Decision Virginia

Warner stays away from Star-Scientific saga

U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D) who has a very loose connection to the Star- Scientific saga plauging leading Republicans in Richmond, chose not to attack and instead said that he will wait see how the case plays out.

We caught up with Warner before he delivered remarks and took questions at the Asian and Latino International Trade/Business Summit at the Marriott in Richmond.

Warner said that there isn't enough information to draw a conclusion on any wrong doing by Governor Bob McDonnell (R) and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) when it comes to their connection to the Star- Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams.

"I have only heard reports from one side, some of the accusations, made," Warner said. "I think I ought to reserve judgement until all the facts come out."

Warner who served as Virginia's Governor from 2002-2006 and flirted with the idea of running again for this office this year, said that overall Virginia's campaign finance and disclosure laws work. He said wouldn't be surprised though if there was a movement in next year's General Assembly to tighten the laws in the wake of this situation.

"I think there will probably be a bipartisan effort in the legislature to strengthen Virginia's disclosure rules," he said. "But we've been, whether it was Republicans or Democrats, I think we've got a very good record, particularly compared to other states of not having the kind of abuses that we've seen Maryland, West Virginia and other parts of the region."

McDonnell himself pointed out on WTOP radio earlier this week that the only direct government assistance Star-Scientific has received came during the Warner administration. Despite the grant, which was awarded independently of Warner through the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the Senator said he has never met Jonnie Williams, the CEO at the center of the controversy.

"Money was actually reclaimed from that because Star-Scientific didn't produce the jobs" Warner was quick to note. "But I don't believe I've met the individual."

Many Virginia Democrats have called for Cuccinelli to resign as Attorney General, but Warner wasn't prepared to do the same. He said that was a decision left to Cuccinelli himself.

An extended clip from our interview can be found below:

 

(Note that is NBC12 Photogjournalist Dwight Nixon asking Sentor Warner the questions)

Warner's press secretary gets engaged over Twitter

In a story that is quickly becoming viral, the press secretary to Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) was suprised yesterday, when her boyfriend, Brett Wanamaker asked her to marry him through Warner's Twitter feed. 

Beth Adelson was spending part of a sleepy Thursday doing one of the many tasks of her job, patrolling Senator Warner's Twitter feed. It was something Wanamaker knew that she would be doing. 

That is when she came across this:

Adelson then opened the door to her office to find Wanamaker, a fourth year medical student at Johns Hopkins, on the other side of the door. He quickly dropped to one knee. 

She said YES!

Then the two posed for a picture with the man whose twitter feed will now be a part of their life story forever, Senator Warner:

The unique engagement was picked up this morning on the Today Show and will probably be one of those things that you see pop up on your facebook feed about a thousand times today. So share this version of the story. After all.. we had he first photos on Twitter last night!

Congrats Beth and Brett! 

VA Congressional delegation makes plea for sequestration solution

It is getting to the point where they are on the border of begging.

Nine of the thirteen members of Virginia's Congressional Delegation wrote to President Barack Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid asking for a speedy, bi-partisan solution to the budget sequester showdown.

"The Commonwealth of Virginia, with its long history of contribution to our national defense and to the federal government, will bear a disproportionate amount of the pain imposed by these arbitrary cuts should they come to pass,” the letter reads. 

Only four members of the Virgina Congressional delegation did not participate. Rep. Eric Cantor (R), the House Majority Leader, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R), Rep. Morgan Griffith (R) and  Rep. Robert Hurt (R).  

It is not uncommon for Cantor to not sign on to congressional delegation letters, because of his role as Majority Leader.  His spokesperson Megan Whittemore said today that he is very much committed to seeing an end to the sequester. A problem they continue to blame the White House for.

“Congressman Cantor sponsored and the House twice passed legislation to replace the President’s sequester cuts with responsible reforms. The President hasn’t budged, and his only solution appears to be more taxes," Whittemore said in a statement. "That won’t help Virginia families. We want to work together to find a common-sense solution to replace the President’s harmful sequester cuts. Rather than opposing our efforts, President Obama and Senate Democrats should join us.”

Those that did participate represent a broad bi-partisan swath of the Commonwealth. Many of them, like Rep. Rob Wittman (R), Rep. Randy Forbes (R) and Rep. Bobby Scott (D) represent areas heavily dependent on the defense industry.

