Wednesday, March 27, 2013
State Sen. Adam Ebbin, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner among those who have changed their profile pictures.
You probably have seen a red square with a pink equals sign on it in your Facebook, Twitter and other social media feeds lately — a symbol that stands for marriage equality. It stems from an effort by the Human Rights Campaign that coincides with oral arguments being heard by the U.S. Supreme Court this week regarding the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act. DOMA, as it is known, allows the federal government to discriminate against same-sex couples. The equality symbol signifies that marriage really is all about love, according to the Human Rights Campaign. "It's nice for people on Facebook to see their Facebook friends standing up, and seeing so many people doing that," said state Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria. Ebbin, who is…
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Startup Act 3.0 combines elements of immigration reform to spur job growth.
A bill introduced by Virginia Sen. Mark Warner this week designed to jump-start business by creating "Entrepreneur Visas" and "STEM Visas" for highly educated and entrepreneurial immigrants to stay in the United States could help the Northern Virginia region compete on a larger scale, says the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce. “Entrepreneurs are the future of the Northern Virginia region," Jim Corcoran, president and CEO of the Fairfax Chamber, told Patch. "The Fairfax Chamber applauds Senator Warner and the rest of the bi-partisan sponsors for their leadership on reforms and new ideas that will make our nation, and our region, more attractive to entrepreneurial businesses, add jobs, and make us even more competitive on a global scale…
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Warner brought undocumented 19-year-old to President Barack Obama's 2013 State of the Union address to emphasize the need for new policies.
A 19-year-old Fairfax High School graduate was a guest of honor Tuesday night at President Barack Obama's 2013 State of the Union speech. U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) invited Ambar Pinto to the president's address Tuesday night as part of an effort to bring attention to immigration reform. Warner, a supporter of the Virginia DREAM Act, talked about giving talented individuals, no matter their immigration status, a chance at obtaining United States citizenship in a video clip sent to supporters ahead of the speech. The DREAM Act, a bill that would have allowed children of illegal immigrants to receive in-state college tuition, died in the Virginia House of Respresentatives earlier this month. “We need to fix our broken immigration system…
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Virginia senator said his three daughters asked him Friday what he was going to do about school shootings tragedy.
Virginia Sen. Mark Warner wants to tighten gun laws, saying "enough is enough" in the wake of the Connecticut school shootings Friday that saw 20 young children killed and six adults. “I‘ve been a strong supporter of Second Amendment rights,” the Democrat from Alexandria said Monday outside the Virginia Capitol, where he was attending an unrelated meeting, The Washington Post reported Monday. “I’ve got an A rating from the NRA. But the status quo isn’t acceptable. I’ve got three daughters," the Post reported. They asked me on Friday evening, ‘Dad, what are you gonna do about this?’ There’s got to be a way to put reasonable restrictions, particularly as we look at assault weapons, as we look at these fast clips of ammunition.” “I believe …
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Warner says he wants to continue his work in the U.S. Senate.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., announced Tuesday that he will not run for governor in 2013, saying that he wants to continue the work he was sent to do in Washington. Warner, in a statement issued shortly after 3 p.m., said Virginians of all political stripes have approached him over the past year to make the bid — which he said he would consider and then make a decision after the November election. "I’ve talked to a lot of Virginians I respect, and I’ve talked about it with my family," Warner said in a statement. "But when I asked Virginians to hire me as their Senator, I made a promise to come to Washington to try to be a problem solver. I have to admit, it’s been tougher than I expected. But I’ve tried to keep at it." Warner's decision…
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Senator tells Associated Press he'll announce decision before Thanksgiving.
Sen. Mark Warner plans to announce before Thanksgiving whether he'll run for governor again, according to the Associated Press. The former governor, a Democrat, served as the Commonwealth's chief executive from 2002 to 2006. Virginia is the only state in the country where a governor cannot succeed himself. Former DNC chair Terry McAuliffe has already thrown his hat in the ring and will face Republicans Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. If Warner walks away from another run for governor, he'll be teaming up in the Senate with the state's soon to be junior senator, Senator-elect Tim Kaine, who served as Warner's lieutenant governor and is himself a former governor of Virginia. In a poll conducted Nov. 8-12 by …
Monday, September 3, 2012
Senate candidate Tim Kaine a speaker and part of Virginia's swing state delegation.
A group of 124 delegates will represent Virginia in Charlotte, NC, as the 2012 Democratic National Convention gets underway on Tuesday. Virginia - along with Ohio, North Carolina and Florida - is considered a key swing state. Virginia, once a reliable Republican stronghold, went to President Barack Obama in 2008 - the first time the Old Dominion helped elect a Democratic president since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. But this isn't 2008, and political pundits say Virginia's 13 electoral votes are a tossup for 2012. "It really does come down to 18 electoral votes in Ohio and 13 in Virginia, at least according to my calculations," Larry Sabato, head of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Sabato …
Sunday, June 3, 2012
State party convention drew more than 2,000 to the city of Fairfax this weekend.
FAIRFAX — Perhaps U.S. Sen. Mark Warner put it best: "In 2008, we changed the guard. In 2012, we need to guard the change." More than 2,000 Democrats from across the commonwealth descended on George Mason University this weekend for the Democratic Party of Virginia's State Convention. The gathering served as part pep rally, part organizational meeting as activists mobilize for November. Party leaders had similar messages, previewing what they will try to hammer home while Virginia is in the national spotlight as a battleground state for the U.S. presidency. That message, they say, is that the right-wing takeover of the Republican Party has made this country, and this state, unrecognizable and infringes on the rights of gays, women and …
Friday, March 30, 2012
Poll: Would you vote for Chap Petersen?
State Senator Chap Petersen, who represents the 34th district, will likely run for governor in 2013, the Washington Post reported Friday. Ben Tribbett, who writes the Not Larry Sabato blog and has been connected to Petersen's campaign for over a decade, told the Post that the only reason Petersen would not run is if Senator Mark Warner decided to campaign for the seat. If Petersen decided to run, his Republican opponent in the general election would be attorney general Ken Cuccinelli, or Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling. The 34th district consists of parts of Centreville, Vienna, Oakton, Annandale, Burke, Fairfax Station and Fairfax City. Petersen won a landslide victory over his opponent, Gerarda Culipher, in the newly-configured district last …
Monday, November 7, 2011
A Get Out the Vote Rally at George Mason University focused on voter turnout and the importance of retaining control of the state Senate.
"Grab three or four or five of your friends and get out to vote," Senator Mark Warner told a crowd gathered outside the Johnson Center at George Mason University Monday afternoon. A virtual who's who of Virginia Democrats gathered to encourage voting in an election expected to have low turnout, with much at stake. Democrats took control of the Virginia Senate in 2007, for the first time in almost a century. They hope to retain that control November 8. If Republicans gain enough seats to win it back, the GOP would have complete dominance in Richmond. "The races will be determined by tens of votes, hundreds of votes," said Warner. "If you will do your part [by voting], you will make a difference." According to the Virginia State Board of …
Michelle Thomas
5:36 pm on Wednesday, April 24, 2013
I for one find T-Bird to be a complete and utter buffoonery of a poster. Has anyone ever read his post what a wanker. This is a tomfoolery of mental illness to the extreme. I can believe such a person walks this earth with the hatred and bigotry abounds in "its" (T-bird) rants. Its the way it (T-Bird) comes across as holier than all and to be damned to anyone in which disagrees. A real honest to … more ›