Great job by the Farm Team on calling them out!

Wittman for Congress makes sexist remarks about
female opponent, Krystal Ball

Recently, a spokesperson for Congressman Rob Wittman of the 1st District of Virginia made a controversial statement about his opponent, Krystal Ball. In referring to Mrs. Ball, the Wittman campaign described her as “cute” stating, “As cute as our opponent may think she is…”

Today, Susan Platt, a founding member of The Farm Team said, “It is regrettable that Rob Wittman’s campaign feels it is acceptable to degrade the Democratic Nominee for Congress for the First Congressional, who happens to be a woman, in such a manner.”

Platt continued, “Krystal is running a smart, issue-oriented campaign and should be treated with respect.  Not only is it disrespectful to Mrs. Ball, but to the many other women across Virginia who expect more from their elected officials.  We hold our leaders to a higher standard.  That’s why we’re supporting Krystal Ball for Congress.”

The comments were in response to a recent online video, www.ontheroadwithrob.com, where Congressman Rob Wittman is challenged on his voting record and his lack of accessibility to his constituents in the 1st district of VA.

The Farm Team is a grassroots organization established in 2008 to recruit, develop, and elect women to public office.  More information about the organization can be found at www.farmteam.org.

I think it is time for Wittman to send his folks to sensitivity training, since he obviously doesn’t intend to send them to work (see aforementioned video in press release).

It’s no wonder that Rob Wittman (R-VA) doesn’t want to face his constituents when he has consistently voted against their interests. You can check out his record here. Here are a few of his highlights lowlights:

With healthcare costs continuing to rise and with seniors taking a big hit in this economy, Congressman Rob Wittman undermined Medicare so that private corporations could make more money.

Congressman Wittman voted for a plan that would have gutted Medicare, forcing seniors to buy higher cost insurance directly from big insurance companies and pay thousands of dollars in additional out of pocket costs each year for health care (HJR85, 2009).

[…]

Those who are sent overseas to defend our nation deserve a Representative in Congress that will stand with them when they return home. But when given the chance, Congressman Rob Wittman repeatedly voted against our veterans and men and women in uniform (HR1105, 2009; HCR85, 2009; HR2642, 2008; HCR312, 2008).

He voted to cut education and job assistance programs for our soldiers returning home from overseas (HR2642, 2008).

[…]

Congressman Rob Wittman has taken tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from big banking interests (www.fec.gov). But when it came time to protect Virginia families facing foreclosure, Congressmen Wittman sided with those same companies by voting against a plan to provide assistance to those at risk of losing their home (HR1106, 2009).

Wittman claims that he is an effective leader and I tend to agree. He is effectively BAD!

According to Roll Call Magazine, Wittman was ranked last in effectiveness of ALL Congressmen in Virginia. And out of the 435 members of Congress was ranked 432nd in his ability to pass legislation that benefited his constituents.

What about this session of Congress? Has he improved? Wittman was rated a follower by Govtrack.us. Less than 1% of the bills Wittman has Co-Sponsored have become law. This puts him in the bottom 10% of all members.

Could you imagine if he actually performed this well in private industry? Something tells me he would have been sent packing a long time ago. I say we send Wittman a pink slip and hire Krystal Ball (D-VA) come November!

It seems Republicans are suffering from Bush-era amnesia these days. The truth sometimes hurts. Ouch!

But even as we continue to hold BP accountable, we also need to hold Washington accountable. Now, this catastrophe is unprecedented in its nature, and it presents a host of new challenges we are working to address. But the question is what lessons we can learn from this disaster to make sure it never happens again.

If the laws on our books are inadequate to prevent such an oil spill, or if we didn’t enforce those laws – I want to know it. I want to know what worked and what didn’t work in our response to the disaster, and where oversight of the oil and gas industry broke down. We know, for example, that a cozy relationship between oil and gas companies and agencies that regulate them has long been a source of concern.

[...]

In recent weeks, we’ve taken a number of immediate measures to prevent another spill. We’ve ordered inspections of all deepwater operations in the Gulf of Mexico. We’ve announced that no permits for drilling new wells will go forward until the 30-day safety and environmental review I requested is complete. And I’ve called on Congress to pass a bill that would provide critical funds and tools to respond to this spill and better prepare us to confront any future spills.

But we also need to take a comprehensive look at how the oil and gas industry operates and how we regulate them. That is why, on Friday, I signed an executive order establishing the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling.

You can read the full address here.

So, I just wanted to take a few minutes to talk about why every American has a stake in Wall Street reform.

First and foremost, you have a stake in it if you’ve ever been treated unfairly by a credit card company, misled by pages and pages of fine print, or ended up paying fees and penalties you’d never heard of before. And you have a stake in it if you’ve ever tried to take out a home loan, a car loan, or a student loan, and been targeted by the predatory practices of unscrupulous lenders.

The Wall Street reform bill in Congress represents the strongest consumer financial protections in history. You’ll be empowered with the clear and concise information you need to make the choices that are best for you. We’ll help stop predatory practices, and curb unscrupulous lenders, helping secure your family’s financial future.

[...]

With reform, we’ll make our financial system more transparent by bringing the kinds of complex, backroom deals that helped trigger this crisis into the light of day. We’ll prevent banks from taking on so much risk that they could collapse and threaten our whole economy. And we’ll give shareholders more of a say on pay to help change the perverse incentives that encouraged reckless risk-taking in the first place. Put simply, Wall Street reform will bring greater security to folks on Main Street.

