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Dear George, On Tuesday March 7, 2006 the Republicans in the Virginia House of Delegates confirmed that we do live in two different Worlds here in the Commonwealth. With their vote to reject the nomination of Danny LeBlanc to the Office of Secretary of the Commonwealth they exposed their real agenda for the working class people of Virginia. Mr. LeBlanc, an Army veteran and fourteen-year journeyman machinist before going to work for the Virginia AFL-CIO, was denied the right to serve in the Governor's Cabinet for one reason and one reason only, because he is a union member. Do not let the Republican House of Delegates members cloud the view of their vote. This had nothing to do with his stance on the Right to Work Laws in Virginia, which have been in effect since 1947 and which Governor Kaine has said he would uphold. This was at its best true bare knuckles politics that the Republican Party has learned to exercise at all levels of government. This was a vote that showed their disdain for those of us who work for a living and carry a union card. Their vote sent a true and clear message to all our citizens that if you belong to a union and stand up for better working conditions for yourself and your family you are wrong and will be dealt with accordingly. This action by the House Republicans was a sham and a cowardly exercise in Government. They were given their marching orders, and with the fact that seventeen of them broke to support then-Governor Mark Warner's budget two years ago they would again face more consternation within their own party, and they figured they better toe the party line. Mr. LeBlanc was truly qualified to fill this position and many of his approved appointments would face legislative confirmation To all the taxpayers, citizens, voters, and union card carrying members of the Commonwealth this was a pitiful display of a lack of understanding and reasoning. I hope that each and every one of us remembers this come Election Day. - Robert L. Bragg III (electronic mail, March 20, 2006)
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