Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Connolly writes letter to Postmaster General, asking for legal justification; cites study that says reducing mail volume will lead to revenue loss of $5.2 billion in first year.
Stopping the mail on Saturdays? Not so fast, say two members of the Northern Virginia congressional delegation. Northern Virginia's U.S. Rep. James P. Moran (D-8th) and U.S. Rep Gerald Connolly (D-11th) expressed concern Wednesday afternoon about the U.S. Postal Service's announcement that it plans to suspend delivery of first-class mail service on Saturdays beginning in August. The USPS released a fact sheet Wednesday. “I have great concerns about eliminating Saturday mail delivery," Moran wrote in an email to Patch. "The Postal Service is grappling with major forces outside of its control: an economy increasingly relying on email and the Internet for communication, and a Congress that refuses to address the redundant pension pre-funding …
Monday, February 4, 2013
Effects on Northern Virginia economy to be widespread; could send United States back into recession.
Sequestration — significant automatic spending cuts to defense and civilian programs over the next decade — will likely start this spring, and it will mean thousands of layoffs, program eliminations and near-certain economic devastation for Northern Virginia, said Virginia Congressmen Jim Moran (D-8th) and Gerry Connolly (D-11th) Saturday at a town hall meeting with constituents. "You need to be aware that this is probably going to happen," said Moran, who spoke at an annual meeting hosted by Mount Vernon District Supervisor Gerry Hyland. "It's a democracy and things will ultimately play themselves out, but things are not going well right now (in Congress)." Connolly said that sequestration could put the economy back into a recession. "…
Friday, July 13, 2012
Moran, Connolly, Wolf want the FCC to reconsider a regulation concerning backup power that the commission proposed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Northern Virginia's three congressmen called on the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday to take action that will prevent future outages to the region's 911 systems. In a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, U.S. Reps. Jim Moran, Gerry Connolly and Frank Wolf asked that the commission dust off a post-Hurricane Katrina regulation that would have required all telecommunications companies to provide at least eight hours of backup power for all cell phone towers. The regulation was subsequently struck down on a technicality related to how the commission handled public comments, according to a news release. “In the event of an emergency situation, whether it be a natural disaster or man-made threat, the public needs confidence …
Thursday, July 12, 2012
As Virginia lawmakers disagree over Affordable Care Act provision, tell us: Would participating in the expansion help or hurt the state?
As Gov. Bob McDonnell considers opting out of the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion, Virginia lawmakers are divided on whether the program would help or hurt the state. In a letter to McDonnell on Thursday, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, a Republican who has announced a 2013 gubernatorial bid, encouraged the governor to reject the program, saying Medicaid expansion — which he says accounts for nearly 20 percent of Virginia's total general fund spending — would place "tremendous fiscal pressure on the Commonwealth and divert funds from other state programs, such as public education, higher education, public safety, natural resource protection and even other critically important health care programs." McDonnell sent a letter to Virginia …
Thursday, June 28, 2012
High Court ruled 5-4 today to uphold what some call 'Obamacare.'
Area leaders were quick to react today to the news that the Supreme Court upheld President Barack Obama's health reform law. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R): "Today's Supreme Court ruling is extremely disappointing for Virginia and for America. The PPACA will create a costly and cumbersome system that will impair our country's ability to recover from these challenging economic times, infringes on our citizen's liberties, will harm small businesses, and will impose dramatic unfunded mandates on Virginia and all states. Simply put, this is a blow to freedom. America needs market-based solutions that give patients more choice, not less." (For the governor's full statement, visit his Web site.) On his Twitter feed, the governor wrote: "Simply …
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Congressman, Senate candidate say Palin's remarks are unfair about D.C. suburbs' reliance on federal government for its jobs.
Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-Fairfax) and U.S. Senate candidate Tim Kaine (D) have criticized remarks by Sarah Palin about the area's dependence on the federal government for jobs. During a speech in Indianola, Iowa on Sunday, Palin said: “For them, business is good; business is very good. Seven of the 10 wealthiest counties are suburbs of Washington, D.C. Polls there actually—and usually I say polls, eh, they’re for strippers and cross country skiers—but polls in those parts show that some people there believe that the economy has actually improved. See, there may not be a recession in Georgetown, but there is in the rest of America. Yeah, the permanent political class—they’re doing just fine.” Fairfax County is currently number three …
Sally Spangler
11:41 am on Friday, May 17, 2013
I do not want an ephermal email advising me to pay my bills - I want a piece of paper to have in case some clerk somewhere forgets what they have done or not done at the merchant/utility business office. If they get the amount wrong - and they have before - the piece of paper shows the right numbers and a telephone number to call to get the right amount off of their computer. Considering where we… more ›