On the Western Banks of the Shenandoah

In my inbox today comes word that State Senator Mark Obensahin, who represents my neck of the woods, will be hosting a “sweet” hospitality suite at the Advance:

A celebration of Election Day’s sweet victory with sweets – featuring ice cream and a coffee bar – and sign up for drawings for ten copies of Craig Shirley’s “Reagan’s Revolution” and ten copies of Ron Maxwell’s critically acclaimed Civil War films “Gettysburg” and “Gods and Generals”

These sorts of family-friendly events have become the rage at the last couple of Republican Advances/Conventions and are a welcome change from others were booze is more the norm. They’re also smart politics with the religious right and homeschoolers continuing to flex their respective muscle at these events.

The bigger story here though is that Obenshain is venturing out on his own to do a hospitality suite. Hospitality suites are historically a way for potential candidates and leaders to both thank activists for their support and get their attention in an intimate setting. Obenshain had been touted by some as a possible candidate for AG in 2009. However, he yielded to Ken Cuccinelli. Word has it that the Senator was worried about putting his family through the challenging grind of the campaign as his children enter late adolescence (one is finishing high school and another is a freshman at JMU). This is a position to respect.

Additionally, it gives Obenshain time to continue to build his already stellar credentials as a law and order type (he and Todd Gilbert have led the fight against crystal meth and the expansion of the death penalty to those who order capital murders) as well as a reliable voice for fiscal conservatism (VDOT, anyone?).

Given this record, his stellar service to the party (he was a constant source of support for me during my time in Harrisonburg), and his current role as an advisor to AG-elect Ken Cuccinelli during the transition, Senator Obenshain will be one to watch in the next four years. If nothing else, I can guarantee you he will be a strong voice for fiscal sanity in the Senate (a space where it is often hard to find) and an advocate for the sort of pragmatic plans with strong conservative foundations that Bob McDonnell advocated on the trail.

Terribly sorry, but I totally forgot that I put up Senator Mark Obenshain’s introduction of Bob McDonnell on YouTube. Here it is, and as Virginia Conservative said, Obenshain really bridges the gap between hardcore ideological conservatives and the more pragmatic conservatives such as McDonnell. 

Mark Obenshain’s father was Richard Obenshain, one of the finest conservative minds and leaders ever to enter Virginia politics. As party chairman in the early 70s and briefly as the party’s nominee for U.S. Senate in 1978, Obenshain oversaw the party’s strategy of appealing to economically and socially conservative people who were increasingly becoming disenchanted with the national Democratic Party.

During his brief 1978 campaign, Obenshain largely ran on economic issues, which were then as now troubling the nation. They were also appealing to the fast growing suburbs of Richmond, just as economic concerns drive many Northern Virginia voters today. However, Obenshain never betrayed his core conservative principles and belief in the rights of the individual and the superirority of the free enterprise system. 

In the above video his son shows that he continues to carry that flame, and that perhaps he may someday hold the statewide office his father was never able to attain. 

I spent last night with 176 of my fellow Shenandoah County Republicans at our Annual Lincoln Day Dinner. The crowd was the largest its been in years, the food from Shaffer’s catering wonderful (as always), and the speakers electric. I’m working on getting some video up, but there’s one thing I wanted to comment on while I’m getting some of that up. 

As I noted the other day, Senator Mark Obenshain and Delegate Todd Gilbert have been taking VDOT to task for holding rural Virginia hostage in order to provoke legislators into supporting a tax increase, all while the General Assembly has been unable to get an independent audit of the department conducted. Delegate Gilbert devoted most of his speech to the topic, noting some of the waste during the inaugural while calling again for an independent audit. 

Well, from Mark Obenshain’s office, via Tertium Quids, we have word that VDOT is playing its hand as towards where some of the money is going. It appears that, while making the decision to cut services in rural Virginia, there’s plenty of time and money for the department to launch its very own YouTube channel. There, you can watch scenes from the last winter storm (if your local news station and the Weather channel just weren’t enough):

Learn about the Norris Bridge Festival:

And watch five years worth of bridget demolitions, both with natural sound:

And set to OPERA!

Look, some of these videos are good public service announcements, but are they really best distributed via YouTube? The video on workzone safety should be required watching for every high school driver’s ed class, yet I never recall seeing it. Does VDOT really expect to be able to get the public’s attention this way when videos of laughing babies and dancing cats have hits in the millions? A number of the videos are self-serving promotional materials, but should a department with giant orange trucks really have a PR problem? Well, I suppose if it had no idea how to manage it’s money it might…..

