Democracy for Virginia

Urge Senator Warner to Save the Filibuster

Lee Diamond is an organizer and has lived in Metro DC for 15 years.  He is currently an active volunteer on the Save The Filibuster campaign with People for the American Way, and his primary focus is with the effort to revitalize the Democratic Party.  Lee recently met with Senator Warner's staff to urge Senator Warner to oppose the attempted elimination of the filibuster.

I've been in touch with Senator Warner's office about the effort to eliminate the filibuster for judicial nominees.  I had an appointment with Senator Warner's judiciary aides on Thursday.  Unfortunately, his counsel (the senior judiciary aide) was unable to attend.

I called the following day and had a pleasant conversation with the Senator's counsel.  We had a decent give and take.  He told me that Senator Warner and his aides spend time reading and discussing The Federalist Papers.  The  issue they consider in the context of judicial nominations is the meaning of the Senate shall "advise and consent" as it is written in the Constitution.

Senator Warner is a true conservative. He takes the conservative philosophy seriously.  He does believe that the President deserves an up or down vote on his nominees, but he is also concerned about minority rights.  He is reported to be one of those who is sensitive to the odds of the Senate Republicans being a minority in the future.

I urge all Virginians to call Senator Warner at 202-224-2023 and ask him to respect minority rights in the Senate by keeping the filibuster with the 60 vote margin.  Federal judges receive lifetime appointments and they should have broad public support.

The Third Phase of the Internet Revolution

I used to work in radio, so it is with a bit of sorrow that I read a recent article that declared radio was becoming irrelevant to the coming generation. Instead of getting their music from this generation's DJ's, they're finding it on the Internet, as downloadable MP3s, burnable onto custom made CDs or stored digitally on portable players smaller than a deck of cards. As an old disk jockey, this makes me a bit sad, but as a techie, it's the first shot across the bow of the third phase of the Internet revolution.

The Internet Revolution, much as the Industrial Revolution more than a century and a half back, and the communications revolution of the 20th Century, is coming in fits and spurts, but in the end will change fundamentally they way we live.

This is a revolution we should actively be out in front of, because it will prove as important in this Centry as the TVA electrifying rural areas and universal telephone service was in the past Century.

Ideas on the Presidential primary season

A commission of the Democratic National Committee is discussing the 2008 Presidential Primary calendar.  Once again, very few people seemed to be satisfied with the "latest" (2004) version, as in spite of most states cramming their primaries and caucuses as early as possible,the selection process seemed over almost as soon as it started.  By the time the Virginia primary came, Kerry was already the nominee apparent, and we were early!

We need to find a way of selecting Presidential candidates which both preserves the opportunity of unknown candidates to be heard and grow, but doesn't place overwhelming power in a small number of unrepresentative states.

"One big primary" would preclude the former, maintaining the current system promotes the latter.

The Democratic Party should spread the process out more.

• have a January primary in a state chosen randomly from blue states in the bottom half by population (to keep costs relatively low to run a campaign),
• then two February primaries separated by at least two weeks from the January primary and from each other in states chosen randomly from those which were blue or within 5% of being blue in the last election.
• The rest of the primary season would be spread out though the beginning of June, with primaries grouped in batches randomly with the two week separation between groups.

In addition, we should eliminate the 15% threshold many states use to force a "winner" on the first ballot.  All it does is take away the voices of those who vote for candidates who get fewer than 15%.  If someone can't get to 50% + 1 without this kind of "cheating" written into the rules, maybe they're not the best candidate.

How a bill becomes a law, Virginia style!

Lester Feder is one of the new regular contributors to the Democracy for Virginia blog.  You can read about Lester and our other new contributors here.

How can we influence legislation in Virginia? In order to lobby effectively, you first need to know how the process works and what opportunities you have to influence it. First I'll outline the process, and then describe the ways we can help move it in our direction.

For simplicity’s sake, I’ll track a bill originating in the House of Delegates on its way to becoming law:

Step I: Filing and Introduction
Before the beginning of the legislative session, delegates can file as many pieces of legislation as they desire. This means they present them to the House clerk, who assigns them bill numbers. (The infamous domestic partnership ban, for example, is known as House Bill 751, or, more commonly, by the abbreviated HB 751.) After the session begins, each member can file up to five additional proposals.

Filing a bill, however, does not mean it automatically enters the legislative process. In order for the House to act on a bill, a member of that body—known in Virginia as a patron (which is equivalent to a sponsor in the US Congress)—has to introduce it.

Step II: Subcommittee and Committee
After a bill is introduced, the House Speaker assigns it to a committee where it will be given its initial hearing. Usually it is pretty obvious what will go to what committee: bills concerning transportation go to the Transportation Committee, bills concerning child support goes to the Health, Welfare, and Institutions committee, bills concerning guns go to Militia and Public Safety, etc.

The committee chairman usually assigns the bill to a subcommittee, which is made up of a portion of the committee membership, who review the bill and makes a recommendation to the full committee on what action to take on it. In subcommittee they have the option to amend it, and then they vote on whether the full committee should report it, which means the bill would advance to the next step in the process and be presented to the full House for passage; to table it, which means it does not advance, but does not totally die, either; or to pass it by indefinitely (PBI), which means it would be killed without ever coming up for a vote. (SUBCOMMITTEE VOTES ARE NOT RECORDED)

The committee takes up the bill as amended by the subcommittee along with its recommendation. Before taking final action, the full committee has the option to amend the bill once again. They vote on whether to report, table, or PBI the measure. (They are not obligated to follow the subcommittee’s recommendation.

If they vote to table of PBI a bill, it does not advance. If, however, they vote to report it …

Narrow Escape

It seemed like fiction, a Handmaid's Tale, 2005. But it almost happened. A bill filed by Virginia Del. Cosgrove required women losing a pregnancy to file a police report within 12 hours. Cosgrove didn't blink when he tried to make miscarriage a police matter, but rather when an outpouring of women –- liberals, moderates AND conservatives -- said he’d gone too far.

(Continue reading "Narrow Escape" below the jump...)

There ain't no such thing as a free lunch

Expecting something for nothing is the most popular form of hope. 

-- Arnold Glasow

It seems trivial. Not even worth mentioning. Yet a lack of understanding of a simple truth is the source of much of our controversy and many of our long term problems in Washington.

You can’t get something for nothing.

In the context of government, this translates as, we can’t ask government for services unless we are willing to pay for those services through taxes. Surveys, letters to the editor and to legislators by citizens claim we want better services: education second to none, transportation infrastructure and mass transit sufficient to avoid traffic backups, police and firefighters to protect us against both the normal problems of society and the new potential of terrorism in our back yards. Yet, when faced with the cost of those services, we vote in favor of candidates and positions best described by that old shibboleth, “Don’t tax you, don’t tax me, tax that guy behind the tree.”  A classic example was the shortening of Virginia DMV hours in response to the budgetary shortfall left by the past Governor and legislature. Everyone wanted the services, and we faced the humorous situation of GOP legislators who voted against any way to gather the money necessary to keep the DMV offices open, clamoring for the hours reinstatement, but none volunteered where the money should be found.