novatownhall blog

Our economy is in the toilet, agreed?  We have non-compliance with our laws and apathy for those poor immigrants (legal and illegal) who just want to bilk our system yet retain their cultures intact.  Well, why the hell not?  I have a solution for a win-win proposition that will cure all our current woes…….land annexation.  It is very simple when you think about it.

First, we send a shrimp boat down to Cuba heading for Gitmo….the long way around.  Since we have won the war in Iraq, we now have a plethora of military personnel that need something to do.  When Cuban forces open fire on our shrimp boat (which will have some insignificant U.S. diplomat aboard), we can declare war on Cuba.  We’ll use the prisoners at Gitmo for “bombing missions” at military installations on the island.  Of course they will do this for us or face having to eat a pound of raw bacon (tape worms are a backup plan).  Now we have a strategic island to park nukes on (nothing new, right?)

Next we send another insignificant diplomat into Mexico to flirt with, say, the President’s wife or some cartel’s squeeze.  Once that fight ensues, we invade them.  Now we have all the medical marijuana that California needs and they can get their sorry ass out of debt without us having to do a bailout.  The money we confiscate from the cartels will pay off politicians here to vote the “conservative way” and reduce those losing expenditures we are feeling.  Of course, all Ex-panics look alike so we can just continue conquering all the way down to the (and including) Panama Canal.  Now that we got the Jimma project back in our ownership we can levy heavy tolls on the Chinese ships that are making their way to the left coast Wal-Marts.  In no time at all, we will break even with the China debt and go into the black.

Next we take all the illegals and park them down in their respective (or possibly) new countries and fit them with explosive ankle bracelets.  Around each respective country will be one of those invisible fences that zaps you when you get too close only this will have harsher repercussions.  That will keep the little suckers where they belong.  And we can take all the Sharia compliant people and park them down there also (plenty of desert) where they can practice their way of life without having to change ours.

Now we can call the place the United States of South America or maybe The United States of America Part Deux but I think giving it a military rank would be more appropriate:  The United States of America-Second Class.  We can make Joe Arpaio supreme ruler and dictator of this little nation.  Their main resources will be agriculture (wheat for bread) and pigs (for boloney of course) to feed the masses.  Well, maybe not the Sharia-ites but change or perish I always say.

No, I didn’t forget about Cuba.  Those missiles?  Just go ahead and slam America one more time.  I dare you.

Did you miss me???? 

With the way the country is, and the way Lincoln trampled the constitution (even call these united states “a nation” instead of looking at this as a union of independent states) we need not a right of cessation, but a right to expel. I’d like to put on the list Maryland, Mass., California (at least the southern part), New Jersey, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan and a hand-full of New England states.

According to Investor’s Business Daily, the 2nd Quarter GDP will be revised downward to reflect the increase in imports.

GDP means “Gross Domestic Product.”  What does the value of our imports have to do with how much we produce?

Can someone explain this to me?  I just don’t get it.

A friend of mine, and of this blog, has really taken a financial beating lately because the family breadwinner happens to be in one of the U.S. and Virginia governments’ most un-favored classes:

Citizen, carpenter.

If any of you need any work done that does not require high-ladder work, please respond in the comments and I will connect you with him. Even if it is a small job, it would make a difference. This is a family that does not want to ask for handouts but just wants a chance to do something useful and get paid for it. What a shame that that proposition has now become completely iffy in today’s pro-illegal environment.

As most of our readers know, American blue-collar tradespeople have been relegated to the dumpster by Virginia’s state government and the disastrous presidencies of Clinton, Bush and Obama. Companies using illegal workers have been undercutting the bids of those playing by the rules to such a degree that American workers have been completely shut out. Both Virginia and the federal government have winked at this and given tacit approval for years. Bob McDonnell gives absolutely no indication of wanting to balance the playing field for those who play by the rules, so we can assume that life is going to pretty much suck for any legal resident of Virginia who was unlucky enough to learn a trade.

