The DNC!
And to all the Republicans who criticized Democrats for name-calling during the last election, here’s what the GOP has to say about the $5 million committed by the DNC to Kaine’s election.
Ken Hutcheson, Kilgore’s campaign manager, dismissed the forthcoming DNC commitment as “national liberal money” and predicted that it will be used to provide Kaine with an “extreme political makeover” to disguise his liberal record.
“The DNC and its stable of liberal candidates represent the interests and Hollywood values of Michael Moore and Whoopi Goldberg,” Hutcheson said, “while Attorney General Jerry Kilgore is aligned with common-sense, conservative Virginia values and voters.”
Hutcheson said he expects Kilgore’s campaign to have a “strong working partnership with the Republican National Committee, the Republican Governors Association and the White House.”
…”No amount of money the DNC spends will buy Tim Kaine a mainstream record,” said RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie.
Call them liberals and you’ve made your case to the people: the GOP modus operandi.
Kaine also introduced his legislative agenda for the upcoming session. Two that address the most pressing problems in Virginia:
_ A bill restricting tuition increases as state-supported colleges and universities to the rate of inflation unless the legislature fails to appropriate sufficient money under a formula for meeting higher education’s base adequacy needs;
_ A constitutional amendment that forbids lawmakers from using the Transportation Trust Fund to balance the general fund budget in lean years. “When you’re telling somebody that we’re taking this money from you at the gas pump and this money will go to
But does he really have to pander with the tort reform bone he throws. No one has convinced me there’s really a big problem. The instances of “too hot coffee” suits are few and far between.
It’s true that damage awards are partly responsible for soaring malpractice premiums that drive health costs up and doctors out of business. Unfortunately doctors’ groups continue to resist efforts outside the tort system to address the serious problem of medical errors. They want relief from liability without greater disclosure or more aggressive disciplining of doctors.
The truth is tort reform is all about protecting special interests.
The medical malpractice bill backed by President Bush would prevent consumers from seeking punitive damages from the makers of Vioxx and Celebrex, two popular pain medications recently linked to increased risks of heart attacks and strokes, according to legal experts on both sides of the issue.
While Bush often touts the medical malpractice proposals as a prudent way to stop frivolous lawsuits against doctors, the bill’s less-discussed liability protections for pharmaceutical companies such as Merck & Co., the manufacturer of Vioxx, is generating controversy this week.