Author: northumberlandcountydemocraticcommittee

Rob Wittman was elected to represent Virginia’s First Congressional District in Congress.

Wittman has voted time and again AGAINST the interests of the First District.  For example:

FACTS.

In November 2021 President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – a once-in-a-generation investment in our nation’s infrastructure and competitiveness.

All FOUR Republican House members from Virginia voted NAY, including Rob Wittman

• The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law represents historic progress, as the largest and most significant investment in:

• • Rebuilding our roads and bridges since President Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System;
  • Public transit in American history and an historic investment to make public transportation accessible;
  • Passenger rail since Amtrak’s inception, 50 years ago;
  • Clean water infrastructure;
  • Affordable, high-speed internet;
  • Tackling legacy pollution and advancing environmental justice;
  • Upgrading the power grid to transmit more clean energy and withstand extreme weather;
  • Increasing our infrastructure’s resilience against the impacts of climate change, extreme weather events, and cyber-attacks;
  • Replacing dirty diesel buses with clean, electric buses across school bus and transit fleets; and,
  • A national network of EV chargers in the United States and largest investment in domestic manufacturing of batteries and the critical minerals that power them.

HERE IS A PARTIAL LIST OF FIRST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT AND VIRGINIA  PROJECTS THAT ROB WITTMAN OPPOSED

• $25,000,000 federal funds to expand I-64 in New Kent County. Wittman voted NO.
• Funds over the next five years to improve airports in the 1^st CD — Wittman voted NO:
  • Hanover County Municipal Airport: $1,480,000
  • $790,000 EACH to these airports: New Kent County; Tappahannock-Essex County; Middle Peninsula Regional
• $1,481,489,527.00 (that’s 1.4 Billion) in federal funding to deploy broadband high-speed Internet service throughout Virginia, focusing on rural areas. Several hundred million dollars of this money has already been used or is being used to install broadband to rural areas throughout the First Congressional District.  Rob Wittman voted AGAINST this money, yet, he frequently appears at construction sites wearing his hard hat and yellow safety vest, taking credit for the money that makes the work possible.  Wittman voted NO.
• Improvements to two ports that serve businesses in the First CD. Wittman voted NO.
  • $3,712,000 for improvements at the Richmond Marine Terminal/Port of Richmond.
  • $72,371,000 to expand capacity and improve navigation in Norfolk Harbor. Wittman appeared at the harbor to announce the availability of these funds in spite of voting AGAINST this assistance.  Wittman voted NO.
• $1,500,000 for Essex County for community transit planning.  Wittman voted NO.
• State-wide projects that Wittman voted AGAINST:
  • $65,591,635 to make homes in Virginia more energy efficient and to lower utility costs.
  • Over $8 billion between 2021 and 2026 for Virginia’s major highway systems.

NOTE:  This is only a partial list of Infrastructure Act projects that aid Virginia and the 1^st CD.

Quoted from The Hopium Chronicles by Simon Rosenberg.

Happy Thursday all. Got a few things for you today:

It Is Wrong To Say Trump Is Winning The Election, Or Is Somehow Favored. He Is Weak, Not Strong – In 2022 a narrative developed about the election – that a red wave was coming – that commentators just couldn’t shake even though there was plenty of data suggesting the election could end up being a close competitive one. I feel like that we are beginning to enter a similar moment in 2024 with the various assertions of Trump’s strengths. The “red wave” over estimated Republican strength and intensity, discounted clear signs of Democratic strength and intensity and was it would be ridiculous, given what happened in 2022, for us to do this all over again this year.

Let me say it plainly – Donald Trump is not ahead in the 2024 election. He is not beating Joe Biden. He is not in a strong position. Signs of Trumpian and broader GOP weakness is all out there for folks to see – if they want to see it. Let’s dive in a bit:

Trump is not leading in current polling – For Trump to be “ahead” all polls would have be showing that. They aren’t. The last NYT poll had Biden up 2, the new Quinnipiac poll has Biden up 4.

Given the spike in both junky, low quality polls and GOP-aligned polls the averages can no longer be relied on – this was a major lesson of 2022. Remember using the averages Real Clear Politics predicted that Republicans would end up with 54 seats. They have 49.

Stripping out GOP aligned polls, and less reliable polling, we find the race clearly within margin of error, which means the election is close and competitive. Asserting that somehow Trump leads is pushing data beyond what it can tell you. With margin of error a 1-2 point lead is not an actual lead – it signifies a close, competitive election.

It is also early, and Democrats have not had a competitive primary. Lots of folks are not engaged. Look at this chart from Morning Consult. If the Democratic coalition starts coming home as Biden ramps up and Trump becomes the R nominee he will jump ahead by a few points. To me that is the likely scenario in the coming months.