Author: James

McAuliffe Inauguration Renews Campaign Promises

Terry McAuliffe inauguration - Photo by Dana Carlson
Photo Credit: Dana Carlson

RICHMOND – Tight security and steady rain Saturday did not dampen the spirit or the campaign promises of Democrat Terry McAuliffe as he became Virginia’s 72nd governor.

McAuliffe, who has never held elected office, won this past November’s nationally watched election against conservative, Tea Party-endorsed Republican candidate Ken Cuccinelli. McAuliffe succeeds Republican Bob McDonnell as governor.

McAuliffe’s national supporters include President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton, for whom McAuliffe raised funds. Clinton was in prominent attendance at the inauguration, as were his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.

McAuliffe took the oath of office in a formal morning suit from Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice Cynthia Kinser. The entire event took place in front of the historic Capitol building designed by Thomas Jefferson in 1785 to resemble a Roman temple.

Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates William Howell, R-Fredericksburg, opened the ceremony by reminding the audience of about 1,500 people they were not supposed to be using umbrellas. Members of the audience were searched by security — men in trench coats and flat-brimmed hats — sometimes more than once at the same checkpoint.

“Members and guests are reminded that you’re not supposed to be using your umbrellas,” Howell said, as it rained, heavily at times. “But if you don’t think you’re blocking anybody else’s view, it’s OK with me.”

McAuliffe’s inaugural address echoed themes from his campaign, including expansion of Medicaid, women’s rights and gay rights. “The Virginia way” is the national model for fiscal discipline,” McAuliffe said. “We are one of the best states to do business because we have worked together to minimize regulations and to keep taxes low.” He also called the commonwealth’s business model “a tradition we should be so proud of.”

McAuliffe thanked former Gov. McDonnell for his leadership, noting a smooth transition into his first day as governor. Near the end of the speech, McAuliffe reminded the public that he was about to issue an executive order putting a $100 limit on gifts to himself and other politicians. After the ceremony, McAuliffe signed Executive Order No. 1, prohibiting workplace discrimination, with new protections for transgender people.

McAuliffe previously had told a room of reporters in December that he “would be inclined” to issue an additional executive order allowing fee waivers for Freedom of Information Act requests that fall under the “public good.” Such provisions exist in federal law but not in Virginia law. Such an executive order would protect the public from prohibitive costs associated with filing a FOIA request, which can have a chilling effect on disclosure.

The new governor is facing a 20-20 Republican-Democrat split in the Virginia Senate. He noted the value of bipartisan consensus, and again congratulated McDonnell on a job well done, referencing a major transportation bill passed with bipartisan support the previous year.

A 19-gun salute by the Virginia Army National Guard, airmen from the Virginia Air National Guard and members of the Virginia Defense Force preceded a series of appearances by religious leaders, who blessed the inauguration with ceremonial dance and speeches.

Representatives from Virginia’s 11 American Indian tribes performed a blessing march and stopped to play drums in front of the governor. Rabbi Jack Moline of the Agudas Achim Congregation in Alexandria gave McAuliffe his blessing in a speech.

This story appeared in Virginia News Feed, The Virginia Free Citizen, Suffolk News-Herald, Potomac Local, Emporia News, and South Hill Enterprise.

Governor-Elect Promises Ethics Reform, Transparency

Governor Elect Terry McAuliffe said he 'would be inclined' to order FOIA reform, but offered no further details.
Governor Elect Terry McAuliffe said he ‘would be inclined’ to order FOIA reform, but offered no further details.

RICHMOND – Gov.-elect Terry McAuliffe said Wednesday that he would push for greater transparency and ethics reforms in state government.

McAuliffe spoke to a roomful of journalists after a panel discussion on political journalism ethics and political finance and gift-disclosure organized by the Associated Press.

The Northern Virginia businessman said he “would be inclined” to “issue an executive order” to waive the fees currently charged to citizens and journalists requesting government documents under the state’s Freedom of Information Act.

Under the federal FOIA, federal officials can waive the often prohibitive costs of a public records request if it pertains directly to the public good, but the state does not.

“It’s the first I’ve been asked this question,” McAuliffe said. “I think it’s a great idea. I will take it back and talk to my transition team about it.”

He said he was not aware that Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act lacks a provision to allow fees to be waived if the FOIA request is in the public interest.

