It’s a wonderful economic model, but it’s also very fragile. Overtaxing and over-regulating business runs the risk of ruining the opportunities for the next generation. It’s essential, he said, that government remain friendly to small business. It’s the main source of all new jobs in America. In fact, since 1990, 88 percent of the new jobs in the country came from businesses employing 500 or fewer workers.”

He’s not entirely wrong, of course. Small business is a major source of new jobs and a healthy small business sector is absolutely essential to the success of the American economy. But Fimian is dead wrong about over-regulation being a problem today. Indeed, the real problem for both business and consumers is not enough regulation of vital consumer goods and the food supply.

In today’s Washington Post, there’s an article about young moms worried about a chemical used in children’s plastic toys.

Samantha Rosenberg eyed the toy plastic cellphone that her 9-month-old daughter has chewed so much, the color is fading. She wondered if the shiny plaything, and others that fill her home, are endangering Addison's health.

Congress this week approved a ban on a family of chemicals widely used in soft plastic toys and other baby products. Health advocates say the compounds, known as phthalates, have been linked to kidney and liver cancer and to reproductive disorders in fetuses and infants, especially boys.

Toymakers and the chemical industry ran an expensive lobbying campaign trying to block the legislation, arguing that phthalates have been used commercially since the 1950s, that they are safe and that the ban is an overreaction.

Rosenberg and other consumers are not sure what to think.

This article goes on to report that the U.S. is one of the last industrial nations to ban phthalates. They’ve been banned in Europe since 1999. Parents also are worried about BPA, a chemical used in baby bottles.

Adding to the rising concern over the safety of our products, we’ve just gone through a Salmonella outbreak, costing the tomato industry millions of dollars in ruined crops, sickening thousands of people around the U.S. and destroying consumers’ faith in the entire agricultural industry, which has just barely recovered from the food borne illness scare affecting spinach a few years ago. Add to this the recent concern over pet foods imported from China, which caused death to family pets. Chinese imports were also linked to harmful ingredients in toothpaste, toys and other products. Americans are asking why their government can’t protect them, not how can we eliminate pesky regulation from businesses.

The truth is the Republican siren song that we need less government and more tax cuts has led to decreasing resources for the agencies set up to protect American consumers, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Center for Disease Control (CDC), and the U.S Department of Agriculture's (USDA) inspection programs. Less and less money has gone to putting agents in the field to conduct inspections at farms and food processing plants. And there’s less money for and fewer inspectors at the CDC to track down the source of food borne illness once it’s started. That means it is harder to get to the source of the illness and protect people, which is exactly what happened with the Salmonella outbreak, which began in April, and is still making people ill.

For weeks, the CDC thought it was caused by tomatoes. Restaurants and supermarkets took tomatoes off their menus and shelves. Tomatoes rotted in warehouses and farmers ploughed under their fields, killing their crops. Suppliers and farmers lost millions of dollars on ruined tomato crops only to later discover that tomatoes weren’t even the cause of the illness. Meanwhile the real culprits, imported Jalapeño and Serrano peppers continued to make their way through the U.S food supply, sickening even more people.

Just a few years ago, a similar food scare involving spinach cost the California agricultural industry millions of dollars and the spinach industry still hasn’t regained the trust of consumers. It continues to suffer from declining sales. Obviously, an unsafe food supply and dangerous manufactured goods harm not just consumers but businesses. It’s imperative for industry to regain the trust of buyers.

Yet political newcomer Keith Fimian is offering proof that he is a tone deaf ideologue. Less government regulation is exactly what neither business nor consumers need right now.

What we do need is a public private partnership to ensure that our food supply and our consumer products are safe. It is necessary to restore the public’s confidence in both the business community and the government. People must see that farmers, manufacturers, and the government can work together to ensure the safety of their families.

