The Weenie Wing, part 1
Oh, this is rich.
No, it is beyond rich, nearly in the realm of sinfully excessive. Bloggers should not be allowed hanging curveballs like the ones I received today. I have not lived that great a life so for the life of me I cannot discern why Providence would have deigned to reward me such a feast.
I had not planned to write much more about the Patricia Phillips - John Andrews battle for the Republican nomination for Virginia's 33rd district Senate seat. I think I covered the "debate" pretty even-handedly here. I've written a little about Patricia in the past and posted some photos.
I have been doing stuff like delivering flyers and writing letters for Patricia, as have some of the other locals I know. Patricia attended two HelpSaveLoudoun meetings and one HelpSaveHerndon meeting and a boatload of local political events, so she got a number of us on board with her.
John Andrews would not attend our events because he felt they would be stacked against him since I endorsed Patricia back in January. I tried to point out we do not hold debates in which my role as emcee would make a hair's bit of difference, but merely townhall meetings where the audience gets to ask the candidates any questions they want. Patricia did extremely well in these events. I think John would have done well also as he seems pretty quick on his feet.
Some of our members are Andrews supporters, and good for them. I encouraged them to support their chosen candidate.
Most of all, this appeared to be one of those cases where we had two good GOP candidates, and although I was committed to the one, I certainly would have supported whomever was the Republican choice to face Democrat Mark Herring in November. This was part of a letter to the editor I wrote last week, in fact.
The letter, which neither the Easterner nor Observer published, began:
I am voting for Patricia Phillips on May 19 because she has the most intelligent proposal for solving the illegal immigration problem in Loudoun County - although either of the Republican candidates for the 33rd district Senate seat would be an upgrade over incumbent Senator Mark Herring.
(The entire letter is below the fold)
Yesterday, the Andrews campaign had three separate direct mail pieces hit our boxes. Combined with the extensive newspaper advertising he had purchased, I had the feeling John had a significant advantage over the cash-poor Phillips campaign.
Today, I think "significant" may have been a stretch.
John Andrews has apparently thrown in with the weenie wing of the Republican party, and how symbolic it should occur on this infamous day of days.
More detail in the next post.
Dear Editor:I am voting for Patricia Phillips on May 19 because she has the most intelligent proposal for solving the illegal immigration problem in Loudoun County - although either of the Republican candidates for the 33rd district Senate seat would be an upgrade over incumbent Senator Mark Herring.
Senator Herring, on the Rehabilitation and Social Services committee, voted to kill a bill which would have ensured that none of our tax dollars would be given to organizations which use the money to provide benefits to illegal aliens. It is already Virginia law that illegal aliens are ineligible for most government benefits. The bill, which passed the House 70-29, would simply have closed a loophole certain organizations use to circumvent that law. Our local and state budgets are already stretched too thin. If Mr. Herring thinks there is so much tax money left over, why not allocate more to elderly American citizens who need help paying for assisted living, or young American citizens who are disadvantaged and need job training? It is inexcusable that Mr. Herring would vote to reward those who have entered our country illegally. In November, he has to go.
Of the two Republican candidates on the ballot this Saturday, only Ms. Phillips has had anything to say about the root causes of our illegal immigration policy: Hiring of illegal aliens and lax enforcement of business licensing rules.
The employers who hire illegal workers pay lower wages and avoid paying benefits and payroll taxes. Unlicensed companies in trades such as carpentry, drywall, roofing and various types of subcontracting have hurt law-abiding business owners and skilled workers by driving down the going rate for work. Reverse those two trends and we will solve many of the other problems because the illegal aliens will leave.
Mrs. Phillips addresses the cause and not merely the symptoms of our current crisis by proposing to give state and local governments the tools to enforce existing laws regarding employment and business licensing, and she will propose legislation to ensure state government contracts require contractors and subcontractors to certify they only use legal workers. In this year's legislative session, several bills addressing business licensing and employment practices passed the House by large (and sometimes veto-proof) majorities, but were killed in Senate committees. We need to send a senator to Richmond who will stick up for legal residents and American workers, and help get these important laws passed in 2008.
Joe Budzinski
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