Both of Virginia's Senators, Tim Kaine (D) and Mark Warner (D) signed on to the letter as well. 

The letter is short, only three paragraphs and doesn't offer an specific ideas as to how to break through the sequester stalemate. It essentially is a call to action to the three people with the most sway to begin the negotiations.

You can read the entire letter below.

------------------------------------------------------

Full text of the letter follows:

February 15, 2013

The Honorable Barack Obama

President of the United States

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20500

 

The Honorable John Boehner

Speaker

United States House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515

 

The Honorable Harry Reid

Majority Leader

United States Senate

Washington, D.C. 20510

 

Dear Mr. President, Mr. Speaker and Mr. Leader:

             As a bipartisan delegation of Virginia lawmakers representing wide-ranging interests and viewpoints, we write to show unified support for immediate action to avert the devastating impacts of sequestration.  The Commonwealth of Virginia, with its long history of contribution to our national defense and to the federal government, will bear a disproportionate amount of the pain imposed by these arbitrary cuts should they come to pass.

            These reductions, while harmful to the entire U.S. economy, will be particularly devastating to Virginia. According to a study published by George Mason University, nearly ten percent of the 2.1 million jobs that would be lost as a result of sequestration will come from Virginia.  Of these 207,571 Virginia jobs, 136,191 will be lost as a result of cuts to defense, 71,380 job losses will result from reductions in non-defense spending.  Further, sequestration would result in a loss of $20.8 billion in gross state product. The consequences of a failure to avert sequestration will ripple through all parts of our state economy and could lead to a hollow military force and a government unable to adequately respond to the needs of its citizens.

            We stand ready to work hand-in-hand to negotiate an agreement to avert these cuts that threaten grave consequences for the Commonwealth, our federal government, and our national security.

                                                                                    Sincerely,

Sen. Mark Warner

Sen. Tim Kaine

Rep. Frank Wolf

Rep. James P. Moran

Rep. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott

Rep. J. Randy Forbes

Rep. Robert J. Wittman

Rep. Gerald E. Connolly

Rep. Scott Rigell

# # #

Warner invites undocumented immigrant to State of the Union

Sen. Mark Warner chose to use his extra ticket to the State of the Union to invite a young lady who was brought to the United States illegally when she was 12 years old.

Amber Pinto graduated from Fairfax High School and is a student at Northern Virginia Community College, but pays out of state tuition because she is undocumented.

Warner invited Pinto as an example of someone who would benefit from the DREAM act. He also believes Pinto serves as a good example for the need for comprehensive immigration reform.

"This puts a human face on a story that otherwise sometimes gets caught up a lot in facts and figures," Warner told me Tuesday afternoon. "This is about the human stories about the people that help to move this country forward. (Pinto) pays taxes, She speaks English. She is willing to pay any back fines, she just wants her chance to touch the American Dream.

The Virginia General Assembly has been resistant to offering in state tuition to undocumented immigrants, regardless of how long they have been in the country or how they got here. There does however appear to be movement on the Federal level to move forward with some type of immigration reform.

Virginia Congressional Delegation hoping for sequestration solution

I am up in Washington, D.C. tonight for President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. Prior to the speech I caught up with some the Virginia's congressional delegation. Both Republicans and Democrats want a path to an end to the sequestration budget stalemate.

Here is my report for NBC12:

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WWBT)- Virginians from ever corner of the Commonwealth will be keeping a close eye on one particular issue in tonight's State of the Union address.

Sequestration, set to take effect on March 1st could mean huge cuts to defense and government jobs throughout Virginia. In fact, there may be no state in the union with a more at stake than Virginia when it comes to the sequester, and the entire congressional delegation knows it

"Virginia families are going to be disproportionately hurt," said Sen. Mark Warner (D) this afternoon. "Sequestration basically says we are going to chop every part of government whether it is working or not and as a former business guy that is not the smart way to do budgeting."

Warner understands that the idea of lopping off funding to almost all of government without any plan won't work. He isn't alone, this weekend Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Henrico) gave similar sentiments on NBC's Meet The Press.

"These indiscriminate reductions do not make sense and we are going to hurt a lot of people and it is up to the President to act now," said Cantor.

