The Northern Virginia Patriot

If You Pay Federal Taxes, Going Green Cost You at Least…

2011-09-26T06:30:00.000-04:00

The amount and dollar value of money used by the WashingtonElite causes eyes to glaze over. That isby design to numb you to the impact of the theft and assault on your liberties.Green programs siphon money from the US Treasury (You) and send it to BarakObama’s supporters (Crony Capitalists).

Here’s a rundown and a calculation detailing exactly thecost of the siphoning to you personally:

Total Tax returns 2008		142,000,000
Returns who paid No tax		52,000,000
Net Tax Payers		90,000,000

Obama Administration Beneficiary Or Program	Total Cost To The US Treasury (Tax Payer)	Cost To The Individual Taxpayer
Solyndra	($535,000,000)	($5.94)
NextEra Energy	($850,000,000)	($9.44)
Solar Manufacturing	($200,000,000)	($2.22)
Wind Power Tax Credit to Missouri's Carnahan Family (the Kennedy's of Missouri)	($107,000,000)	($1.19)
Weatherization Program	($5,000,000,000)	($55.56)
Cash for Caulkers Program	($5,700,000,000)	($63.33)
What the Obama Administration Cost you to-date with Green Failures		($137.69)

Meanwhile, in Virginia the Obama Administration is workingto shut down coal production. Through theU.S. Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), PresidentObama and his Apparatchik,Joseph Pizarchik, Director, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation andEnforcement they seek to further hamper America’s ability to provide clean, reliableelectricity. For example, coal-fired power plants produce over 40% of Virginia’selectricity. Virginia’s average retail price of electricity is 6.86 centsper kilowatt hour, the 12th lowest rate in the nation. Virginia produces 30 to40 million tons produced each year making coal a key contributor to Virginia’seconomy.

In addition to Coal, Virginia has one of the world’s largestUranium deposits currently untapped because of excessive environmentalregulation. Thanks to President Obama’s ‘permitatorium’on off shore drilling; Virginia cannot tap our off-shore oil reserves makingAmerica dependent on foreign Oil reserves predominantly managed by regimeshostile to America.

To summarize, proven sources of energy are locked behind a bureaucraticand regulatory wall that appears to be growing. At the same time, money we don’t have is siphoned off to fund Greedefforts that produce no energy and Obama election funding crony capitalists.

What can you do? Tell your state representatives to support energyproduction for coal, oil, and uranium.

Solyndra, Entrepreneurs, and Us

2011-09-24T22:56:00.000-04:00

By now you heard of Solyndra;and if you haven’t here’s the rundown from Wikipedia dated 24 Sept, “InMay 2010, the company was personally promoted by President Obama in his visitas a model for government investment in green technology …a $535 million loan guarantee was applied for under the Bushadministration but the loan was denied. The $535 million loan guarantee waslater granted by the Obama administration. Private investors also invested morethan $1 billion into the company. The company'sinvestors and executives had made substantial donations to Obama's campaign,and the company had also spent alarge sum of money on lobbying.” –emphasis mine.

To put the $535M guarantee into perspective, the median Americanmortgage in 2011 is about $1300. If youlook at 1 yr’s mortgage payments, that’s $15,600 paid by the average family tolive in their homes/yr. If you take that and divide that into the amount loanedby the US Government at extremely low interest rates to Solyndra and you’llfind that the Solyndra loan guarantee could house 34,294 families for one year.Would you like to live 1 year without paying a mortgage? Couldn’t you lay in a nice college fund orstart a significant retirement account? How about pay off all your credit cardsor car loans? How about exercising your inner entrepreneur?

Because of the way the Whitehouse engineered the loan guarantee,the US Government is not the first creditor. The first creditor to recover anymoney from this mess will be billionaire GeorgeKaiser, a campaign financing bundler for President Obama. It would seemthat not all millionaires and billionaires need to pay their fair share. Not only do they not need to PAY; they are tobe PAID. Why?

Was George Kaiser an entrepreneur? In America, it is the entrepreneurwho is to be rewarded. It’s enshrined in the preamble to our Constitution, “…and secure the Blessings of Liberty toourselves and our Posterity…” Each of our founding fathers was an entrepreneur. Each had a vested stake in designing agovernment allowing them and their fellow citizens to flourish, develop wealth,and pass that wealth on to their children. It is the entrepreneur who makes ourmodern life possible.

So what of Mr. Kaiser, does he deserve largess from the publicfor his entrepreneurial skill? Actually no, his father and uncle were the entrepreneurswho started Kaiser-Francis Oil Company in Oklahoma. It was they who risked,built, and then passed on the family business, a multibillion dollar oil company– an EVIL Oil company. Oh-My!! That would mean Mr. Kaiser is an evil oilexecutive!! Yet he paid his indulgence to Teh One; and being absolved became eligiblefor low risk, low interest loans backed by you and I through ourrepresentatives in the Democrat controlled Congress of 2009. Your Federal Government at work.