I, frankly, welcome any opportunity to stick it to the man while supporting my fellow citizens, and therefore have made it a point to make sure that anyone doing work for us uses legal workers. It is not easy, actually, because it is like navigating a black market to find a company still in existence that actually plays by the rules.

Please note, the Bulletproof Monk has exactly one such company, and if you need work done, by all means contact that man.

But it would also be good if you were interested in contacting this American carpenter in Sterling who just wants a chance to do some work, and whose family is really in a lot of pain right now as a result of Virginia’s employment law enforcement which is entirely skewed toward companies that use illegal workers.

At least, give him and the Monk a shot at your job. Leave a note in the comments if you want a job quote. Thank you.

We are evolving into a nation of moochers, a process which has been apace for years but the twist now is we are mooching off of Americans who do not yet pay taxes and in fact have not yet been born. It is happening at the state level – thank goodness, not so much in mine – but it is the federal government we should all be very concerned about right now. The theft taking place under the Democrats, who have controlled Congress since 2007, and President Barack Obama is unprecedented in its scale.

As Smitty notes in one of the best blog posts I’ve seen in weeks:

Remember, this hairball has been a century in the making, and will, at bare minimum, require a decade of your best effort just to get that hydra chopped down to something reasonably un-lethal. Incumbency is the enemy. We The People can either rule, or enjoy slavery.

Go read it all, read it again, and then get your game face on for the campaign season which is about to begin.

Our focus must be 100% on the Democrats in public office who are pushing us further into debt slavery.

Just some recent examples to highlight the absurd level of heedlessness these larcenists are operating at:

- $23 million to promote abortion in Kenya.
- $192 million on signs promoting the utterly failed $797 billion “stimulus” boondoggle.
- $22 million to provide high-tech training … to workers in South Asia.
- And now they are poised to steal billions more to reward reckless borrowers in mortgages they can’t afford. You and your children and grandchildren will be paying the moochers’ bills.

This is all being financed with money our country does not have – debt imposed on future generations.

The federal government is filthy with programs we cannot afford and institutions which never should have existed in the first place. There needs to be a housecleaning of Robespierrian proportions, a slash-and-burn campaign on the federal budget. The federal government is meant to provide national security: Everything else should be on the chopping block. Our rule of thumb going forward should be “take it over and shut it down.”

Those who pay for the government must be in charge of the government. Those people, companies, industries and factions who are financially supported by it will receive only what we decide to give them.

To be sure, it has taken both Democrats and Republicans to get us into this mess. A bipartisan line of personages stretching from decades in the past up to the present day deserve a pox on their houses. We can’t separate all the wheat from the chaff along party lines. So if the Republicans currently holding office and the ones we will be putting in office from 2010 through 2014 do not take immediate action to reverse the criminal direction of the federal government we need to end their political careers with extreme prejudice. But let’s face it, the GOP is our only hope. Republicans certainly contributed to our precarious financial situation but Democrats have taken the theft to an entirely new level and one from which our nation may never be able to recover.

It should be more than evident simply by who brought us Obamacare and who did not which party needs to be chastened and which one needs to be tossed in the dustbin of history.

Anyone with the gall to run for public office under the Democrat party banner must be laughed out of all public forums and if they will not slink from the stage they must be shamed and scorned, because they no longer deserve to show their faces in civil society. This cabal of Democrat office holders is guilty of the attempted murder of American liberty. Their misdeeds must be memorialized in perpetuity so the destructive path of our current federal government is never taken again. Having a “D” after your name should be treated as the equivalent of membership in Cosa Nostra and assigned a similar degree of respect in American public life.

There are many problems facing our country and voters are motivated by different concerns, but the threat which should have our laser focus is the one that is in the process of turning us into a third-world nation over the next 20 years. Debt slavery should have every American’s attention. Those who will do the hard work of liberating us should have our undying support. The primary racketeers – elected Democrats, public employee unions, ACORN spin-offs and all the other leftist organizations – are threats to our nation’s future and should be viewed with all appropriate seriousness.

