A few quotes by Gov. McAuliffe from his interview earlier today with Bruce DePuyt, including the one I put in the headline:
- "I gotta say, the Texas situation has to be one of the dumbest things I have ever heard -- to bring out your Guard to follow the military around. Let me tell you, I spent the day yesterday with the military at Hampton Roads with my Guard doing exercises. We love the military, we're the #1 recipient of Dept. of Defense dollars. So, if Texas companies are watching this and saying what a waste of time and resources...come to Virginia, we love the military...We're too busy for that foolishness in Virginia, we've got serious things to do."
- Agrees that the bloody arrest of UVA honor student Martese Johnson was"disturbing," says his Administration has taken strong action/undertaken reforms. Also notes that the criminal part is now complete, although he hasn't seen it, and has been sent to the Commonwealth Attorney. Also notes that Baltimore's recent unrest illustrates that "a tipping point could occur in any city in America."
- "I need Baltimore to be strong for Virginia, for our region...sure we're competitive, but we're stronger" if we "act together" to bring jobs to our region.
- Says economic diversification is an imperative right now, given federal sequestration, defense cuts, etc. Says there are "huge opportunities" for human genome sequencing, biomedical research..."the jobs of the future." Says "we have totally transformed workforce development" in Virginia, that "we're rebuilding our econmomy."
- Asked about Del. Buddy Fowler posting an image of a snarling police dog eating Baltimore protestors, Gov. McAuliffe said it's "disgraceful, I don't know how in your wildest dreams you can put something up like that."
Says he's had Bruce Allen, Dan Snyder to the Executive Mansion to discuss the R**skins possibly moving to Loudoun County. "We are aggressively working to try and get the R**skins to come to Virginia," but it's "got to make economic sense" so it may not end up happening. "We have shown them sites in Loudoun close to Metro that may make sense for a stadium." But "I can't sit here today and say I'm even close to a deal with Dan Snyder yet." But "you can't win if you're not on the playing field."
- On law enforcement collecting data from license plate readers, Gov. McAuliffe says that Arlington County Board Chair Mary Hynes and Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille - "both I would say liberal jurisdictions" - both "begged me to veto that bill." Also noted that "the sniper was capture by a license plate reader." Says this bill was rushed through the legislature at the end and there were a "lot of mistakes made on the bill." Among others, McAuliffe says the bill wwould have forced him "to shut down the new 95/495 lanes" because they rely on license plate readers.
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