Why to Vote Against Thelma Drake in VA-2 In November:

Sometimes I love my Congressional district. It is in my home district, after all, that Ed Schrock, the #2 most-conservative congressman and #1 anti-gay congressman, is outed for . . . soliciting sex from men. Needless to say, many of us had a great laugh at that hypocritical bastard's expense and moved on with our lives, even after he was forced to drop his reelection bid.

Enter Thelma Drake. If ever there was a "rubber stamp" for W, she's it. Totally useless, and barely survived a disorganized and poorly coordinated, if spirited, challenge from Phil Kellam in '06.

This year, she's opposed by Glenn Nye, one of two candidates I'm already committed to voting for (the second being former governor Mark Warner in his senatorial bid).

Even if I weren't going to vote for Nye, I'd vote against Drake. Why?

Let's check the list of reasons -- taken from the email her office sent out today (her email in italics):

July 2008 eNewsletter

Hello!

I hope you had a wonderful Fourth of July. There have been a lot of developments in Washington over the last month and I want to take a moment to bring you up to speed on them.

Energy

Although Second District families are struggling under the burden of outrageous gas and energy prices, Congress has again left for the week without an up-or-down vote on a comprehensive strategy to address our current energy crisis. Families are hurting and bills the House has considered like punishing speculators or raising taxes on energy producers are simply not serious solutions to the predicament our country is in. Last week, the House voted on the establishment of a National Historic Trail and a measure on the preservation of White House emails. The American people are tired of Congress voting on half measures and meaningless bills.

Let's start here, shall we? First of all, if you're going to change the subject, I'd suggest not changing it to things that make you look even worse for the position you're taking. When there are as many as FIVE MILLION emails missing from White House servers, emails that -- surprise of surprises! -- pertained to thoroughly corrupt activities originating from and on behalf of that White House, it's a legitimate issue. What Drake is saying is that she opposes open government, and supports the right of the executive to rule, rather than to govern. Thelma Drake, in her own words, would do away with checks and balances entirely and revert to some sort of rotating emperorship (assuming she's still ok with change at the top; for all she indicates, she could be in favor of life terms for executives). Thanks for the clarification, Thelma, not that anyone needed it.

Second, only in America could the idea of legislation creating a National Historic Trail deemed meaningless. Again, though, Drake just outright steps in it. The trail in question? The Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail (trust me, it's in there), commemorating the Chesapeake theater of the War of 1812. This includes the siege of Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor -- you know, the siege that produced our national anthem. How delightfully patriotic a statement from a woman who wouldn't be caught dead without a flag stapled to her ass.

Now, the idea that she opposes windfall taxes and trying to find some regulatory measure to somehow hinder speculation isn't terribly surprising, since this woman is more thoroughly in the grasp of Big Oil than virtually anyone in Congress, so we can leave that more or less to the side, except for observing that speculation is an obvious part of what's driving the surge in crude prices, and for someone who purports to be concerned about the "pain" being inflicted on VA-2 families to support this speculation (which is what she tacitly does) is a glorious display of dishonesty.

I am strongly in favor of a comprehensive solution to the energy crisis that will:

1. Increase our domestic supply by expanding the development of American energy from the Outer Continental Shelf and ANWR; oil shale and oil sands; and liquefied coal technology for gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel;

Stop right there. None of these make a short-term difference. If she were phrasing her plans in long-term language, then I'd have different objections -- such as the observation that ANWR will contribute less than 1% of projected U.S. oil needs even at full capacity, or that the amount of oil in ANWR could be saved in a year if every vehicle on American roads were simply ONE mile per gallon more efficient. Does Thelma support raising CAFE standards? Hell no.

What she does support is lying through her teeth by talking about two different things, relying on people not to notice.