There are words for this and one brave soul in America calledit for what it is and it’s practiced by both the Republican and Democrat elitesin Washington – CronyCapitalism. Federal, politically motivated manipulation is why real entrepreneurs work at a severedisadvantage to the crony capitalist. Despite these dis-advantages, entrepreneursstill attempt to succeed. And with each success, they employ the rest of us.Without those courageous entrepreneurs, America would be no better than any European feudalsociety – or worse. Each of us can look around our homes and look at ourpaycheck’s and thank an entrepreneur.

Each of us needs to re-think what we demand of ourgovernment. Government sponsored jobs programs prove themselves failures. Government Banking fails. Nuts, the governmentcan’t even deliver mail as well as entrepreneurially founded FedEx despite over200 years of practice.

We the people must elect representatives who will FIRE,RETIRE, and allow to EXPIRE, the entrepreneur killing programs, regulations, andtaxes the elites of Washington use to deprive us of our wealth and liberty. Withoutthe “…blessings of Liberty…” there is none. Our founders obliterated the oldfeudalism; we must obliterate the newfeudalism. November 6^th 2012 cannot come soon enough.

What Happened to the Tea Party? - It Transformed

2011-05-28T16:09:00.003-04:00

We protested. We changed two governors, first in Virginia and then in New Jersey. We added a Senator to vote against Obamacare, and maintain a filibuster. We gathered on the mall, at the Capital, to plead and beg the People’s House to stop Obamacare; they passed Obamacare. We changed control of the People’s House. Throughout the country we changed state houses, state senates, and governors. In Wisconsin, Ohio, and South Carolina we see fiscally responsible, conservative governance in action.

Tea Party 1.0 drove these changes; Tea Party 1.0 shifted the political dialogue within two years. In 2011 we launch Tea Party 2.0. Tea Party 2.0 builds on our Tea Party 1.0 accomplishments.

Tea Party 1.0 reactively protested. Tea Party 2.0 proactively projects conservative governance.

Tea Party 1.0 rediscovered American Judeo-Christian Constitutionalism. Tea Party 2.0 reasserts American Exceptionalism guarded by Judeo-Christian Constitutionalism.

Tea Party 1.0 stopped endless spending. Tea Party 2.0 seeks reductions in government size, scope, and scale.

For the Northern Virginia Tea Party, Tea Party 2.0 began with joining the Virginia Tea Party Federation enabling broader, coordinated statewide action leading to conservative governance. Tea Party 2.0 means a new and improved website – coming in July.

Tea Party 2.0 means moving away from ad-hoc, unfunded governance and coordination, to a structured, funded operation enabling staying power in NVA, a highly expensive operational environment. Tea Party 2.0 means expanded program to broaden outreach and coordinate campaign volunteerism for political leaders sympathetic to Tea Party governance objectives of limited, low cost government.

Tea Party 2.0 for NVA means a focused, disciplined effort aimed at changing the VA Senate from a governing body hostile to Tea Party objectives to a legislative body adhering to American legislative norms and giving floor debate to Tea Party favored legislation. Tea Party 2.0 means we take power away from centralized, bureaucratic administrators and return that authority to parents through school choice initiatives and replacing local school boards with Tea Party candidates.

Tea Party 2.0 means we’re asking Tea Party members to participate in campaign volunteer training. Then, take that training and find candidates worthy of your support and volunteer – here’s to another Tea Party year.

Heroes in NY-23 & Future Generals for 2012

2009-10-21T17:51:00.003-04:00

UPDATE 11/11/09 -

So SP stepped up and established the battle lines for 2010-2016. It's General 'Eisenhower' Palin and the 9/12-Tea Partiers against the DC elite axis - Both Republican and Democrat.

Even though Hoffman lost the NY-23 race, Sarah's endorsement drew out the Republican DC Republican establishment and beat them soundly. How do you know? Look at their response. The NRSC has backed off medaling in primaries. The NRCC and the House leaders accepted Sarah's Facebook endorsement of their health care plan. You don't hear a lot beltway based 'Sarah is bad' stories.

Lefty, socialist media is struggling to say Sarah lost NY-23. Winning NY-23 with Hoffman certainly was a Sarah objective. In hindsight, I am not convinced Sarah's primary objective was electing Hoffman. The Republican establishment did its best to hide its mischief in NY-23 and failed to an important audience - the conservative base of America. A key component of Sarah's political viability lies in her ability to motivate the base and earn their trust. Paraphrasing the Whitehouse's great political icon Mau, "Elites fight your war and Sarah will fight hers."

The DC Republican establishment demonstrates a remarkable inability to understand and play power politics. I'm confident if they step out of line, there will be an incisive Facebook posting to set the Republican establishment straight. The Republican establishment needs Sarah. Sarah needs the infrastructure of the Republican Party. The Republican elites have a choice. My bet is a political entity will make a political decision for self preservation. How will you know? Listen for who in the Republican establishment uses Sara's catch phrase - "common sense."

As the NY-23 battle unfolded, Sarah marginalized Romney and Huckabee. She made Tim Pawlenty look like the follower. Newt destroyed himself completing his transition to beltway insider. All are Republican establishment members. She demonstrated her fund-raising capability and signaled to anyone listening that she's got her eye on 2012.

