Monday, February 25, 2013
Sequestration could affect every traveler at airports nationwide, say U.S. Reps. Jim Moran, Gerry Connolly and U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine speaking from Reagan National Airport Monday.
Federal sequestration could mean fewer flights and increased wait times at airports, Virginia lawmakers said Monday. In addition to flight delays caused by sequestration, it threatens to close small- to mid-sized airports across the country. The massive, indiscriminate spending cuts Congress put in motion to force a budget compromise would cut $600 million from the Federal Aviation Administration if they go into effect Friday. Jobs on the Line Under sequestration, the FAA would have to furlough employees for 11 days — with as much as 10 percent of its workforce furloughed on any given day — and the agency would be unable to hire replacements for the 30 percent of its workers eligible to retire. Up to 2,200 air traffic controllers would be …
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Virginia’s junior senator calls sequestration ‘abdication of responsibility.’
The looming sequestration that is slated to cut military spending across the board will also cost Virginia about $48 million in federal funds for pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade education, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine told educators Friday in Alexandria. Speaking to local school officials and state education advocates at the Campagna Center in Old Town, Kaine, a Democrat, said the cuts would also eliminate 7,000 Head Start slots in the state. If the March 1 sequester goes through, 10,000 teacher jobs would be at risk nationwide, as well as funding for up to 7,200 special education teachers, aides and staff, according to Kaine’s office. Kaine, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, said he maintained hope sequestration could be avoided. “I …
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Virginia Senators Warner and Kaine give warnings about sequestration's effects on the local economy and national security.
If sequestration goes into effect in March, it will be "worse than you can imagine," Virginia Sen. Mark Warner (D) told a group of mostly government contractors at a breakfast event Friday organized by the Northern Virginia Technology Council. Warner, along with junior Sen. Tim Kaine (D), spoke about the short-term and long-term impact of the potential $1 trillion federal budget cuts happen March 1 if Congress doesn't reach a compromise. Half of that would affect the defense industry, which some estimates say could cost Virginia more than 207,000 jobs. Sequestration could have a large impact on the local economy, where hundreds of firms depend on government contracting, and thousands of workers are employed by various agencies and …
Monday, January 21, 2013
No rest for the weary: Democrats gear up for tough 2013 state races.
An estimated 1,100 people attended the Virginia Inaugural Ball on Sunday at the Westin Arlington Gateway to celebrate the second inauguration of President Barack Obama — and gear up for key statewide elections in 2013. "Everybody is happy. Everybody is excited. It's a feel-good moment for everyone who worked on a campaign," Arlington County Democratic Chairman Mike Lieberman told Patch before speaking to the crowd. "The president is right to feel good about this weekend. You can't help but be optimistic. There's a lot of criticism of our government out there, and some of it is deserved. But there's also a lot of reason for optimism. And coming out of the last election, we see a lot of opportunities." [See photos from the Virginia Inaugural…
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Vice President Joe Biden swore in the former Virginia Governor as a U.S. Senator Thursday in Washington.
Tim Kaine took the oath of office Thursday at the Capitol, starting his term as U.S. Senator. Kaine, 54, was Virginia's governor from 2006 to 2010. Prior to that, he was Virginia's lieutenant governor and mayor of Richmond. For more on Kaine's vision for Virginia and the United States, and what he hopes to accomplish in his first term as U.S. Senator, see these Patch stories: Sen.-Elect Tim Kaine Receives Committee Assignments (December 2012) Allen Concedes; Kaine Wins Senate Race in Virginia (November 2012) Tim Kaine Takes Your Questions (October 2012) What do you hope Kaine accomplishes in his first term? Tell us in the comments!
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Soon-to-be senator will serve on three committees important to Northern Virginia.
Sen.-elect Tim Kaine, who will be sworn into office Jan. 3, will serve on three U.S. Senate committees important to Northern Virginia. His office announced he will serve on the following committees: Kaine had asked to join Armed Services, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Foreign Relations and Small Business and Entrepreneurship — in that order, according to a recent blog post on The Washington Post Web site. "I am excited to tackle these meaningful committee assignments," Kaine said in a news release. "Because of Virginia's deep connections to the military, through active duty personnel, veterans, military families and the private sector, Virginia needs a strong voice on the Armed Services committee as Congress makes decisions …
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Warner says he wants to continue his work in the U.S. Senate.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., announced Tuesday that he will not run for governor in 2013, saying that he wants to continue the work he was sent to do in Washington. Warner, in a statement issued shortly after 3 p.m., said Virginians of all political stripes have approached him over the past year to make the bid — which he said he would consider and then make a decision after the November election. "I’ve talked to a lot of Virginians I respect, and I’ve talked about it with my family," Warner said in a statement. "But 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. I have to admit, it’s been tougher than I expected. But I’ve tried to keep at it." Warner's decision…
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Senator tells Associated Press he'll announce decision before Thanksgiving.
Sen. Mark Warner plans to announce before Thanksgiving whether he'll run for governor again, according to the Associated Press. The former governor, a Democrat, served as the Commonwealth's chief executive from 2002 to 2006. Virginia is the only state in the country where a governor cannot succeed himself. Former DNC chair Terry McAuliffe has already thrown his hat in the ring and will face Republicans Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. If Warner walks away from another run for governor, he'll be teaming up in the Senate with the state's soon to be junior senator, Senator-elect Tim Kaine, who served as Warner's lieutenant governor and is himself a former governor of Virginia. In a poll conducted Nov. 8-12 by …
Friday, November 16, 2012
Campaign advisors talk candidly at VPAP forum at George Mason's Arlington campus.
Remember all those horrible television ads in the Tim Kaine-George Allen race for the U.S. Senate? It turns out not everyone with those campaigns liked them, either. Mo Elleithee, a senior strategist for the Kaine campaign, and Boyd Marcus, a senior political advisor for Allen's Senate bid, agreed Thursday that many of those ads were "total crap." Elleithee said the negative ads paid for by outside groups actually helped Kaine. The two spoke candidly for more than an hour at a Virginia Public Access Project forum at George Mason University's Arlington campus. George Mason political scientist Mark Rozell moderated. The pair — Elleithee is a longtime Democrat, and served as senior spokesman for Hillary Clinton's presidential bid in 2008; …
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Patch will bring you updates throughout Election Day as two former Virginia governors face off for an open Senate seat.
The U.S. Senate race in Virginia lived up to its reputation going into Tuesday's election, as being a tight race between two former governors. Final unofficial results around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday showed Tim Kaine with 51.89 percent of the state vote to Republican challenger George Allen's 47.92 percent of the vote across Virginia. Kaine won by comfortable margins in Northern Virginia jurisdictions, defeating Allen 71.40 percent to 28.42 percent in Falls Church; 60.53 percent to 39.01 percent in Fairfax County; and 65.83 to 33.86 percent in Arlington County, according to the State Board of Elections. As of 1:33 a.m. Wednesday, all precincts in the state had reported their results. Update 11:21 p.m.: Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell congratulated …
Stephanie Talcott
3:26 pm on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
I think it would be one thing for them to balance a budget...it would be nice if they even passed one! There is no way to balance it yet, but the cap would certainly be a step in the right direction. I teach finance and the first step is to stop using credit, completely....that is going to have to be theirs. If you don't have it, don't spend it. and you always pay yourself first! Our govt would … more ›