Richard Anthony for Congress

News from the Trail

I Will No Longer Be A Candidate

04/14/10, 09:14

Dear Friends,

It is with great disappointment that I must announce that I will no longer be a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the United States Congress in the 10th district of Virginia.

Over the past 3-4 weeks I have been experiencing a reoccurrence of a back injury I suffered years ago. While I attempted to push through the pain and continue on, I found myself in an orthopedic surgeon's office on Monday. He gave me the news I hoped I would never hear, I need to have surgery on my back.

After discussing all of my options, I was told that postponing the surgery until after the election could result in permanent nerve damage. The best case scenario puts my recovery at 4 to 6 weeks. During that time I would not be able to actively campaign. With only 8 weeks until the election, such a time frame simply does not allow me to run an effective primary campaign. So, in conjunction with my doctor and my family, I have come to the sad conclusion that I must end my campaign for congress in Virginia’s 10th district.

The decision is disappointing, and was difficult to make. I truly feel that with my background in economic and workforce development and my strong message of getting our economy on the right track would have made me a strong alternative to Frank Wolf in the fall. But I believe this is the best decision for my family and me.

I want to thank all of my supporters, my staff and my family for all of their help. I can't put into words how much it has meant to me personally. I will contact as many of you as I can in the days ahead.

Once my treatment is complete I intend to do everything I can to support Jeff Barnett’s campaign and focus on our ultimate objective, defeating Frank Wolf in the Fall.

All my best,

Rich
Richard Anthony

10th CD Debate Tonight; Rich Anthony "Main Street" Video

04/05/10, 10:09

This evening from 7 to 8 pm, you can watch a 10th Congressional District Democratic candidates debate on Fairfax County Public Access TV. Here are the details from Loudoun County Democratic Committee (and former 10th CD candidate) Mike Turner:

[The debate] will be broadcast on public access TV, channel 10, to anyone in Fairfax County and also throughout Northern Virginia to anyone who has a FiOS connection. Look for Fairfax Public Access on FiOs. Additionally, for those of you who do not have access to public access TV, you will be able to watch the debate live on your home computer via a Webcast broadcast simultaneously with the TV broadcast.

[...]

To watch the debate on the Internet, go to www.InsideScoopProductions.com and click on the link "Watch Live on Web" in the upper right of your screen.

Enjoy the debate tonight, and in the meantime, please check out our brand new video, "Main Street," which argues that we need members of Congress who put "Main Street before Wall Street" and who "care more about creating a job than keeping their job." Thanks.

Note: I endorsed Rich back in December 2009 and am now consulting to him on new media/netroots.

21 Potential House Republican Targets

03/23/10, 12:49

From The Presidential Candidates Blog

"Following up on my previous posts today, this is a list of 21 Republican House seats that the Democrats may want to focus on trying to “flip” this November (along with holding onto the seats they have of course.) I compiled this list based mostly on the Presidential election results in 2008 - If Obama won the district by more than 3 points then they are included here. I also included an open seat (MI-3) where the ‘08 election was a toss-up (49 to 49) and a Republican is retiring.

I’m sure there’s some very good reasons why some of these targets are a waste of time. I’m no Nate Silver. This is a pretty rudimentary analysis. It’s really just meant to get some ideas “out there” for which Republican House members would be the best ones to target. Perhaps there are 10 to 15 of these that would really be worth targeting. A few of them look like obvious gimmes (LA-2 being the most obvious of all.)"

Representative Wolf Opposes Quality, Affordable Health Care

03/22/10, 04:43

Representative Wolf Opposes Quality, Affordable Health Care
Votes Against Small Business and Middle Class Families

(Fair Oaks, VA) – Yesterday, Representative Frank Wolf once again put big profits for corporate interests ahead of Virginia’s hard-working middle class families and our vital small business owners. Wolf voted against the comprehensive health care reform bill that passed the house.

This legislation will end the practice of insurance companies discriminating against those with pre-existing conditions. It will end the days of hardworking families and small businesses being priced out of the care they need in the name of insurance company profits. This legislation will help seniors by closing the donut hole in Medicare, and it will reduce the deficit by more than a trillion dollars over the next two decades.

