Democratic senator Puckett resigns

davidmcbeth said:

Why does the Senate work on the bulk of budget issues anyway ... supposed to be the House that does this.

Oh, I forgot ... laws and rules don't apply to gov't officials. My bag.

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Amid a firestorm of criticism regarding his resignation from the Virginia Senate, Democrat Phillip P. Puckett is withdrawing his name from consideration for a job with the state tobacco commission, according to two people with knowledge of the decision.

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[A]fter Democrats accused Puckett of selling out, he decided to remain with his job in banking, according to two people who were familiar with his decision. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss his decision.

It’s not clear whether the criticism fueled his decision. Puckett has not returned repeated messages seeking comment Sunday and Monday.

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The Daily Kos

Benedict Arnold. Judas Iscariot. Brutus. Quisling.

Add to the names of history’s traitors one Phillip Puckett. This former Democrat apparently made a deal to resign his Virginia state Senate seat just to hand the majority to the GOP. In return he gets – no, not thirty pieces of silver, but a seat on the Tobacco Commission and a judgeship for his daughter.

Judges, you know, those people who are supposed to administer the law fairly, honestly and dispassionately? You might think that obtaining the job through such sleazebaggery would taint the rest of her career a bit.

Is this act of openly bribing a state official even legal? All I know is that if Republicans want to play such unscrupulous, hardball, no-holds-barred politics, the answer is not to respond by playing patty cake with them. If they are going to take power through dishonest means, just playing along is not the way to honor or maintain a democracy.

If they want a fight, let’s give them a fight. ... [blah blah blah]

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ProgressVA executive director Anna Scholl called for an immediate investigation into allegations House Republicans and Delegate and Tobacco Commission Chair Terry Kilgore cut a deal to provide State Senator Philip Puckett a job at the Tobacco Commission and judgeship for his daughter in exchange for his resignation. In a press call with reporters, Scholl stated, "This kind of quid pro quo involving government resources should be taken very seriously, which is why today we're calling for an investigation into this alleged deal, to determine if state resources have been misappropriated or laws broken."

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"This episode underscores is the lengths to which Speaker Howell and his caucus are apparently willing to go to prevent closing the coverage gap and extending affordable and quality health care to 400,000 Virginians. There are thousands of Virginians out there who are struggling to make ends meet and one of the expenses that is breaking the bank for these families is the cost of health care. These people work hard every day and closing the coverage gap could really help them get by. Instead of doing what is right, we have politicians here who would rather potentially break the law to score political points with backroom deals than help their constituents who are most in need. It's despicable and disgusting and they should be ashamed."

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Repeater said:

Demo's are not reacting like adults:

Amid firestorm of criticism, Puckett won’t take tobacco commission job


Are we loving it yet? The following is freaking hilarious:

BREAKING: Treachery in 'Ol Virginny


Progress Virginia (you know, the embedded Marxist enemy-within) want an IMMEDIATE investigation:

ProgressVA Calls For Investigation Into Jobs-For-Resignation Accusations


Here is what is newsworthy: the GOP actually fighting hardball.

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Grapeshot said:

You do not understand Virginia's process very well do you.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...7LAYtdi88HQqPO9p88UuT-Q&bvm=bv.68445247,d.b2U

http://dpb.virginia.gov/budget/buddoc08/pdf/parta/virginiabudget.pdf

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