Financial Reform just passed with 3 GOP votes to take it over the top.  What does more departments with more minorities and women have to do with Financial Reform?  That isn’t even a taste of what is in this new bill that NO ONE has read.  We just found out that Obama waved his magic wand and now Healthcare Reform will include FREE screenings and consultations-without even a co-pay BUT only if you are on the government plan.  What’s next but cap & tax AND immigration reform.  So you say to me “ACT, just be patient.  The elections are coming and we will change all this”.  My ass!  By my recollection, there are still about 6 months before elected officials take office in the new Congress and during that time the Chinese might have already started setting up labor camps because we passed the “Asia Cancel Our Debt For Our Country In Trade Act”.  I find it very difficult to laugh this predicament off.  How will we go about re-establishing sanity, growth, wealth and our Constitutional rights after these massive, invasive bills are passed.  How do we stop Obama from creating more government offices with insane salaries?  I would like someone to tell me I can retire without the government taking everything I own anytime they want to.

These kind of actions started the War for Southern Independence.  Why have the states with balls (are there many?) not recalled their congressional representatives back home as a sign of boycott?  Why hasn’t Va. sued Dodd, Frank, Reed, Pelosi and others (including Obama) for not upholding the Constitution, curcumventing states’ rights and criminal activities which have resulted in the taking of liberty, monies, earned wealth and happiness (and the pursuit thereof) from its citizens?  I don’t owe bank bailouts-that was a lie.  I don’t want someone to not play by the same mortgage rules I do and not be penalized.  I don’t owe ANYONE a free ride and feel that I shouldn’t have to buy someone a ticket.  This is not going to change after the election and it is time to stop this free liberal ride.

You guys hate that issue of secesion.  You want to wait things out and go by the “process”.  Guess what?  That “process” is on the upper shelf in the closet of the White House-not to see the light of day.  If we do it correctly and Obama and Congress do it incorrectly, what is the score so far?  How much money, time  and quality of life will be lost forever while we are trying to stop the hemmorage much less reverse the flow before we get to just break even?  When is it time to keep all your paycheck until tax day; give what you have to your kids now before the gov’t gets it when you die; turn off all news media completely; make a class action suit by STATES to sue personal individuals in the U.S. Government; secede.  Just check other countries around the world and tell me which ones you think we are becoming.  Then understand how they got that way and how long it took.  The government is not corrupting the Constitution-only itself.  The Constitution can be saved but only if these new ideas/laws/mindset are rejected.  How do you go about doing that?  Hope and change in the upcoming elections aren’t going to do it!  Mark my words.

Democrat Stevens Miller, Loudoun County Supervisor from the Dulles District, voted with the 5-4 majority to approve the Kincora Village mixed-use development near the intersection of routes 7 and 28.

The village will include up to 2.7 million square feet of office space, as well as commercial retail, two hotels, a performing arts center and 1,400 multifamily residential units. At least 228 of residential units will be designated as affordable housing.

The board approved a separate application for the 5,500-seat accompanying baseball stadium in July 2009 that will be home to an Atlantic League professional team.

The other Board votes in favor of the project were Republicans Eugene Delgaudio and Lori Waters, Independent Scott York and Democrat Susan Buckley.

There are numerous arguments for and against Kincora, with cogent voices on both sides. I personally think Loudoun County is in a heap of hurt when it comes to business tax revenue and we really need to play catch-up to attract more commercial enterprises into our county, so I think Kincora is necessary to help keep us from going broke. But I understand those concerned about the 1400 residences it includes.

As they say: Reasonable people may disagree.

