Jo Ann Davis and James Randy Forbes voted against Terror Insurance
By: Rob
Published On: 2/20/2006 2:00:00 AM
I've noticed something as a I watch press reports on our congressmen. The media (at least in Virginia) almost never tells its readers about the votes.
Well, time to start digging into these votes, then.
First up, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002:
President Bush signed into law the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 on November 26, 2002. The law establishes a temporary federal Terrorism Insurance Program that provides for a transparent system of shared public and private compensation for insured losses resulting from acts of terrorism, in order to protect consumers by addressing market disruptions and ensure the continued widespread availability and affordability of property and casualty insurance for terrorism risk. In addition, it will allow for a transitional period for the private markets to stabilize, resume pricing of such insurance, and build capacity to absorb any future losses, while preserving State insurance regulation and consumer protections.
Around the time when Rep. Davis was fretting about candy canes, she and fellow Virginina Republican J. Randy Forbes voted against reauthorizing this program. Notwithstanding their votes, the bill passed the House by a 322 vote margin.
Looking at their House websites, I can't find any explanation why they stepped outside of the mainstream to vote against this reauthorization. Why did the vote against terrorism insurance? I'm looking forward to their explanation.
Comments
Any big insurance co (Tom Joad (Kevin) - 4/4/2006 11:32:12 PM)
Any big insurance companies donate money to them?
Randy Forbes (ALERT - 4/4/2006 11:32:12 PM)
As a former insuranc (Mimi Schaeffer - 4/4/2006 11:32:12 PM)
As a former insurance broker/agent, I recall that insurance companies were lobbying for passage, predicting the apocalypse, or at least the end of insurance as we know it, if the initial bill was not passed.
In other words, they lobbied hard for passage, using the same b/s propaganda as when they killed Clinton's universal insurance plan during the 1990s, although I can certainly see how they would want the government as the insurer of "last resort," to ensure they didn't go belly-up from a catastrophic event that lies outside actuary permutations.
In short, the bill was designed to make sure no carrier went broke, like what happened to so many after Hurricane Andrew. This time around, I think carriers are just refusing to pay.
As far as streamlining claims, well...as best as any program can be streamlined in the event of a major catastrophe, I don't think it truly makes any difference whether it's a bureaucrat handling your claim or an insurance adjuster, unless, like Katrina, the adjuster refuses to pay.
I think the federal government ought to do away with exempting insurers from antitrust laws and bring oversight to the federal government, rather than state agencies with limited resources. Hard for part-time legislators to stand up to hard-nosed lobbying by corporate conglomerates.
It just so happens Davis is my congresswoman and the only vote that I recall truly peaking my interest was her CAFTA vote.
Without doing the research, I recall that either Davis voted against it or didn't vote at all. I think it was the latter.
Any big insuranc (Duke - 4/4/2006 11:32:12 PM)
Any big insurance companies donate money to them?
That wouldn't explain the votes. Insurance companies supported this legislation.
Al - it's actually J (Rob - 4/4/2006 11:32:12 PM)
Al - it's actually James Randy Forbes (he goes by Randy), but I updated the article to make it more clear.
p.s. the US Tres. s (Rob - 4/4/2006 11:32:12 PM)
p.s. the US Tres. site is down now for some reason. Hopefully it'll come up soon - if not, I'll hunt around for another description.
I and many others th (Doug in Mount Vernon - 4/4/2006 11:32:13 PM)
I and many others think James Socas was the best candidate in the 10th in a long time. What James did was prove that a strong challenge could be made in the 10th. He rasied Democratic performance from 28% to 36%. Don't discount that progress please.
I wish I knew what happened to James. I had thought he was planning to run again, but I guess I was wrong on that one.
I think Judy is a well-credentialed candidate. I too wish her well, and as a former resident of Sterling, the Roll Call author is right about the shift going on in the suburbs and exurbs. However, Wolf will remain intact in this challenge, barring some unforeseen gaffe or screw-up, something he's rarely done. Why? He has a good reputation among the swing-voters, even though he truly is one of Virginia's biggest Bush rubber-stampers. Even though Kaine won the 10th, so did Bush in 2004, comfortably.
