For Democrats, the book outlines in Cuccinelli's own words, their principle attack against him. That he is a rigid conservative hellbent on fundamentally changing the way government operates. The Post outlines several excerpts which illustrate that point.
One of the more revealing pieces of text specifically mentions politically sacred programs.
“One of their favorite ways to increase their power is by creating
programs that dispense subsidized government benefits, such as Medicare,
Social Security, and outright welfare (Medicaid, food stamps,
subsidized housing, and the like). These programs make people dependent
on government. And once people are dependent, they feel they can’t
afford to have the programs taken away, no matter how inefficient,
poorly run, or costly to the rest of society.”
But while the book offers a new forum for Cuccinelli to express those views. They aren't necessarily surprising or something the Attorney General has been saying virtually his entire time in public life.
Take this speech Cuccinelli gave this past spring. He was a speaker at the Iowa GOP's Lincoln Dinner. Cuccinelli was promoting the Republican ticket and called the election one of the most important of the audience's life time. He said in order to win Republicans and Conservatives were going to have to work harder than their Democratic counterparts.
Here is the video from the Iowa's GOP's YouTube channel:
“The Conservative sales pitch is tougher than the Liberal sales pitch. The Liberal sales pitch is easy. Here is a check," said Cuccinelli to laughs.
"Vote to keep us in power and the checks will keep coming. That is pretty easy."
Cuccinelli goes on to say Conservatives need to articulate how they plan to help the poor by giving them the chance to fight their way out of poverty.
"That is pretty easy," he said of the Liberal campaign pitch. "They do the feel good thing and
so on so forth, for Conservatives it is more intellectual. It means setting up a
system that when our children are our age that opportunity will still be available
to them.”
In a press conference today, DPVA Chair Charniele Herring said Cuccinelli has a misguided view of the government's role and the people receiving assistance.
"Ken Cuccinelli's extremism has reached a new low
with his suggestion that Americans who have paid into Medicare and Social
Security are 'dependent on government', 'getting the goodies' and incapable
of making decisions in their own their own best interests," She said.
Cuccinelli's campaign claims his opponents are taking short excerpts of a long book out of context.
"It's unfortunate that Democrats are cherry
picking a select passage to attack Mr. Cuccinelli," said Jahan Wilcox, Cuccinelli's spokesman. "When the full book is
available, voters will realize that Mr. Cuccinelli supports Medicare and Social
Security and that this was a baseless attack."
The book was co-written by Cuccinelli's Director of Communications in the Attorney General's Office Brian Gottstein. It is set to be released on February 12th.
It has become the most controversial topic in the 2013 Virginia General Assembly: an attempt by the Senate GOP to push through a revision to the 2012 redistricting plan. The move has been criticized not only on its merit, but also by the way Senate Republicans went about passing the plan, pushing it through while Sen. Henry Marsh (D), a noted civil rights activist, was at President Obama's inauguration.
The process has been roundly attacked by both Republicans and Democrats, both elected officials and those running for office. Governor Bob McDonnell (R) said it wasn't the way to do business. Lt. Governor Bill Bolling (R), who may still run for governor, said he cannot support the plan and every major Democratic candidate for statewide office has said they are opposed.
Among those who had decided to stay out of the fray is Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli who is also the presumptive Republican nominee for governor. Cuccinelli doesn't have an opinion on the merits or the process because he said he must remain impartial should the bill become law and face a legal challenge.
"I am going to be called on to defend the
bill and my client sort of becomes the bill once it passes into law," Cuccinelli said during an interview Friday night.
Cuccinelli defended his position as being a responsible Attorney General, not that he was looking to avoid a political battle.
"We have a track record of doing our job
agnostically of how bills become law," said Cuccinelli. "As long as it is constitutional and
adheres to voting rights act, we roll forward and defend it."
Not suprisingly, the presumptive Democratic nominee for governor Terry McAuliffe isn't buying that excuse.
"I
strongly urge Attorney General Cuccinelli to join Governor McDonnell, Lt.
Governor Bolling, and myself in speaking out against this divisive
redistricting plan," McAuliffe said in a statement.
McAuliffe believes this is another example of the difficult position Cuccinelli finds himself in as both AG and candidate for Governor. Cuccinelli chose not to follow the same path as his predecessors and step down from his post once the campaign began in earnest. He has vowed to serve his entire four-year term and, despite the criticism, he remains committed to that pledge.