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UPDATE 10/22/09 -

Looks like Palin's decided to be a Patton, or maybe a Bradley by sending money & leveraging Facebook to give Hoffman an endorsement. She risks a good bit of political capital on this race if it's not a sure thing for Hoffman. Hoffman raised $200k in one week with no party infrastructure. It is A LOT of money. It represents A LOT of support if it is from small donors. Maybe she knows something about this race a little bit ahead of everybody else.

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Future political science students will be studying the early post Obama elections for generations. Our grandchildren will want to know from their study how Obama affected our politics. The first place to assess Obama’s political impact will be the 2009 state elections in VA and NJ and the two special congressional elections in CA and NY.

Of these elections, NY-23 will cause the most head scratching by our grandchildren. There’s a simple reason. Our political elites took an easy win and turned it into a Democrat, liberal give away to the statists now running America’s government. The Republicans nominated a liberal ACORN sponsored candidate to a safe conservative district. How could the brilliant political elites nominate an ACORN favored, union loving Democrat to a center right Republican conservative district as the REPUBLICAN candidate?? Did they miss the town hall meetings? Did they miss 9/12 in Washington DC??

Once the shock of the elitist decision wore off, conservatives now see a true hero step up – Doug Hoffman. With little political experience, no budget, and no party support, Doug Hoffman signed on as the Conservative alternative to the elite Republican choice. Thanks to New York’s peculiar party affiliation rules and multi-party system, Doug Hoffman could, and has taken advantage of an opening.

Right now, Conservatives rally to support Hoffman as elite Republicans rally to make their bad decision right. Newt Gingrich, a once great conservative leader and hero to conservatives, threw away his leadership mantle by supporting the ACORN candidate. The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) invested its reputation and precious dollars into this race. Both Newt, and the NRCC battle for the Corrupt Washington establishment.

Dick Armey, Chairman of FreedomWorks, Tea Party ‘Grand Marshall,’ and former congressional majority leader rushes now to support Hoffman. Armey is supported by grass roots conservatives, Tea Partiers, and the Club for Growth. NY-23 is a battle. NY-23 is conservative vs. liberal. NY-23 is fossilized, entrenched power vs. a popular conservative uprising.

The question many political activists have been asking is “Where’s Sarah Palin?” Many believe that an appearance by Sarah would push Hoffman into the lead. In this district, she could. This district would add a conservative vote to congress. If Sarah did go to NY-23 conservatives could handily win the NY-23 battle. Then, we would be further from our goal of a smaller federal government regulated by the 10th amendment. How so? The answer can be understood when answering the question, “Where’s Sarah?”

Sarah will do to the DC elite political class what she did to the Alaska elite political class. She’s planning a wider, bigger effort than the tit-for-tat politics of Dems-in-Dems-out-Repubs-in politics we’ve practiced for the last 30 years. Those politics opened us to a radical restructuring of our nation’s government and its relationship to We the People.

In Alaska, Sarah upended the political establishment herself. The Alaska elites were small in number. One bold leader, one heroine could reform a corrupt state government. Fixing DC presents a different problem, requires a different strategic approach, and requires Palin tactics applied differently than in Alaska.

Others have discussed Sarah's resigning as strategy and tactics. For lesser politicians - it's suicide to resign. For Sarah - it gives hope that we can trust her with Power. It was our founding fathers' trust in Washington's use of power enabling them to trust our young nation with a powerful chief executive - the President. Trust is a highly valuable political coin. Rarity increases its value.

The DC political class is much larger than Alaska. It is better organized. It knows s Sarah’s planning something. It saw the tea parties - they know how many showed in DC on 9/12. The political class is made up of Republicans and Democrats. It controls over 40% of the economy. It’s often lost in discussion but our economy is appx $14 Trillion. The next 3 economies COMBINED, don’t equal the US economy even in its weakened condition. 40% of $14 Trillion is A LOT of money and power. Do you think those who have that power will relinquish it as Washington did at the beginning of our country? FDR did not relinquish power; he died grasping it. Today’s political elites will not relinquish their power without not just a battle, but a war.

In WWII, US military planners wanted to hit Germany hard in Europe. Churchill counseled against it. Churchill noted US forces were not as strong as US leaders thought and the Germans were not as soft as US generals thought. Churchill recommended North Africa for a reason. It was untested troops battling tested troops in a relatively unimportant strategic setting. Churchill bloodied the US Army BEFORE they had to take on a fortified Europe held by battle hardened troops.

NY-23 is the equivalent of North Africa for the conservative movement. The Washington DC GOP and NY GOP may be corrupt, but they are not intellectually stupid. The Dems might win NY-23 for a year, but in 2010 the elite GOP will likely win it back. Either way, the political elites retain control.

In North Africa, George Patton stormed in and defeated the Germans driving them from the continent back to their fortress Europe. Patton is unquestionably one of America’s finest fighting generals. His success on the battlefield did not translate to success off the battlefield. Off the battlefield, Patton caused strife amongst allies and within the ranks of the Army. It took Eisenhower to maintain the team, storm Europe on D-Day and deploy Patton.

Sarah's watching the NY-23 battlefield as any shrewd general preparing for D-Day (E-Day?) 2012 would. Sarah is likely using NY-23 to gage the strength of her future conservative Army.

