McAuliffe Eviscerates Cuccinelli on Child Support, Violence Against Women Act

As noted in a post yesterday, Ken Cuccinelli has expanded the GOP's war on women from efforts to ban all abortions even in instances of rape and incest to now seeking to limit their ability to leave failed marriages and to reduce child support payments thus sending more women with children into poverty.  Cuccinelli's upside down priorities toward women are, of course, only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his extremist agenda.  Not surprisingly, Democrat gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe has jumped all over Cuccinelli's sick agenda.  Here are statements McAuliffe made on the issue via Blue Virginia:

...Virginia has to be a Commonwealth that is open to businesses and welcoming to all. I talk to business leaders from both parties every single day. I constantly hear that politicians focusing on a social, ideological agenda is not helpful for business. We cannot keep putting walls up around Virginia by attacking women's rights, scientists, or gay Virginians. This is a fundamental difference in this race. I know we need to focus on the economy...Ken Cuccinelli has shown that he will spend his time in office on a social, divisive, ideological battles...that have defined his career.

[The Washington Post report this morning] was shocking. It detailed his ties to a radical group that fought against adequate child support because they think it is quote punitive unquote to men...and contend that men are frequently victimized by false allegations of domestic abuse unquote. According to the Washington Post, my opponent even took the unusual step of handling the private case for a leader in these groups while he was sitting Attorney General. Ken Cuccinelli has worked to implement their agenda on trying to restrict women's health care rights...Quote Cuccinelli was also the long Senate vote against legislation to increase child support payments by tying them more closely to inflation unquote. Opposing adequate child support is inexplicable and it's just plain wrong...

...Why would you introduce legislation that would punish people who want to get out of a bad marriage?...Cuccinelli was one of three [Attorneys General] who did not sign [a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act]. My opponent still won't explain what he dislikes so much about the Violence Against Women Act, but that group he is tied to believes that many women make up claims of domestic abuse.

During this campaign, there are many issues where Ken Cuccinelli and I have disagreed, and on some of them, I can at least understand his position, even if I don't agree with it. But the positions laid out today in the Washington Post on child support, the Violence Against Women Act and on family law is just beyond my comprehension, and I believe beyond the comprehension of most Virginians...

...Ken Cuccinelli's social agenda is more than just extreme, it is bad for business. The Republican Lt. Governor said just this week, quote, he is a rigid ideologue who thrives on conflict and confrontation...Virginia simply can not afford to have their leaders pursuing their own rigid ideological agenda...

With more and more states adopting progressive policies to attract progressive businesses and entrepreneurs,  it is insane to try to drag Virginia back into the 19th century.  Yet that is precisely what Cuccinelli and his backers at The Family Foundation are trying to do.

Ken Cuccinelli’s "Fathers' Rights" Ties Alienate Women Voters

Having been through a very nasty divorce myself after coming out, I know first hand that father's sometimes get the short end of the stick, especially if they are gay and have a homophobic divorce court judge.  That said, however, I cannot understand the mindset of men who want to walk away from support obligations for their children.  It's an issue that should have nothing to do with how much one may despise the soon to be ex-wife.  Yet there are "fathers' rights" organizations around the country that critics say want to reduce child support responsibilities, distort facts about domestic violence and seek to undermine the rights of women in divorce situations.  Not surprisingly GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli has ties to these groups and won their endorsement.  Democrat, Terry McAuliffe - who already enjoys a significant lead over the woman vote - rightly has jumped on Cuccinelli's alliance which undermines his claim to be concerned about women and children.  The Washington Post looks at the unfolding story.  Here are article highlights:

Grignol is also the former leader of Fathers for Virginia, which seeks to “empower divorced fathers as equal partners in parenting,” and of a second group that contends that men are frequently victimized by false allegations of domestic abuse. Grignol did not respond to requests for comment about the groups, which some women’s rights organizations have accused of distorting the facts about domestic violence.

Fathers’ rights groups have urged states to revise their laws to grant men more time with their children in joint custody proceedings. They have been criticized by some women’s groups for seeking to reduce child support payments.

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton (D) and Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) have both vetoed “equal parenting” bills this year that would, among other things, increase the minimum amount of time fathers get with their children in joint custody agreements. Critics of such measures say they remove too much discretion from family court judges.

McCormick said his group hopes to pass similar legislation across the country and “were Ken Cuccinelli to become the governor of Virginia, we believe he might well be receptive to signing it.”

As a state senator in 2005, Cuccinelli offered a bill that would have made it so parents initiating a no-fault divorce could have that action counted against them “when deciding custody and visitation.” The measure never came to a vote, but Cuccinelli won praise from Stephen Baskerville, then-president of the American Coalition for Fathers and Children, for fighting against the no-fault divorce “epidemic.”

Cuccinelli also was the lone Senate vote against legislation to increase child support payments by tying them more closely to inflation.

A National Organization for Women advisory committee on family law wrote last year that fathers’ rights groups’ “true objectives are to discriminate against, control and punish women by gaining custody of children and to denigrate the personal and economic sacrifices made by mothers for their children.”

Nationally, fathers’ rights groups also have opposed the federal Violence Against Women Act 
This year, 47 state attorneys general sent a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. Cuccinelli was one of three who did not sign it.

Cuccinelli may claim that he's pro-family, but in reality he is only pro one kind of families: those headed by heterosexual males (or deeply closeted and self-loathing gays like himself).   The man is a menace to Virginia's future.