Columns

President Barack Obama has now begun the second term afforded him by the American people in a clear and decisive election on Nov. 6, 2012.
    But history is filled with examples of bad luck and misfortune in that last four years of eight for many presidents.
    Certainly, George W. Bush’s second term was a textbook disaster. The war in Iraq didn’t turn up any “WMDs,” and popular support for it went south. He spent most of the last three years with an approval rating of 20-something percent.

By Congressman Robert Hurt

This past week during our first district work week of the 113th Congress, we had the opportunity to visit Danville and Blairs, and to make our first official visits in Warrenton.  Many miles may separate Danville and Warrenton, but it is clear that those all across our district share a common concern with our nation’s unsustainable debt.

    With ceremonies reflecting traditions accumulated over the course of centuries, Virginia’s General Assembly convened for its 2013 session this week.  Although this year’s session is scheduled to last just 46 days, it is already apparent that major issues will be discussed and debated.

Anyone with a good sense of the political climate has to realize that, as amazing as it may be, the ground may be shaking under the historically powerful NRA (National Rifle Association).
    The gun lovers group has long been as good at propaganda as the late Nazi leader Joseph Goebbels; its power over Congress has been similar to that held by Hitler over the Germans, and based, of course, on the same thing: fear.