She's not going to risk political credibility in NY-23 until she determines the true strength of the conservative team and its leaders battling the elites. If the team is really strong - Sarah is not needed. If Sarah is needed to win NY-23, then she has to be Patton, forsaking Eisenhower. Good for NY-23, bad for USA.

Washington won with a team - a team that included the French. Only a hardened, battle tested team can defeat the big government fortress constructed by our political elites. Sarah needs to find tens of Pattons, not be a Patton. What better way to find Pattons than let Pattons and other winners win the battles they should?

Sarah cannot be Patton. She needs to become Washington and Eisenhower.

We're the conservative, self-reliant free people. We're the ones who need to win NY-23, CA, NJ, and VA. We’re the ones who have to SHOW what free people do when threatened. I and many other folks - many who showed up in DC on 9/12- have had it with our Washington elites. Defeating and shrinking the DC Big Government is THE strategic objective. Putting the Federal government back into the confines of the 10th amendment is our mechanism to achieve the goal.

Which is the better army in 2012 - the one embodied by serfs we see in Detroit, Chicago, and other cities, or one with free citizens led by self-reliant Pattons like we saw in DC on 9/12? If you say citizens - then make it so. I have donated to Hoffman in NY-23, have you? I am volunteering in Northern VA - we have a battle here for the conservative movement. It looks good now and McDonnell will likely win. He needs to win big and drag as many conservatives across the VA House of Delegates line as he can - we need a blowout

President Obama and DC elites have made a strategic decision. They are pushing through a radical restructuring of our economy now. They are dropping Big Government incrementalism that has gone before. They’re betting we'll never re-trench. During the next 10-15 years the Marxist job will be completed by the courts. Dear Leader will come back – possibly to lead - he's young enough. How's that for a nightmare?

****WE**** need to be the Pattons. We need to run through liberalism like crap through a goose. We'll find our leaders in victory.

If Sarah is doing what I hope she's doing, we don't help her by being no better than OBOTS, pining away for our leader/savior. We need to be free citizens and our own Pattons. Our grandchildren should read about a victory for liberty in their Polysci classes. We’re the ones who need to win for grandchildren. And dare I say it, “Win one for the Gipper!” Time to work.

Miller’s Rust-y Debate in Virginia District 86

2009-10-15T00:44:00.001-04:00

Stevens Miller successfully earned the opportunity to serve the citizens of Loudoun as the Supervisor of the Dulles District of Loudoun County. In his short tenure as Supervisor, he raised tax rates, blatantly committed to voting for contributor positions on matters before the board, and established record of prickliness and name calling within the board. Regarding the last more specifically, he implied fellow board members were racist for not being “more inclusive” as the board worked to fill the position of county executive.

With less than a full term of citizen service – service he sought – Miller seeks a promotion.

To position himself for promotion, Miller moved from District 32 to the western edge of District 86. The western edge of District 86 lies within the Dulles District of Loudoun County. Tom Rust (R) represents the Virginia District 86, stretching east from Loudoun County into Fairfax County. District 86 includes the town of Herndon. Loudoun County and Fairfax County make up two of the three counties forming “Northern Virginia” - NVA

On Tuesday, 13 October, the two candidates debated. The League of Women Voters sponsored the event. The audience held about 80 to 100 people. The debate was moderated with three local reporters, each representing a different local paper, asking questions. Each candidate spoke for two minutes, followed by reporter questions, then followed by audience questions. At the conclusion of questions, gave a 3 minute close.

Two issues dominate NVA politics. Simply put, they are roads and schools. Northern Virginia is the 1st or 2nd most traffic congested region in the country. Northern Virginia is also one of the most highly educated regions in the country. Residents place a high value on education. In NVA, High property values closely correlate with high quality government run schools.

The early questions reflected the reality and importance of these issues to both campaigns. Both candidates stated and acknowledged a need for more spending in NVA to address roads and schools. Both focused on various needs for additional tax authority for local towns and communities. NVA provides a large chunk of the State of VA’s tax revenue. Consequently, NVA pays out more money than service received from the State of Virginia. Many districts in Virginia receive more services than tax revenue provided. Net receivers outnumber net payers, hence NVA will always be at a disadvantage in a legislative body. Candidate Rust explained this clearly and concisely to the audience. Candidate Miller acknowledged the circumstance.

As a practical matter, both candidates agreed that taxes and toll road fees need to be raised to provide NVA with revenue to build more roads and improve the roads already built. Of the two candidates, Candidate Rust demonstrated command of the issue. In a nut shell, a favorite phrase of Candidate Rust, both will vote to raise taxes for roads either through a locality tax, general revenue tax, or additional gas tax.

On schools, the funding issues parallel the road issue. Both candidates demonstrated knowledge and command of education. Rust panned Miller for cutting the Loudoun County school budget, which drew applause favoring Rust. However, any politician of any party who saves taxpayers money should be applauded and praised for saving. Miller should get kudos.

Additional issues addressed included Autism votes, pot shots about voting records, immigration, Chesapeake Bay pollution, and crime in Sterling Park.