YouTube doesn’t charge a fee, but I’m sure that the videographers who either work for the department or are contracted do. VDOTs maintenance workers are fine, hardworking people who take pride in their work. The problem here is with the bureaucracy. They are making cuts that will cripple rural Virginia, all the while not making such non-essential expenditures clear. Call your Delegate and Senator now and demand an independent audit of VDOT. 

Local Delegate Todd Gilbert has managed to usher through (once again) a bill that would eliminate the triggerman rule. From the Washington Times:

Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Obenshain have said Virginia’s triggerman rule is unfair because it holds only one person responsible for a crime in which others are equally involved.

The other bills are needed, Republicans said, to protect different types of law enforcement officers who may be targeted by killers.

Democrats argued against expanding the death penalty at a time when many states are moving away from the practice. A report last year showed that new death sentences were at a three-decade low and that the number of people executed was the lowest in nearly 15 years.

Here’s the short story on the Triggerman Rule. The triggerman rule holds that only those who actually commit a crime can be given the ultimate sanction though others may be equally involved in ordering commission of the crime. This rule became particularly important in the case of the Beltway Sniper, where John Allen Muhammad was clearly culpable for the spree of terror in ordering Lee Boyd Malvo to pull the trigger. 

Read more…

I’ve been meaning to write about the Senate’s pending efforts to name the Eastern Box Turtle as the official state reptile. However, I’m glad I waited, as a funny thing happened on the way to the bill’s passage. 

When I first saw that the Senate was considering the measure, I reverted to my usual misanthropic and felt that, in the midst of one of the deepest recessions in American history, that such matters really had no business being considered. However, the RTD made the opportunity so just so darn irresistible:

The legislation describes the turtle as “a most useful creature serving to control harmful insects and acting as one of nature’s clean-up crew helping to preserve the purity and beauty of Virginia’s waters.”

The turtle would join a powerhouse lineup of “official” Virginia creatures that includes the brook trout (official fish), the tiger swallowtail butterfly (official insect) and the Virginia big-eared bat (official bat).

That didn’t placate me, but I figured that no one would be interested because, after all, such measures are “tradition” and a “fun diversion.” At worst I would be considered an ogre because the legislation was probably dreamt up by some first graders who wanted to learn how a bill becomes a law, no matter how inane. So I scuttled the post. 

However, it appears that at least fifteen Senators agree with me that this is a bad idea. Likely for varying reasons, as some may prefer a cooler animal such as the Iguana (which doesn’t live in Virginia in so far as I know, but still wicked awesome). Still, at least one Senator spoke out for sanity: our very own Senator Mark Obenshain. From his weekly update:

No, I don’t object to turtles; I object to wasting time on trivialities while seriously contemplating pushing back the budget for some later date. I have nothing against the Eastern Box, but I do have a problem with the amount of time we’ve spent this session on bills that have nothing to do with making our Commonwealth a better place, to say nothing of getting our economy back on track. This bill is just one isolated, albeit absurd (okay, even slightly amusing), example of a larger trend.

Right on. I don’t think average citizens understand just how much frivolous “legislating” goes on in Richmond. The House will approve over 248 resolutions; the Senate, “just” 159. As for state symbols and songs, the numbers this year are relatively small. Of the 1,049 bills originating in the House, six (about half a percent) had to do with such measures, though some of this may have had to do ; of the Senate’s 749, 3 were about designations (about four tenths of a percent). Relatively small percentages–but remember that each and every one of these bills and resolutions was written by a professional, paid with your tax dollars. And I limited my research to state designations–who knows what ridiculousness could be found throughout the stack of bills. I’m not saying that legislators should not be allowed to discuss things if they so please–it is their right, ultimately, to set their own boundaries. I am saying, however, that representatives should think about just why they are in Richmond–and that the people back home should home them accountable when legislators overstep their authority and responsibility. To use Senator Obenshain’s words:

You know, we have a state shell as well. Increasingly, though, I think our state shell should be the one some in government are hiding under they we wait for the economic ill winds to pass us by. One of the counties I represent has an 11.7% unemployment rate, and they’re not alone. People are struggling to make ends meet across the Commonwealth, and they need the General Assembly to redouble its efforts to promote economic recovery, not ignore the problem in the hopes that it will just go away.