The shift will happen eventually, and I hope that if Judy doesn't make it this time, she commits to multiple runs. After all, Wolf didn't win this seat until his third run!
I agree with the ana (DanG - 4/4/2006 11:32:13 PM)
I agree with the analysis. He was going to have to pay attention to his race with Miller, but not he's going to have to actually RUN with Webb.
Of course, it took F (Not Bill Tuck - 4/4/2006 11:32:13 PM)
Of course, it took Frank Wolf three races to win this seat in the first place-and I doubt he is going to give it up without a fight...
More importantly, if (Doug in Mount Vernon - 4/4/2006 11:32:13 PM)
More importantly, if Democrats can regain control of the Senate in 2007, we can at least help to redraw the horribly drawn 8th Congressional district to better distribute the appropriate slivers of concentrated Democrats in Reston and south Alexandria from the 8th into the 10th and 11th, respectively, and make Northern Virginia districts (all three) much more competitive for Democrats. Well, Moran could use a little more competition to keep him honest!
I wish her all the b (DanG - 4/4/2006 11:32:13 PM)
I wish her all the best. I'll be pretty focused on Webb for the Senate and Phil Kellam in my own district, so I won't really have any time or money to give, but I hope she can do well.
She needs to get som (PM - 4/4/2006 11:32:13 PM)
She needs to get someone working on her amateurish website. I wish her all the best, though.
Personally, I'd rather have a candidate that wasn't in academia. Such candidates just don't resonate with voters in many cases. I wish a local elected Dem official with some name recognition would take up the challenge.
I'll believe this on (Steven J. Berke - 4/4/2006 11:32:13 PM)
I'll believe this one is competitive when I see it. In 2004, James Socas (who admittedly did not have the credentials Feder seems to) dropped almost a million dollars on this race and got 36% of the vote. Wolf has practically defined the word 'entrenched' especially since the 1991 reapportionment moved Arlington and northeastern Fairfax out of his district.
Judy is a fantastic (Josh - 4/4/2006 11:32:13 PM)
Judy is a fantastic candidate and she's pulling together a truly powerful brain-trust to support her this year.
Yes, it's good to be a Democrat in 2006.
I heard Newt Gingric (the Gools - 4/4/2006 11:32:13 PM)
I heard Newt Gingrich speak recently. He said it took him three times to win his seat. And lets not forget, it took Mark Warner two tries. The first got him known, the second got the governorship.
We need the same candidate to keep trying. I'd wished Socas would do it, but if it is Feder, sounds good.
Wow, and I thought I (Doug in Mount Vernon - 4/4/2006 11:32:19 PM)
Wow, and I thought I'd seen the pinnacle of stupid ideas from Washington Republicans. I mean, come on people, reducing "dependence on foreign oil" will not come from other tiny inconsequential sources of oil.
It can only come from renewable alternative energy sources. That's where these hooligans should be putting their mouths, their money, and their emphasis.
And for the record, let it show that Eric Cantor is advocating TAXES on oil to help pay for the Chesapeake Bay clean-up!! Wow, a Republican actually acknowledged that something has to be paid for!
As a member of the S (DanG - 4/4/2006 11:32:23 PM)
As a member of the Second, I am furious. Our entire economy relies on two things: The military, and the bay/ocean. First, she falls alseep during a BRAC meeting, causing us to most likely lose Oceana Air Base, and now she threatens to destroy the fragile ecosystem our economy is based on! This isn't just about fuel, Thelma you hack! It's not just about the environment! This is about the districts very way of life! Son of a b*tch, does she piss me off! I hope you guys now understand why I support Phil Kellam so strongly!
Dan - do you have th (Rob - 4/4/2006 11:32:23 PM)
Dan - do you have that picture you're talking about? If so, could you email it to me?
This is so frustrati (Steve Nelson - 4/4/2006 11:32:23 PM)
This is so frustrating. Why don't they invest some time and money into tidal power farms off VA's coast? It's a guaranteed, clean energy resource whereas natural gas/oil are not.