It would be nice to say businesses should get together and regulate themselves without government interference. The problem is they’ve supposedly been doing it, and that approach has failed. Right now, the public has to see an outside regulatory apparatus inspecting foods and manufactured goods. Trust will only be built up slowly when citizens see their government acting responsibly and competently, stopping problems before they occur. It will take years of no more safety hazards and outbreaks of food borne illness to rebuild that trust.

And a conservative ideologue calling for fewer inspectors in the field and less money going to protect consumers will not inspire that trust. Therefore, Keith Fimian's ideas are bad for consumers and bad for business.

Gerry Connolly Tackles Mortgage Crisis in Fairfax

I know, I know, everybody in the Netroots is deeply suspicious of Washington Post reporter, Amy Gardner. And we’ve all had our differences with the pro business Post and with Gerry Connolly. That said, Gardner reports that Connolly proposed a truly innovative plan to ease the mortgage foreclosure problem in Fairfax County, one that adds to the county’s stock of affordable housing and provides homes to county employees – a concept known as workforce housing. Gerry Connolly, Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and candidate for the 11th Congressional District, deserves to be commended as a trailblazer for coming up with this proposal and marshalling it through the Board of Supervisors. And the BOS also deserves kudos for passing the legislation and making it a reality.

Here’s what the WaPo said about it:

Fairfax County approved a landmark housing program yesterday to buy foreclosed properties for middle-income families, becoming one of the first communities in the country to tackle the nation's growing mortgage crisis while also addressing the region's increasing demand for affordable housing

According to Gardner’s report, the county will buy outright about ten percent of the homes in foreclosure. For the rest, Fairfax will help first time homebuyers purchase houses through subsidized loans, taking advantage of the fact that thousands of homes have fallen below market value, in what the Washington Post has termed “a unique moment.” Here’s the Post quoting Connolly:

"Fairfax, like the rest of the country, is facing a foreclosure crisis that's unprecedented," said county Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D), who proposed the idea. "The county has to use its resources and influence to try to stem the tide."

For more details on the dollar amounts and the nuts and bolts of how this plan will work, read the entire article.

Meanwhile, some critics – and every good idea has critics, who often make valid points – charge that instead of putting money into selling these homes to others, the county ought to be doing more to aid the original owners to avoid foreclosure in the first place. As I said, those critics have a point. And Fairfax will, indeed, include financial counseling to homeowners in distress to help them avoid falling into foreclosure if possible.

For some, however, the aid will come too late. They’ve already lost their homes, which stand abandoned, creating a host of problems for the neighborhoods where they are located. I’ll get to those problems in a minute. But I have to add that for many, their financial problems are beyond rescue.

Too many victims took home loans with unrealistic adjustable rates that ballooned. They started with below market “teaser” rates designed to attract homebuyers who had no hope of being able to afford their homes. It’s why the entire industry needs better regulation. Adding to the problem, those who might be able to hang on by refinancing those homes to obtain a more affordable and realistic fixed rate mortgage are locked out of that solution because sinking housing prices mean their homes are no longer worth what they paid for them. Once the housing bubble burst, so did their dreams of owning their own home. You might call it the bursting of the American Dream for many.

Unfortunately, that also leaves an American nightmare for other property owners living in neighborhoods where foreclosed homes are abandoned. Here are some of the problems I told you earlier that I'd discuss.

Anybody who has lived in an urban or inner suburban area can tell you that abandoned buildings of any kind attract illegal squatters. Those could be gang members, drug dealers, addicts in search of crack houses or heroine shooting galleries. And those who take up illicit residence in these places drive up the crime rate as well as driving down the property values.

Ironically, Republicans on the Fairfax Board of Supervisors, such as Pat Herrity and Michael Frey, voted against this housing proposal because they believe the “market” will take care of the problem by attracting private buyers to the foreclosed properties. In fact, Herrity termed it “a problem in search of a solution.”

That’s only true if you believe the government has no role in protecting ordinary citizens and their investments (never mind that government can always find a way to help large investment banks and mortgage companies with expensive, tax funded bailouts). Meanwhile, we’ve seen how well the market has protected those hard working, middle class people by bursting a housing bubble, driving property values down, and leaving their neighborhoods vulnerable to squatters in abandoned buildings, and the accompanying rise in crime rates. Seems like that market could use a little assistance, both in better regulation at the federal level and some innovative programs like this one to help neighborhoods as well as new homebuyers at the local level.