Supervisor Miller was voted into office with the help of anti-development constituencies who are not so forgiving. Below is an e-mail from Marcia de Garmo, secretary of the Piedmont Environmental Council, sent on July 9, 2010, under the subject heading of “Kincora & Metro – a Major Doublecross by Stevens Miller”

This message from Stevens Miller, one of our endorsed candidates, whom VLF helped with over $16,000 worth of mailings and other types of help — not to mention blood, sweat and tears in phonebank help — is MADDENING. His “transit link” is an example of “lipstick on a pig!” I’m sure you find it frustrating and disheartening as well. However, do send an e-mail. I’m told they don’t see/read the messages that go to bos, so send them to the individual addresses.*

To me this message shows that Stevens has been going into contortions to find a way to support this project. Furthermore;

1) It appears that this wonderful shuttle would link TWO projects that have not been approved! Foxgate is apparently not approved, and Kincora not either (till Monday).

2) If this Kincora developer gets the approval and flips the property (totally totally likely), the proffers (ALL the promises they’ve made, including this one) can be and will be renegotiated and can/will go away. It’s happened time and time again over the years – and all the Boards have fallen for it.

Exerpts from SM, with comments by me!

“I expect that the final proffers will be sufficient in my mind to justify??? bringing this mixed-use project into our community,” are we looking to find some sort of reason to “justify” voting for a bad project?

” to provide more businesses and commercial amenities to our Route 28 corridor,” TRUTH: 28 corridor has 18 MILLION Sq Ft of commercial ALREADY APPROVED but not built!!! 9 million built, of which 3 million are empty! The Fairfax portion of 28 has another TWENTY MILLION sf actually built, but empty!!!

“and even a modest residential component of a type that I believe Loudoun still needs.” HUH?? with +/- 40,000 approved but unbuilt units in eastern Loudoun? not to mention many that are built but unsold, by developers or individuals? with 18,000 of those being “multi-family” as is envisioned in Kincora?

If so, my hope will be that this decision will also send the message to the region’s businessfolk that Loudoun is the right place for them to bring more projects that will help diversify our tax base and grow our local economy. Do we need more PROJECTS to grow the economy? We have PROJECTS for the next 100 years!

This is a Pro-Developer vote – not a pro-business vote. There IS a difference.

Leaving aside the insinuation that Supervisor Miller was bought and paid for by the PEC and VLF (Voters for Loudoun’s Future) – so how dare he exercise independent thinking – Ms. de Garmo’s e-mail illustrates the peril public officials face when they attempt to do what every public official is supposed to do once in office, regardless of who paid their freight on the trip in: vote according to their best judgment.

Kudos to Stevens Miller for doing what he thought was the right thing, even if it was the unpopular thing with some of his benefactors.

(And just to head off the potential heads exploding here: I am aware Mr. Miller has made some dumb public statements in the past, especially with regard to advocacy efforts that your humble narrator once spearheaded. I would hardly count Stevens Miller a brother-in-arms, and you will recall we supported Tom Rust in the last election cycle. HOWEVER, when it comes to dumb public statements, we have all made a few, have we not? …. in the heat of battle, and all that? I have had a couple conversations with Stevens Miller and he is not a stupid man, and if we could tear down the ideological edifices arisen from past battles we might be side to side on some issues. Anyway, I respect his vote on Kincora, and I hope you do also.)

Countless citizens, homeowners Associations, professional organizations, and a broad spectrum of business interests from across the county have come out in opposition to the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act ( CBPA ) now under consideration by the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors. This legislation, is bad for home owners, it is bad for business, and will become a drag on economic growth in Loudoun County for years to come if adopted.

The recommendation and support by both county staff and the planning commission is based more on the whims of a handful of social engineers and politicians, than that of sound science. The CBPA is environmental policy crafted twenty years ago for an entirely different region of the commonwealth. This legislation was never intended for Loudoun County. Advocating for its passage is like pounding a square peg through a round hole and then paying for the privilege for having done so. It is a waste of time, energy and precious resources.

