Burn Them at the Stake like the Witches They Are

Was anyone at the 2nd Amendment Rally on the Mall on April 19, 2010? I need someone to explain to me why I should be comfortable with speech like this. I had no idea this nonsense had gone on. What I hear is very threatening speech.

Actually, I have never heard President Obama discuss gun control. Where is this hype coming from? Again, and I have said it before, talk and rhetoric like this pushes moderates, centrists, liberals and all sorts of people into a zone the gun folks probably don’t want to deal with.

I don’t know anything about these speakers but they sound like thugs to me. I don’t want thugs having guns. I suggest the gun folks chose more responsible speakers if you want to convince the rest of us gun owners without a cause to support you. Surely there is a logical explanation.

Were the Good People of PWC the Immigration Lab Mice?

Not to open up old wounds but we would be remiss if we didn’t show part of an old thread (originally posted on Antibvbl.net on 4/19/08)  as a brutal reminder of what can happen when people with an agenda take control.  You might recognize some of the old characters like Dan Stein and Mike Hethmon.  If you have any questions for these gentleman you will find them in Arizona as we speak. 

It appears that the good people of PWC really were the immigration lab mice.   Should we expect a thank you note from Arizona?

 Just for Old Time’s Sake:

 

 

Media Matters: Fox News’ ever-expanding ethics nightmare

Faux News Strikes again.  The following story is hot off the press about Fox News folks being too firmly entrenched in the various conservative political movements. I am not aware of any scandals but why would I be? I keep Faux News on a lot. I consider it to be a fairly good source for what ^&*() is going to hit the fan next which I need to keep the blog up.

On another note, Jon Stewart seems to be running a one man show with the same objective.  Stewart is calling them out left and right.   He makes fun of the hypocrisy he sees.  Maybe that is the best way.  I watch.  It is like turning your face away from a train wreck.  I can’t do it.  See  Jon Stewart’s Punching Bag, Fox News. (New York Times)

So, my challenge is, for the conservatives here to disprove this story. I know that Media Matters is scoffed at because it is liberal. You all help me understand if these ethic nightmares are valid or not. There is not a soul who isn’t aware of my opinion of Fox News. I am biased. No fair shot from the Moonhowler.

Media Matters: Fox News’ ever-expanding ethics nightmare

Another week, another handful of ethical scandals that should permanently sink Fox’s claim of being a legitimate news organization.

To recap: Last week, they gave us twin scandals starring Fox News stalwarts Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity. “Furious” Fox News execs pulled Sean Hannity from his planned show filming/fundraiser for the Cincinnati Tea Party after numerous news veterans and watchdogs called foul.

O’Reilly spent last week reminding us of his willful ignorance by repeatedly falsely asserting that “no one” on Fox promoted the falsehood that “jail time” was a penalty for not buying insurance under the health care reform bill. He was outrageously wrong.

Though Howard Kurtz reported that Fox plans to “keep a tighter rein on Hannity and others” in the wake of the tea party scandal, we remain skeptical. Fox has a long history of promising change in the wake of damaging ethics scandals, then failing to deliver on those promises.

Indeed, despite cancelling Hannity’s tea party event, Fox News has yet to cancel a planned appearance by Fox Business host John Stossel at a paid event for a nonprofit organization with very close ties to the energy industry. If history is any indicator, Fox will hold its breath and hope that everyone forgets about the Stossel fundraiser.

Of course, this being Fox News, Stossel’s planned fundraiser wasn’t even the cable channel’s biggest ethics scandal this week.

While a great deal of attention has deservedly been given to Rupert Murdoch’s statement that Fox News “shouldn’t be promoting the tea party,” the rest of his comment — “or any other party” — is equally notable. So, how’s Fox’s supposedly frowned-upon promotion of that “other party” — the GOP — going? In a word: lucratively.

As we detailed last week, Fox News hosts and contributors have raised millions of dollars for Republican candidates and causes using PACs, 527s, and 501(c)(4) organizations.

