Virginia senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both Democrats, have joined forces with Republicans to advance sweeping budget legislation that could trigger trillions of dollars in cuts to Medicare, Medicaid food stamps and other social programs – and potentially hobble the agenda of the next president.
CATHY’S CAMP EXPOSES RICHMOND’S HOUSING CRISIS
It started with a few tents, a place for people without homes to get in out of Richmond’s winter weather. At least it was dry, and with some blankets and enough clothing, it was bearable. And as the number of tents and homeless people grew, it was safer than trying to find a place to sleep alone outside.
ON RELATIONS BETWEEN IRAN & THE UNITED STATES
Western media outlets sell a very particular narrative to the American people about Iran, and I’m sure that there are many people in the United States who truly believe that Iran is the rogue nation that it is painted to be.
In Our Opinion: An Open Letter to Gun Rights Supporters
The Virginia Defender circulated this Open Letter laying out our view of the issues. Someone posted it on the internal blog of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, the group that had called for the mobilization. We reprint it again here in hopes that it will reach more of the people for whom it was intended.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: CONCERNING GUN CONTROL
Throughout the history of America, gun control laws have always been used against people of color to deny them their rights, as well as their ability to defend themselves and their communities from racist terror attacks. Both political parties have been equally guilty of this.
In Our Opinion: Cathy’s Camp
On the one hand, we have RVA: young, hip, vibrant, artsy and doing pretty well for itself. On the other, we have Richmond, where one out of every five people is poor, where misery swirls around people’s ankles like a flooded campground and which, for the most part, is invisible.
NEW YORKER SPOTLIGHTS SHOCKOE BOTTOM
The Feb. 3 edition of The New Yorker (circulation 1.3 million) carried a major article titled “The Fight to Preserve African-American History” that includes the long struggle to reclaim Shockoe Bottom.
The Virginia Defender 