The more one examines the details of this legislation, the more one realizes the greatest danger in its implementation, is that it expands the size, scope and cost of county government at a time when resources are scarce. Loudoun County can ill afford to be wasting valuable resources having just cut essential services in the shadow of back to back budget deficits. Implementing this legislation is fiscally irresponsible.

A vote for passage of the CBPA in the face of overwhelming opposition, the facts as enumerated within the legislation, sound science and at a time of economic uncertainty, is both irrational and politically tone deaf.

One of the saddest things I’ve had to do was to let my principal know that I was leaving teaching. I love the kids, but I cannot afford what has been a passion for the past 8 years. When I started teaching, I thought I’d be able to stick it out. If the payscale had been kept that stated what I’d be making, I probably would have been able to (this year, I might have hit “break even” on income verses expense, and I almost certainly would have next year). The pay freeze last year, and now the pay cut for next year precluded that, and so I’m moving back to private industry. With the way things are going, even though employment is picking up in the private sector, I see nothing for the next several years for teachers in Loudoun, who next year will be at the bottom of the northern VA, DC metro pay for teachers.

Folks, it isn’t there fault. There may be exceptions to the rule, but teachers are a hard working group that put in way more than the “contract hours” that is the agreed amount of time. I feel sorry as much for them as I do the students in the public schools (want to demoralize a worker? Cut his pay in the midst of inflation … the only ones that will stick around in that situation are the ones that cannot leave).

For me, I wouldn’t want to leave, but I cannot stay. I do have a choice, and the choices are good as well. What I go to is sure to be fun, challenging, and more importantly, appreciated.

My principal appreciates my work, but the people who “own the company” don’t seem to appreciate the work. They have said that not only is it not worth what is being paid (the pay cut) but the work has to increase (student/teacher ratios are increasing next year). That sounds an awful lot like “we don’t need you here” to me. In private industry, you only cut the pay of those you want to drive elsewhere, or if the company is about to go under. In either case, the best and brightest leave near immediately.

I must not be best and brightest … I stuck it out last year. But the ship is sinking … Loudoun county is unsound financially, and only those that are foolish work for an unsound company.

I feel really bad about leaving the kids. Them, I love. But that won’t feed my own family. Sigh. Forgive the long winded goodbye to the schools; I’m sentimental and I tend to be very loyal to my employer.

The Office of the Loudoun County Commissioner of the Revenue is a very competently-managed government agency and we should all be grateful for the work of Commissioner Bob Wertz. As most county residents should know by now the office has implemented a new, online payment system which is saving us money and demonstrates a good grasp of both IT and customer service. On the latter, the aspect that impresses me the most when dealing with his office is one can tell that Bob runs it with sensitivity to the customer’s perspective – as in, “if I were a customer, how would this look and how easily would it work.”

Many of our readers will know that I am not shy when it comes to complaining about badly-managed government organizations and crappy organizations in general, which includes most government agencies I know of. Having run a mid-sized business in Northern VA for the past 10 years, the last five in Loudoun County, I have now had numerous opportunities to deal with the county on matters related to taxes and business licensing, and on a personal level I spent some time a couple years ago researching Loudoun budget issues. Bob Wertz’s office is really good to work with.

Along with most of the county he has reduced the size of his staff through attrition yet over the past couple years has increased the level of service. If that is not the definition of what we want from our government I don’t know what is. Also, in conversation with Bob I have learned that he and I share the exact same philosophies of customer service, limited government and fiscal responsibility, as well as the need to bring more businesses into Loudoun to help right our financial ship.

I know we do a lot of tearing down on this blog, especially when I am the author of the moment, so it seems important to say something positive when someone is doing a good job. We should all be focused on making Loudoun more business-friendly, and I can say for certain our Commissioner of the Revenue is doing his part. Thank you, Mr. Wertz.

