Southwest Virginia Democrats

Thanks to Congressman Boucher, I see that local farmers are now eligible for some financial assistance due to crop losses.

From the KTN:

Farmers in Wise, Russell and Washington County who have suffered crop losses due to last year’s drought conditions may be eligible to receive financial help from the federal government according to United States Representative Rick Boucher.

. . .

While farmers in these counties were previously eligible for assistance by virtue of being located adjacent to other primary disaster areas, this designation will enable farmers in Dickenson County and the City of Norton to qualify for federal assistance.

. . .

Boucher noted that the lack of precipitation experienced in Southwest Virginia in 2005 resulted in substantial damage to crops and justified the need for federal assistance to the producers of these commodities.

Farmers in localities declared as disaster areas who lose 30 percent of their income are eligible to be considered for up to $500,000 in low-interest loans from the U.S. Farm Service Agency for losses sustained as a result of this year’s drought.

I hope this will be helpful to some of our local farmers. A guy was recently telling me about how he had lost part of his crop because of the drought and I intend to mention this to him in case he has not heard about it.

In recent days, this blog and website has been getting a lot of traffic. I am not really sure why, but am glad to see folks looking for news about what is going on in Southwest Virginia politics and helping elect and support elected Democrats in Southwest Virginia.

This group is still trying to figure out what it is, if anything, we can do to help Democrats in Southwest Virginia. If you are interested in helping or have some ideas, please contact us.

If you are interested in contributing directly to this site (i.e., posting blog entries, posting events to the calendar, etc.), go ahead and register and start posting.

Thanks again for being supportive of Democratic candidates and causes in Southwest Virginia.

Everyone–the House Republicans are pushing a transportation plan that focuses on NORTHERN VIRGINIA and HAMPTON ROADS.

*This plan also diverts funding AWAY from Southwest Virginia–when Southwest Virginia has many needed projects including repairs to Route 58, I-81, and other things we all have been waiting for.*

This is an important issue for ALL of Southwest Virginia—whether you are in Del. Carrico’s district, or not–and there is something you can do to help!

Governor Kaine is pushing a transportation plan–the Kaine Transportation Plan–which covers the WHOLE state, including funds for Southwest Virginia.

*Take TWO MINUTES—only two minutes–in the next week to either call, send a letter, or send an e-mail to Delegate Carrico–tell him to support the Governor’s plan because that’s the plan that will fund the people he represents!!*

——————————————————-
*Del. Carrico’s Information*
District Office
General Assembly Building
P.O. Box 406
Richmond, Virginia 23218
*Phone: (804) 698-1005*
Fax: (804) 786-6310
*Constituent Viewpoint: (800)-889-0229
Email: DelCCarrico@house.state.va.us
*Room Number: 713

Legislative Assistant: Stuart Higley
Secretary During Session: Susan Jenkins
578 E. Main Street, Suite B, P.O. Box 188
Independence, VA 24348
*Phone: (276) 773-9600*
Fax: (276)773-2400
Email: DelCCarrico@house.state.va.us
——————————————————-

Do this as soon as you can, and please either send me an e-mail at jen.tomasello@gmail.com, or call me at 540-467-5968 to let me know you have done this. This enables us to keep track so if Del. Carrico tries to say he has not been contacted, we can pull out our list of people and verify that we have contacted him.

Thank you so much and please act today–for Southwest Virginia.

Jen Tomasello

One can certainly reach that conclusion based on his opposition to HB 1590 and HB 1084. Either of these bills would have brought the salaries of Virginia’s teachers up to the national average. Who can oppose that, you ask? Del. Bill Carrico can and did - twice.

Here is the key language of HB 1590:

It is a goal of the Commonwealth that its public school teachers be compensated at a rate that is competitive in order to attract and keep competent teachers. It is also a goal of the Commonwealth that the average salary for Virginia public school teachers equal or surpass the national average salary for public school teachers.

HB 1084 is a little different, but the key language is still:

With such funds as are made available for this purpose, the average teacher salary in the Commonwealth shall not be less than the annual national average teacher salary, in order to ensure the availability of a corps of high-quality instructional personnel in the public schools.

On two occassions, Del. Carrico has voted to kill each of these bills in the House Education Committee, breaking ranks with other Republicans both times.

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The Forward Together PAC has up a good comparison of President Bush’s unkept campaign promises and Governor Mark Warner’s proven record of helping rural residents in Virginia.

They say:

This week’s Hilltown Democratic Dispatch remembers President Bush’s promise from April 2004 during a campaign stop in Iowa, to bring broadband access ‘to every rural county by 2007′. But, as the Dispatch notes, with a year to go, the goal is far from being met.

In Virginia, the Dispatch notes, ‘former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner compiled quite a record on behalf of rural residents during his just-completed four-year term in the Old Dominion. From investing regional venture capital funds in Southside and Southwest Virginia to establishing the Center for Rural Virginia and luring more than 16,000 new jobs to the state’s rural areas.’

With people making comparisons like that, one might think Warner is running for president.

Kenton has this post on a few of Del. Bill Carrico’s proposed bills.

Kenton says:

Carrico has introduced a scary pair of bills, one dealing with DUI and another dealing with concealed handgun permits. HB 401 would take away from localities the option to mandate fingerprinting for concealed handgun permits. Why? Good question. Localities are better in tune with the crime situation within their borders: top-down decrees to set their policies are probably not the best way to stop gun crimes.

Perhaps the scariest one of all, though, is HB 364. HB 364 would eliminate references to “trains” in the DUI and drugs statute, presumably making it easier for train conductors to be stoned drunkards.

Del. Bill Carrico plans to challenge Congressman Rick Boucher.