You can view the full remarks here.

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]]> http://www.leavingmymarc.com/2010/05/12/jon-stewart-on-elena-kagan-nomination/feed/ 0 http://www.leavingmymarc.com/2010/05/11/krystal-ball-to-convention-delegates-democratic-values-are-american-values/ http://www.leavingmymarc.com/2010/05/11/krystal-ball-to-convention-delegates-democratic-values-are-american-values/#comments Wed, 12 May 2010 00:25:12 +0000 Marc http://www.leavingmymarc.com/?p=1059

Democrats helped Krystal Ball (D-Fredericksburg) shed the presumptive nominee label by selecting her to be the official democratic nominee from Virginia’s 1^st Congressional District at a convention this past Saturday.

Ball wasted little time in drawing a sharp contrast between her and Congressman Rob Wittman (R-Montross).

When we passed Social Security they threatened to repeal it, when we passed Medicare they threatened to repeal it and now, now that we have passed health care reform they are threatening to repeal it. Well I have one message for Eric Cantor and John Boehner and to Rob Wittman. Let me say this clearly. I don’t care what your buddies in the health insurance lobby want we are not going backwards!

So what are Wittman’s legislative priorities? You’ll have to ask Eric Cantor (R-VA-7^th).

As long as we have politicians like Rob Wittman, nothing is going to change. You know Rob Wittman. He has been our Congressman for three years now. And in that three years he’s basically learned one thing, which is how to vote the way Eric Cantor tells him to.

You see Wittman is nothing more than a lap dog for Cantor. As I’ve previously written, Wittman has done Cantor’s bidding 1657 times or 93 percent of time. Folks in Virginia’s 1^st district deserve some real representation and not a lap dog!

Ball also notes that while folks in the 1^st district are being left behind, Wittman is taking good care of his friends on Wall Street.  While Wittman votes against extending unemployment insurance, he fights to preserve Wall Street executive bonuses. It’s called “No Banker Left Behind!”

Worse yet, while Wittman fights for Wall Street over Main Street, he also continues to pay lip service to our veterans and the environment. Priorities Rob, priorities!

Rob Wittman is the worst kind of politician. He is the kind of politician who talks about veterans and then votes against Sen. Webb’s 21st century GI bill. He is the type of politician, who talks about the [Chesapeake] Bay, and how important it is and how we have to clean it up, and then he turns around and votes against the Clean Estuaries Act. Rob Wittman takes his orders from credit cards companies, health insurance companies and banks. But you know what, those guys already have enough members of congress fighting for them. We need a fighter for the 1^st district of Virginia!

Ball concluded things best by saying that voters have a clear choice come November.

They can choose between tax cuts for the few and balancing the budget for everyone, between preserving the middle class and preserving Wall Street executive bonuses, between leaders who are willing to stand up for what’s right and those who only stand for their own re-election.

It’s time to fire wrong way Rob and hire a full-time representative who stands up for Main Street over Wall Street, who does more than provide lip service to our veterans and environment and who doesn’t take orders from credit card companies, health insurance companies or banks, but the American people. That person is clearly Krystal Ball!

This past Friday, the male prostitute who was hired by George Rekers spoke to Anderson Cooper 360. Oh yeah, Rekers still maintains that he didn’t know who he had hired until halfway through his trip. Again, I wouldn’t have any clue what I was ordering from RentBoy.com either?! The male escort talks about carrying Rekers bags and performing erotic massages on him.

In the AC360 segment, they also interviewed Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. He laid quite the zinger on Rekers:

Rekers doesn’t think gay people should raise boys, they think that he [sic] should rent boys.

You can read more about Rekers’ efforts to stop gay couples from adopting children here. You can also read my last post on the subject here.

]]> http://www.leavingmymarc.com/2010/05/10/rekers-rent-boy-talks-to-cnn/feed/ 0 http://www.leavingmymarc.com/2010/05/09/weekly-address-health-reform-starts-to-kick-in/ http://www.leavingmymarc.com/2010/05/09/weekly-address-health-reform-starts-to-kick-in/#comments Mon, 10 May 2010 00:24:24 +0000 Marc http://www.leavingmymarc.com/?p=1052

Two weeks ago, four million small business owners and organizations found a postcard in their mailbox informing them that they could be eligible for a health care tax cut this year – a tax cut potentially worth tens of thousands of dollars; a tax cut that will help millions provide coverage to their employees.

Starting in June, businesses will get even more relief for providing coverage to retirees who are not yet eligible for Medicare.  And a little over a month from now, on June 15th, senior citizens who fall into the prescription drug coverage gap known as the “donut hole” will start receiving a $250 rebate to help them afford their medication.

You can view the full transcript here.

For those who may have missed it, Rev. George Rekers, co-founder of the Family Research Council and an anti-gay activist, was outed recently for hiring a male prostitute to accompany him on a 10-day vacation. The kicker is that he claims that he had no idea that the person he hired was a male prostitute until halfway through his vacation. It’s seems like an innocent mistake to me. If I hired a male escort from RentBoy.com, there’s no way that I would have known that I was hiring a male prostitute. You have to love the hypocrisy from the far-right!

Check out the full story here.