This past Tuesday, former Governor George Allen made a stop in Roanoke for a lunch at the Sunnybrook Inn. Appearing with him was House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, who is running for Congress this year.
Griffith, the house leader in the 6th district, is seeking the senate seat in the 9th district, currently held by Rick Boucher. Griffith said that Boucher must be replaced for several reasons, including what he terms the job killing and coal killing Cap & Trade bill which Boucher co-wrote, along with his liberal votes in a conservative district, and the fact that his district is losing jobs at an alarming rate. Due to these job losses, the 9th will be re-districted next year.
More than 65,000 people from Salem and the surrounding areas will move from the 6th to the 9th district to make up for the loss in the 9th. Griffith is one of those who will be moving to the 9th district. He explained, “People need to understand why I am running for the seat in the 9th when I currently live in the 6th. I won’t be here next year; I will be in the 9th and those are the people I want to represent. The 9th district relies on coal and the jobs it provides, and I am against these EPA regulations and Cap & Trade. It is time for Boucher to retire after 28 years since he no longer looks out for his district.”
After being greeted with a standing ovation, Governor Allen joked that he missed eating hot dogs in Roanoke. Allen is now the head of the American Energy Freedom Center; he is currently touring around the state as an ambassador for energy.
He urged the crowd to remove the leaders in D.C. and Northern Virginia who think that we are addicted to oil. “We are addicted to freedom,” he said, “and we want affordable, reliable and available fuel and I don’t care if it is oil, coal, biofuel or cooking oil.”
He went on to say that Virginia has enough energy sources and should not have to buy it from foreign countries. “We are the Saudi Arabia of the world when it comes to coal. Right now the Castro brothers are drilling for oil 50 miles off of the coast of Florida. We need to drill for oil and natural gas off the coast of Virginia and retain 37.5% of the royalties, just like Louisiana does.” Allen said that Virginia has 80 to 100 years worth of natural gas and over 250 years worth of coal which should be harvested and used here.
Allen said that he is all for conservation and agrees that Americans, as a nation, waste a tremendous amount. He suggested re-purposing rainwater for gardens and lawns, among other ideas. “As a conservative, I hate waste. I also say no more taxes. We need to stop giving jobs away to other states and countries because we have the highest corporate tax rate in the world.”
He asserted that the new EPA regulations on carbon dioxide are wrong. “Only 4% of carbon dioxide is created by humans. No other country in the world is going to impose carbon taxes like the United States is and we cannot afford it.”
Allen touched on several other issues during the question and answer session. Commenting on healthcare, he said that he agrees with Attorney General Cuccinelli that the bill needs to be challenged. He suggested that instead of simply opposing the bill, Republicans need to offer solutions. Some of his ideas included a health savings account and refundable tax credits.
Governor Allen took issue with some of the many taxes included in the bill, including the tax on tanning beds and medical devices. He also dislikes the fact that this healthcare bill only applies to ordinary citizens and that the members of Congress have their own healthcare plan that is ostensibly much better.
Allen also offered solutions to the huge budget deficit. He believes a balanced budget amendment and a line item veto, similar to what is in place in Virginia, should also be mandated on the federal level. He concluded, “We need to bring fiscal sanity to Washington. We the people are in control and in charge of our government.”
By Carla Bream [email protected]