What does Title 24.2 – of the Code of Virginia say about elections? Chapter 9.4 puts severe limits on campaign fundraising when the General Assembly is in regular session. In fact, the National Conference on State Legislatures classifies Virginia as a state that prohibits any contributions during a session (see here).

Moreover, Marshall has focused on getting some major legislation passed.  Well, we have some good news.

Dear Fellow Patriots,

On July 1 of next year, a new law will take effect to protect Virginians against abuses of federal power. My Anti-NDAA Detention bill, HB 1160, overwhelmingly passed both houses yesterday afternoon. Together, you and I can claim this incredible victory for Virginia against an ever-encroaching federal government.

Virginia is telling Congress “No Thanks,” to any participation in the unconstitutional “detention” of American citizens without trial, legal counsel, specific charges, or the right to face an accuser as authorized under the 2012 Defense Authorization Act signed by President Obama this past December.

This victory would not have been possible without strong grass-roots support for my bill from Virginians of all political backgrounds and persuasions.  I want to thank the many liberty-minded citizens across Virginia who took the time to write letters, send emails and make phone calls to the Governor and Assembly members.

And I am proud of the Assembly’s response.

Virginia is the first state to pass a law which places a legal bar between all state agencies and any federal effort to use Section 1021 of the 2012 NDAA to suspend habeas corpus rights which go back centuries.  I hope that Virginia’s enactment of HB 1160 will be replicated in other states.  States still have a significant role and duty to resist federal overreach. In the words of the Richmond Times Dispatch editorial in support of HB 1160, “Congress and the President should be made aware that their contempt for fundamental constitutional rights does not sit well with the American public.”

For Liberty,

Bob Marshall

P.S. If you want to do more to stop bad laws like NDAA — I need your help in my run for the U.S. Senate. Would you take a minute right now to donate to my 2012 campaign? While my bill HB 1160 was successful in getting Virginia to withdraw its consent from such detentions, wouldn’t it be so much better to see the entire program repealed? I could never have gotten HB 1160 through the General Assembly without you, and it is certain that I cannot get elected to the U.S. Senate without your support. Please contribute now. Thanks

Do you think Delegate Bob Marshall would be the best person to represent us in the U.S. Senate? Then please find a way to help his campaign. Please donate your time, your money, or both. If we want our public officials to support us, then we must support the election campaigns of the people we believe most qualified.

Consider a quote often attributed to Edmund Burke.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. (from here)

Wikiquote suggests this quote may have been adapted from these lines in Burke’s Thoughts on the Cause of Present Discontents (1770):

When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.

Will we stand by idly? Will we let bad men combine, destroy our heritage, enslave our children, and never oppose them? Will we fall one by one, or will we associate and protect each others liberty?

Today I attended a rally at the party headquarters for the Prince William County Republican Committee. I found myself astonished by the number of dignitaries at the event. In addition to most of the Republican candidates running for office with voters in this county, the following elected officials attended (and spoke) at the event.

• Governor Bob McDonnell
• Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling
• Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli
• Speaker Bill Howell
• Senator Tommy Noment

These gentlemen uniformly stressed the importance of the upcoming election and the difference a few votes make. With relatively few votes, Republicans can take control of the Virginia Senate. That Senate now stands as a road block to the wishes of the citizens of Virginia (see WHY WE EACH NEED TO DO OUR PART). They emphasized that getting out the vote in Prince William County is critical. If Prince William votes Republican, we have an excellent chance of winning four Senate seats, bringing four new Republican senators into the Senate.

• Dick Black
• Tom Gordy
• Jeff Frederick
• Miller Baker

Need more reason to vote? Then read the following email from Dick Black.

The election is this Tuesday, November 8th!
Please remember to vote!

There are three days left before Tuesday’s election, and I wanted to update you on a few important developments.

Fighting Obamacare

News broke yesterday that Delegate Bob Marshall and I filed briefs in support of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli in stopping Obamacare.  You can read about it here.

My opponent, Democrat Shawn Mitchell, who has previously stated he “absolutely supports Barack Obama,” attacked me for this, calling the effort to stop Obamacare from destroying the economy “a frivolous lawsuit.”

The American people overwhelmingly oppose Obamacare, and anyone who dismisses it as “frivolous” is clearly out of touch. Voters will have a clear choice on Election Day. I will fight against overreaching government takeovers of the private sector and will work for policies that promote job grown — not those that hurt our economy.

Labor Unions Enter the Race

My opponent has benefited greatly from labor unions which have poured tens of thousands of dollars into his campaign. The labor unions have seen big handouts from the Obama administration, even when everyday Americans are struggling to find a job.