“Yesterday’s vote was an opportunity for Congressman Wolf to put the people of his district ahead of the special interests and greedy insurance companies. Sadly, he chose to side with the greedy insurance companies instead of with his constituents,” said Anthony for Congress campaign manager John Murphy. “People in this district have a lot of respect for Rep. Wolf”s three decades of service, but votes like this make it clear he just isn’t ready to stop toeing the line for the Republican Party. The voters of this district, and all across the country, are crying out for real representation in Washington. If our elected officials cannot free themselves from the firm grasp of corporate interests, then it’s time for them to go,” concluded Murphy.

Background on Health Care Reform Bill:
The following provisions will take effect as soon as President Obama signs the bill:

*Tax credits for small businesses
*Preventive care covered 100 percent by Medicare
*Closing the Medicare prescription drug “donut hole”
*Temporary coverage for early retirees, ages 55-64
*Insurance companies can no longer drop people from coverage when they get sick
*Ends discrimination against children based on heath status or pre-existing conditions
*Ends restrictive annual limits on benefits for new insurance policies
*Allows adult children to be covered under their parents’ plan up to the age of 26
*Ensures that insurers spend at least 80 percent of premiums on medical care
*Eliminates copays for preventive care under new private plans
*Provides temporary coverage for Americans with pre-existing conditions until Exchange is implemented
*Expands enough funding for community health centers to double capacity in five years

Other critical reforms from this historic legislation:
*Cuts the deficit by more than $100 billion in the first ten years, then one trillion in the second ten years
*Constitutes the biggest deficit reduction package in more than a decade
*Restores fiscal responsibility by reining in health care costs across our economy
*Reduces cost by creating competitive health insurance exchanges where consumers can small businesses can buy affordable coverage much like large companies do today
*Extends the solvency of the Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund by at least nine years
*Increases access to care by investing in Community Health Centers
*Expands eligibility for Medicaid
*Gives Americans they tools and information they need to make informed decisions about their health insurance coverage
*Promotes transparency by cracking down on waste and fraud in Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP and private insurers

Will Coffee Party Brew Up Victory in 2010?

03/16/10, 07:04

Republicans are staking their electoral hopes this November on using fear and hatred to get their base out to the polls. Instead of talking about getting our economy back on track or ensuring that all Americans have access to quality affordable health coverage, Republicans like my opponent Frank Wolf, want the debate to be focused on topics like the motives of Justice Department lawyers, voter intimidation efforts of “The New Black Panther Movement” or a “government takeover of your daily life”. They are staking their efforts on this idea that you can drown out reasonable debate and treat the entire electorate like tea party protestors or listeners of right-wing radio.

People in my district and throughout the country are worried. They have a perception that we are on the wrong track as a nation and that we need a change. However as I talk to people across Virginia’s 10th district, I’m not finding regular people to be hard right wing zealots or people who are ready to line up behind Republicans on every issue. People who aren’t intimately involved in politics are skeptical about the current healthcare bill, but when you sit down and have a discussion with them, I find more often than not they agree with the overall sentiment of the bill. Time after time and on issue after issue, when you sit down and have a reasonable discussion, people are drawn to progressive ideas.

The question becomes how we create an opportunity to get around the right-wing noise machine. How do you combat slogans, lies and fear with reasonable debate? Like many of you, I attended one of the nearly 400 Coffee Parties yesterday and I think an answer is easily available with these groups.

When you look back to elections where Democrats and Progressives have been successful, they have mostly had strong grassroot movements behind them, with people who have been willing to talk to their neighbors and complete strangers about a positive progressive vision for our country. The people, who showed up at the Coffee Party I attended, are the same people who have organized for successful progressive candidates in the past. These people went door to door for Jim Webb in 2006 and for Barack Obama in 2008, talking about progressive values. However, election cycle after cycle there is a conventional wisdom that creeps up, if Democrats act meek or act like Republicans and don’t strongly proclaim any values that people will vote for them… when has this ever worked?