"I also promised the voters when I was
running that I would serve for all four years," Cuccinelli told me. "The people of Virginia elected
me for those four years and they are going to get the best effort I can give
them for all four years."
Democrats, like McAuliffe, believe sticking to that pledge leaves voters uncertain where Cuccinelli stands on important issues that may help them make up their mind.
"At
a time when we should be focusing on working together, we simply can not afford
the partisan tactics that have plagued Richmond for far too long," said McAuliffe. "The
divisive partisan move by the Senate has dominated an entire week and is
hurting the Commonwealth's ability to focus on economic development and find
mainstream solutions to make Virginia a better place for business."
Cuccinelli argues that, if anything, his conduct during this flap proves that he is capable of being a candidate and an official. He said he is treating this bill the same way he treated a prior Democratically-produced redistricting plan.
"I think I have already proven by defending
to the hilt a Democratic redistricting plan that I'm just going to do what a
lawyer should do and that is defend the product of the client," he said.
Whether or not voters buy that argument is a gamble Cuccinelli seems willing to take. But make no mistake, this will not be the last time the Attorney General will be put into a position where his work as the commonwealth's top lawyer may run into conflict with his role as the GOP nominee for Governor. Especially when Democrats seem poised to bring up the issue at every available opportunity.
It is PolitiFact Virginia's most exhaustive investigation yet. A more than 2,500 word breakdown of what kept the Democratic nominee for governor Terry McAuliffe from opening his green car company in Mississippi instead of Virginia.
The PolitiFact investigation builds on our initial report that revealed that McAuliffe's company never finished their application to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.
PolitiFact obtained hundreds of correspondence between Green Tech and VEDP that outlines in specificity the process that led to Green Tech deciding to set up shop in Mississippi and not Virginia.
PolitiFact editor Warren Fiske, who contributed to Nancy Madsen's report joined me to discuss what they discovered.
You can see that interview here:
You can read the entire PolitiFact Virginia report here.
It was an interesting afternoon for Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R).
Cuccinelli was on his way back to Richmond on Friday, after a meeting of his Human Trafficking Task Force in Staunton, when he and his driver Cory Chenard noticed a semi-truck with a flatbed trailer carrying a heavy load in front of them with an awful-smelling smoke coming from its rear.
They spotted the truck on I-64 near mile maker 160 in Louisa County, just east of Cross County Road.
"The truck was really burning some rubber," recalled Chenard.
Chenard said he pulled the car up along side of the semi and saw the back tires of the trailer engulfed in flames. It was clear the driver was not aware of the problem. Chenard honked his horn to get the driver's attention and Cuccinelli yelled to the driver out the window, convincing her to pull over.
As soon as they both came to a stop, the Attorney General went to assess the situation.
"I skipped by the cab back to the back of the truck and, sure enough, it was still on fire," he said.
Cuccinelli helped the driver out of the cab of the truck and then went in search of a fire extinguisher. After finding one he instructed Chenard to call for help and he ran to the back of the truck to help the driver put out the flames.
Cuccinelli said the truck's flatbed trailer, which was carrying a heavy load, was in rough shape.
"It looked like her brakes locked up and one of the wheels was burning," he said.
After extinguishing the fire, Cuccinelli and Chenard sat and waited with the driver until Louisa County emergency crews arrived. Cuccinelli said the driver was in serious pain from an injury unrelated to the fire. Louisa County Sheriffs also responded to the scene and confirmed Cuccinelli's story. The driver did not need to be taken to the hospital.
Cuccinelli said the driver told him that she had no clue her trailer was on fire.
"Given where it was it was hidden from her view, you know, even in the side mirrors she couldn't see flames," he said. "The flames were underneath."
Cuccinelli never got the driver's name and told me that she had no clue who he was. The plates on her rig were from Kentucky.
In addition to being the Attorney General, Cuccinelli is also the presumptive Republican nominee for Governor of Virginia.
The son of Del. Kirk Cox, the leader of the Republican majority in the Virginia House of Delegates, was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana after being pulled over by police in Colonial Heights on Monday.
According to court records, Carter Adkins Cox was pulled over for having expired license plates. The Colonial Heights Commonwealth's Attorney's office said that marijuana was discovered in his car. He was charged with a misdemeanor for possession of marijuana.