And even though Cantor is a republican. Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine, who played no part in the sequestration being implemented agrees with the Henrico Republican. Tonight the president needs to lead the charge to solve the problem.

"I want the president to talk to tough to all of us," Kaine said.  "Republican, Democrat House, Senate about finding the alternative to sequester."

 

 

NBC's live coverage of the State of the Union starts at 9pm. You can also join our livechat and watch the speech streaming on NBC12.com.

I'll have another live report tonight at 11 on NBC12.

Warner ready to "talk" about an assault weapons ban

Calling the massacre in Newtown a "game changer", U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) a moderate and reliable pro-2nd amendment vote is ready to open the door to discussions on an assault weapons ban. 

(Sen. Mark Warner was in Richmond today for the casting of the Electoral College Ballots)
 

The debate over guns is an example of the many ways Warner works to place himself in the middle of the political spectrum. His "A" rating from the NRA has played well in red parts of the Commonwealth that other Democrats have had a hard time gaining any traction. Overwhelmingly popular in Virginia, Warner has a had a difficult time making progress on substantive legislation in the Senate. This issue, of which he is uniquely positioned to address, could have a significant impact. 

In addition to a discussion on assault weapons Warner also plans to address the "nexis" between mental health and gun purchases. A huge issue for gun control advocates in Virginia in the wake of the 2007 Virginia Tech tragedy. Many gun control proponents believe Virginia has not done enough to reign in access to firearms like the ones used by Seung-Hui Cho . The so-called "gun show loophole" never made any serious progress in Virginia's legislature despite the momentum after the Tech tragedy. 

We are still waiting to learn the substance of what Warner plans to propose. He is scheduled to meet with reporters at 1pm. I'll have more tonight on NBC12 News this evening. 

 UPDATE: Warner did not go into deep specifics as to what he hopes to at least look into. He listed assault weapons, rapid ammunition clips and rapid fire weapons as part of what the discussion on a possible ban or new restrictions should be about.

"There had got to be a way as we look at reasonable restrictions, particularly as we look at assault weapons as we look at some of this fast clips of ammunition, as a way that preserves a right for responsible gun ownership but puts appropriate restrictions on access on these especially these rapid fire weapons into hands of folks who are as in this case and as we saw in Virginia Tech and Colorado, unstable," Warner said. 

His full interview with our Mike Valerio can be seen below:

 

Here is my report from NBC12 on how Warner and Gov. Bob McDonnell are handling the new reality of the gun debate:

NBC12.com - Richmond, VA News, Weather, Traffic   

The Fiscal Cliff's frightening lack of an impact on debt

Earlier this week we talked to Sen. Mark Warner about the likelihood of a deal being hatched to avoid the so called "Fiscal Cliff".

In our lengthy interview, Warner pointed out that even if Congress allowed the deep cuts and big across the board tax increases, the growing federal debt would keep growing. Even after a decade of suffering under the potential dramatic economic impacts.

Thursday night on NBC12, we illustrated Warner's point with a graph put together by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

Here is that report:

NBC12.com - Richmond, VA News, Weather, Traffic   

And here is a closer look at the at graph from the CBO. Note the "blue" portion is a projection of what could occur should Congress strike a Fiscal Cliff deal.  

 

Warner offers to broker fiscal cliff talks

It is an uncomfortable spot for Sen. Mark Warner (D- Virginia) to be in. As the debate rages over the best way to avoid the impending "fiscal cliff", Warner is relegated to being a spectator despite being a member of the U.S. Senate.

(We spoke to Senator Warner from Capitol Hill)

Warner isn't alone. As the talks continue, the nitty gritty appears to be taken up between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner. Vocal members of the House and Senate, like Warner aren't in a position to offer any real substance to the discussion, even though they might have plenty of ideas.

For instance, Warner thinks that now is the time to make a grand bargain, not pass it along to a time where the tension is not so great.

"The single biggest thing to create job growth, my personal belief, is to do a real $4 trillion debt deal," Warner said. "That will get money off the sidelines, back invested into America."

The only problem is that Warner's ideas aren't getting any further than media interviews and town hall meetings. Warner concedes he isn't on the front lines, a position that is foreign to him given his background as a successful businessman and governor.