We need campaigns with energized volunteers to organize in their communities to get a strong progressive message out to the voters. We need campaigns where the people who came out to the Coffee Parties will want to volunteer and spread a message, campaigns where people involved in local progressive organizations or local Democratic parties will do more than simply vote or work their poll on Election Day. I am committed to bringing a strong message of progressive values. This is the type of campaign I am going to run and come November, I look forward to proving conventional wisdom wrong.
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Wolf Defends Cheney "Department of Jihad" Slander

03/09/10, 07:05

We've known for some time now that Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) had no intention of engaging in the hard work of moving this country forward. Instead, Wolf has been content to simply take cheap shots from the sidelines. So I guess that it comes as no surprise that with all the free time that comes with not doing your job, Frank has decided to sink to a new low by joining Liz Cheney and dragging the good names and reputations of 9 Justice Department lawyers through the mud. It comes as no surprise to those of us who have been closely watching Mr. Wolf and his criticisms of President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder. The attack by Cheney and Wolf on these lawyers - and, more broadly, on our nation’s legal system and rule of law – was over the line and unacceptable, modern-day McCarthyism at its worst.

Yes, it’s horrifying to think that anyone would defend an outright assault on our legal system; but that’s exactly what Frank Wolf has done here. As the Wall Street Journal reported several days ago, Frank Wolf sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder saying, "the decision to allow attorneys who advocated for terrorists held at Guantanamo to craft detainee policy during the war on terror would be akin to allowing attorneys for the Mafia to draft organized crime policy during the 1960s.”

First, a bit of background on how bad is this situation really is. This morning, Eugene Robinson wrote in the Washington Post:

The word "McCarthyism" is overused, but in this case it's mild. Liz Cheney, the former vice president's ambitious daughter, has in her hand a list of Justice Department lawyers whose "values" she has the gall to question. She ought to spend the time examining her own principles, if she can find them.

Also, this past Friday, the Wall Street Journal published a story entitled, "Did ‘Department of Jihad’ Language Go Too Far?" The gist of it is that “a group called Keep America Safe, which is affiliated with Dick Cheney’s daughter, Elizabeth (pictured) and pundit William Kristol…released a video featuring the headline 'DOJ: Department of Jihad?' and asked, 'Who are these government officials?…Whose values do they share?'" If you haven’t seen it here’s the video:

Nasty, wouldn’t you say? Or worse? The Wall Street Journal article quotes GW professor Orin Kerr calling it something “former Senator Joseph McCarthy would have used...if he were alive today.” Former solicitor general Walter Dellinger added, "The only word that can do justice to the personal attacks on these fine lawyers — and on the integrity of our legal system — is shameful." Heck, even "former Bush White House lawyer Reginald Brown called the video ‘beyond offensive.’"

In short, this is some really, really bad stuff right here. So who would defend this McCarthyist attack on our legal system? You’d think only the most extreme of right-wing extremists, right? But certainly not a fine, upstanding, self-proclaimed “moderate” Republican like my opponent, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA-10)! Except…hold on here, what does that Wall Street Journal article say again?

Nonetheless, some members of Congress are still voicing suspicions. According to the WaPo, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA.) sent a letter to AG Holder earlier this week saying "the decision to allow attorneys who advocated for terrorists held at Guantanamo to craft detainee policy during the war on terror would be akin to allowing attorneys for the Mafia to draft organized crime policy during the 1960s."

That’s right, Frank Wolf is siding with the most extreme, McCarthyist elements in his party, people like Liz Cheney, and is defending their outrageous claims in an official letter sent to the Department of Justice. This is the guy I’m running against in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District. Wolf’s behavior is inexcusable, which is why we need to send a message to him loud and clear. If you find Wolf’s assault on our legal system and defense of Liz Cheney’s McCarthyist tactics as deplorable as I do, please help me send a message to Rep. Wolf that this kind of rhetoric will not be tolerated. How about $9 for the 9 DOJ lawyers ($1 for each of them) who have been unfairly slimed by Frank Wolf's attacks? Thank you.