Echoing President Obama’s campaign slogans, McAuliffe said he would set a new standard of “transparent, accountable, state government that is beholden only to the taxpayers who fund it.” He added, “Virginians should never have to question who their leaders are putting first.”

The best way to ensure political transparency, McAuliffe said, is to issue an executive order limiting gifts to politicians to no more than $100, increasing penalties for violating current disclosure laws and eliminating conflicts of interest; however, McAuliffe did not offer details about how the order would achieve those ends.

McAuliffe, a Democrat, said his almost-daily talks with outgoing Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell often extend into weekends, facilitating what he called “the smoothest transition ever” as he prepares to take office.

In spite of their talks, however, McAuliffe said he knew only as much as the newspapers have reported about the federal investigation of McDonnell’s relationship with a dietary-supplement manufacturer.

McAuliffe spoke to about 50 journalists at AP Day at the Capital. The event, held at the Richmond Times-Dispatch offices, was organized by Virginia AP Managing Editors, the Virginia Capitol Correspondents Association and the Virginia Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Also speaking at the event was Republican Delegate Bob Marshall of Manassas. He said not all secrecy is bad, citing the 1776 Constitutional Convention that took place behind closed doors without public oversight.

Marshall said people behave differently when they know they’re being watched, and limiting gifts to $100 would “force political activity underground.”

Marshall said a “no gifts” policy would lead to prosecutions for unreported golf tips, information and special discounts; for example, getting a car at half price because of a person’s status as a politician. Marshall said whether a politician received discounts is “not in the public interest.”

This story appeared in Fauquier Now, Virginia Business, and Henrico Citizen.

Car Show

Cadillacs of the 1950s
Glinting in the Cherokee
Sun, arranged in rows
A stabbing revelry

Americana, what we are
A memory spoke in Southern drawl
During a trot along
The Trail of Tears.

Colorful figures,
All around the mountain square,
Jangled in their meaningless
Headdress and fascist tribal flare.

She’s a beauty ain’t
She? asked a farmer
Of about 67 and
Three months.

I reckon to say she is,
Replied some onlooker,
Paid ten dollars
Just to see her.

On a streetcorner
Just down the hill:
Bronzed in black fishnets
Stood a mother, 17.

TV Guide

Blackjack, panic attack,
Chrome dreams and steel.

Three Stoned White Guys, Cops,
Hot on Their Heels.

An actress on crack
Is winning – is losing,
Is dead on her back.

A library in each head,
One feeds his disease:

Latex miracle Fear machine,
Absolute power that gleams!

A slack silver-lined serpent
Writhes in the sky.

The Black Magnus unrolls,
Roils and unwinds,

Planting landlines,
Serenades.

Twisting and coiling
Like some new galaxy,

The great heroin beast-
What’s next on TV?

The “Space Race” 80s and 90s

I was once an empty flagon of liquid hope;
Nothing has changed.

I used to want to be an astronaut
But hated to limit myself.

I learned how to write on a sheet of cardboard
On the shag carpeting of a trailer because
I was “not like them.”

And I have always been a shit writer
Pretending like he isn’t.

Though perfectly accustomed to it,
I am by no means afraid of failure.

The probability of intelligent life
In our galaxy is so small,
It probably exists,
Somewhere else.

Hate is a more realistic word for
Love.

There is no membrane,
The atmosphere is thinning
With my hair and I’m only
Twenty fucking five.

I am the Cold War.

By that I mean some part of me
Is truly American
And the rest wants peace.

College makes me dumb,
Or I was never smart.

People are a source of misery
Because they make me so happy.

This is nothing new,
It won’t make the frontpages
Or anything.

At least, it shouldn’t,
Because space
Is for real
Celebrities and life
Is about learning
To pretend.

Mad Man’s Hate Song

I shut my eyes and drink the rain;
Thinking madly about our children, fat, yet underfed.
(For endless corporate capital gain.)

Yellow fields of swaying grain
Fuel delusions, concealing dread:
I shut my eyes and drink the rain.

I watched my life go down the drain
And regaled stifled dreams so overripe, so dead on fire.
(For endless corporate capital gain.)

Factories wheeze and workers strike, hacks retire:
We vote for him, more lies, more sin:
I shut my eyes and drink the rain.

I hoped it would end but fear remained,
Until one day there was only noise.
(For endless corporate capital gain.)

I took it upon myself to go insane;
At least this way I fit right in.
I shut my eyes and drink the rain.
(For endless corporate capital gain.)