Besides all that, real life is composed of more than just “market-based” values. There is something to be said for using public private partnerships to aid communities in other ways. And that’s another commendable feature of this program.

It would give fire fighters, police, nurses, teachers, and other county employees an opportunity to purchase homes in the communities in which they serve. Providing affordable housing to professionals in the community gives them an even greater stake in that community's well being. It makes those they serve their neighbors, friends, and family members. And in a real national emergency, who wouldn’t want their first responders living in their own communities, better able to truly respond quickly by getting to their duty stations rapidly?

There are manifold benefits to this proposal.

"It's a good idea," said John McClain, a senior fellow at George Mason University's Center for Regional Analysis. "It's been talked about nationally, and I hope that it will make a dent."

Indeed, Connolly shares that hope.

Connolly said he hopes the program can be a model for the nation -- and also a beginning, capable of expanding if Congress approves legislation addressing the foreclosure crisis. Legislation before Congress would help more than 400,000 distressed borrowers trade mortgages with rapidly rising payments for more affordable government-backed loans if their banks forgive a portion of their debt.

"There could be an infusion of outside resources that would allow us to do more," Connolly said. "The federal bill is still winding its way through Congress. Fairfax would have a program in place to qualify, which is very much on our minds as well."

Once again, kudos to Gerry Connolly and the Board of Supervisors for providing a pragmatic and progressive solution at the local level to a growing national problem. This should put a spotlight on Fairfax County for innovative leadership.

Election Silly Season Attacks Launched Against Gerry Connolly

Well, they always say the best laid plans of mice and men. I had a lot planned for this week’s blog posts, including some great pictures from the convention last weekend. They were taken by my good friend from OPEIU, Joyce Putnam. Also this week, the Gerry Connolly endorsement was scheduled. I had kinda hoped I’d be able to at least endorse him before having to defend him from right wing attacks. Foolish me.

I get it that the campaigns have started and it’s officially silly season. But this year it really got off with a bang, with an attack from a national blog on the Democratic candidate for the 11th CD.

Ok, it’s only nutcase Michelle Malkin, linking to my favorite Virginia demagogue, Greg Leticque. But it gives you an indication of just how hotly contested Northern Virginia is going to be nationally. Unfortunately, a Virginia semi-Democratic blogger, who has broken some good posts nationally a few times, signed on to what is essentially a far right circle jerk.

Before launching in, I should probably let you know a couple of things about me in the interest of full disclosure. On the one hand, I have a long history of criticizing the excesses of extreme Islam, especially of the Wahabbi variety, and of pointing out the problems with radical Islam in countries like Saudi Arabia. This is just one example. But I also pride myself on my defense of religious liberty for even the most obscure sects, such as this one.

With that in mind, here goes.

Malkin, Leticque and NLS have all carried stories about the Islamic Saudi Academy, located in Fairfax County. The school is problematic for a number of reasons which I will get into later. But their attacks on Gerry Connolly were launched because the Fairfax Board of Supervisors renewed the lease for the school, as reported here, by the Washington Post’s Focus on Fairfax back in May.

Connolly did not act unilaterally. The entire board voted on this. But the issue is larger than just defending Gerry Connolly or the other supervisors. It also involves speaking up against religious bigotry and the demonizing of a whole group of people. That’s why it takes precedence over anything else I will write this week.

First off, let me admit that the Islamic Saudi Academy is problematic on a number of grounds. It is the nature of demagoguery that there is often an element of truth to what is said. And what Malkin, Leticque and, because he linked to them, Tribbett, are alleging has some veracity to it. Whenever there is truth to a charge, it must be acknowledged and respected.

