"Virginia's let-'em-eat-cake Republicans"

Something tells me that the rejection by General Assembly Republicans of $125 million in federal money to help unemployed Virginians is an issue that is NOT going to go away. For instance, see this morning's Washington Post.

THE POUND-foolishness of Virginia's Republican lawmakers -- who would rather give lip service than genuine financial relief to the state's unemployed -- was on display in Richmond again last week. The GOP-controlled House of Delegates rejected $125 million in federal stimulus money that would have provided unemployment benefits to thousands of jobless Virginians. The reasoning, in the shortsighted eyes of all but two House Republicans, was that accepting the federal assistance would undermine the state's business-friendly reputation. Instead, the party faithful managed to bolster Virginia's dubious reputation as a provider of some of the lowest unemployment benefits in the country.

Meanwhile, today at 11 am in Alexandria, "Nine members of the House of Delegates will join Congressman Gerry Connolly at 11 A.M. Monday to discuss the impact of last week's vote to decline $125 million in unemployment insurance." In addition to Rep. Connolly, attendees at this event will include House Democratic Caucus Chair Ken Plum (HD-36, Fairfax), Delegate Steve Shannon, candidate for Attorney General (HD-35, Vienna), Delegate Kristen Amundson (HD-44, Mount Vernon), Delegate Bob Brink (HD-48, Arlington), Delegate David Englin (HD-45, Alexandria), Delegate Charniele Herring (HD-46, Alexandria), Delegate Robert Hull (HD-38, Fairfax), Delegate Jim Scott (HD-30, McLean), Delegate Mark Sickles (HD-43, Alexandria), Supervisor Stevens Miller (Candidate for HD-86, Loudoun), Greg Werkheiser (Candidate for HD-42, Springfield).

The fact that so many Democrats will be at this event tells me two things: 1) they know that the Republicans' vote was just plain wrong; and 2) they sense political gold in continuing to blast them on it. My guess is that we'll all be hearing a lot more about this issue all the way through November. Nice job, Virginia Republicans!