In a setback for the movement to decrease the size of government in Virginia, the Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee voted 13-2 to pass by indefinitely Senator Obenshain’s bill to privatize the state’s ABC (liquor, to you out of staters) Stores. The vote is here; it’s rather unfortunate that only two Republicans voted to keep the bill alive, but thanks go out to Senators Cuccinelli and Vogel. The Daily News Record has coverage here. Naturally, Emmett Hanger, who never saw a government program he couldn’t find a tax hike to save, voted against the bill. 

So where do we go from here? Well, Senator Obenshain has pledged to keep the fight going, as well hundreds of Virginia citizens who have rallied around the idea:

A Facebook group Sen. Obenshain created for supporters of privatization efforts currently boasts over four hundred members, and in a recent survey available on www.markobenshain.com and mailed to thousands of voters across the district, seventy percent of respondents favored privatization, with nearly 85% supportive if they were assured that the Commonwealth could reap a considerable profit by the conversion. The numbers ran still higher if voters were assured that the Commonwealth could impose restrictions on the location and advertising of distilled spirit retailers. “The people of the twenty-sixth district understand what some in Richmond just don’t get,” commented Obenshain. “They aren’t ready to give up on this bill, and neither am I.”

For a fourth straight year, the Triggerman bill has managed to gain traction in the General Assembly, this time passing the Senate. However, it failed to garner the number of votes that will ensure an override when it is (almost certainly) vetoed by the Governor. Garren Shipley has more:

Tuesday’s vote was 24-16, three votes short of the 27 needed to override a gubernatorial veto.

Speaking on the floor of the Senate, Obenshain said his bill fills a glaring gap in Virginia’s capital punishment laws.

“The poster child for this bill is none other than Charles Manson,” Obenshain said.

The object of the bill is to allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty for those who are directly responsible for murder, even if they don’t do the actual killing.

“He did not wield the knife, but no one in the Tate-LaBianca murders had a blacker heart,” Obenshain said.

Closer to home, the 2002 D.C. sniper attacks illustrate a glaring hole in the commonwealth’s laws, he said.

If not for a recently enacted anti-terrorism statute, Virginia could not have sought the death penalty for John Allen Muhammad — the man who instructed then-juvenile Lee Boyd Malvo to shoot random people at varying locations around D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

I find it very hard to comprehend how those who oppose this bill cannot see how authorizing or ordering the pulling of the trigger warrants the ultimate sanction. Is the brutal gang leader who thrives on power just not, if not moreso, culpable than the young man who is in over his head in gang activity? Death penalty opponents often trot out the argument that crime rates do not go down with the ultimate sanction. However, if gang leaders live in fear that they can be executed for ordering executions of their own, I feel to see how this would not be an effective deterrent and, at the very least, get some of the worst elements of our society off the streets.

From the “Great Idea” file: Senator Mark Obenshain has revived former Delegate Allen Louderback’s dream of privatizing liquor sales in the state. From nvdaily.com: 

Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, said Monday that he plans to introduce a bill that would require the state to unload the 331 liquor outlets and wholesale wine distribution business.

While the finer points are still being worked out, previous studies have found the commonwealth could realize some $700 million in new revenue — or 23 percent of this year’s budget shortfall — every year.

“ABC sales aren’t that impressive,” Obenshain said. Virginia’s stores made a profit of about $104 million last year, roughly equal to the amount of wine and liquor taxes the stores took in.

Taxpayers could do much better by letting the private sector take over, he said.

Farming out the operation of ABC stores was just one of hundreds of recommendations of a 2002 report on government efficiency and effectiveness chaired by former Democratic Gov. L. Douglas Wilder.

I have long been a fan of this proposal. I agree wholeheartedly with Louderback’s simple summation:

I don’t believe that the government should be in enterprises that the private sector can do.

Certainly I understand the argument that by keeping sales under strict control of the government has the potential to keep it out of the hands of chronic alcoholics and youth. But does it really? Increasing technology has made it nearly impossible to credibly fake an ID in many states. Law enforcement and independent training by businesses has done more than anything to ensure the that youths and alcoholics do not have ready access to alcohol. With the sort of cost savings that are possible under the switch to private sales, now is high time for a change.