By Douglas Holtz-Eakin
The young drop coverage to avoid higher premiums
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
The immigration "reform" cooked up by the Gang of Eight is finally on the front burner in Congress. The Senate Judiciary Committee will mark up the comprehensive package Thursday, and already it appears the process is doomed to failure, and by design.
Sen. Mark R. Warner, Virginia Democrat, has been a do-nothing senator while carrying water for President Obama's disastrous policies. He claims to be a great businessman, but what successful business person now in position of power as a United States senator stands by and does nothing while the president enacts policies that have wreaked havoc on our economy?
We fought for freedom from European monarchs 200 years ago, but are coming perilously close to subjugating ourselves again to the authority of foreign powers. Recently, Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark R. Warner, Virginia Democrats, and Sens. Benjamin L. Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski, Maryland Democrats, were among 46 senators who voted in a nonbinding test vote to enter into the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty.
Sen. Mark R. Warner holds a sizable lead over Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell in a hypothetical two-man race for Mr. Warner's Senate seat in 2014, according to a poll released Monday.
Out of the flurry of ambitious gun control proposals in the wake of December's school shooting in Connecticut, expanded background checks on gun sales are fast emerging as the "sweet spot" — as one Senate Democratic leader put it — between what gun control advocates seek and what can actually attract bipartisan support in Congress.
The National Rifle Association does not plan to support any new gun control measures in the wake of the shooting rampage in Newtown, Conn., the head of the organization said Sunday, arguing that the government should vigorously enforce laws already on the books and reiterating the group's push for more armed guards in schools as part of the solution.
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said Tuesday that policymakers should not overreact to the Connecticut school shooting but should discuss allowing school officials to carry firearms on campus.
Only in this capital of self-absorbed arrogance do people learn of an incomprehensible slaughter of angelic children huddled in terror and immediately think — well, of themselves. And how they can, in their boundless power and wisdom, fix it so it never happens again. Only in this town do people witness such madness and carnage and think of — what else? — low, dirty politics.
Some pro-gun Democrats said Monday that they have rethought their stance and are now open to restrictions on so-called assault weapons, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said it's time Congress holds a gun control debate in the wake of Friday's deadly shooting rampage at a Connecticut elementary school.
U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner says he will not seek a return to Virginia's governor's mansion.
Sen. Mark R. Warner said Tuesday he will not run for governor of Virginia next year, ending speculation that picked up steam earlier this month when the popular politician said he was thinking about seeking his former job again.
Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe said Thursday he plans to run for governor of Virginia in 2013, becoming the first Democrat to enter a race that will undoubtedly receive significant national attention as just one of two gubernatorial contests next year.
Democrat Tim Kaine said Wednesday he hopes to add his voice to the "common-ground caucus" in a U.S. Senate rife with partisan gridlock and that he wants to serve with Sen. Mark R. Warner, who plans to decide by Thanksgiving whether he will run for Virginia governor once again in 2013.
U.S. Senate candidates Tim Kaine and George Allen enjoyed the 11th-hour benefits of Virginia's swing-state status Monday, getting high-profile nods of support from Vice President Joseph R. Biden and Mitt Romney, respectively, at events across the commonwealth and in voter-rich Northern Virginia.
Mr. Warner, who last week confirmed that he planned to seek re-election, held double-digit advantages over Mr. McDonnell in every region of the state.
Poll shows Mark Warner beating Bob McDonnell easily for Senate →
"How you look at the vast amount of purchases that are made within the system right now without any appropriate checks, the 19 states who don't even report those folks who have been involuntarily committed, their mental health records at least getting into the database — these are areas where reasonable people ought to agree and we can at least take a major first step," he said.
Background checks represent ground for compromise on gun control →