In a follow-up report this week, we detailed the massive scope of Fox’s fundraising for the GOP:

In recent years, at least twenty Fox News personalities have endorsed, raised money, or campaigned for Republican candidates or causes, or against Democratic candidates or causes, in more than 300 instances and in at least 49 states. Republican parties and officials have routinely touted these personalities’ affiliations with Fox News to sell and promote their events.

In their defense, they did miss Wyoming.

Were Fox an actual news organization that cared about journalistic standards, all of these ethics scandals would be excellent fodder for its weekly media criticism show, Fox News Watch. Unfortunately, as we noted last weekend, they ignored the O’Reilly and Hannity scandals in favor of such pressing stories as media coverage of the new Oprah bio. Forthcoming coverage of the Fox Newsers’ fundraising seems unlikely.

Media Matters reporter and senior editor Joe Strupp pointed out that while Fox News Watch was once a source of legitimate media criticism, the show has increasingly transformed into yet another megaphone for GOP talking points. Strupp quoted former Fox News Watch host Eric Burns (no relation to Media Matters President Eric Burns) saying: “The show was getting to be more and more of a struggle to do fairly. There was a progression of interference to try to make the show more right-wing. I fought very hard against it.”

As Media Matters President Eric Burns pointed out on MSNBC this week, “When you have a famed, well known Republican hitman — Roger Ailes — running a news network, this is what you’re going to get.”

Fox News has a slightly different take, however. As Fox News Watch put it in the promo for its segment on Ailes’ new ratings high, “Fairness plus balance equals success.”

Take note, CNN.

Newt Gingrich Declares Tea Party the Militant Wing of the Republican Party

Is this nomenclature helpful or is it off-putting? Is this the kind of press the Tea Party wants? Would it fare better being a third party? Is it possible for a third party to win in America?

If the Tea Party became a third party, would they just continue to court old Republicans who sang the right music? How would that work? Maybe Newt has better thing before he inserts his foot. I have heard people do not like what he said.

Arizona Governor Signs Immigration Status Law

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed a controversial law into effect today which requires police officers to inquire into a person’s immigration status.

According to MSNBC:

The legislation, sent to the Republican governor by the GOP-led Legislature, makes it a crime under state law to be in the country illegally. It also requires local police officers to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are illegal immigrants, allows lawsuits against government agencies that hinder enforcement of immigration laws, and make it illegal to hire illegal immigrants for day labor or knowingly transport them

.

President Obama has taken strong issue with the law which is the toughest immigration law in the United States.

How does this law seem to differ from the Resolution signed right here in Prince William County?

Is this the job for local police?

Don’t Let a D-Bag Teabag Sen. Lindsey Graham

Guest Post by Colonel Morris Davis, Attorney and Former Chief Prosecutor for Guantanamo Military Commissions. Colonel Davis is a Prince William County resident.

South Carolina has a reputation for setting the political bar as low as it can go and seeing who can slither under it. It’s the place where in the 2000 presidential primaries Karl Rove put the shiv to John McCain’s bid with a whisper campaign asking people if they’d be less likely to vote for McCain if they knew he’d fathered an illegitimate black child. While McCain hadn’t, oddly enough, the long-time South Carolina senator and leading segregationist Strom Thurmond had and hid the fact for decades until his death. It’s the state currently under the stewardship of Governor Mark Sanford who last year gave the phrase “hiking the Appalachian Trail” a whole new meaning when he lied to his wife and his constituents about his whereabouts while he was bumping bellies with his “soul mate” down in South America.

The bar was recalibrated downward again last week at a Tea Party Patriots rally in Greenville, S.C., by William Gheen, head of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC). Interestingly — at least to me — Gheen and I are from the same small town, Shelby, N.C., and we’re both graduates of Shelby High School, although I’m several years older and don’t recall ever meeting him. Gheen fired up the Tea Party base and had all of the Patriots in the crowd cheering when he said:

“Barney Frank has been more honest and brave than you (referring to South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham). At least we know about Barney Frank, nobody’s going to hold it over his head. Look, I’m a tolerant person. I don’t care about your private life, Lindsey, but as our U.S. senator, I need to figure out why you’re trying to sell out your own countrymen, I need to make sure you being gay isn’t it.”