Stevens Miller implied that anyone reporting crime in Sterling Park automatically assumed immigration was the cause – further implying that the citizens he seeks to represent are somehow racist when they report crime. Quite frankly, the discussion puzzled the audience. NVA residents for the most part are law and order focused. Illegal immigration is a crime and should be treated as such. Miller boasted of his work on law enforcement committees. While Candidate Miller emphasized knowledge of crime in Loudoun he did not make a case for what he could do as a Delegate to address crime. Generally, local crime can be better addressed from a County Supervisor position than a Richmond delegate position.

During the debate’s give and take, Stevens Miller stated all people have a “right to basic services.” Miller also remarked on the need to redistribute revenue based on need. No questions were directed to either candidate on these statements. Neither the audience nor Candidate Rust seemed to notice these comments. Against the back drop of the national debate on health care and the role of government in our lives, these comments need more examination.

Our Declaration of Independence and Constitution define our basic rights. If candidates are talking about rights to basic services and redistributing taxes – other people’s property - based on need, then we should know what those candidates define as ‘basic services’ and ‘needs.’

This point becomes critically important when a candidate takes up the cause of Autistic children and labels his opponent as uncaring in the face of special needs children and families. No American is unsympathetic or uncharitable towards special needs. Every American should examine and assess the motives of candidates. Candidates choosing heartfelt causes as a means to bludgeon their opponents need to careful scrutiny to validate their motivation. Are they truly asking us to help or are they looking for a stepping stone to increase their political power?

One has to ask, does Stevens Miller truly care about the special needs, or does he care about advancing his political career using special needs families? We may not get an answer to that before we decide on Mr. Miller’s promotion.

The final debate discussion point revolved around energy and the prospects of drilling for oil off the Virginia’s coast. Both Candidates were revved up on this issue. Both displayed technical knowledge of the energy subject. Miller advertised his degree in physics. Rust advertised his degree in Civil Engineering. For his part, Miller discussed ‘green energy’ and ‘renewable energy’ naming no specific technologies other than solar. Rust jumped on that comment noting – correctly, that solar energy is not viable in Virginia. After pouncing, Rust talked about harnessing energy in the wave motion of the ocean and clearly stated willingness to drill off-shore. Rust also emphasized the use of coal using modern clean coal technology. Rust presented a brief vision for Virginia’s energy future as the energy capital of the East Coast.

In my opinion, the last discussion point regarding energy has the most bearing on Virginia’s future for the next decade.

Numerous policy and economic experts are sounding alarms about the current, falling value of the dollar. As the value of the dollar falls, commodity products, such as energy products, will increase in cost. The cost increase comes as each dollar represents a lower and lower value for a given unit of commodity product, e.g. barrels of oil. In a nut shell, Americans and everyone in the US will be paying more for imported oil and products derived from imported oil in the future.

At some point, price increases, combined with the higher taxes coming from Washington DC, combined with a falling dollar will trigger an inflationary cycle. Once that starts, it will take tremendous institutional fortitude from the Fed to raise interest rates and cut the money supply to limit inflation. This of course will trigger a recession or deepen the one we’re in.

Discussions about roads, schools, immigration will be moot. Roads will be moot because fewer people will be working – high unemployment. People will drive less –high gas prices. Schools will be moot. There will be little desire to grow school budgets and services when people don’t have work, nor will the remaining workers be interested in new school initiatives. Immigration will not be an issue. Fewer people will come to the US in a recession.

If Virginia developed off-shore energy resources as envisioned by Candidate Rust, then Virginia will weather the coming inflationary storm. Benefits of a Virginia Led East Coast Energy capital are numerous. Virginians benefit first from supplying energy at increased commodity prices, e.g. oil and natural gas. Taxes from energy development will fill state coffers. Virginia unemployment will be mitigated by a robust energy industry that includes production, trade, and distribution of energy. Last, Virginia’s success will impact the national economy by directly lessening our dependence on foreign energy; thereby lessening our inflationary pressure from dollar priced commodities.

Candidate Closing Remarks

In the closing statements of the candidates, both asked for our votes. Both highlighted their strengths and endorsements. Unfortunately, Candidate Miller placed a lot of negative in his closing remarks, failing to emphasize his good stewardship of the schools budget and failing to give voters a reason to replace the experienced Rust with an inexperienced, negative Miller.

Accountability – A Taxing Proposition in VA

2009-10-09T09:48:00.003-04:00

"The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax." - Albert Einstein.

Einstein never tried to determine how Virginia Delegates voted on various tax bills. If he did, he would think filling out income taxes a snap!

The power to tax is the power to deprive citizens of their money and property. If you have no money you have no liberty. Informed voters know either explicitly or instinctively the close relationship between taxes and liberty. Simply put, more taxes equals less liberty. Our founding fathers understood this relationship explicitly. They declared independence from unjust taxation when declaring independence.

Our founding fathers declared independence with, “…Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness?” The “Pursuit of Happiness” was changed from the pursuit of property. Why? Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson recognized a libertarian aspect of the American character. They observed how each person had their own dream, their own understanding of happiness for themselves as individuals. They understood true Liberty meant that each individual could determine their own needs for happiness, hence the change from the narrow concept of “property” to a wider, more libertarian concept of “Happiness.”

