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Monday, January 19, 2004Republicans in Charge in Richmond - Hold onto your Wallets Something to mull over. . . just dropped in my e-mail account. Something for Virginians to consider. To: Shaun Kenney From: Roger Pogge Subject: Republicans in Charge in Richmond - Hold onto your Wallets It grieves me to have to write this letter to you at this time. This message is a little long and I respect your time, but if you are concerned about Republicans in the Virginia State Legislature turning their backs on the principles of the Republican Party, then please read on. If you are not concerned about this, stop here and let me know and I will take you off of my list. For those who are not familiar with me, allow me to give a little background. My name is Roger Pogge. My wife Brenda and I have been involved in Republican politics since the Allen/Farris/Gilmore race in 1993. I was elected to the State Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia in 1996. In 1997, my wife recruited our friend, Jo Ann Davis, to run against incumbent Democrat Delegate Shirley Cooper. That year she was the only Republican to defeat an entrenched Democrat in the House of Delegates and Republicans gained parity with the Democrats for the first time since Reconstruction. For the next 3 years, my wife encouraged Jo Ann to get out into the First District, in anticipation of Congressman Herb Bateman's retirement (the rest, shall we say, is history). In 1998 I was elected as First Congressional District Republican Chairman where I served two terms until 2002, at which time I "retired" to spend more time at home and with my aging father. That didn't last long because in 2003, I was drafted to lead the kNOw Campaign in opposition to the Sales Tax Referendum here in the Hampton Roads area. Working with an alliance of anti-tax groups, we were able to defeat the referendum by 63-37%. Some of you may be new to Republican politics here in the Commonwealth. Many have been working in the trenches much longer than my wife and I. One thing that most all of us have in common is that we believe in lower taxes and a more limited government. Many accuse us of being greedy rich Republicans who just want to keep all of our money to ourselves. I'm not sure about all of you, but I am middle-class and I struggle to pay my bills every month just like most others. Of course, we all like to keep more of our money, however, my true motivation for wanting lower taxes (and most Republicans' motivation) is that we believe that government at all levels has gotten too big and unwieldy and needs to its appetite for spending other people's money brought under some kind of control. Our Virginia Republican Creed states that "we believe that fiscal and budgetary restraints must be exercised at all levels of government." That is why it saddens me so to have to write this letter. We have worked long and hard as grassroots Republican activists to get where we are in state government. In the 11 years of my involvement in the Republican Party we have elected two Republican Governors, three Attorneys General, one Lt. Governor, we have taken over the House of Delegates and the State Senate, defeated an incumbent U.S. Senator and picked up three seats in Congress. This didn't happen by chance or by accident. It happened because thousands of people like yourself across the Commonwealth believed in the ideals of the Republican Party and gave of their time, their talents and their treasure. Now that our incumbents in the General Assembly have practically guaranteed their reelection through a masterful job of redistricting, many grassroots Republicans feel as though they have been played for the fool. Our State Senate is rushing headlong into a massive tax increase and many Republicans in the House of Delegates are wavering. Just yesterday (1/17/04), the Fredericksburg Free Lance Star ran an article on House Speaker Bill Howell, who many of us had counted on to continue his stand against a tax increase. He was quoted as saying that he is "open to everything but a sales tax and an income tax increase." Our senators, who were steadfast on holding the line on tax increases during their primaries this past spring are now leading the charge for tax increases. Both Senators Chichester and Potts have reneged on this spring's campaign promises and are openly supporting higher taxes. I will not take the time to debate the merits of a tax increase at this time (we actually have an out-of-control spending crisis). If you need information or talking points on why we shouldn't raise taxes, Senator Ken Cuccinelli has an excellent web site at www.notaxhike.net. When you log on, be sure to electronically sign the "no tax hike" petition at his site. The point of this letter is to encourage you to contact your senators and delegates (especially the Republicans) and tell them no new taxes. A tax overhaul that is truly "revenue neutral" is certainly acceptable. However, be careful. When they try to raise one tax while giving us a 100% car tax cut, don't buy it. The car tax cut is already enacted and is just waiting for state revenues to increase to kick in. Any new taxes need to be countered by a NEW cut in another tax. We have to hold the line if our party is going to have any principles let to stand on at all. Below is contact information for your senators and delegates. Please contact them ASAP and let them know of your concerns. If you don't know who you representative is, log onto the State Board of Elections website at www.sbe.state.va.us and click on "where do I vote." Fill in the address and in addition to your voting location, it will give you your state senate, delegate and congressional district. The General Assembly has a toll-free opinion line if you just want to express your opinion and have it forwarded to your senator and delegate. Call 1-800-889-0229. If you want to speak directly to your representative or their aide, call as follows: Senate (804) 698-75XX, where the XX is the Senate District. Example - Senator Marty Williams is in the 1st Senatorial District. His number is (804)698-7501. To email your senator, send to districtXX@sov.state.va.us . Again, XX is the Senatorial District. Senator Williams would be district01@sov.state.va.us (no period after us). House (804) 698-10XX. Example - Delegate Tom Gear is in the 91st House District. His number is (804) 698-1091. To email your delegate, send to del_lastname@house.state.va.us (an underscore (_) goes between the "del" and the "lastname"). Tom Gear's email address is del_gear@house.state.va.us (again, no period after us). To mail to a senator, send to: The Honorable XXX, Senate of Virginia, P.O. Box 396, Richmond, VA 23219. To mail to a delegate, send to: The Honorable XXX, House of Delegates, P.O. Box 406, Richmond, Virginia 23218 Thanks for taking the time to read through this email. Please make every effort to respond as necessary. Also, please pass this on to your likeminded friends. Yours for a truly conservative majority, Roger F. Pogge Hampton, Virginia
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JEFFERSONIAD POLL: Whom do you support for Virginia Attorney General?1) John Brownlee2) Ken Cuccinelli AboutShaunKenney.com is one of Virginia's oldest political blogs, focusing on the role of religion and politics in public life. Shaun Kenney, 30, lives in Fluvanna County, Virginia.ContactThe Jeffersoniad
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