ALIPAC issued an email press release saying:

The national border security organization known as Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) is officially calling for U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to make his homosexual lifestyle public knowledge in the interest of political integrity and national security.

“U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham is gay and while many people in South Carolina and Washington, D.C., know that, the general public and Graham’s constituents do not,” said William Gheen, President of ALIPAC.” I personally do not care about Graham’s private life, but in this situation his desire to keep this a secret may explain why he is doing a lot of political dirty work for others who have the power to reveal his secrets. Senator Graham needs to come out of the closet inside that log cabin so the public can rest assured he is not being manipulated with his secret.”

On the ALIPAC website, it says Gheen is a “veteran campaign consultant” known for “creating new voter outreach methods.” There’s nothing new about the slash and burn tactic of ambushing opponents with sleazy innuendo. Rove and others of his ilk in the radical right mastered the tradecraft long ago. The citizens of South Carolina have swallowed the bait before — ask John McCain — but I hope by now they have wised up and won’t let Gheen set the hook and drag them over the transom.

What brought the wrath of the radical right down on Senator Graham is that on occasion he breaks ranks with right wing orthodoxy and, heaven forbid, works with colleagues on both sides of the aisle on legislation. Isn’t that what our elected representatives in the legislative branch are supposed to do? If, as Gheen, ALIPAC, and the teabaggers seem to expect, all elected representatives stay in strict lockstep with the party then every vote in the Senate is a preordained 59-41 tally. What’s the point in convening Congress if there’s guaranteed gridlock and an immovable impasse? We don’t need fewer members like Senator Graham, we need more; members who don’t have their heads so far up the rear ends of the Svengalis that pull the strings of their parties that they’ve lost sight of why the voters sent them to Capitol Hill.

It’s disappointing to see groups like ALIPAC and the Tea Party Patriots try to stake a false claim to patriotism. The motto of Gheen’s organization is “fight back with ALIPAC,” but it appears the only fighting Gheen’s a veteran of is a verbal ambush of his own making on a career military officer. Gheen never served a day defending the country as a member of the armed forces (another PINO – Patriot In Name Only) while Senator Graham has been a member of the U.S. Air Force for 28 years. It’s one thing to talk the talk like Gheen, but Senator (Colonel) Graham has walked the walk in defense of America.

I was the chief prosecutor for the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay when the Supreme Court struck down the judicial system created by President Bush’s executive order and put the ball in Congress’ lap to craft a solution. Senator Graham invited me to his office and asked one thing: “What do you need from me to get the job done right?” That’s the attitude I’ve seen from Senator Graham; what’s the right thing to do, not what’s most politically expedient or what’s tracking best in the polls. In my view, that’s called integrity and there’s not enough of it on Capitol Hill.

The people of South Carolina elected Senator Graham to represent them in the legislative branch of government, not to be head deacon at their church. William Gheen and his type want to derail a good man — an actual patriot, and a dedicated public servant — by pandering to prejudice. I don’t care about Senator Graham’s sexual preference or if he even has one, but I do care about the direction our country is headed. We need leaders with integrity and principles who put the needs of the citizens ahead of their political fortunes. We need more Lindsey Graham’s and the citizens of South Carolina should be proud he’s their senator. I hope they don’t get teabagged by a d-bag like Gheen.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED…..

‘NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED’ is the crux of any resolution.  In this case, there are 4 key directives.   They  tell us what is going to be done.  All the ‘whereases’ are justifications.

The day before yesterday the  Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) released its report which claries the fiscal impact , if any, of the expansion of Medicaid.  Click here to see the entire report.

Poverty Guidelines

10 Components of the Healthcare Bill

In talking this out, why do we need a resolution to do any of this?  Just do it over time and report back.  Can’t the BOCS just direct Ms. Peacor to make a statement after the dust has settled and the ink has dried on the Legislation?   isn’t that what is supposed to happen anyway?