Now the unions want my opponent to help overturn Virginia’s Right to Work laws and force the Metro to Dulles Extension project to operate under a Project Labor Agreement (PLA), which would prohibit any contractor that is not a union contractor from working on the Metro expansion.  This would eliminate any real competition and add hundreds of millions of dollars to the cost of the project. That would guarantee higher tolls for commuters.

We can’t let that happen. The cost of this project has already increased dramatically. Government should be frugal with taxpayers’ money. We can’t let my opponent take more money out of our pockets, just so he can pay off his union donors.

Positive Ideas vs. Negative Smears

During these past months I have campaigned on a positive message of creating jobs and growing the economy. I have talked about the need for energy independence which will bring jobs and transportation funding to Virginia. I have talked about keeping taxes low by controlling government spending. I am ready to go to Richmond and work with Governor Bob McDonnell to keep Virginia one of the best places to do business in the Country.

In contrast, my democratic opponent has focused all of his attention on spreading lies and distortions to scare voters. Instead of giving people a reason to vote for him, he has decided to spend all of his time and money trying to scare voters into voting against me.

Here is a sample of his most recent attacks:

• My opponent has accused me of not debating him, despite the fact that we have debated three times and he backed out of attending two other candidate forums — including the largest ever Loudoun County debate, which was held at Cornerstone Chapel.

• My opponent accused me of not releasing a 2nd Amendment survey to his campaign, even though he refused to fill out their survey at all.

• My opponent has accused me of lying about his relationship with his previous employer, Parrish Services, claiming his boss said nice things about him. Mitchell’s last boss did say kind things about him until he had to sue Mitchell for stealing the company’s most valuable property. For Mitchell to defend his reprehensible actions by quoting his bosses kind remarks before the alleged theft is the height of dishonesty. To be clear, his former employer has never said any kind words about him since the lawsuit. In fact, he has endorsed my candidacy in this race and donated most generously to my campaign.

• My opponent even accused me of supporting spousal rape! But I am the only legislator who had ever successfully prosecuted a case of spousal rape, and Democrat Mitchell conveniently failed to mention that, after I discussed the bill on the floor, I then voted to make spousal rape illegal in Virginia

My opponent’s desperation to win at any costs took his campaign to depths never seen in local politics. My opponent mailed voters a photo depicting a woman in a hospital gown with her feet in stirrups, about to have an abortion. This outraged voters, demonstrating that there isn’t a level Shawn Mitchell won’t stoop to.

While I’ve focused exclusively on Jobs and the economy, Shawn Mitchell has focused almost exclusively on advocating his radical social views.

Despite these daily attacks, my campaign has been knocking on doors and reaching out to voters to help get out the vote on Tuesday. But we need your help. Please join me in this historic election on November 8th. Join me in declaring that politics of fear and hate will not win the day. Join me in supporting a positive, pro-business platform that will put Virginians back to work.

I need your help to change the direction we are headed. Please volunteer for two or more hours on Election Day. Donate generously to our campaign, ore request a yard sign by calling our office at 703-468-1342 or email Mail@dickblack4senate.com

Victory is close but we mustn’t let it slip away. My opponent is desperate; he will stop at nothing so we must have every single person out on Nov. 8th. Be a part of the solution and return the power to the people. Together we can send a message — America is the greatest nation on earth and we will fight to take it back!

Clueless

When I awoke this morning to draft this week’s campaign update, I had planned to simply remind folks that the Election is just 2 weeks away, we need poll workers, etc. (you can go to our website and send us a note www.va31st.com or email us at va31st@gmail.com). But then I made the mistake of reading the news and came across this item in The Hill newspaper. Opining on the state of our jobless economy and the Obama “pass it now” jobs bill that no Democrats were willing to co-sponsor, Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid had this to say.

“It’s very clear that private-sector jobs have been doing just fine; it’s the public-sector jobs where we’ve lost huge numbers, and that’s what this legislation is all about…”

 Take a moment and read that again, folks. Reid and his Democrat pals think private sector jobs are just honky dory and the PUBLIC sector needs help. Does this guy even LIVE in the same world you and I do?!

Friends, you have heard me say many times that “elections matter” and when you don’t vote, you get people like Reid in office who are simply oblivious to what is going on around them. As I have gone door-to-door, I have heard your stories personally.

• The welding business owner who can’t find work;
• The career landscape engineer who is jobless;
• The software technician who is highly skilled but highly unemployed;
• The store owner who had to close his operation because of a lack of customers;
• The farmer who sold his cows;
• The construction supervisor who has no prospect of work;
• The recent college grade with an architecture degree but no job to design anything; and
• The combat veteran who left the Marine Corps, but can’t find work.

The Democrats in Washington just don’t get it. They reflectively always look to solve our problems with more government. They just don’t understand that it’s the private sector, not the public sector that grows jobs, the economy, and yes, the revenues that fund our core services like public safety, education, and transportation, etc.

