Sen. Jim Webb has called for greater transparency in the health care debate and today he posted the Senate bill on his Web site—all 2,074 pages for your reading pleasure.

In mid-October, Webb asked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to post the legislation and complete budget scores of the health care bill on a public Web site at least 72 hours prior to both the first vote and final passage, according to his office. 

“Reforming health care in our country is one of the most monumental undertakings by Congress in decades, and the American public’s participation in this process is critical,” Webb said in a release. “I, along with my staff, will be closely reading and analyzing the bill in the days ahead.”

You can read the Senate version of the health care legislation—The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—at http://www.webb.senate.gov.

He’s made it official: Del. David W. Marsden, D-Fairfax, is running for Sen. Ken Cuccinelli’s seat representing the 37th district.

Cuccinelli was elected Attorney General on Nov. 3 and will vacate his seat before he’s sworn in on Jan. 16. 

Marsden has lived in Fairfax County since 1952 and has represented his House of Delegates district for four years. He has moved into the 37th Senate district to run and noted in a statement today announcing his intentions that 10 of his 14 precincts lie within the boundaries of the 37th.

He said in the release that state legislators will have to cut another $3 billion from the state budget, “and I am going to do my best to make sure that Fairfax County gets its fair share of revenue from Richmond. Fairfax sends so much money to Richmond and the rest of the state, its time we started to look out for ourselves more.“

No date has been set for a special election for the 37th district. It’s up to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to select a date. If Marsden, who consults on how to work with juvenile offenders and gangs, wins the Senate seat, it means another special election would need to be held for his House seat. 

The Virginia House of Delegates’ Democratic and Republican caucuses each elected their leadership for the 2010 General Assembly session over the weekend.

The Republican caucus, strengthened after picking up at least five seats in the House this month, re-elected Speaker of the House William J. Howell, R-Stafford.

They also voted to keep Del. H. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, as majority leader, Del. Samuel A. Nixon Jr., R-Chesterfield, as caucus chair and Del. M. Kirkland Cox, R-Colonial Heights, as majority whip. They were chosen by acclamation, but the full House membership will vote on Howell’s post when the General Assembly meets in January in Richmond.

Democrats re-elected Del. Ward L. Armstrong, D-Henry, as the House minority leader.

Other delegates selected were Kenneth R. Plum, D-Fairfax, caucus chairman; Jennifer L. McClellan, D-Richmond, first vice chairwoman; David L. Englin, D-Alexandria, second vice chairman; Mark D. Sickles, D-Fairfax, secretary; Jeion A. Ward, D-Hampton, treasurer; and Rosalyn R. Dance, D-Petersburg, sergeant at arms/parliamentarian.

While Rep. Tom Perriello, D-5th, defends his vote for the $1.2 trillion health-care overhaul, one group is coming to his aid with a new TV ad.

Americans United for Change, a group founded in 2005 to help defeat then-President George W. Bush’s effort to privatize Social Security, today released a 30-second TV ad that will air on a mix of broadcast and cable channels in the Roanoke media market to thank Perriello for backing the House of Representatives health-care legislation.

Meanwhile, the anti-tax group Americans for Prosperity plans to continue to show their opposition at a rally today at Perriello’s Charlottesville office. On Monday, they rallied outside of his Martinsville, Danville and Farmville offices.

In an e-mail advertising the events, the group’s state director Ben Marchi noted that Perriello is already condisered one of the most vulnerable Democrats in Congress. “This is the final straw,“ he wrote.

You can check out the Americans United for Change TV ad there:

Virginia Gov-elect Bob McDonnell said this morning that he hasn’t read the entire health care bill narrowly passed out of the House of Representatives last night but that the “public option does not seem to be something that’s gonna help us in Virginia.”

“I think there [are] legitimate issues of cost and access that have got to be addressed at the state and federal level,” McDonnell told John King in a brief appearance on CNN’s State of the Union this morning. 

McDonnell said he’s heard concerns from Virginians about cost increases, less choices and more government control.

A Senate version of health care legislation could allow states to opt in or opt out and McDonnell said “Either way my preference would be not to have Virginia participate from what I know this plan contains.”

He added that more flexibility at the state level would be a good thing and said he’s outlined a number of things that could be done at the state level to help people have more access at a lower cost.

“I’m very concerned about turning this significant section of the American economy over the federal government,” he said.

McDonnell, a former attorney general, reiterated that he will not raise taxes and that people want “a better bang for their buck out of their government and don’t want to have a tax increase every time we have an economic downturn.”

“If the tax increase is the only resolution, we’re never going to control government spending,” he said.

McDonnell, who won Tuesday with more then 58 percent of the vote and led a Republican statewide ticket sweep, was asked what message he has for the Republican Party heading into the midterm Congressional elections.

“I think one of the reasons we were very fortunate to win is we stuck to our conservative principles, we translated those into common sense practical solutions,“ McDonnell said, also advising that people be “positive” and “stick to your word.”

“I think if we do that, Republicans have bright days ahead.”

King asked McDonnell if he wanted to advance any new initiatives on abortion or governing same-sex marriage. McDonnell pointed to areas such as improving adoption laws, where “people on both sides of that issue think we need to find ways to reduce the number of abortions.”