Why all the fanfare?  Why the proclamations from the court house steps and from the Tea Party Rally?  Creating an Opt Out Resolution which doesn’t even opt out  seems like bad business as usual.  What is the price tag for all this investigation?  What is the price tag for pulling people off of their regular jobs to do all this busy work?

The red print is from Moonhowlings.

The Directives from the ‘Resolution:’

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Prince William Board of County Supervisors requests that the Department of Social Services, assisted by County staff:

1.     Estimate the additional population eligible for Medicaid in Prince William County as of January 1, 2014 according to the provisions of the PPAC and the regulations which will probably be promulgated by the federal government to implement the PPAC; and

It will be difficult to estimate the county demographics for Jan. 1, 2014.  The best we will be able to do is estimation. Estimations may be extrapolated from other existing data.  However, the estimations  are not exact.  Furthermore there are benefits that cannot easily be quantified:

According to News and Messenger:

The 2008 American Community Survey reported that [the county’s] poverty rate was 5.2 percent in 2008, less than half the statewide rate of 10.2 percent and about one third the national rate of 13.2 percent,” according to the quarterly report.

The county’s median household income in 2008, according to ACS figures, was $88,724, leading to its rank of 16th in terms of wealth among the largest counties in the United States. Per capita income in the county for 2008, meanwhile, came in at $36,049, according to the quarterly report.

2.      Estimate the additional financial burden to the County taxpayers for additional administration of benefits for the newly expanded, less-sensitive population; and

What is a less-sensitive population?  A family of 4 making $29,000 is hardly rolling in the lap of luxury.  What is involved in administering Medicaid?  Processing an application, verifying eligibility, enrolling the person/family into the Medicaid program according to the guidelines is pretty much it.  Is there a hidden process we don’t know about?

  • The additional cost to the states represents only a 1.25 percent increase in what states would have spent on Medicaid from 2014 to 2019 in the absence of health reform.
  • The federal government will assume 96 percent of the costs of the Medicaid expansion over the next ten years, according to an analysis of CBO estimates.
  • And having more people covered as a result of the Medicaid expansion and other provisions in the health reform law will reduce state and local governments’ current spending on other services for the uninsured, such as mental health services.

3.  . Work with private health care providers to estimate the magnitude of the reduction of

Working with private health care providers?  Which party will these providers belong to?  How will they be selected?  This information will be anecdotal at best.  Didn’t Linda Chavez warn us about using anecdotal  documentation rather than scientific data?

Why should we expect there to be a reduction of available health care options for the Medicaid population?

Why isn’t the BOCS attempting to bring more medical services to the county?  Aren’t these businesses we are trying to attract?

4. Advise the Commonwealth and the federal government that unless additional resources are found at the federal and state levels of government to fund the administration of the expansion of Medicaid, that Prince William County will be forced to raise taxes on County residents or slash strategic services in order to fund eligibility workers to administer the massive expansion in the eligible population which will become effective on January 1, 2014 enrollment of newly covered beneficiaries.

Gobbledeegoop?  What did that paragraph just direct?  Talk about obsfucation.  Geez.

When will we advise the Commonwealth and the federal government?  According to the  CBPP study:

Contrary to claims made by health reform critics, the Medicaid expansion does not pose substantial financial burdens on states. The additional state spending that will result from the expansion is only 1.25 percent of what states would have spent in the absence of health reform, but it will cover 16 million more people, which will help reduce states’ costs for other programs and bring numerous other benefits to the states. The federal government will pick up most of the costs of the Medicaid expansion, overall making it a good deal for the states.

And…..(and let’s put that Peacor woman to work)

AND, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Prince William BOCS directs the County Executive to:

  1. Estimate the increased cost burden the PPAC will have on the County’s provision of health insurance to its employees; and
  1. Provide comment to the Federal government as regulations and procedures are written which implement the Health Reform legislation in order to ensure that the impacts on local governments both from the significant expansion of Medicaid and from the implementation of other sections of the legislation are fully articulated.

DMV Ferrets out White Supremist License Plate

I will admit it.  I would have been up all night trying to figure out why this license plate was racist.  I still wouldn’t have gotten it. 