Oh, and I'd love to hear her 1a: she wants to open U.S. "reserves," ok, but here's the catch: what's the mechanism for ensuring that the oil stays in the U.S. market and isn't exported? No one has yet answered this question, that I'm aware of, but if you wanted more proof that Drake is working for Big Oil and against the rest of us, there it is: she wants to exploit what's left so that it can hit the market. The global market. How, exactly, will this help U.S. and VA-2 families?

It won't. But gosh, it sure sounds nice, don't it?

2. Invest in alternative forms of energy like biodiesel, solar, geothermal, and nuclear; and

With the exception of nuclear, I love this idea. Curiously, though, she left "wind" off the list. My hunch is that this is most likely because the proposed offshore wind platforms happen to coincide with the desired drilling locations off the Virginia coast; I just looked around for a couple of maps, to try and superimpose the two, but didn't net what I was looking for (so if anyone can help, I'd be curious, and appreciative).

3. Encourage conservation measures.

Then stand up and call for CAFE standards to go up by 10, fleet-wide, within two years. And then by another ten five years after that. And by another ten five after that.

How about stumping for more tax incentives to homeowners and property managers to help? Put solar cells on your buildings, get a meaningful tax break. Oh, and how about reaching out to Richmond to pressure Dominion to rebate customers for the kilowattage their home-based units contribute to the grid? We're going to have to entirely rebuild the electric grid at some point, and are in the process of very slowly doing so, so how about putting your money where your mouth is and encouraging the hastening of that process?

Oh, and lastly, can we get ALL of the above-ground power lines in VA-2 underground already? How many times can they be knocked over by a storm and put back up before it's just throwing good money after bad? I suspect we've long since reached that point, but what the hey, it's hurricane season, so I'm sure they'll drop a couple of times over the next couple of months somewhere in Thelma's district . . .

I call this the “All of the Above” approach to the energy crisis.

No comment.

I’ve talked to people in the Second District who cannot afford to put more than $10 of gas in their tank and others who have stopped driving all together and ride a bicycle to work. This is unacceptable and I am working to get a comprehensive package through Congress that will bring badly needed relief to families in Hampton Roads, on the Eastern Shore, and all over America.

Why, exactly, is this unacceptable? I ride my bike to work frequently back in Germany -- what prevents people from doing so here?

Riding your bike to work is unacceptable. There's logic for you. Thelma's clearly still working with a high-school mentality, where it's "uncool" to ride your bike.

National Security

Recently, Congress did work effectively in passing two bills which are vital to our national security. Congress passed legislation sending much needed funds to our troops in harm’s way and re-authorized a program that allows our intelligence agencies to monitor terrorist communications as they plot against our families.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) authorizes our intelligence professionals to monitor the phone calls and emails of terrorists who pose a threat to the security of the United States.

For more information on FISA, please click here.

The bill also provided cover to continue spying on Americans and gathering data on all of us, but we'll just ignore that -- not that anyone seems to care anyway (thanks, Dems in congress, way to CONTINUE to drop the ball on that one).

The Supplemental Appropriations Bill provided badly needed funding for our servicemembers deployed in combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill also reformed the GI bill, updating the veterans’ education benefit for the 21st century.

Courtesy of Jim Webb, and it was a provision that you, your president, and your party hotly and stridently opposed -- but hey, let's all share the credit, now that we couldn't get it stopped, right? More dishonesty.

For more information on the Supplemental and the GI Bill reform, please click here.

I am proud to be your Representative in Congress and would love to hear from you.

I doubt it.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or opinions you would like to share with me, please click here to send me an email.

You know, over the years, I've had occasion to contact various elected officials about various things. I've contacted three Senators, two Representatives, and numerous state delegates and state senators.

Funny thing, Thelma Drake is the only one from I never even received so much as a form letter -- or even a form email, for that matter.

Go figure.

If you would like to get more frequent email updates from my office, please click here to subscribe.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this update.

All my best,

Thelma

You're very welcome, Thelma. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to show some people what your message truly is, and in your own words.

With best wishes for a happy private life starting in January,

Anthony