Americans retain the attitude of our founding fathers: less taxes, less government means more liberty. A lot of people say if you raise my taxes, you will lose my vote – a great sentiment to use when voting. One problem, what if you don’t know who voted to raises taxes?

In Virginia this year we will vote again for the House of Delegates – the people controlling taxes. It would be good to know our candidates’ positions on many issues and most importantly on taxes. Albert Einstein used thought experiments to develop his famous theories. We’re not as smart as Einstein so we used Google as a practical experiment to find out how our delegates and candidates voted on taxes.

As an experiment, try Googling “tax votes” and the “Virginia House of Delegates voting records.” You’ll be surprised how little information you find. Voter guides can be found for a variety of issues including abortion, guns, smoking, etc. but nothing on tax votes.

The 7 October edition of the Loudoun Times-Mirror featured two Loudoun County districts, District 32 and District 86. The article quotes and discusses the four candidates vying to earn the right to represent District 32 and District 86. Reading through the entire article, you cannot find the voting record of the candidates including their tax votes. We’d like to know how our candidates managed our Liberty through taxation.

After a lot of diligent research and support from Tritium Quids (http://www.tertiumquids.org/index.html) we did find out how our Loudoun/Sterling delegates faired when voting on taxes. Here’s the run down:

From the Table above, all but Greason voted to raise taxes. In the case of Stevens Miller, he only raised tax rates in Loudoun County where he affects Liberty as a Supervisor. Greason holds no office and no Delegate voting record, so we report the pledge.

So looking at the race, if taxes (Liberty) are (is) the issue in District 32, – take Greason, since Poisson raises taxes. What happens when both candidates are taxers (Liberty thieves)?

What is the next thing government does after taxes to deprive you of Liberty after taxes? The answer is simple, they make regulations and mandates.

Government uses regulations and mandates to control your property, behavior, and person. The easiest property to control is land through zoning, a key task for locally elected officials. Through zoning ordinances, environmental protection agency regulations, fish and wild life regulations, disposal compliance regulations, and home owner association regulations enforced by courts, you are severely deprived of your full rights as property owners.

Stevens Miller is on record for using zoning changes to garner favor from contributors. See http://virginiavirtucon.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/conflict-schmonflict-stevens-miller-on-donations. Nothing like a public pronouncement of willingness to accept influence peddling. We know a Stevens Miller Democrat will raise taxes. In his own words, Stevens Miller, will use zoning to help contributors at the expense of the majority of citizens.

So when the candidates tie on taxes, which one is the lesser evil, or positively, which one ensures Liberty with less regulation? In the case of the 86th district, we tip our hats towards Rust.

We have enough taxes and government. Our goal is less taxes and government, more liberty. The best way to do that is to not let politicians willing to advocate influence peddling into office in the first place.

Quick Observations on 9/12 – After Two Weeks

2009-09-27T13:34:00.011-04:00

Quick thoughts on the crowd size and impact of 9/12 after the first two weeks

Crowd size: The pics were taken at the Vienna Metro stop on the morning of 9/12. In case you are wondering, the line is 2 city blocks long. Metro recorded an additional 235,000 riders on 9/12 from previous weekend averages. I don’t think that 235,000 additional people were going to see the Art Museum’s sword exhibit!!

There are many people denying the size of the crowd. Crowd deniers? :) Some including Bill O’Reilly, maintain it was only 70,000 people. Most others know it was significantly larger by factors of 7 to 15. The people who went know how big the crowd was. Metro knows how big the crowd was. The Washington DC Police know how big the crowd was and most importantly the majority of Americans know how big the crowd was.

Impact: The Tea Party 9/12 movement knows what happened as well. Like our Patriot forefathers, who took individual action in the early stages of our Revolution, 1773-1776, they acted individually, in small units, and groups. It took time for the leaders of the revolution to emerge and lead the hundreds of thousands who eventually beat back the most sophisticated and successful military of its day, The British army and navy.

Today, we’re learning how to defeat the most sophisticated political assaults on our country we ever encountered. The left leaning statists achieved a lot as most of us went about our business trying to make our American Dream work for us. With centralizing zeal, masked by stated noble motives, statists subtly restructured our America, making achievement of our American Dream more difficult and for those trapped in the inner cities – nearly impossible dream. The statists handicap our city centers with terrible, government schools, diminished expectations, and a mentality of dependence.

An element of statist success: siphon away Liberty through excessive taxation and channel that money into government funded, statist groups using non-competitive grants and earmark processes. When questioned, statists tell us of the noble intent. If that failed, the statist, acting in concert with media allies uses the coercive force of political correctness to discourage questioners.

Where Grants and earmarks can’t be used, statists in government use public employee and other unions by:

• Awarding lucrative union contracts to like minded statists
• Creating laws forcing confiscation of assets (money) from union members
• Preventing creation of disclosure laws and regulations for unions, Money flows without transparency
• Preventing the use of monopoly prevention laws from applying to labor, particularly in state and local governments

Where unions cannot be used, the statist uses the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA burdens industry with prohibitively expensive regulations. Industry is then forced to hire lawyers, lobbyists, and specialists familiar with arcane, byzantine rules and regulations, turning an agency with a noble purpose into a protection racket for the statist. Fail to comply with our rules and pay, or we will shut you down with the force of law, and an unlimited supply of lawyers funded by government.

