General Assembly Analysis: Deregulating Honey Bees

As a well informed electorate is best equipped for self governance, we here at The Virginian Federalist continue reviewing bills you haven’t heard of in a series we call General Assembly Analysis.

Today we look into the important topic of the regulation of honey bees. In a rare governmental move, Delegate Steve Landes (R-25) proposed HB 1372, a bill to end the duplicate regulation of honey storage.

The full text of the bill is below the fold: “Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia: That § 3.1-610.19 of the Code of Virginia is repealed.”

According to Richmond Sunlight, both the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Sanitary Requirements in General of Chapter 20 of Title 3.1 currently regulate the storage of honey in Virginia. This bill would remove the Department of Agriculture's superfluous regulation. Finally, a piece of conservative legislation.

Amazingly enough, this brilliant stroke of genius passed the House of Delegates. It remains to be seen if the State Senate will follow course and allow the storage of honey to be regulated by only one code section.

One might wonder why the storage of honey must be regulated at all, but let’s not push our luck.

Update: Delegate Landes office provided The Virginian Federalist with the following statement:

Delegate Steve Landes, R-Weyers Cave, introduced House Bill 1372. As Chairman of the Virginia Code Commission, he introduced the bill as a simple repeal bill to "clean-up" outdated or unnecessary legislation from the Code of Virginia. House Bill 1372 repeals the duplicative authority of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to regulate the sanitary conditions in places where honey is stored and manufactured under the beekeeping laws, because such authority is already broadly granted under Article 2, Sanitary Requirements in General, of Chapter 20 of Title 3.1.

The Bill passed the House and is presently working its way through the Senate.

Read More. . . .

Democrats Agree: Conservative Principles Will Win in 07

Even the Democrats agree that they way to win is with Conservative Principles. Look at the attack that the Democrats are making on the Republicans. Across the board they are claiming Republicans raised taxes with the Abuser fees. Ralph Northam (D) is challenging Nick Rerras (R-6th) on immigration. Northam is taking the conservative stance, claiming that Rerras is soft on illegal immigration. Beside the point that the person he has doing the attacking is giving his unsubstantiated personal opinion, Northam is trying to look like the conservative.

Take a look at his add. Does he ever mention that he is a Democrat?

NO!

On the other hand Russ Potts and John Chichester are endorsing and financially supporting the Democrats. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that they are two of the most Liberal Senators in Virginia. They don’t get it.

Where are Republicans winning? They are winning where the Candidate is more conservative than the Democrat, and they are loosing where the Democrat is conservative enough to fool the public. Senator Cuccinelli is winning in NOVA and just down the Road the more liberal Devolites-Davis is loosing. Virginians still want conservative principles. The question on Election Day is who will give those principles to them? Read More. . . .

Romney’s Conservative Manifesto

The following is a letter written by Mitt Romney to the Washington Establishment. It is without a doubt one of the boldest statements made by a presidential candidate. As a Republican he says it exactly right. You may not support him, but if you are a true conservative you are going to agree with him. Many conservatives have already seen this letter and are taking it to heart.

Romney has been praised by many conservatives for taking this strong step toward getting our nation back on track. Richard A. Viguerie, author of Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big-Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause (Bonus Books, 2006), had this to say about Romney’s stance:

At last, a top-tier presidential candidate is paying attention to the discouraged, disheartened, and disillusioned base of the Republican Party.
I commend Mitt Romney for urging the GOP leadership to return to its conservative values.
By releasing an ad chastising the Republican leadership for its excessive spending, immigration amnesty, and ethical slackness, Governor Romney has taken a small but significant step toward reclaiming the GOP for the grassroots conservatives who are its backbone.

I hope you will read Governor Romney's Letter and Watch the ad in its entirety.

To my friends and fellow Republicans,

Throughout our country’s long and remarkable journey, there have been “inflection points,” critical moments when political, economic, military and other forces converged to alter the course of our history.

We are at one of those inflection points today.

Forces of globalization, the rise of major new economic powerhouses such as China and India, and the emergence of radical Jihad have created a “perfect storm” that will change the course of our nation. We face unprecedented challenges in securing our borders, protecting the American family, and ending America’s dependence on foreign oil.