VA License Plate:  14CV88

It seems that Virginia uses a computer to root out off color, racist and other types of messages that the state doesn’t want dotting its hiways and by-ways.  Sometimes, however,, expressions that aren’t quite as obvious slip through. 

According to the Washington Post:

The owner of a Ford truck bearing the license plate 14CV88 will have to find a new message after the DMV on Wednesday canceled its earlier approval of that series of letters and numbers.

A photo of the truck hit the Web a few days ago, went viral on car and other blogs and finally came to the attention of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an advocacy group for American Muslims. On Wednesday morning, the group complained to the DMV that the plate contained a white supremacist and neo-Nazi statement.

A few hours later, the DMV agreed that the plate contains a coded message: The number 88 stands for the eighth letter of the alphabet, H, doubled to signify “Heil Hitler,” said CAIR’s Ibrahim Hooper. “CV” stands for “Confederate veteran” — the plate was a special model embossed with a Confederate flag, which Virginia makes available for a $10 fee to card-carrying members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. And 14 is code for imprisoned white supremacist David Lane’s 14-word motto: “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.”

“If the license plate had been on a VW Beetle with nothing else on it, or a Volvo station wagon, no one would probably have noticed,” said Hooper. “But when the Confederate flag is thrown in . . . it shows the convergence of anti-government and anti-Islamic sentiments that unfortunately seem to be growing.”

The DMV would not release the identity or location of the vehicle owner, citing privacy laws. Virginia has the highest percentage of personalized plates in the nation

The giveaway that something was amiss, Hooper said, was the truck itself. An enormous photo of the burning World Trade Center towers covers the entire tailgate, with the words: “Everything I ever needed to know about Islam I learned on 9/11.”

It certainly wouldn’t have offended me.  I wouldn’t have gotten it.  I have a hard time decoding plates that are n’t even off color or racist.  I am sort of impressed that VA has the highest percentage of personalized plates.  That is sure making some money for someone.  On many of the plates, the addtional fees are due each year. 

A panel can convene to judge ‘expressions’ that might not be too obvious.  I don’t think that would be a good job for me.  How many people on this blog have personalized plates or vanity plates?  I am too cheap.  And why is 88 a reference to Hitler?  [best Jon Stewart voice: sillll eeeee]

Corey’s “Opt Out” Resolution

corey flier resize

Corey has issued a call to arms to his Tea Party base, or who he perceives to be his Tea Party base. Others have called it a call for anarchy.

Unfortunately, the Whereas remarks are mostly speculation.  The law does not take effect until Jan 1, 2014.  The rush to urgency is simply not there, regardless of how much Corey tries to make this a case of imminent impending doom.

We will post the actual meat of the resolution, items 1-4, individually in the next post.  Even the most casual observer will note that Corey’s ‘Opt Out Resolution ‘ opts out of nothing and will only cost the county money it doesn’t have.

The other supervisors are wise to his tricks now.  They realize that he is salivating to be  elected Lt. governor  in 2013 or elected to  some other higher office at either state or national level.  They also realize that he wants to climb up this ladder of success on their backs, not on what is good for the county.  They know that pulling  the Department of Social Services to do investigative work is bad business.   This agency  has recently regrouped and reorganized after the tragic death of Lexie Glover.  They have a new director.  To pull people  off of their routine work load to go do investigative work is wrong and disruptive.   When county people are pulled to work on other things, then the regular work load just doesn’t get done.

The power of 4 is going to be the power of a little bit more than 4, this time.

Below is a copy of the proposed “Opt Out” Resolution to be presented on May 4, 2010.