Rob-
I had it, but (DanG - 4/4/2006 11:32:23 PM)
Rob-
I had it, but I don't know if I do anymore. What's you e-mail address? If I find it, I'll definitely let you know.
Danny - if you click (Rob - 4/4/2006 11:32:23 PM)
Danny - if you click on my name, my email is there.
Yeah, I know Rob, bu (DanG - 4/4/2006 11:32:24 PM)
Yeah, I know Rob, but for some reason it's not working. Whenever I click on your name, I just get linked right back here.
Our personal e-mails (Lowell - 4/4/2006 11:32:25 PM)
Our personal e-mails don't show up here, nor would we ever want them to, I don't think. If you want to reach Rob, you can e-mail me at lowell@raisingkaine.com and I'll forward it to him.
I sent the pictures, (DanG - 4/4/2006 11:32:30 PM)
I sent the pictures, Rob. Did you get them?
And yet, when Hillar (CR UVa - 4/4/2006 11:32:31 PM)
And yet, when Hillary compares the House of Representatives to a "plantation", you say nothing? Please, condemn that as well if you really feel so strongly about such word usage.
CR - This is a Virgi (Rob - 4/4/2006 11:32:31 PM)
CR - This is a Virginia blog, so I stick to blogging about news closer to home. And Maryland's governor race is right across the river. Many of us Virginians work and play with Marylanders on a daily basis, so it's good for us to be informed about their issues. If I had to condemn every bit of offensive hyperbole in the nation just to write this post, I'd be writing for hours.
Maryland is not Virg (CR UVa - 4/4/2006 11:32:31 PM)
Maryland is not Virginia. And if you are going into news that is local, remember that the House of Representatives is located in D.C. Most national news is local news. This is not about what is offensive, but simply because it was stated by a conservative Republican.
What is it with righ (Lowell - 4/4/2006 11:32:31 PM)
What is it with right-wing Republicans and their constant references to "Hitler" (Jerry Kilgore about Kaine, Bush about Hitler) and Nazis (Steele about stem cell research)? Where's Dr. Freud when you need him? By the way, it would be an interesting analysis to compare Iranian President Ahmded-i-nejad's Holocaust/Nazi obsession with that of American right-wing Republicans. Interesting that Steele also compared stem-cell research to African slavery...what's THAT all about? Weird, just plain weird.
P.S. CR UVA - I'm not a big Hillary fan, but House Democrats are extremely frustrated with how Republicans in Congress have completely shut them out of any power sharing, even though Republicans maintain only a very slim margin. Personally, I probably wouldn't have used the word "plantation," but at least Hillary's on to something there. What in bloody hell is the comparison between stem cell research - performed on several-day-old blastocysts that would be disposed of anyway, with the purpose of finding cures for horrible diseases - and the murder of 6 million Jews in the Nazi Holocaust, or the millions of Africans who died in the slave trade?
And now, courtesy of (Lowell - 4/4/2006 11:32:31 PM)
And now, courtesy of "Media Matters," Bush advisor Mary Matalin has this to say:
I think these civil rights leaders are nothing more than racists. And they're keeping [their] constituency, they're keeping their neighborhoods and their African-American brothers enslaved...
Paging Dr. Freud! Paging Dr. Freud!
haha, stupid Republi (Craig - 4/4/2006 11:32:31 PM)
haha, stupid Republicans. Don't they know that when you break Godwin's Law nobody takes you seriously?
Hey folks, I think w (timmy - 4/4/2006 11:32:33 PM)
Hey folks, I think we should start strategizing pronto! We don't have too much time. Look at what the Republicans are trying to pull on Hillary. Can we get George Allen to state publicly and on record to promise to serve his full term in the US senate if he runs this year? If he can't state this, we should let voters know he's not committed to Virginia, period. Hammer him hard on this point.
Webb definitely oppo (Nell - 4/4/2006 11:32:33 PM)
Webb definitely opposed the Iraq war before it began. He and Zinni were writing and speaking out actively. They were ignored especially hard by center-right Democrats who wanted to pretend that all opposition to the invasion came from us disreputable left-wingers.
It's got to be hellish having his son headed for Iraq knowing what a hopeless, pointless, destructive FUBAR situation it is.
I look forward to learning Webb's thinking on Iran and nuclear capabilities.
Yes there is an arti (the Gools - 4/4/2006 11:32:33 PM)
Yes there is an article I read from back in 2002 that clearly put him in the camp that was opposed to action in Iraq. There is a quote often used that reads something like," do we really want to be in Iraq for the next 30 years?"
I'll let you find the article, but it is out there....probably on Jameswebb.com
Jenny - I'm sure All (Rob - 4/4/2006 11:32:33 PM)
Jenny - I'm sure Allen will be put on the spot on this matter soon. And if the right asks "What about Hillary?", I'd say "let New York worry about her ... I'm concerned about my Senator bailing on me."
The word is that, if (Josh - 4/4/2006 11:32:33 PM)
The word is that, if elected, George Allen will simply "Kangaroo" out of the Senate in order to run for President.
A vote for "Kangaroo" Allen is a vote against the best interest of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Commonwealth and Country.
It's pretty obvious, (Rob - 4/4/2006 11:32:33 PM)
It's pretty obvious, but since you ask, I'll take the opportunity to explain further:
Before Miller and Webb entered the race, Sen. Allen was preparing for his run for President in 2008. In other words, rather than representing Virginia - or even preparing to make a case to be rehired by Virginians - Allen was fundraising for a presidential run, visiting '08 primary states, forgetting to attend key hearings (and he's still doing those things - but will have to do these things less now that he has a seat to defend). As such, he was looking past reelection with the same neglectful behavior that caused him to skip out on his duties in representing Virginia now - which will only get worse should he get elected for another term.
By the way, isn’t (I.Publius - 4/4/2006 11:32:33 PM)
By the way, isn’t Allen “looking past his re-election campaign in Virginia†the same thing as Allen looking past Virginia altogether?
Ummmm, no. Not even remotely. Perhaps you could explain why.
The more I think abo (timmy - 4/4/2006 11:32:33 PM)
The more I think about this race, the more I like Webb's chances of defeating Allen. If Webb can start his campaign with a bang, he'd be very hard to stop.
Can anyone tell me if James Webb has a full-time job that will preoccupy him? I'm asking because I think it would be great if he can devote all his time to focus on this race.
You're bringing up a (timmy - 4/4/2006 11:32:33 PM)
You're bringing up a good point Jenny. Allen should be put to the spot in every way we can. We need some serious campaign brainstorming.
ian
Yes, the GOP has bee (PM - 4/4/2006 11:32:35 PM)
Yes, the GOP has been slandering true war heroes for some time. Their top gun toter and champion military deferment procurer, the VP, has a great hunting record. Here's some old news, from 2003, about how Cheney likes to hunt, that tells volumes about the man's character:
ThePittsburghChannel.com
Humane Society Statement
POSTED: 2:51 p.m. EST December 9, 2003
The following statement by the Humane Society of the United States was e-mailed to ThePittsburghChannel.com on Tuesday afternoon:
Monday's hunting trip to Pennsylvania by Vice President Dick Cheney in which he reportedly shot more than 70 stocked pheasants and an unknown number of mallard ducks at an exclusive private club places a spotlight on an increasingly popular and deplorable form of hunting, in which birds are pen-reared and released to be shot in large numbers by patrons. The ethics of these hunts are called into question by rank-and-file sportsmen, who hunt animals in their native habitat and do not shoot confined or pen-raised animals that cannot escape.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported today that 500 farm-raised pheasants were released yesterday morning at the Rolling Rock Club in Ligonier Township for the benefit of Cheney's 10-person hunting party. The group killed at least 417 of the birds, illustrating the unsporting nature of canned hunts. The party also shot an unknown number of captive mallards in the afternoon.
"This wasn't a hunting ground. It was an open-air abattoir, and the vice president should be ashamed to have patronized this operation and then slaughtered so many animals," states Wayne Pacelle, a senior vice president of The Humane Society of the United States. "If the Vice President and his friends wanted to sharpen their shooting skills, they could have shot skeet or clay, not resorted to the slaughter of more than 400 creatures planted right in front of them as animated targets."
The Humane Society of the United States deplores the shooting of captive birds and animals where traditional "fair chase" hunting ethics are discarded and kills are guaranteed. We are campaigning to outlaw canned hunts through federal and state legislation and our opposition is more thoroughly delineated in an opinion page essay by Pacelle in today's edition of The New York Times. See the essay at www.nytimes.com/2003/12/09/opinion/09PACE.html.
Pete, thanks for the (Teddy - 4/4/2006 11:32:35 PM)
Pete, thanks for the revealing quote. This all strikes me as psychologically linked to the torture decisions, Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo--- and to the whole concept of Shock and Awe as promulgated by what I view increasingly as this Administration's sick, sick mind set. Back to the berserkers and Dark Ages!
Not only that, the more we learn about the origins of this cabal, the more obvious it becomes that the neo-cons' world view MUST have an "evil" enemy. When the Soviet Communists went down, they were completely flummoxed. What a relief they must have felt when Al Qaeda obliged them with 9/11. Aha! A new evil enemy. Hooray!
Long-time lurker, he (Arlington Mike - 4/4/2006 11:32:35 PM)
Long-time lurker, here.
Good to see the Republicans sweating already, though I wish that Webb was flying a little more under the radar - it just gives the GOP machine more time to prepare its slander. I know that we are all fired up right now about Webb's chances (even before we know all that much about this guy's positions), but I've got to believe that the Republicans realize that Allen is a top 2008 candidate and that they'll funnel a lot of resources towards him to win this seat and protect him for 2008. I think the Swift Boating is going to be nasty, and I don't like the thought of it.
Any ideas on when/where Webb will officially launch his campaign? It seems that he got a nice media splash last week, but I'm waiting for a big public appearance in which he can lay out his campaign, offer some encouragement to those who are supporting him, etc.
Can't wait to see Webb signs and bumper stickers all over Northern Virginia, might have to make one of those oval "WEBB" stickers for myself, steal a page from the Richard Burr campaign...
I like the fact that (Adam Malle - 4/4/2006 11:32:45 PM)
I like the fact that he is in Carolina. It shows that he is severely underestimating Mr. Webb and overestimating the security of his position. So I say keep up the good work Alan during the Democrats a great service.
It's probably a good (PM - 4/4/2006 11:32:45 PM)
It's probably a good thing for Va. citizens that Allen is not working very hard at being a Senator.
Forgive me for (DanG - 4/4/2006 11:32:45 PM)
Forgive me for going all Freud for a second, but I feel I have to. It seems to me that Allen treats this Senate Seat as a nuisance. It's not the honor that we're told it's supposed to be for him, merely something he must go through to get to something better. This is evident in the fact that while Senator Allen has been just that, a Senator, for over six years, he has done nothing of any consequence for this state. His entire career has been a platform, a stepping stone. A stepping stone is walked upon, neither gathering interest nor greatness. The only thing it can gather is moss and dirt. I love my home, Senator Allen, and I don't like it when you get it dirty.
I wonder what drives Senator Allen to reach for the Presidency? He has show no initiative while in the Senate that would mark him as a potentially great leader. He has shown no spark of genius, no shred of leadership. The only solution that comes to mind is that Senator Allen has to find some way to outshine his father, and the only way to do that is by being a President. If I were Allen, I wouldn't be so willing to shed my father's influence, because that is what put you where you are in the first place.
Senator, you were elected to do a job that you apparently do not want to do. You saw it as a way of creating your own legacy, of further stepping out of your father's shadow. While I can understand, that certainly doesn't mean I accept. If you aren't willing to do the job you were elected to do, don't be surprised when you lose it this November.