Time to end one-party rule

Published 6:00 am Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

President Biden gave yet another disastrous press conference on Friday, showing yet again how far out of touch with reality he is regarding the situation on the ground in Kabul. While foreign policy seldom intersects with politics in Richmond, this fiasco is a rare exception.

Virginia is home to numerous military installations, such as Fort Pickett Army National Guard Training Center in Nottoway County, tens of thousands of active-duty personnel and their families as well as myriad contractors, non-governmental organizations and other groups who have been working in Afghanistan.

When Virginians see the disaster in Kabul unfolding on TV, it’s not just a foreign policy fiasco for President Biden — it’s a real impact on our family, friends and neighbors. Make no mistake, it is a disaster.

Email newsletter signup

Furthermore, we can disagree over the conduct of the war and the timeline for withdrawal, but no one can defend the way the Biden administration handled the final departure.

The departure represents a fundamental difference between Republicans and Democrats. Like the Democrats in the House of Delegates, President Biden tried to implement an idea with no plan.

Virginia House Democrats tried repeatedly to pass ideas into law over the past two years, with disastrous results.

I voted on bills, not ideas. “Knock wood” is not a plan. We need to end one-party rule in Richmond and Washington. The disaster in Kabul is what happens when we have Democrat-only rule. It’s time for it to end.

DEMOCRATIC HYPOCRISY ON LAW

ENFORCEMENT FUNDING

House Democrats are back in their districts, singing the praises of the new budget bill just passed allocating federal COVID funds.

Among them is Delegate Joshua Cole (D-Fredericksburg), who has been praising himself and his colleagues for the funding they got for law enforcement while spending two years making their jobs harder.

What liberals leave out is that they voted against a $5,000 bonus for every sworn law enforcement officer in Virginia, a pay raise that I was proud to support as your delegate.

Hypocrisy is nothing new for these Democrats, but they can’t be allowed to get away with claiming to support police when they’ve spent years bashing them.

DEL. TOMMY WRIGHT can be reached via email at DelTWright@house.virginia.gov or (804) 698-1061.