The academy is a Muslim private school, funded by the government of Saudi Arabia, which leases land from the Fairfax County government. Because of that it is fair to scrutinize what they teach. Because of the fact that they are funded by a foreign government, they are also subject to monitoring and oversight by the federal government. And U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom found problems with the school’s textbooks and teaching materials, which came from Saudi Arabia. They recommended that the State Department close the school.

Some of the problems they found include lessons that encourage intolerance and hatred for non Muslims, especially anti-Semitism, and encouragement of violence toward non Muslims.

The school, however, claimed they were not using the same textbooks that are used in Saudi Arabia. They had altered them to remove material offensive and unacceptable in the West. The problem, however, is that the Commission was not given access to the material and couldn’t verify that claim. That’s why they made their recommendation. That’s an important distinction. The Commission did not find offensive hate material; they just couldn’t verify its absence. And the Saudis have too long a history of teaching intolerance to simply believe them without that verification.

However, before renewing the lease, Fairfax did do their due diligence. According to the Washington Post article

Supervisor Gerald W. Hyland (D-Mount Vernon), whose district includes the Saudi-backed school, said he reviewed the academy's materials with the help of an Arabic translator. After Hyland found no reason for serious concern, he and other board members agreed Monday to extend the lease of the school, which has about 1,000 students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12.

"We had no indication they are teaching terrorists, or are teaching students to hate and kill," Hyland said. "The bottom line," he said, is that the textbooks used at the Fairfax school "are not the same" as those used in Saudi Arabia.

Hyland said, however, that the issue was one of religious tolerance. "There's a great reluctance on the part of the board to be judgmental as to people's religions," he said

In addition, non Muslim teachers at the school have said

American-born teachers who are Christian and work at the school told officials they have seen no evidence of religious intolerance.

Civic associations in the area testified in support of the lease extension, saying that the school, which has operated there since 1989, has been a good neighbor and maintains the grounds well.

Surprisingly, at the hearing on the vote to renew the lease, John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute spoke in defense of the school. Whitehead and the Rutherford Institute, ironically, are usually heroes of the Christian right. The Rutherford Institute is widely known and respected for its passionate defense of First Amendment rights of churches and Christian individuals and usually fights for their rights against the secular establishment. And here is what the Post reported.

John Whitehead, founder of the Charlottesville-based Rutherford Institute, which focuses on religious freedom cases, said he is skeptical of the U.S. government judging the intent and content of a religious school's curriculum.

"This is real troublesome stuff," he said. "Religion has a history of saying intolerant things. That's why they're protected."

Personally, I still find the academy problematic and believe that it needs scrutiny, both from the State Department (remember, it’s funded by a foreign government, so that is legal) and from Fairfax County, which still holds the lease. And the lease comes up for renewal annually, so that oversight is both doable and necessary.

Having said that, academic and religious freedom are important concepts in our society. They never trump hatred and intolerance, of course. But if a branch of the government can interfere with the religious liberty or academic freedom of one minority, then none of us are safe.

It’s a delicate balance in this case. But it’s worth the effort. Among other reasons is because Islam in the U.S. stands at a crossroads. There are many Muslims who wish to become part of the U.S. They desire to participate in our culture. They want to be good citizens and good neighbors. If we build a moat and draw up the bridge, we run the risk of marginalizing them and creating the very radicalism that we are trying so hard to prevent. If, instead, we engage them in dialogue, encourage them to join us, and challenge intolerance and hatred while welcoming their positive contributions, we will do more to protect both our freedom and security than we will if we demonize and demagogue them.

Therefore, I applaud Gerry Connolly and the members of the Fairfax Board of Supervisors for taking the long sighted approach and not giving in to the very fear and intolerance we are trying to fight in the first place.