MOTION:                                                                        May 4, 2010

Regular Meeting

SECOND:                                                                        Res. No. 10-

RE:                 REALLOCATION OF COUNTY RESOURCES TO COMPLY WITH PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT  

ACTION: APPROVED

WHEREAS, Medicaid is an entitlement program authorized under Title XIX of the Social Security Act, financed by the state and federal governments and administered by the States. The Virginia Medicaid program is administered by the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS); and

WHEREAS, the provision of eligibility workers to enroll beneficiaries and administer benefits has been imposed on Prince William County government with insufficient overhead funding from the Commonwealth of Virginia to cover all costs of administration; Prince William County citizens fund 53% of the administrative costs of administration through their local taxes; and

WHEREAS, the Commonwealth of Virginia currently covers eligible children, parents or caretakers of children, pregnant women, elderly persons, and persons who are blind or disabled, and the Virginia Medicaid population for Fiscal Year 2008 was  487,929 children, 142,180 parents or caretakers of children and pregnant women, 81,541 elderly persons, 182,636 persons who are blind or who have disabilities; and

WHEREAS, due to the provisions of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed into law by President Obama on March 22, 2010, Virginia will add an estimated 400,000 residents to its Medicaid rolls, and by 2022, will spend an additional $1.1 billion, according to a projection from Virginia’s DMAS cited publically by Governor Robert F. McDonnell.

WHEREAS, private practice providers, general hospitals, children’s hospitals, and other health care providers have expressed grave concern that an open ended surge in Medicaid beneficiaries, and an anticipated decrease in reimbursement rates by States, will force providers out of business or force them to turn away currently served Medicaid populations; and

WHEREAS, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors strongly believes that there should be affordable access to high quality health care in Prince William County, and is gravely concerned that the changes to Medicaid will reduce the amount of affordable care available and reduce the Medicaid population’s access to health care as well; and

 

WHEREAS, Prince William County funds the administration of Medicaid benefits through their general fund, and the general fund is the primary source of funding for education, police protection, transportation, and all other critical county functions as identified in the strategic plan; and

 

WHEREAS, Prince William County currently provides local taxpayer funding totaling $6,526,214  within the Department of Social Services in FY 2010 administering benefits including Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Food Stamps, Medicaid, Refugee Resettlement, Auxiliary Grants for the elderly and disabled, general relief, and financial assistance to eligible families for the purchase of child care services; and

WHEREAS, according to testimony provided to the Board of County Supervisors on March 23, 2010 there is already a shortage of benefits administration staff and therefore insufficient capacity to handle the increase in the Medicaid eligible population created  by the federal PPAC; and

WHEREAS, the PPAC constitutes an indirect unfunded mandate which completely ignores the cost of administration to local jurisdictions, forcing them to reallocate their scarce human services resources to less critical populations;

WHEREAS, Prince William County will honor state and federal law but is concerned that the PPAC will place a significant new financial burden on localities in the near future;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Prince William Board of County Supervisors requests that the Department of Social Services, assisted by County staff:

1.      Estimate the additional population eligible for Medicaid in Prince William County as of January 1, 2014 according to the provisions of the PPAC and the regulations which will probably be promulgated by the federal government to implement the PPAC; and

2.      Estimate the additional financial burden to the County taxpayers for additional administration of benefits for the newly expanded, less-sensitive population; and

3. Work with private health care providers to estimate the magnitude of the reduction of available health care options for the Medicaid population in Prince William County;  and

4. Advise the Commonwealth and the federal government that unless additional resources are found at the federal and state levels of government to fund the administration of the expansion of Medicaid, that Prince William County will be forced to raise taxes on County residents or slash strategic services in order to fund eligibility workers to administer the massive expansion in the eligible population which will become effective on January 1, 2014 enrollment of newly covered beneficiaries.

AND, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Prince William BOCS directs the County Executive to:

  1. Estimate the increased cost burden the PPAC will have on the County’s provision of health insurance to its employees; and
  1. Provide comment to the Federal government as regulations and procedures are written which implement the Health Reform legislation in order to ensure that the impacts on local governments both from the significant expansion of Medicaid and from the implementation of other sections of the legislation are fully articulated.

