Yesterday, The Washington Post reported that Terry McAuliffe is receiving donations from the payday lending industry he attacked in 2009. Even though he once called the industry a disgrace, he has no issue taking their money.

Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who took a hard line against payday lenders in his bid for governor four years ago, has accepted their support this time around.

McAuliffe had a this week at the Alexandria home of Charles Halloran, in-house lobbyist for the Community Financial Services Association of America, the payday loan trade association.

During a 2009 Democrat primary debate, McAuliffe called payday lending a disgrace:

McAuliffe’s campaign, answering a question for once, says that there has been no policy change for McAuliffe:

“Halloran and Webster are both old personal friends who worked with Terry more than twenty years ago, there has been no change in policy from Terry,” Schwerin said via e-mail.

“He remains deeply concerned about the impact some lenders have on low income Virginians and would support efforts to dramatically increase protections for Virginia borrowers. Those protections could include tightening restrictions on frequency of borrowing, interest rates charged, and ratios of fees to total amount borrowed, among other protections. These protections would dramatically change the industry and would lead to more prosperous Virginia families.”

Under the headline “Hickenlooper Quietly Announces Support For School Tax Hike Initiative,” KDVR reports Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper is continuing his sharp left turn by backing a near $1 billion tax hike initiative to fund education.  

Maybe Hickenlooper was so quiet, issuing “no official press release, no carefully-crafted statement” because his support for Initiative 22 is a reversal from his 2010 stance as a candidate in opposition to new taxes to fund education.

There was no official press release, no carefully-crafted statement — just, as there so often is, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and a microphone.

On Wednesday morning, speaking to a breakfast meeting of the Colorado Forum, a group of business leaders, Hickenlooper did what he’s been unable or unwilling to do when pressed by reporters on the looming ballot initiative that will ask voters to approve a two-tiered income tax hike this fall to generate $950 million for Colorado schools.

He came out with a clear position — in support of Initiative 22, which was just announced last month.

Hickenlooper’s Initiative 22 would increase taxes on all Coloradans, regardless of income.

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In 2009, McAuliffe opposed offshore oil drilling off of Virginia’s Coasts telling the Washington Post:

“I do not support drilling for oil off our coast.”

Today, McAuliffe says he supports “responsible” offshore drilling:

“‘I’m for keeping Virginia as a right-to-work state, I’m for responsible off-shore drilling, and I believe we both share a commitment to Virginia,’ said McAuliffe.”

As first highlighted in our May 8 post, McAuliffe says he wants Virginia “do what we need to” to grow the coal industry in the state, but in 2009 McAuliffe expressed his opposition to coal. Basically, McAuliffe is for coal, but after he was against coal, after he was for coal:

FOR IT:

In 2013, McAuliffe supports the coal industry. On May 8, 2013, McAuliffe told reporters, “we need to make sure we do what we need to, to make sure” the coal industry continues to grow in Virginia:

“‘I was over at Alpha Natural Resources talking about what they need done to make sure we have a healthy work force of coal, that coal can continue,’ McAuliffe told reporters. 'We need to make sure we do what we need to, to make sure this vital industry here in Virginia continues to grow. I can really help them on exports; to open up those Asia markets in China and Korea. As governor, I want to help them create more jobs to help exports around the world.’”

AFTER HE WAS AGAINST IT:

In 2009, McAuliffe declared “As Governor, I never want another coal plant built.”

AFTER HE WAS FOR IT:

In the 1990s McAuliffe’s lobbying firm represented a utility company that generated power primarily through coal.

Roll Call reported in 1991 that McAuliffe, Kelly and Raffaelli Represented Nevada Power Company.

“McAuliffe is a lawyer with McAuliffe, Kelly and Raffaelli, a firm that is registered to lobby for such corporate clients as the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, Electronic Data Systems Corp., and Nevada Power Company. On Nov. 21, McAuliffe is running a fundraiser for the Iowa Democrat at DC’s swank Spy Club. He said his goal is to raise $125,000.” (Roll Call, 11/14/91)

In earnings reports to shareholders, Nevada Power company said its power “generation is primarily coal based.”

“Nevada Power Co. is a Las Vegas-based electric utility serving 383,000 customers in the extreme southern portion of the state. With customer growth projections of between 4 percent and 5 percent through the rest of the decade, the company will remain one of the country’s fastest growing electrical utilities. The company’s generation is primarily coal based with no investment in nuclear facilities.” (Nevada Power Company, 2/17/93)

In 2001, McAuliffe Claimed “I Would Rather Not Leave My Family,” When Talking About Campaign Finance Reform. MCAULIFFE: “At the end of the day Tim, I would rather not have to leave my family and travel around the country to ask people for money. There are a lot of other things I would like to be doing with my time. There’s too much money in the system. Let’s get rid of it. I’m all for it, I support it, let’s pass it, and let’s move on.” (NBC’s “Meet The Press,” 2/4/01)

In His 2007 Book, What A Party!, McAuliffe Talked About Leaving His Wife In The Delivery Room To Attend A Washington Post Party.