"There is an awful lot of us in both parties who have tried to put forward good ideas," he said. "We have all kind of stood down."

Warner said the rank and file members are willing to give the Speaker and the President some time to come up with a deal, but he is ready to become a more active participant if given the opportunity.

"I'd be happy to be the broker in between these guys," Warner told me. "I wish I was in the room."

Warner avoided any direct criticism or support of his Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D- Nevada) who is the point person on the negotiating process for the Senate. Reid has been relegated to waiting to see if the White House and the House Republicans can come up with some sort of agreement, before the Senate takes an active role in the discussion.

As the negotiations continue, Warner remains optimistic that the short term problems are avoided, while the long term debt issues continue and only grow. He believes there is an 80% chance a fiscal cliff deal is hatched, but only a 50-50 chance that the deal will hold up for longer than a few months.

Warner contends that even if both sides get what they want, it won't even start to address the real problems connected to the deficit crisis. He believes everyone needs to give something, and that something needs to be a lot more than what they are currently proposing.

"The sooner we start some of those reforms, the better," he said.

Our full interview with Senator Warner can be found below:

 

 

Warner will not run for Governor

U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) has decided against running for governor in 2013. In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, the state's most prominent democrat ended his flirtation with a second run at the position he once held.

Warner released a statement and a video message explaining his decision not to run.

"When I asked Virginians to hire me as their Senator, I made a promise to come to Washington to try to be a problem solver," the statement says.   "I have to admit, it’s been tougher than I expected.  But I’ve tried to keep at it."

Warner's decision not to run opens the door to former DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe who now should have an unimpeded march to the nomination. A nomination he failed to capture in a three way primary in 2009.

Warner's full video statement can be seen below:

 

A transcript of the statement can be seen after the jump:

Warner mulling run for governor

It is a rumor that has been percolating in political circles for months and this morning I can confirm that Sen. Mark Warner (D-Virginia) is indeed considering a run for Governor of Virginia, a seat he once held.

Warner told me in September that it was "no secret" that sometimes found the work in the Senate "frustrating".  However at that time and in several other interviews he refused to say that he was considering a run for governor.

He also refused to rule it out.

Warner essentially did not address the topic directly, saying instead that he wanted to focus on the 2012 elections.

The 2012 elections are behind us and a source close to Warner tells me that he is going to take a "deep breath" and then huddle with his family to consider his options.

Warner is expected to make a final decision around Thanksgiving.

If Warner does indeed decide to run for governor he would automatically be considered the front runner. The democratic field, which currently consists of only former DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe, would clear giving him an open path to the nomination. Warner, who polls show enjoys wide popularity, would be considered the strong favorite against either of the announced republican candidates, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling or Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.

It would also begin a scramble to replace Warner in the Senate. The democrat was elected to a six year term back in 2008 and isn't up for re-election until 2014. If he runs for governor and wins in 2013, it would leave a full year on his term. It could be an opportunity for current Gov. Bob McDonnell, who like Warner is popular and given Mitt Romney's loss, will be looking for a job when his term ends in 2013.

Expect Warner to weigh the prospects of making any progress in Washington on the key issue that he has focused on during his time in the Senate: reducing the mounting debt and deficit.  Having his ally and longtime friend Tim Kaine in Washington could make Warner feel comfortable that there will be someone there to take on that bi-partisan challenge.

Kaine is hoping Warner will stay to work with him in Washington. In his post-election press conference, Kaine said he hopes Warner isn't going anywhere.

"I really want Mark to stay," Kaine said. "What Mark is doing with the Gang of 6 is important and is not just fiscal. It is this effort to rebuild these traditions of comity in that the Senate, party is less important than country and party is even less important than the individual relationship."

Kaine said Warner will be the one to make the decision, but he will make it clear what he wants him to do.

"He is playing a really important role," Kaine said. "I hope he will continue in that role."

Finally, and even though no one from the Warner camp is willing to say this publicly, there is no doubt that Warner is weighing this next move against his potential as a future candidate for president. The 2016 field is wide open on both sides and Warner may be trying to determine if he would be better positioned to mount a run as a Senator attempting to broker compromise in a gridlocked congress, or as a rare two-term governor from a prosperous state who can tout his executive experience.

Kaine's comments on Warner from this morning's press conference can be found below: