In 2003, then Attorney General Jerry Kilgore filed an unsolicited legal brief to the US Supreme Court challenging the Americans with Disabilities Act. In a letter to Virginia advocates for the disabled, Gov. Mark R. Warner objected vehemently to Kilgore's action, stating that Kilgore had acted on his own and against the policy of the executive branch. This is important, because it is the Attorney General?s job to represent the Commonwealth, and not his own pro-business, "competitive sourcing" views. Competitive sourcing, by the way, means government jobs are contracted out to private firms for the sake of efficiency. Since, according to many laissez faire capitalists, the disabled are less efficient, they end up losing out on employment opportunities. These "pro-business" policies, however, lack an important component -- humanity. They also ignore the fact that the disabled can be just as efficient as so-called "normal" workers.
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that employers not use disabilities as a basis for
employee rejection and that disabled employees be accommodated, which costs money. Apparently, Jerry Kilgore does not believe that employers should have to follow this law of the land, based on his activism as Virginia Attorney General.
In June 2005, Tim Kaine commented assailed Kilgore's stand on this issue: ?When pressed to justify his actions, [Kilgore's] reaction was 'Well, I?m trying to protect Virginia?s sovereign immunity.? States can?t trump federally guaranteed civil rights with sovereign immunity. If we could do that, we?d still have segregated schools.?
So, Kilgore is neither humane nor governor worthy, given that he can?t even understand US government's relationship to the states. I would highly recommend that Mr. Kilgore enroll in a basic US history and civics course before he pretends to become the next governor of the great Commonwealth of Virginia.
I would also like to ask all those who plan to vote in November to listen to the debate between Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Jerry Kilgore. Just click here or here.