Virginia Foxx Is Working To Shut Down The Government

One of the most dedicated and inspiring candidates endorsed by Blue America in 2010, Billy Kennedy, took on the thankless task of holding Virginia Foxx's stinky feet to the fire. Massively outraised ($322,361 to $853,579) by North Carolina's richest congressmember-- in a district that has trended very red (Obama only took 38% of the vote)-- Billy finished with over a third and fought her machine to a virtual tie, 8,610- 8,211 in Watauga County. Blue America is encouraging Billy to run again and he's considering it. Yesterday he shared a letter to the editor with us, essentially a response to Foxx's backing of a government shutdown.

My mother always told me that actions speak louder than words. She said not to judge a person by what she says, but by what she does. I bet your Mother told you the same thing.

So when Rep. Virginia Foxx tries to get ahead of the blame game in a recent column (a government shutdown won't be her fault, she says) and claims that all she wants to do is cut wasteful spending, Who does she think she’ s fooling?

Let's take a look at what Rep. Foxx calls wasteful":

* She voted to eliminate funding for schools, nutrition programs, heating and housing subsidies for the poor, and regulations against polluting industries.

* She voted for an end to government assistance for women's screenings for cancer and birthcontrol.

* She voted against support for a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

* She voted to cut $600 million from border security and immigration programs.

On the other hand, take a look at what Rep. Foxx thinks is not wasteful:

*She voted to continue billions in taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil companies while they make huge profits.

*She voted to continue tax cuts for corporate loopholes that reward companies for sending our jobs overseas.

*She voted against an increase in taxes on Wall Street barons.

*She voted against an end to tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires.

*She voted to end any and all oversight of Wall Street (the Securities and Exchange Commission)

*She voted to continue funding of the “ Bridge to Nowhere.” (HR662)

What happened to all Ms. Foxx's recent campaign talk about creating jobs? The proposed budget Ms. Foxx stands so firm on does not create one single job. In fact, two recent independent studies projected that Ms. Foxx's fiscal plan will destroy 700,000 jobs through 2012.

Add to that Ms. Foxx's support of the privatization of Social Security (so we can hand what little remains of our money over to Wall Street) and her support of drastic Medicare cuts, and we get nothing but increased bailouts for billionaires and Wall Street on the backs of middle-class workers.

Her votes prove who she is protecting and it’s not us!

-Billy Kennedy, 2010 Candidate US House NC-05

Sounds like he's seriously considering a rematch! Digby, John and I plan to meet with him personally next month to try to persuade him to make the move. Keep in mind, the DCCC didn't lift a finger or raise a nickel to help Billy take on Foxx in 2010. And this year they've already announced their North Carolina priority for 2012-- keeping reactionary Blue Dog and Boehner ally Mike McIntyre in office. Between 2008 and 2010 Democrats in his district abandoned his ultra-conservative agenda in droves and his winning margin dropped from 69% to 54%. Since then he has voted nearly 70% of the time with Boehner on the contested substantive votes. If you donate to the DCCC, that's where your money will wind up, with an anti-Choice reactionary on the wrong side of nearly every issue. Next time you think about donating to the DCCC, stop yourself-- and put the money in a jar... and hold it for Billy Kennedy when he decides to jump into the race against Foxx.