Votes:

Ayes:

Nays:

Absent from Vote:

Absent from Meeting:

For Information:

None

CERTIFIED COPY___________________________________________________________

Clerk to the Board

Original Proclamation made by Corey over the weekend of April 10, 2010

Corey Stewart, All Facade, No Substance

corey 

 Once again, Chairman Stewart is using his fellow colleagues to promote his need for media coverage. I imagine they are getting pretty fed up with his antics. On April 13, Corey travels to Stafford to unveil his plan of anarchy, the plan where he is going to pass a resolution directing PWC staff NOT to implement the new Medicaid guidelines that will include accessibility to health care for a family of four making less than 29,000 dollars a year. You know, those pesky working poor that would otherwise not be eligible for coverage. Then on April 15, TEA party rally day in PWC, Corey hands out his flyers, hocking for support of his “resolution to opt out of Medicaid” on the May 4th BOCS meeting.

I am hopeful his fellow Board members are finally going to tell Corey that his mis-use of his office has simply gone far enough. Moonhowlings.net  has a copy of the actual resolution Corey will be proposing, and let me tell you, the supposed “lion” is simply a declawed domestic cat. Corey is lying to his base if they believe he has actually gone through with his threat to disobey the “rule of law”. All the resolution does is misdirect money to determine the impacts of the new recipients of Medicaid. We will be posting the resolution in pieces with our own refutations from plenty of credible sources.

Apparently, the folks at the News & Messenger agree, based on their editorial today: 

(posted in its entirety) 

 

EDITORIAL:  Keep your eye on the county, Stewart

Our View
Published: April 21, 2010
 
When will Corey Stewart stop giving the impression that he is running for the next office and focus on the business of the county?
 
Recently Stewart, the head of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, announced that he will put forward a resolution to prevent county employees from implementing new Medicaid regulations when they take effect in 2014.
 
While this may score him political points with the Republicans whose support he might need next time he tries to step to higher office, it doesn’t do much for county residents—the people Stewart is actually supposed to be serving.
 
Stewart said the new regulations—which are part of the national health care reform legislation—will be costly and won’t survive any real legal challenge.

Stewart also said, “I don’t think the county should be responsible for administering a federal program.”It is one thing for Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to challenge health care reform—he is, after all, the state’s lawyer—but Stewart’s realm of power is Prince William County and his duty is governing. That’s where his attention should stay.

Perhaps the new Medicaid regulations aren’t legal, but that is not something for the Prince William Board of County Supervisors to decide.

And they could be costly. Of course, the legal battles that could result from the county’s refusal to follow federal law would probably also drain the taxpayer’s wallet.

As for whether the county should be responsible for administering a federal program, it is interesting Stewart did not hold to this line of thought when he decided the county should take charge of enforcing federal law on illegal immigration. Sounds less like a principled stance and more like political opportunism to us.

We are all for Stewart being a strong county leader. We just wish that his strength could be focused more narrowly on local matters and less on attention-grabbing issues.

It does the county no good to constantly be in the headlines for the radical actions of some of its supervisors. The only people that benefit are people like Stewart, who garner press while the county’s reputation suffers.

The county can address the local impact of things like illegal immigration and the new Medicaid regulations, but it can do so in ways that do not damage our home or end up in court. The problem with Stewart has never been that he doesn’t fight for the county, it’s been that he serves the county second and his ego first.

 

 

Posted by Elena

Guns for Votes Exchange Fails

The House of Representatives will not grow by 1, at least not any time soon. The bill to give DC 1 vote in the house has been pulled. Republicans wanted the ban on carrying a gun in DC repealed. The Democrats refused and the bill was pulled.

So that is what it has come down to? I guess taxation without representation is alive and well. And I suppose the concept of states rights doesn’t matter in this case since DC is not a state and it can’t vote to make itself a state because it has no voting rights in Congress. Stop! My head hurts. Guns are more important than the right to vote?

Seen in AZ, not in DC
Seen in AZ, not in DC

Guns Rights Protest

The New American Tea Party: Jon Stewart Interviews Author John O’Hara

Jon Stewart was on a roll last night.  He interviewed  John O’Hara, author of The New American Tea Party. Jon called out John on language.  Other than the language issue (like ‘Obamacare’ and ‘tea bagging’) Stewart recommends the book. If anyone has read it, please report back in and let us know your opinion. Tea Party folks, enjoy:

Part 1

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
John O’Hara Pt. 1
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Part 2

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
John O’Hara Pt. 2
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party