I Condemn Ken Cuccinelli's Homophobic Bigotry

03/05/10, 16:23

This morning, the Washington Post reported on the latest outrage by Virginia Republicans. One day it’s global warming denial, another day it’s tearing up the social safety net for our most vulnerable citizens, and another day it’s rejecting federal money for unemployment benefits for Virginia citizens. Well, today, it’s Republicans attempting to turn Virginia into Uganda on anti-gay discrimination. According to the Washington Post:

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II has asked the state's public colleges and universities to rescind policies that ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, arguing in a letter sent to each school Thursday that their boards of visitors have no legal authority to adopt such statements.

That’s right, Virginia’s Attorney General is actually trying to make it easier for people to discriminate against gays and lesbians in Virginia. This, despite the fact that the entire country is moving towards granting our GLBT fellow citizens equal rights with everyone else in all areas. Unfortunately, here in Virginia, we appear to be moving in the opposite direction, after years of progress under Democratic governors like Mark Warner and Tim Kaine.

Not surprisingly, the reaction to Ken Cuccinelli’s move has not been positive, with former Republican Delegate Vincent Callahan calling it “reprehensible.” State Senator Donald McEachin (D-Richmond) added, "It certainly appears as though the Governor and his attorney general may be living [Bob McDonnell’s Regent University] thesis."

Today, I add my voice to the growing chorus of disapproval and outrage at Ken Cuccinelli’s reprehensible position. Although I am running for federal office, I am first and foremost a proud Virginian, and discrimination at the highest levels of my state’s government is not something I can or will tolerate. I strongly condemn the ever increasing message of intolerance coming from the Republican leadership in Richmond. I encourage them to reconsider their recent actions that have not only harmed our fellow Virginians but also tarnished our beloved Commonwealth’s image.

Thank You and Good Luck to Dennis Findley

02/26/10, 08:15

Last night, Dennis Findley announced that he is "ending [his] campaign for Congress in the 10th District of Virginia" because of a "family matter" that "requires [his] undivided time and attention."

I just wanted to take a moment and thank Dennis Findley for getting into the race and for being a worthy competitor. I also want to praise Dennis for his his decency and professionalism in running his race. Over the past few months, it has been a pleasure and an honor sharing the stage with Dennis and debating the issues with him. I am happy to report that Dennis and I share the strong desire to see Frank Wolf replaced with a Democrat this November. Along those lines, Dennis has pledged to "[help] the Democratic nominee for this race defeat the incumbent, Frank Wolf." I appreciate that very much and plan to take him up on his kind offer! In the meantime, I wish Dennis all the best.

Thoughts on Today's Health Care Summit

02/25/10, 13:43

Today, President Obama is meeting with Congressional leaders for a bipartisan discussion of health care reform. As someone who cares deeply about health care in this country, and as a progressive Democrat running for office in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District, I have many thoughts on this subject. Here are just a few.

From the beginning, I would have liked to see Congress pass Universal Health Care preferably through a single payer system. Unfortunately, given the fiscal and political environment in which we find ourselves, there is no chance of passage for that kind of legislation. As a compromise, I strongly support health care reform with a robust public option. The main thing is not to stall or delay real reform at a time when health insurance companies are jacking up rates on Americans who are already struggling with high unemployment and a lousy economy.

To highlight this point, I just read a news story this morning that Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is raising rates in Virginia – in some cases by more than a third! As the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star reports, these increases “are similar to the ones that President Obama and others criticized when WellPoint, Anthem's parent company, imposed them this month in California.”

Bob Marshall Should Resign

02/23/10, 07:52

On Thursday February 18, at a press conference calling for the de-funding of Planned Parenthood, Virginia State Del. Bob Marshall (R-Manassas) said disabled children are god’s punishment to women who have previously had abortions. Marshall is trying to avoid responsibility by saying his words were taken out of context, though he continues to claim birth defects and disabilities are the result of prior abortions.

Bob Marshall has a long history of outrageous and offensive comments, but this time he has stepped over the line and should resign.

Sign the petition below in support of disabled children and their families, and tell Delegate Bob Marshall to resign.