Well, of course we all know of the 0bamacare disaster that will force the young to pay more for insurance than they should be, and we all know that the tripling of the deficit is stealing from those who will have to pay it back (the young).  But few know that the Social Security taxes the young now pay will not be credited to them.  Why?  Because only the highest 35 years are counted.  So for someone who starts working at 18, and retires at 67 has worked for 49 years, but only 35 count.  So for 14 years, the government will take their 15% FICA tax without giving them credit for it.

Let’s get our youth informed about what the government is doing to them.

Answer: You damn bethca they are!  It has begun that “PC” or political correctness is now a death thro for Constitutional Americans.  No longer are we going to sit back and be drug through the mud or made to feel guilty about something that is right and is the law.

It appears that Al Sharptounge and Jesse Jackass are fighting a “new” civil rights movement for…..NON U.S. citizens.  The Arizona law to stop suspected illegals and ask for documents is being characterized as terrorism.  Excuse me?  San Francisco wants to break any contracts or ties with Arizona because of this law.  Can you guess who is the most outspoken group againest it?  That’s right-the illegals.  Imagine that.  Problem is, the only people listening are the liberals; who don’t want to lose what they believe to be a new voting base, and those individuals who already hate our laws and want to just give “open arms” to the world….at the cost, of course, of the American citizen.

Now people are oh so worried about violating civil rights-which our current administration gives to the world citizens.  Okay.  I have a solution for that.  I believe that a set amount of police should set-up un-announced vehicle checkpoints every day in different areas of Arizona until further notice.  Now they can check for valid liscense, stickers and green cards.  This is prudent especially when the illegals usually drive around with a full car.  That will decrease the number thru deportation drastically and then they can move on to hospitals and government services.  Crime would abate; money would be saved thru services and English may come back as the primary language.  Then when the protests ramp up, check those in the crowd yelling for their rights, for THEIR I.D.’s!

I can have loads of fun with this because it is long overdue.  I don’t give a crap about WHY illegals are here and the sob stories of their plight in their own countries.  Do it right or get caught and deported.  I’m just glad that Cooch didn’t come up with the idea first on this one.  Not that I don’t want or expect him to jump on this bandwagon.  I just hope that the radicals that protest with the illegals forget THEIR I.D.’s.  Then they can be deported also.  You can never have enough free space in America for American citizens!

You may not agree with me but, heh, it’s a free country.  All I can say is “kiss my ass and go back where you came from”.  Amnesty is not an option here.  “it’s my money and I want it now!”

I’d like this to be almost a poll of our readers, so I’d really appreciate responses. It would also be worthwhile for those that are involved in a particular area to note that area (as their input is probably more accurate there than any other area).

I’m truly curious … what is fair compensation for an individual with an advanced degree, working as a professional in the following fields:

• Mathematics
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Biology
• Computer Science
• Statistics

How about these fields:

• Marketing
• Business
• Publications
• Training

And then how about:

• History
• English
• Foreign Languages
• Physical Training/Health

I’ve been saying it, and it is time to put-up, or shut-up. We need conservatives that will run for school board. People that will look at the whole picture, will understand that what they do will affect the whole county, and will implement frugal budgets.

At the moment, I’m not eligible … I still have to have a JOB and that means I’d have to quit teaching to be a school board member (if that changes, I’ll run … which if they do cut 290+ positions, I could be looking for work). Those of you that aren’t hourly, can take time off with at least some notice and have any interest in seeing taxes not go through the roof, ought to be able to get on board for this.

Who wants to run?

LCPS is Loudoun County’s largest employer. That is just plain scary. This means the single largest “product” of Loudoun County is the student population. Our productivity goes toward what cannot pay for itself (education needs other income as the source for the money to pay for it). It is no wonder that taxes are high in order to support such a structure. Not only that, but if LCPS is the largest employer, the rest of the county employees must make Loudoun even more government heavy. Government jobs need productive jobs (real productivity jobs, not service jobs) to support them. What industry does Loudoun provide?

We must attract and keep industry to Loudoun. Didn’t anybody study macro economics in school? What do we teach these adults in college these days!