Carter Cox does not appear to have a prior record of any kind. He is the second of four sons for Del. Cox and his wife Julie. He is a student at Colonial Heights High School.
Colonial Heights Commonwealth's Attorney William Bray tells NBC12 that his office has already put in a request for a special prosecutor to handle the case to avoid any appearance of impropriety.
Carter Cox is scheduled to appear in Colonial Heights General District Court for an adjudicatory hearing on February 20th.
Del. Cox did not comment on the matter. A spokesperson for the Virginia GOP House Caucus released the following statement:
"This is a personal issue that Delegate Cox and his family
will work through together. Delegate Cox is a father that loves his family very
much and he asks that their privacy be respected during this time."
Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Richmond this Friday to discuss gun violence in an event with Sen. Tim Kaine.
The White House released the news this afternoon but provided few details about the exact time of the event or where it will take place.
Biden chaired President Obama's task force on gun violence in the wake of the Newtown school shooting and offered up a long list of potential legislative changes to curb access to firearms. The Petersburg Police Chief, John I. Dixonserved on the task force.
We'll update you when we learn more information.
UPDATE:
Biden will appear at a round table discussion at VCU's University Student Commons at 11am on Friday. The event is not open to the public.
In addition to Sen. Kaine, Rep. Bobby Scott and several Obama administration officials will take part in the discussion.
The details provided by the White House can be found below:
--------------------------------
Vice
President Biden to Travel to Richmond to Discuss Gun Safety
WASHINGTON,
DC – On Friday, January 25, 2013, Vice President Biden, Secretary of Homeland
Security Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen
Sebelius, Deputy U.S. Attorney General Jim Cole, and other Administration
officials will travel to Richmond, Virginia, to hold a roundtable discussion on
the Administration’s efforts to reduce gun violence. Senator Tim Kaine and
Congressman Bobby Scott will also attend. The roundtable discussion will
include experts who have worked on gun safety issues in the wake of the
Virginia Tech shooting.
The
Vice President and other officials will deliver remarks at the conclusion of
the roundtable. These remarks are pooled for television and open to
correspondents and still photographers, but space is limited.
Who:
Vice
President Joe Biden, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Secretary
of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, Deputy U.S. Attorney General
Jim Cole, Senator Tim Kaine, Congressman Bobby Scott, and other Administration
officials.
When: Friday,
January 25, 2013
Where: Virginia
Commonwealth University, University Student Commons
The Virginia General Assembly is national news once again. The Virginia Senate's attempt to redraw districts while Sen. Henry Marsh was out of town has drawn attention across the country.
NBC12's Chris Thomas tracked Sen. Marsh down this afternoon and put together an excellent piece that explains the complex controversy in a concise way.
Gov. Bob McDonnell has said he does not support the Senate's move but stopped short of saying he will veto the plan. The next step will happen tomorrow. The bill is already scheduled to be voted on by the House of Delegates on Wednesday.
It is probably not something Americans will not believe until they actually see it happen. Monday on Inauguration Day, a day when everyone comes together, both President Barack Obama and his chief rival Rep. Eric Cantor (R- Henrico) say they time to find common ground is now.
(We talked to Rep. Cantor before the Inauguration in the Cannon House Office Building)
There is plenty at stake and big battles on gun control, the debt celing and the budget loom. Can they put the elections behind them? It won't be long until we find out.
Here is my story for NBC12:
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WWBT)- On Monday we heard the president talk about the importance of working
together, but a speech at an inauguration is one thing.
Can it actually turn into something?
We asked two people from Virginia, who will play a central role in that
discussion.
President Obama made it clear; the time for partisan battles is over.
"Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role
of government for all time," he said. "But it does require us to act in our
time."
Henrico Congressman Eric Cantor, perhaps the president's biggest rival,
agrees.
"We are all one," said Cantor. "We are here united as a people around our
leader Commander-in-Chief."
While Cantor said he is ready to deal, he also made it clear that there are
some things that are non-negotiable.
"We all have differences as people do," Cantor said. "But the focus on today
is setting those things aside and trying to find ways we can work together."
Virginia's newest senator Tim Kaine said disagreements are a part of
politics. It's how you handle those disagreements that matter.
"These are the basic rules that anybody in a PTA, on a Parish Council,
anybody in a family knows," said Kaine. "We listen to each other. There has got
to be some compromise, some give and take."