And here in Virginia, the Democrats in the Senate and the House of Delegate parrot the same nonsense: more government spending and more taxes to go with it.

Well, I’m not buying that line and will continue to fight to keep spending under control, taxes low, and polices that make it easier to grow and run a small business. In other words, focus on JOBS. That’s the answer, not more government.

In two weeks you have a chance to send a message to those who think it’s smart to explode spending and taxes. You have chance to make your voice heard that you want responsible government that balances budgets and actually then has surpluses like we do right here in Virginia under the leadership of our Governor, Bob McDonnell. You have a chance to send a message to Washington that will say to a clueless Harry Reid “Here in Virginia, we think you are dead wrong in your policies and we’ll be there a year from now to make THAT point clear too”.

Folks, elections really do matter. I hope you will come out on November 8^th and elect commonsense conservatives here in Virginia and pave the way to do the same in 2012. I need your vote and want your vote so I can continue to be your voice in Richmond. I hope I can count on you.

Sic Semper Tyrannis

Did Senator Harry Reid really say that? Unfortunately, he did. Reid: ‘Private Sector Jobs Have Been Doing Just Fine,’ Government Jobs Should Take Priority provides a video clip. In addition, the same report observes the following.

According to an analysis by the Republican staff of the Senate Finance Committee using Bureau of Labor Statistics data, since the beginning of the recent recession (Dec. 2007), there have been 6,257,000 private sector job losses (a 5.41% decline) and 392,000 total government (federal + state + local) job losses (a 1.75% decline).

Just in case you have not heard, many of our leaders, Democrats in particular, are in the pockets of public employee unions. See here, here, and here.

Genthner is running against Delegate Bob Marshall. Marshall has never been the world’s greatest fundraiser — because he is honest, perhaps? Check the record. In his last run, his opponent raised quite a bit of money. Even then, because he talked to (and listened to) the folks in his district, Marshall still won handily.

Genthner is not listening. For example, he includes this picture of himself with Congressman Gerry Connolly front and center on his website.

Genthner wants to be associated with that guy’s voting record?

And what endorsements does Genthner trumpet?

The candidates for State Senate District 13 have a little dispute in progress. Thus, Shawn Mitchell has this ad on his website, Why is Dick Black Smearing Shawn Mitchell? Here is how it begins.

Ashburn – Last week, career politician Dick Black began smearing Shawn Mitchell for a lawsuit that was settled out of court with a former employer, relying on half-truths and misdirection.

In a mailer Black says, “…Mitchell settled the lawsuit, then immediately petitioned to have the records sealed and hidden.” That not only isn’t true, but it’s actually not how our legal system in Virginia works. As a lawyer, you would expect Delegate Black to know that once a case has been settled between parties, they inform the judge and the case is dismissed. There is nothing additionally filed with the court. Any agreements between the parties, stay between the parties: the Court doesn’t actually get a copy. Therefore, there is nothing that is “sealed.” The pleadings in the case are open and available for inspection to the public.

As I recall, the mailer came from the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV), not Dick Black, but I suppose that is a small detail. Nonetheless, when compared with his opponent Black has little to say about Mitchell. Here is a rare example.

Q: Your opponent has attacked you for being too focused on social issues. What do you think of that?
Oddly enough, he is the only one focusing on social issues. It’s all he talks about. He has been very careful to have never said where he stands on any of these issues. My opponent doesn’t want to talk about the fact that I have the most significant transportation achievements in the county. He certainly doesn’t want to talk about how I went to court and successfully blocked 14 new unconstitutional taxes on Virginia’s families. All he wants to do is talk about social issues. My priorities are getting people back to work, promoting energy independence and cutting the debt.

Why did RPV send the mailer? Here is what the Washington Times had to say in the beginning of its article, Va. Senate candidate draws heat for small-business legal dispute.

A Northern Virginia stateSenate candidate who has emerged as a contender in a race that could give Democrats an unlikely victory has come under fire for his record as a small-business owner.

Shawn Mitchell, a candidate in the newly drawn District 13 in Prince William and Loudoun counties, recently settled a messy legal dispute with his former employer over claims that he breached trade secrets and violated a noncompete clause when starting a small business in 2010.

The dispute was settled under seal, and Mr. Mitchell has declined to answer questions about the charges despite emphasizing on the campaign trail his record as a business owner.

Apparently, the parties to the suit agreed to settle under a seal. Why? That we may never know. Nonetheless, it is worth noting who sued who, and the court records that are available are quite interesting.

Are you thinking about voting for Mitchell because of his business experience? Then please read the rest of the Times’ article. It seems Mitchell has almost as much litigation experience as he does business experience.