Reflections on Kaine's Endorsement and the Opportunity He Blew

It appears that Gov. Tim Kaine just lit a match, threw it on a pile of kindling and ignited a fire on the blogosphere. In other words, he endorsed Gerry Connolly in the 11th CD primary. According to today's Washington Post, he said:

"Gerry brings passion and integrity to public service and a deep sense of commitment to all he undertakes," Kaine said in the statement. "I believe that this race has attracted four worthy and capable candidates, but for me, Gerry Connolly is the standout. He will serve the 11th Congressional District with honor and distinction. I fully endorse and will actively work for his election, and I encourage voters in the 11th Congressional District to do the same."

I'm not sure I agree with the "integrity" part, unless the good governor has a different definition of that word than I do.

But, as the blogosphere's favorite Northern Virginia reporter, Amy Gardner, points out:

In a statement released yesterday, Kaine said that Connolly, who is chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, is the strongest candidate among the four competing in the June 10 primary. Kaine said Connolly has been a "partner" on a range of issues, including strengthening the economy, toughening environmental standards, fully funding schools and fighting for a Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport.

"As a former elected local official, I appreciate Gerry's practical approach to problem-solving," said Kaine, a former mayor of Richmond.

What appears strikingly apparent to me is that much of this mirrors the Jim Webb-Harris Miller primary in 2006. The state legislators and the firefighters' union lined up with Miller while the progressive blogosphere and activists went with Webb. This is a continuation of the rivalry between the moderate pro-business Chamber of Commerce picked candidate and the more liberal elements, including the majority of unions, who are once again lining up with the more progressive candidate.

Meanwhile, Ben and Lowell are definitely infuriated. Indeed over at Raising Kaine, the logo has been removed from that blog. I don't blame them one bit for the sense of betrayal they all feel over there.

Kaine began splitting off in a direction that has roused the ire of environmentalists for quite some time. He supported the elevated Metrorail track through Tysons Corner rather than the underground Tysons tunnel, which disappointed the RK crowd, along with a lot of others who understand that the tunnel provides the best option to turn the crowded Dulles corridor into an environmentally sustainable, mixed use business-residential center. The tunnel would encourage development of a walkable "downtown" area.

Not only is that a better environmental and business option for the area, but many health professionals believe that our increasing suburban sprawl, with spread out highways and parking lots and no walkable downtown centers, is a leading cause of the obesity epidemic in this country.

In addition, Gov. Kaine has shown an appalling lack of concern for the health of Virginia residents by his continued support of coal. I am very sympathetic to the union support he gets for this because, for labor, it's a matter of protecting jobs. Indeed, I've played Devil's advocate over at RK, in the past, on this issue, trying to present labor's point of view.

The truth, though, is that protecting the fading jobs of a dying industry rather than investing in the careers of the future, including green technolgy, is a foolish choice. That's especially true when that dying industry has been quite literally responsible for the deaths of so many of its own employees through diseases like black lung.

Here, I have to admit, is one of the few times that I break with organized labor, which remains committed to protecting those jobs. Again, I sympathize with them but think it's only a costly delay of the inevitable, which is green energy and technology. The governor and labor would do better if they instead supported investing in the infrastructure for green technology and job retraining for displaced coal miners. That would create a healthier state environment and safer jobs in the long run.

The governor also would have done well to stay out of the 11th CD race. Then, whoever won, he could have been a healing and uniting force. I generally don't fault those who support a different candidate than me and I'm not about to end friendships with people I respect, like Kris Amundsen, the Bulovas, and the Marsdens over it. But the governor is not just wrong but by jumping in where he didn't need to be, he blew a valuable opportunity to be the party's uniter in November.

Sometimes, Governor Kaine, it's good to be a statesman rather than a politician.

Leslie Byrne Calls for End to Waste and Fraud in Defense Contracting

The following is a statement by Leslie Byrne, congressional candidate for the 11th CD, on the Senate Democratic Policy Committee oversight hearing on waste, fraud and corruption in the Iraq War. It's about time somebody stood up to the contractors and the Bush administration culture of corruption, which has viewed the war in Iraq as a business opportunity to pad their pockets.