Kaine believes that if you can remain civil during the most heated
confrontations, it is much easier to find common ground where it exists.
"If you just stay friends and communicate, you are going to find other areas
where you can make headway," he said.
After two years of perpetually campaigning, the president spent Monday
morning promising a new day. Not many of the players have changed, and he
argues, time is running out.
"For now decisions are upon us and we cannot afford delay," he said.
Here is the full transcript of President Barack Obama's 2013 Inaugural Address:
Remarks of
President Barack Obama – As Prepared for Delivery
Inaugural Address
Monday, January 21,
2013
Washington, DC
As
Prepared for Delivery –
Vice
President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, Members of the United States Congress,
distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:
Each
time we gather to inaugurate a president, we bear witness to the enduring
strength of our Constitution. We affirm the promise of our
democracy. We recall that what binds this nation together is not the
colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our
names. What makes us exceptional – what makes us American – is our
allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two
centuries ago:
“We
hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these
are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Today
we continue a never-ending journey, to bridge the meaning of those words with
the realities of our time. For history tells us that while these truths
may be self-evident, they have never been self-executing; that while freedom is
a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth. The
patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the
privileges of a few or the rule of a mob. They gave to us a Republic, a
government of, and by, and for the people, entrusting each generation to keep
safe our founding creed.
For
more than two hundred years, we have.
Through
blood drawn by lash and blood drawn by sword, we learned that no union founded
on the principles of liberty and equality could survive half-slave and
half-free. We made ourselves anew, and vowed to move forward together.
Together,
we determined that a modern economy requires railroads and highways to speed
travel and commerce; schools and colleges to train our workers.
Together,
we discovered that a free market only thrives when there are rules to ensure
competition and fair play.
Together,
we resolved that a great nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its
people from life’s worst hazards and misfortune.
Through
it all, we have never relinquished our skepticism of central authority, nor
have we succumbed to the fiction that all society’s ills can be cured through
government alone. Our celebration of initiative and enterprise; our
insistence on hard work and personal responsibility, are constants in our
character.
But
we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to
our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that
preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action.
For the American people can no more meet the demands of today’s world by acting
alone than American soldiers could have met the forces of fascism or communism
with muskets and militias. No single person can train all the math and
science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future, or build the
roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to
our shores. Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one
nation, and one people.
This
generation of Americans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and
proved our resilience. A decade of war is now ending. An economic
recovery has begun. America’s possibilities are limitless, for we possess
all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands: youth and
drive; diversity and openness; an endless capacity for risk and a gift for
reinvention. My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and
we will seize it – so long as we seize it together.
For
we, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few
do very well and a growing many barely make it. We believe that America’s
prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class.
We know that America thrives when every person can find independence and pride
in their work; when the wages of honest labor liberate families from the brink
of hardship. We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the
bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else,
because she is an American, she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes
of God but also in our own.
We
understand that outworn programs are inadequate to the needs of our time.
We must harness new ideas and technology to remake our government, revamp our
tax code, reform our schools, and empower our citizens with the skills they
need to work harder, learn more, and reach higher. But while the means
will change, our purpose endures: a nation that rewards the effort and
determination of every single American. That is what this moment
requires. That is what will give real meaning to our creed.
We,
the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of
security and dignity. We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of
health care and the size of our deficit. But we reject the belief that
America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country
and investing in the generation that will build its future. For we remember
the lessons of our past, when twilight years were spent in poverty, and parents
of a child with a disability had nowhere to turn. We do not believe that
in this country, freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the
few. We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, any
one of us, at any time, may face a job loss, or a sudden illness, or a home
swept away in a terrible storm. The commitments we make to each other – through
Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social Security – these things do not sap our
initiative; they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers;
they free us to take the risks that make this country great.
We,
the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to
ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate
change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future
generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science,
but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling
drought, and more powerful storms. The path towards sustainable energy
sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist
this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the
technology that will power new jobs and new industries – we must claim its
promise. That is how we will maintain our economic vitality and our
national treasure – our forests and waterways; our croplands and snowcapped
peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by
God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once
declared.
