Free Republic

Astonishing new archaeological finds reveal they were already our countrymen 50 years before Claudius spun his way into the history books. reports The history of Britain will have to be rewritten. The AD43 Roman invasion never happened - and was simply a piece of sophisticated political spin by a weak Emperor Claudius. A series of astonishing archaeological findings of Roman military equipment, to be revealed this week, will prove that the Romans had already arrived decades earlier - and that they had been welcomed with open arms by ancient Britons. The discovery of swords, helmets and armour in Chichester, Sussex,...

Chichester supports lawyer for his seat in the Virginia Senate April 25, 2007 12:35 am By CHELYEN DAVIS RICHMOND--A fourth candidate has entered the race for the Republican nomination to replace Sen. John Chichester, and this one has Chichester's blessing--and that of House Speaker Bill Howell. Westmoreland County attorney Richard Stuart, a former commonwealth's attorney, announced yesterday that he will seek the Republican nomination for the 28th state Senate district, which Chichester has held for 29 years. Chichester is retiring at the end of this year. Along with Stuart's announcement came endorsements from Chichester and Howell, both of whom had...

Could it be at last that the Virginia Senate’s semi-Republican obstructionist is retiring? That’s the word we get around the Virginia blogosphere this week. And in our opinion, not a moment too soon, and perhaps four years too late.

McLEAN, Va. (AP) - As Major League Baseball officials met Wednesday with backers of a northern Virginia ballpark for the Montreal Expos, a second key lawmaker said he opposes a plan to finance the stadium with bonds backed by the "moral obligation" of the state. Senate Finance Chairman John Chichester (R-Stafford) said a private business like a baseball club should not benefit from the state's moral obligation bonds, which have traditionally been used for local water quality projects and other public works....

<p>The Virginia Senate's top budget writer is suggesting the road to a better highway system will be paved with new taxes.</p> <p>Without endorsing specific levies, Senate Finance Committee Chairman John H. Chichester, R-Stafford, said yesterday that those who use the cash-starved highway network should pay for improvements.</p>

<p>'Stay in town and complete the work of the people'</p> <p>Gov. Mark R. Warner is calling the bitterly deadlocked General Assembly into a special session today to enact a new state budget, but the anti-tax House of Delegates is threatening to walk out and return home for perhaps a week or more.</p>

<p>Having watched virtually every initiative he put forward during his first two years as governor defeated in the General Assembly or at the ballot box, Democratic Gov. Mark Warner apparently thinks he's been able to come up with a way to divide the Virginia Republican Party: by exploiting long-standing differences between pro-growth, anti-tax conservatives and Republican advocates of tax increases.</p>

<p>Confronting anti-tax Republicans in the Legislature, U.S. Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., yesterday called for tax increases, boosts in fees and budget cuts to improve Virginia schools, health care and transportation.</p> <p>"Politics be damned! Let's consider what's best for the men and women of this great state and their families and children," said Warner, considered the senior statesman in the state GOP.</p>

<p>WILLIAMSBURG - State Sen. John H. Chichester told a receptive audience yesterday that Virginia must raise taxes as an investment in making the state's future "worthy of its past."</p> <p>Chichester, a Stafford County Republican and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, received a standing ovation at the College of William and Mary after defending his budget proposal, which calls for tax increases of about $2.6 billion over two years.</p>

<p>Anti-tax Republicans say Senate Finance Committee Chairman John H. Chichester should get out of the party - maybe even become a Democrat - for advocating $2.5 billion in new taxes.</p> <p>But Chichester said yesterday he is not going anywhere, and he branded his toughest critics within the GOP as out of touch with mainstream voters and the needs of the state.</p>

<p>The Virginia legislature opens it 2004 session this week under the cloud of Gov. Mark Warner's proposal for the largest tax increase in the state's history.</p> <p>The proposal includes a 22 percent increase in the sales tax, from 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent. It includes a 10 percent increase in the top income tax rate in the state, from 5.75 percent to 6.25 percent.</p>

<p>The Senate's most powerful Republican plans to buck his party's anti-tax orthodoxy and propose a record tax-increase package that is more sweeping and richer than the $1 billion plan advanced by Gov. Mark R. Warner, a Democrat.</p> <p>Sources report that Sen. John H. Chichester, R-Stafford, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, wants the General Assembly to raise the sales tax a full percentage point, to 5.5 percent on the dollar, as well as boost taxes for affluent Virginians by adding at least one bracket to the income tax tables.</p>