Byrne: “It’s time to end waste, fraud and abuse in defense contracting”

On Monday, May 12, 2008 at 2:00 p.m., the Senate Democratic Policy Committee will hold an oversight hearing on waste, fraud and corruption in Iraq. The following is a statement from Leslie Byrne, Democratic candidate for Congress in Virginia’s 11th District, on ending the abuses in Iraq contracting.

“I am encouraged to see the Senate Democrats take the lead on investigating the impact of waste, fraud and abuse on our efforts to end the bloodshed in Iraq. And I’m outraged that there is a need for such an oversight hearing.American taxpayers shouldn’t be footing the bill for unethical defense contractors who want to bolster their bottom lines at our expense.

“The American people are being asked to continue spending billions, perhaps even trillions, on the war and reconstruction efforts in Iraq, and far too much of that money has been disappearing. According to a report from the Government Accountability Office, approximately $10 billion has already been lost-- $4.9 billion through contract overpricing and waste.

“The Iraq War has cost over $456 billion through fiscal year 2007. Taxpayers in Virginia’s 11th congressional district will pay $2.1 billion of the total Iraq War spending approved to date. For the same amount of money, we could have provided 592,123 people with health care or paid 30,786 new elementary school teachers. We also could have hired 33,420 port container inspectors or 45,160 public safety officers, doing much more to actually promote our national security.

“No more swindling of the American taxpayer. It’s time to end the waste, fraud and abuse in defense contracting. I wholeheartedly endorse the War Profiteering Prevention Act. In the event that it is not approved by the Senate, I will actively work to pass it again in the 111th Congress.

“The people of the Virginia 11th deserve a representative they can trust, and who is free of any conflict of interest, to see this fight through. I’ve been publicly opposed to the Iraq War since the very beginning, and as a signatory to the Responsible Plan to End the War I am part of a coalition with practical ideas on how to heal the wounds our invasion has caused. Throughout my years in the House of Delegates, the State Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives, I have never been afraid to stand up for what I believe. After years of public service, Northern Virginians know I can be trusted to do what’s right.”

The Liberal Soul of Virginia's 11th Congressional District

Who would have thought, even five short years ago, that two major congressional candidates would be fighting to claim the position as the most progressive candidate in Virginia's 11th CD? And if somebody had suggested that Gerry Connolly would be duking it out with Leslie Byrne for the "liberal soul of the district," as the Washington Post's Amy Gardner said in this article about that race, political pundits would have suggested that they needed to take a breathalyzer test. Yet here is what Gardner wrote today.

In a matter of months, Northern Virginia's 11th Congressional District has morphed from the home court of popular Republican Tom Davis to a left-leaning battleground in which two major Democratic candidates are spending most of their time trying to outdo each other's liberal credentials.

And this is even sweeter.

"It is clear that Fairfax County has turned blue and has had a great series of elections," said Del. James M. Scott (D-Fairfax), who has endorsed Connolly. "Democrats are gaining ground at all levels, and I think we have a real good shot at picking up this House seat. Clearly, both candidates are going after the folks who have been Democrats a long time and believe in a substantial amount of the Democratic values."

That dynamic has produced a series of attempts at left-leaning one-upmanship between Byrne and Connolly, who have traded comments questioning their opponent's progressive credentials and highlighting their own. Just this week, Byrne accused Connolly of misappropriating the logo of the National Organization for Women in a mailing. The group has endorsed Byrne. Also this week, Connolly cited two major union endorsements as evidence that Byrne's hold on the labor movement is not as strong as she states.

Yes, they're even contending for union support.

"She's got the steamfitters and the steelworkers," Connolly said. "That's great; they're rewarding her. But the dynamic unions that are growing and that have a different take on things have endorsed me."

"The bottom line is that both have good records on labor and are splitting those votes down the middle," said Daniel Duncan, president of the Northern Virginia Central Labor Council. "People have friends on both sides," said Duncan, whose organization is staying neutral in the June 10 primary. "Leslie has walked many a picket line with us and shown up at many an event. And Gerry, after working with him and lobbying him, did help get the living wage and the big box ordinance."

