As a constituent in the 2nd District I receive regular emails from Rigell. Virginia’s 2nd District consists of Virginia Beach and the Eastern Shore. This district is located on the Atlantic Ocean and this buffoon wants to drill for oil off the coast! Follow me below to see what lunacy he is up to:
This is Rigell’s latest “update” for the district and reads like republican/corporate talking points, SURPRISE!
Dear Friend,
“It’s not the king’s army.”
There has been a steady drift of constitutional interpretation in Washington, and that drift has gone in only one direction: elevating the authority of the Executive Branch, particularly with respect to the use of our military. This is of great concern to me, and I’m pleased that the House of Representatives recently passed my amendment that reaffirms Congress’ War Powers as outlined in the Constitution. The amendment requires the President of the United States to receive authorization from Congress before using military force.
During the military operation in Libya in 2011, the United States employed almost one thousand pieces of ordnance, including 221 Tomahawk cruise missiles and more than 700 Joint Direct Attack Munition “smart bombs.” I believe the President violated the War Powers Resolution by circumventing Congress out of that decision process. If that much military force doesn’t constitute a “hostile act” that should have been authorized by Congress, what does? This is not the king’s army. It is not constitutional for any one person, including America’s Commander-in-Chief, to have the unilateral authority to engage U.S. forces when there is no direct threat to the United States. Read the full amendment here.
Attorney General Holder Should Step Down
Last week, I renewed my call for President Obama to ask Attorney General Eric Holder to resign. The Attorney General has not served President Obama, or the American people, well. He has acknowledged that “Fast and Furious” was a botched operation. He has admitted that his initial explanation to Congress of the failed operation was inaccurate. And now, the Attorney General’s involvement, both directly and indirectly, in the controversies involving government overreach are deeply troubling and have added to a rising level of distrust. If for no other reason than demonstrated inability to properly oversee the agencies for which he is responsible, he should resign. Absent his voluntary resignation, the President should replace him. Either way, it is time for him to go, and I joined many of my colleagues this week in recommending that course of action to President Obama. You can read the full text of the letter here.
#Don’tDoubleMyRate
Unless the Senate acts, student loan interest rates are scheduled to increase July 1. The House has passed a long-term, market-based solution that is fairer to students by fixing student loan interest rates to market rates thereby halting some loan rates from doubling. If the Senate passes the House legislation, half of borrowers will actually see their interest rates decrease in July. President Obama proposed a similar market-based solution in his budget, and I encourage the Senate to act now so that students and graduates are protected.
M-O-M-E-N-T-U-M!
Finally, I am so pleased to report that the Virginia Jobs and Energy Act, which I introduced in the House of Representatives this spring, is garnering support from across our community! Most recently, the Virginia Beach branch of the NAACP and the Hampton Roads Hispanic Chamber of Commerce offered their strong support of the legislation – and the 18,000 jobs it can create for our region! Passing the Virginia Jobs and Energy Act remains my number one legislative priority, and I will keep you updated on our progress in the days ahead.
Mindful that I work for you, I remain
Yours in Freedom,
Scott Rigell
As usual, I could not resist replying to Rigell regarding each of those topics:
In response to your email entitled “The Rigell Report, Washington Update”, dated June 2013.
Congressman,
While I agree that the use of military force should be carefully considered and debated by Congress, I wonder where the true debate was by our legislators when Bush and Cheney sent our troops to Iraq on misinformation and made up WMD’s. I wonder if there can ever be a true debate again in this country concerning our involvement in foreign conflicts. I am sure I speak for many people who are war weary and would like to see our military men and women actually protect our shores and homeland. Regardless, President Obama is the Commander of our military and unlike Bush/Cheney I trust that he will not take this country into another war of choice like Iraq, with thousands of service men and women maimed or dead, tens of thousands of dead Iraqis, and so much US treasure spent, lost and mismanaged. Remember this Congress is completely dysfunctional and could never come to any agreement on such a serious issue. You all can’t even pass the Farm Bill, but of course you continue trying to restrict a woman’s constitutional right to choose and the repeal of the ACA. This congress has no time to fix our infrastructure that will create real jobs, just endless investigations and gridlock.
As far as Attorney General Holder, you failed to mention that “Fast and Furious” was created by Bush/Cheney and stopped under this administration. That little nugget of information might be helpful to us constituents when you make specific allegations against Holder. Remember, this is an appointment made by the President, Alberto Gonzales was Bush/Cheney’s AG who is famous for the “Torture Memo” and so much more, where was Congress then?
Tying student loan rates to the market would be a disaster and yet another give away to the financial sector. I think student loans should be set at the lowest possible fixed rate, independent of market volatility and administered by the Treasury Department and leave it alone.
Your so-called “Virginia Jobs and Energy Act” is complete rubbish and your obligation to your corporate donors is obvious in this “legislation”. As much as you believe you are “garnering support”, you are also creating a movement against it. The folks who live on the coast and even most Virginians that live inland are not agreeable to this misadventure. The fact that the majority of Republicans consider filthy fossil fuels a viable energy source is more than disturbing and frankly shows the dangerous influence corporations have over US lawmakers. Newsflash, Climate Change is real and the US needs to catch up (to China no less) in renewable energy sources such as SOLAR and WIND! I know for a fact that a wind spill or sun spill cannot decimate our coastline like oil drilling will (it seems inevitable that an accidental oil spill will occur especially since de-regulation is also something you are fond of). The notion that drilling off the coast would create 18,000 jobs is based on what research/data? I think you owe it to your constituents to provide the origin of the research in which you base your assumption.
As I have stated many times in past communications, you are not serving us, your constituents of Virginia’s 2nd district, as you say repeatedly in your emails. Furloughs begin for DOD federal workers very soon which will affect many people in your district due to the military presence in Hampton Roads. It was not even mentioned in your email and speaks volumes about what you are doing, or in this case not doing, for this district.
Finally, what exactly does “Yours in Freedom” mean? It sounds silly and disingenuous.
Respectfully.
Rigell is not a complete right-wing extremist but in his second term he appears to be in lock-step with most of the wing nuts in the House.
I am hoping that his obsession to bring off-shore drilling to Virginia will be the ONE issue we can hang around his neck in the next election so we can send this guy packing!