The statist uses our government run schools to ‘educate’ our children. President Obama’s Department of Education (DOEd) blatantly attempted to enlist children to support the President’s policy objectives by issuing lesson plans directly to principals and teachers. The DOEd bypassed both elected school boards and parents. In the last week, we discover schools in New Jersey use religious songs to ‘educate’ children about President Obama. What makes this hyper offensive is the use of a children’s spiritual where the teachers replaced ‘’Jesus’ with Obama. So much for keeping religion out of schools :)

Thanks to the Tea Party organizers and leaders of the 9/12 movement – we now know what’s being done. We know we can and will fight back against the statist. Two leaders in journalism cracked the nut of ACORN. We’ve started to roll back the Obama Czars. We’re becoming more active in the defense of our uniquely American tradition and our unique heritage of Liberty. Every action taken to restore liberty, protect life, and restore property rights means the statist loses. The history of western civilization shows Freedom and Liberty win.

Celebrate Success: Two weeks after a seminal event in our 21st century awakening, we can hold our heads high certain of ultimate victory while remaining vigilant for the inevitable statist counter punch. Until it comes, we can enjoy our early wins against the statists.

Endearing Endorsements – Wilder about Deeds – NOT!

2009-09-25T16:01:00.004-04:00

Democrat Doug Wilder carries political weight in Virginia. Doug Wilder’s endorsement could have breathed life into Democrat Creigh Deeds’ struggling campaign for Virginia Governor. Based on the non-endorsement delivered by Wilder, it’s clear Wilder’s not wild about Deeds.

The damage done with this non-endorsement will be felt on Election Day. By passing on the endorsement for Deeds, Doug Wilder, as a black leader, signals a “no confidence vote” on Deeds to the black community, a vital constituency for Democrats. For voters of all races concerned about taxes, Wilder’s critique of raising taxes in a down economy further damages Deeds.

Deeds magnified the tax issue in this race with incoherent responses to reporters about taxes and his plans (or lack thereof) for transportation. After schools, there is no bigger issue in VA politics than transportation. VA is chronically underfunding road construction. Where road construction is funded, VDOT ensures waste through poor road design and worse road building, but that’s a subject of another post ;)

By critiquing the policy of increasing taxes, Wilder by proxy, critiques Deeds’s tax incoherence.

What makes Doug Wilder special as a leader is his dedication to improving the lives of Virginians. Most people know Doug Wilder for being Virginia’s first black governor. During the Un-Civil War, the Confederate government used Richmond, Virginia as its capitol. Given Virginia’s history, Doug Wilder’s achievement cannot be underestimated for its impact on Virginia and national politics. In some respects, Barak Obama owes some of his political success to Governor Wilder.
Wilder spent his political career building support for transportation funding, crime prevention, and clean government. He managed Virginia’s finances effectively and stood against raising taxes. He particularly opposes gas and sales taxes because of their adverse impact on the poor.

After leaving the governorship he flirted with national politics before returning to Virginia politics. For his return, he became active in Richmond politics. In Richmond, until recently, the Mayor was not directly elected by the citizens of that city. Doug Wilder was the first directly elected Mayor of Richmond. As mayor he focused on crime prevention, reducing gang violence, and cleaning up city corruption. During that time, he worked closely with the Republican candidate for governor, Bob McDonnell in McDonnell’s capacity as Attorney General. They developed a good working relationship built on solving problems like reducing gang violence in Richmond.

With all of the above, that is NOT the full depth of Deeds damage done by Wilder. The full depth of Deeds damage comes from the context of Virginia’s role on the national political scene.

Virginia is considered a ‘purple’ state, with the current Democrat Governor and Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman, Tim Kaine and the election of two democrat senators.

The Next Virginia election will occur against the current backdrop of major partisan fights over Barak Obama’s agenda, the national labor unions’ desire to rescind Virginia’s right to work laws, and ongoing ACORN and other corruption scandals. Barak Obama desperately needs another Democrat governor in Virginia. With a Democrat governor in Virginia, President Obama can make the case that his policies will not hurt at the poles. A Democrat loss will make passing President Obama’s agenda nearly impossible – blue dogs will run.

When Doug Wilder non-endorsed Deeds, Doug Wilder also non-endorsed Tim Kaine the governor, Tim Kaine the DNC chair, and the President. It seems Wilder’s not wild about Barak

What's A Creigh Deeds Democrat? - a Taxing Problem

2009-09-23T07:01:00.005-04:00

17 September, 2009 Northern Virginia Gubernatorial Debate:

"I like Obama personally. I think he's a smart guy," Deeds said. "I'm a Creigh Deeds Democrat."

Such responded the Democratic party's candidate for Governor of Virginia when asked a debate softball question, are you an "Obama Democrat?" One wonders why the NBC moderator David Gregory did not ask if Mr. Deeds is a Jimmy Carter Democrat? How about a Nancy Pelosi Democrat? Why not a John Kerry Democrat? Or, he could ask if Deeds was a Tim Kaine Democrat, the Virginia Governor (D).