Both candidates have a claim on labor and liberalism.

Byrne, 61, has a long history of liberal activism on such issues as women's rights, labor, health care and the environment. In Congress, where she served for one term before Davis defeated her in 1994, she voted for the landmark Family and Medical Leave Act and pushed such issues as protection of federal wages and increased federal oversight of energy pipelines. She promoted a similar agenda during her seven years in the Virginia House and four in the state Senate.

As a result, Byrne has a list of endorsements from such large and influential groups as NOW, Emily's List, the Communication Workers of America and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. "Leslie has been there and has sought us out over the years," said Marj Signer, president of the Virginia chapter of NOW. "We don't have to ask her where she stands on our issues. She has defined many of those issues."

Connolly, 58, does not concede that point. A popular politician in Fairfax who overwhelmingly won reelection as board chairman in November, Connolly has built a progressive record by promoting energy conservation, fair wage policies and a county rule sought by a grocery workers' union to restrict Wal-Mart and other "big box" stores in Fairfax.

To my mind, Leslie is still the most progressive. She has a history of fighting for women's rights, workers rights, and consumer protection laws. Gerry's done some good things but his ties to developers and the business community go deep. He's always positioned himself as the moderate centrist and he's now trying to reinvent himself to compete in a newly liberal distict.

Still, it's worth rejoicing that mainstream candidates are now rushing to join the liberal bandwagon. Could Virginia's 11th CD be the bellwether?

NOW Disavows Gerry Connolly Mailer

Wow! If you rest, you rust. And if you go away on a vacation for a few days, all hell breaks out and you're not even there for the fun.

Apparently, Gerry Connolly, not content to send out a misleading flyer stating that he was against the war in Iraq from its start, something largely disproven by now, has struck again. This time, his leaflet has a huge headline claiming that he has supported women's rights and fought for women's issues since his public support for the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s. And he appropriated the NOW logo to boot.

The only problem with this is that the national NOW-PAC endorsed Leslie. They are, obviously, not happy with Gerry's use of their logo in his mailing. Their president, Marj Signer, sent me an email asking if I knew whether Gerry actually was a long time supporter of women's rights. Unfortuntely, this was on April 20, while I was still in Fort Lauderdale.

Not to worry. Intrepid bloggers Lowell and Ben were on it. Both sites have NOW of Virginia's statement about this.

The truth came out. It always does. You'd think Gerry's campaign would learn by now, and stick to more modest and provable claims. In fact, you would also think that Gerry might try running on his own record, the things he actually believes, and his real accomplishments instead of trying to appear more progressive than Leslie. Note to Gerry: You can't outrun Leslie as a progressive so you might as well run as who you really are and give the voters of Fairfax a real choice.

By the way, I got off my plane yesterday and made it to P.J. Skidoos for the Byrne Brigade fundraiser. Lowell and Eric have great pictures at RK.

Why Is Doug Denneny Running to the Right of Gerry Connolly?

It could be because Leslie Byrne has staked out the truly progressive position and there's no place else to go.

I mean they all basically are anti-Iraq and pro-choice. No Democrat is going to be publicly anti-environment - at least until he's already in office - that's practically a "mom and apple pie" issue. Petroleum and oil companies run pro-environmental ads. True, those ads are lies, where they attempt to convince the public that theirs is "clean energy." But the point is nobody comes out directly against green policy so much as they try to subvert it.

But when it comes to the economy, Denneny appears to be taking his policy right out of George Stigler and Milton Friedman and other architects of the free market, supply side Chicago School of economics.

Here's what his campaign sent out as an "editorial memo."

Though his intent is laudable, Gerry Connolly's recent proposal for Fairfax County to buy foreclosed homes and sell them back to working families reveals his commitment to a dated and unsuccessful big government approach to economic issues.

As Democrats, we all agree that we need to ensure Fairfax has housing options for teachers, nurses, police officers, firefighters and others who serve our community. The only question is how to best achieve this goal...

