Crossposted on Stafford County Sun...Grumbling about health care reform is a regular topic on cable TV to the point that I’ve decided to devote my column this week to the positives of the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. While researching the topic, contrary to my expectations, I came across the headline “Poll shows opposition to health care overhaul declining (The Washington Post, 7/29/2010).” So opposition to reform actually declined in July from 41 percent of those polled to 35 percent. The poll was conducted by Kaiser Family Foundation and showed that 50 percent of re

Dear friends, Thank you for joining us to celebrate the Virginia Organizing Project's 15th Anniversary. A lot can happen in 15 years and sometimes looking back can be dizzying! In 1994, I headed to Virginia to meet with concerned residents who were interested in organizing their communities. After working as a community organizer in Kentucky for 14 years, I began to realize that just across the border, many Virginians were ready to speak out and take action in their communities. They just needed the resources to do so.

By: Mark Ryan, M.D.

On July 1, I walked past many mounted and plain clothes police and stood in front of the federal courthouse in Richmond as Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s office made its opening arguments in a lawsuit challenging the health care reform law’s constitutionality.  The large police presence was in response to a group of health care advocates, myself included, organized by the Virginia Organizing Project. We came together at a media conference outside the courthouse to oppose Cuccinelli's absurd lawsuit. We stood together to oppose Cuccinelli's attempt to attack a law that will hold the health insurance industry accountable and ensure that all Americans will have access to health care.

The following article was written by Larry Yates in response to Senator Webb's recent editorial in the Wall Street Journal. Larry Yates is long time activist and former VOP Shenandoah Valley organizer and the article was original posted on Alt Daily.

In an age when so many politicians hardly dare think a thought that some fundraiser has not endorsed, the Junior Senator from my state of Virginia, Jim Webb, stands out as not afraid to say what he thinks.

He cares deeply about the frontline serviceman and servicewoman, and he certainly makes that known. Recently, he has spoken up on  the catastrophe that is our “justice system,” and I think he might actually spur some action with this bold initiative from an unexpected direction.

But anyone who speaks passionately and on many topics will sometimes wander onto shaky ground. This is what he has done, I believe, in his comments on affirmative action and related issues in “Diversity and the Myth of White Privilege.”

By: Lucille G. McReynolds

Letter Originally published in the Fredericksburg Freelance Star: 7/26/2010

While not a major disaster, the July 6 derailment of three coal cars on the rail tracks in Stafford County certainly heightened the fears and anxieties of us in Fredericksburg.

CSX continues to store numerous tankers containing hazardous materials in the rail yard just 100 yards from our homes.

By: Anthony Resnick

On July 1st, a federal district court in Richmond will hear arguments in Commonwealth of Virginia v. Sebelius, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's attempt to block implementation of the health care reform signed into law in March.  At a time when the country's economic woes are causing record-breaking revenue loss in Virginia, leading to massive budget cuts in areas such as health care and education, Cuccinelli is spending commonwealth resources on a futile attempt to block health care reform.  Cuccinelli cannot succeed in this lawsuit, since his suit has no merit.  Nor should he succeed, since health care reform will benefit millions of Virginians.

The most important point to make about Cuccinelli's lawsuit is that he seeks to undermine a law that's going do a lot of good for a lot of Virginians.  The reform will ensure affordable coverage for 1.2 million Virginians who are currently uninsured.  Nearly 700,000 Virginians will receive tax credits to make health care coverage more affordable.  Nearly 100,000 small businesses in Virginia will receive tax credits to make coverage for their employees more affordable.  The bill also ends the most abusive practices of insurance companies, such as discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions or driving people to bankruptcy with high out-of-pocket costs, thus providing important protections to all Virginians.

By: Michele Mattioli, VOP Special Projects Coordinator

 Recently Pat Lloyd, one of VOP’s dedicated weekly volunteers, had a surprise realization, “VOP is the umbrella organization for 46 groups!  We should let more people know!”

Having 46 groups, small and large, enter into a Joint Plan of Work with VOP gives each group more time and resources to work on their social justice and environmental missions.  As programs of VOP, these groups receive bookkeeping, payroll, insurance and auditing services.  There are also efficiencies of scale, e.g., paying for one financial audit for all the groups.

By working cooperatively with a Joint Plan of Work, no one group is isolated and we can borrow and share power to be more effective.

By Lauren Groetch: VOP Intern

Here at the Charlottesville office, summer interns have been busy with a multi-faceted civic engagement project. We’re going door-to-door, attending community events, and setting up in high-traffic locations to talk to people in our communities about voting and jobs.  We are working to register hundreds of new voters and are sending Senators Webb and Warner photo petitions of community members who want their elected officials to take steps to lower unemployment.  In these photos, people hold signs that express the need for jobs for their community, their family and themselves. The goal of this project is to garner our senators’ support for the Local Jobs for America Act, which would put over one million Americans back to work restoring local infrastructure.

By Jim Romeo, South Hampton Roads VOP Leader

On the evening of Tuesday, 6/15 VOP members and ally organizations and friends went to bat for the residents of a Mobile Home park in Chesapeake, Virginia. The residents of this park faced eviction if the owner/applicant has its way. Thanks to a collective organized effort by the Virginia Organizing Project, the City Council was put at checkmate. The Council voted unanimously to deny the application. For now the residents stay right where they are with a roof right over their head.