We,
the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not
require perpetual war. Our brave men and women in uniform, tempered by
the flames of battle, are unmatched in skill and courage. Our citizens,
seared by the memory of those we have lost, know too well the price that is
paid for liberty. The knowledge of their sacrifice will keep us forever
vigilant against those who would do us harm. But we are also heirs to
those who won the peace and not just the war, who turned sworn enemies into the
surest of friends, and we must carry those lessons into this time as well.
We
will defend our people and uphold our values through strength of arms and rule
of law. We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with
other nations peacefully – not because we are naïve about the dangers we face,
but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear. America
will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of the globe; and we
will renew those institutions that extend our capacity to manage crisis abroad,
for no one has a greater stake in a peaceful world than its most powerful
nation. We will support democracy from Asia to Africa; from the Americas
to the Middle East, because our interests and our conscience compel us to act
on behalf of those who long for freedom. And we must be a source of hope
to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice – not out of
mere charity, but because peace in our time requires the constant advance of
those principles that our common creed describes: tolerance and
opportunity; human dignity and justice.
We,
the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are
created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our
forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all
those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall,
to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that
our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on
Earth.
It
is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For
our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can
earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until
our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for
if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another
must be equal as well. Our journey is not complete until no citizen is
forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. Our journey is
not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants
who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright young students and
engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our
country. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the
streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown,
know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.
That
is our generation’s task – to make these words, these rights, these values – of
Life, and Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness – real for every
American. Being true to our founding documents does not require us to
agree on every contour of life; it does not mean we will all define liberty in
exactly the same way, or follow the same precise path to happiness. Progress
does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of
government for all time – but it does require us to act in our time.
For
now decisions are upon us, and we cannot afford delay. We cannot mistake
absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat
name-calling as reasoned debate. We must act, knowing that our work will
be imperfect. We must act, knowing that today’s victories will be only
partial, and that it will be up to those who stand here in four years, and
forty years, and four hundred years hence to advance the timeless spirit once
conferred to us in a spare Philadelphia hall.
My
fellow Americans, the oath I have sworn before you today, like the one recited
by others who serve in this Capitol, was an oath to God and country, not party
or faction – and we must faithfully execute that pledge during the duration of
our service. But the words I spoke today are not so different from the
oath that is taken each time a soldier signs up for duty, or an immigrant
realizes her dream. My oath is not so different from the pledge we all
make to the flag that waves above and that fills our hearts with pride.
They
are the words of citizens, and they represent our greatest hope.
You
and I, as citizens, have the power to set this country’s course.
You
and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time – not
only with the votes we cast, but with the voices we lift in defense of our most
ancient values and enduring ideals.
Let
each of us now embrace, with solemn duty and awesome joy, what is our lasting
birthright. With common effort and common purpose, with passion and
dedication, let us answer the call of history, and carry into an uncertain
future that precious light of freedom.
Thank
you, God Bless you, and may He forever bless these United States of America.
Anne Canipe has been teaching for four decades across three different states. Every four years she leads a group of students to see the President of the United States sworn into office. This will be the 9th time she has made the trip.
Canipe believes that exposing her students to history is one of the best educational experiences they can get.
Here is my story for NBC12.com:
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WWBT)- The inauguration is many things for
many people, but for one Chesterfield teacher the swearing in of a president is
a living breathing classroom. Tomorrow, for the 9th consecutive time, class
will once again be in session.
It is a labor of love for
Anne Canipe.
"Every time every
inauguration is different,” said Canipe.
Canipe is a world history
teacher at Cosby High School. Every four years she opens up the opportunity to
every student at her school to be a part of history.
"I have 9th, 10th,
11th and 12th graders going,” she said. “Most
of the kids I have taught, others I have not."
Dejarelle Gaines is one of
those students.
"I like going to
parades,” said Gaines. “I like being around a bunch of people."
Gaines has lived in Alaska
and Washington State. She landed in the swing state of Virginia at just the
right time.
"The whole election
was really exciting because you really couldn't tell where it was going to go
because you had half of the people for Obama half of the people for Mitt
Romney,” she said.
In all 35 students will
make the trip. They are all excited, but Linden Pulley thinks it will take some
time for the gravity of what they are experiencing to sink in.
"I know it is really
important,” she said. “But twenty years from now I'll probably look back on
this and realize that is was much more significant than I'm seeing it from
now."
This trip is one of many Canipe
leads students on regularly. She said allowing them to experience history as it
happens, enhances their learning in ways that can't be duplicated.