...When public servants in government craft policy with the intent to improve people's lives, their first rule should be 'do no harm.' By buying foreclosed properties and selling them to working families below market value, the County would be artificially lowering the property values of other homes in the area, effectively taking money out of the pockets of citizens and families that are near the foreclosed properties.

Since housing markets are currently in a period of decline, working families who buy houses from the County at below current market prices will quite possibly see an appreciation in the value of their home as the market stabilizes and begins to grow. As home values appreciate, home owners' county tax bills will increase. Working families who struggle to buy a home at below market prices today could be challenged to pay their Fairfax County tax bill tomorrow.

On the other hand, if home prices continue to depreciate, Connolly's plan will have placed working families in financial predicaments that they would not have been able to enter without the County government's intervention.

Connolly continues to embrace the hackneyed notion that heavy-handed government intervention is the solution to everything. This approach may sound appealing in an election year, but it in the long run Connolly's plan will limit the ability of the free market to create choices for working families. Certainly this approach is better than the 'you're on your own' ideology of the Republicans, but Democrats can do better.

His "doing better," unfortunately, comes right out the Republican playbook of the last eight years, and the twelve years of the Reagan-Bush administrations before that.

As a New Generation Democrat, Doug Denneny believes in using policy levers to respond to the needs of working families without skewing the private market. Doug believes the best way to help struggling families in Fairfax County is to offer substantial and targeted relief from property taxes.

Now, relief from property taxes during an economic downturn is not necessarily a bad thing. But the biggest problem with this is that the property tax is the main revenue source for county government. With less money coming in, how would Doug propose that Fairfax County fund necessary programs like police and fire protection, emergency services, schools, teachers' and other county workers' salaries, and a host of social services for the disabled. What about parks, after school programs? Those are all the things that make Fairfax among the best communities to live.

Indeed, it's those services that make Fairfax one of the best places to do business as well. That's because businesses want to go where they can get an educated, skilled workforce. And good education and amenities attract the workers that modern, high tech businesses need.

In addition, philosophically, a progressive populist, like me, sees nothing wrong with government helping out and giving the little guy an economic boost into the middle class.

Actually buying up foreclosed homes and selling them below market value to provide affordable housing to firefighters, policemen and policewomen, teachers, emergency technicians, and other county employees is one of Connolly's more creative ideas. Making sure that the people who respond to citizens' needs and teach their children are also members of their community is a way to ensure that those valuable employees are stakeholders in the well being of our community rather than outsiders who merely punch a time clock.

Denneny also declined to sign on to the Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq, which both Leslie Byrne and Tom Periello signed. The list of signers also includes Darcy Burner, Donna Edwards, and Jeff Merkley. Doug responded with his own plan, which I am not about to criticize. As a decorated combat veteran with experience in Iraq, he has important suggestions that must be heard and taken seriously.

The truth, though, is that the Responsible Plan is a good broad platform that Democrats can run on. By adding his expertise to shaping the plan and supporting it, rather than going his own way, while basically saying the same things, I think he weakens both his own position and that of the others. A bunch of people running around with individual plans is never as powerful a statement as a coherent group with a strong, broad platform that provides an easily understandable road map that everybody can support. I have no quarrel with the particulars of Denneny's plan but a great deal of skepticism about the effectiveness of his method of going his own way.

But it's really on his economic statement where Denneny baffles me.

In times of crisis, voters need proven, thoughtful leadership – not flawed, feel-good election year proposals. Gerry Connolly has responded to the housing crisis for working families in Fairfax with the fruitless policies of the past. The Republicans are silent on this issue. Doug Denneny, a New Generation Democrat, has a better approach that relies on competition and market forces to improve the lives of working families.

Actually, his solution is exactly what a Republican would propose. There's nothing either "new generation" or Democratic about it. And calling it a fruitless big government solution from the past is right out of the Republican playbook of criticisms. Frankly, that's the kind of rhetoric you can read every day at Bearing Drift and Too Conservative.

You're a good guy, Doug, but you can do better than this.