Our actions today will determine which course America will take. Will America remain the world’s economic and military superpower, able to preserve peace, progress, and prosperity? Will our children and grandchildren grow up with the same opportunities that have been our birthright for over two centuries? Will our uniquely America culture – a culture of family, patriotism, faith, and freedom – remain our foundation and lead a stronger America into the future?

I believe the American people can rise to these and every other challenge ahead of us. Yet, at this extraordinary moment in our nation’s history, our government is failing us. Washington is busy pointing fingers, assigning blame, and spending too much money. There is too much talk and too little action.

The blame, we must admit, does not belong to just one party. If we’re going to change Washington, Republicans have to put our own house in order.

We can’t be like Democrats – a party of big spending. We can’t pretend our borders are secure from illegal immigration. We can’t have ethical standards that are a punch-line for Jay Leno.

When Republicans act like Democrats, America loses.

It’s time for Republicans to start acting like Republicans. We have to remember who we are: We are not Big Government Republicans. We are not Washington Republicans. We are Change Washington Republicans. Democrats are not the change Washington needs. We are the change Washington needs and it’s time for Republicans like us to stand for that change again.

There is not a single challenge America faces that we can’t overcome with the innovation and passion that has always been at the heart of the American people. If we change Washington, I believe America can achieve anything.

It’s time for change in Washington and that change must begin with us.

Sincerely,
Mitt Romney
Read More. . . .

Principle Still Exists in Virginia’s Senate

Ken Cuccinelli is one of the lone hero’s of conservatism in the Commonwealth’s State Senate. Recently I have been paying closer attention to Cuccinelli who is being challenged from the left by Janet Oleszek in the 37th. I was considering writing off the entire Senate, but like him or not Ken Cuccinelli is a man of principle.

Not many candidates can honestly say this today:

I have been guided in my terms in office by the set of conservative moral, ethical and governing Principles that has guided the founding fathers of our Commonwealth and our nation. These principles, of men such as George Mason and James Madison, have allowed me to clearly focus on establishing realistic Legislative Priorities that will change the way we have always done things and provide real and lasting solutions to our real needs in Northern Virginia.

The amazing thing is that he has been able to get re-elected in NOVA. However, one can really tell how committed he is to the principles of Reagan Conservatism by the way the left attacks him. There is not a day that I don’t read someone in the blogosphere spewing virulent hatred toward the man.

I commend him for his unyielding commitment the principles that most Virginians, believe it or not, hold dear.

Read More. . . .

Busy Week for Conservatives

With Congress having the power to change time itself, this week started off a little behind. Conservatives have quickly made up for lost time (sorry for the pun). With Chichester running scared and Fred Thompson considering a run at the Whitehouse, Conservatives are having a pretty good week.

First off, a big tip of the hat goes out to Chichester Must Go for their work on the Chichester issue. Conservatives owe a debit of gratitude to everyone who took such a strong stand against Chichester. On behalf of The Virginian Federalist, thank you Chichester Must Go for taking the lead on this issue; Virginia will be in much better hands now that Chichester is hitting the road.

Fred Thompson could turn this entire presidential race upside-down. Conservatives have been calling for a conservative charismatic candidate for President and Thompson is defiantly both. The real question is, does he have skeletons in his closet. Thus far Romney has look like the only hope for true conservatives (at least to be able to actually win). www.fred08.com and www.draftfredthompson.com are the two leading unofficial campaign sites for Thompson. It is at least worth a look.

To give an update on something not so good for conservatives, sources tell The Virginian Federalist that the House of Representatives is expected to take up the Lobbying Reform Bill in the next few weeks. Every blogger should pay close attention to this, as Democrats are expected to include some form of grassroots lobbying provision that would require some to register and report to Congress as a lobbyist. The Virginian Federalist believes that such legislation would be an unconstitutional violation of Free Speech aside from being bad policy. You will remember that the Senate voted to strip a similar provision out of S. 1, the Lobbying Reform Bill. The Virginian Federalist will keep you up to date when this bill is actually proposed. Read More. . . .