As American Spectator noted, Deeds made news with his debate performance. Deeds highly watched candidacy ran away first from President Barak Obama politically - notable in Virginia because Tim Kaine heads the Democratic National Committee. As politics goes, the DNC head works as a political employee of President Barak Obama.

Tim Kaine uses his position and influence to stump for numerous Democrat candidates around Virginia. In one closely watched Virginia race, Rust vs. Stevens Miller, Kaine hosted a local meeting of Democrats supporting Stevens Miller in Herndon. Herndon may ring a bell as a town in Virginia was ground zero in the immigration battles of 2007. Stephens Miller currently serves as a Loudoun County Supervisor.

So what is a Creigh Deeds Democrat? We know a Jimmy Carter Democrat was a racist before he accused America of being racists. We know a John Kerry Democrat is for war before he's against war - a pattern repeated twice in his life with Vietnam and Iraq. We know a Pelosi Democrat is for disruptors and shouting before she’s against disruptors and shouters. She even called today’s protestors Nazi’s, one step below racists. We know Nancy Pelosi raises taxes through inaction, allowing tax cuts to expire in Dec 2009. We know a Kaine Democrat is against raising taxes in Virginia, before he raised taxes. We know Stephens Miller accused fellow board members of being bigoted before he denied making those allegations in the board’s search for a new county administrator. Miller, like all other Democrats cited, voted for higher taxes for Loudoun County.

We're learning what it means to be an Obama Democrat. It seems an Obama Democrat is a community organizer and then doesn't know much about the largest community organization - ACORN. We know an Obama Democrat plays the race card against opponents, before he thinks race isn't a force behind protests. We know he loved his Grandmother before he discovered she was a 'typical white person.' We know President Obama was for necessary fighting in Afghanistan before he wasn't sure about the necessary fighting in Afghanistan. We know he was for tax cuts to 95% of America before he wanted to raise $1700/year/family through Cap and Trade; $3800/year/person through health care legislation.

The pattern is simple. Say anything, including generally conservative things like lower taxes, to obtain votes and access the levers of government power. Then, constrain liberty after achieving power with more taxes and false accusations of racism and Nazism to stifle dissent.

So What is a Deeds’ Democrat? A Deeds Democrat is like any other Democrat, a liberty stealing, taxing problem for citizens.

When There Is No Liberty There is Death

2009-09-20T10:59:00.006-04:00

Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775:

"Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

Patrick Henry, a famous Virginian, called Virginia to arms at the beginning of the Revolution. This call to arms in different ways fitting the times, must be answered by every generation of Americans. The traditions of Western Culture demand a choice of every generation. Writings at the core of our oldest tradition from Judaism and Christianity tell us to know, "This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live." (Deuteronomy 30:19)

Every human soul has the spark of God giving it the freedom to intrinsically choose life or death; intrinsically demanding Liberty.

Today, an ideology alien to American ideals, our American character, and our tradition embeds itself in our body politic. It masquerades as a champion of Liberty and the underprivileged. Yet it deprives millions of their Liberty through excessive taxation and regulation. Those it does not enslave through taxes and regulations, it enslaves with dependence on Government. It traps others with inferior education imprisoning them; never letting them learn about their chained thought and lost Freedom.

Where explicit laws restricting Liberty fail, Judges subscribing to this alien, anti American ideology interpret our founding documents to advocate the destruction of life of the unborn and an ever expanding centralized power for our Washington DC based government. Where maliciously interpreted laws lack, this ideology enforces a speech and thought code through administrative rules in institutions of learning. Free people who disagree with the ideology are 'RACIST.' When they are not racist they are deemed to be against progress and science, whether the science is backed by objective assessments of facts or not.

It doesn't matter what the ideology is called. It has been called communism, progressivism, liberalism, socialism, fascism, and lately, statism.

What matters is the response of free people to this ideology and its tyrannical fruit. This ideology promotes a tyranny of taxation, regulation, thought, and speech. Patriots of Liberty must stand against this tyranny and all who subscribe to this alien, anti-American ideology.

This ideology achieved a significant victory in 2008. Individuals who promote and embody this ideology now control our government, our institutions of learning, and unfortunately some of our larger business enterprises. Hubris causes them to drop their masks and show what they envision for a changed America.

In the America they envision, no person escapes the control of the state. From birth (if you escape abortion) to natural death (if you escape physician assisted suicide) the state determines your income, possessions, your movement, your housing, and education. Any deviations from the state's concept of ideal are met with coercion through control of income, property, and with government schools, education and thought.

Patriots reject this vision. We reject those who promote the ideology fostering this vision. We embrace our founding fathers. We embrace our tradition of Freedom and Liberty.

We stand against tyranny. Through the ballot and modern technology we oppose the destruction of Liberty, we will turn the tide, and we will restructure our government at the local, state, and federal level. We will restore the vision of America's founding fathers of government for and by the people.

Now we go to work - taking our country back one election at a time - first up Virginia and New Jersey 2009.