Rainbow Riding Seeks 85,000 from County Coffer

Angelina_Apr

Two weeks ago the teachers lined up to implore the Board of County Supervisors to set the tax rate high enough to handle the needs of the school system, a hand crept out of Silver Lake, asking for more county money money.  The executive director of Rainbow Theraputic Riding  asked the county for $85,000 that woudl go to capital improvements.  It would put in a bathroom and pave the parking lot.  The parking lot needs paving because it is hard to push a wheel chair over gravel.

All of these improvments sound like a good idea.  However…..who should be paying for them?  Rainbow Riding serves just over 60 kids.   Should the tax payers be footing the bill?  We say no.  Money for special projects like this should come from fund raisers.  Too many county employees have gone without raises and worked overtime to just willy nilly hand over $85,000 for a program that serves less than 100 children.

Perhaps Rainbow Riding needs to consider putting in wooden ramps and walks to help with the rough gravel problem.  That would serve them in the short run while they earned the money for a more permanent solution to the parking lot problem.  This might be a good time for some of the wealthier patrons in the county and surrounding area to make a tax free donation to this worthwhile organization.  Regardless of how worthwhile an organization is,  we can’t pay for them all.

The county is much too free with its cash as it is.  Discretionary funds are out of control, we are sinking thousands into the tank museum and supporting the Hilton Center for the Arts well beyond what most citizens think should be happening.  Still other residents have complained about the large amount of money given to Manassas Ballet by the county.

Certainly the  county can chip in small amounts for arts and charities but at what point do we put a ceiling on these things, especially during economic down-turns?  Didn’t we just have to give nearly a quarter of a million dollars to cover the costs of the Sesquicentennial?   There has to be some control over who gets to stretch their hand to the county for funds.

 

 

Connecting…presidentially

MoonHowler

 

 

 

Much is being made on TV this morning about how Mitt Romney really just doesn’t relate to the average Joe.  He makes awkward remarks about his wife’s Cadillacs, fakes a southern accent and makes references to grits.  It  just makes you wince.  Comparisons are made to Bill Clinton and George Bush.  Does it matter?

People seem to want a president who is just like them.  To wit, look at the wild popularity of George Bush and Bill Clinton.  Those who liked both of these men, really liked them and overlooked some glaring character flaws and glaring mistakes made while in office.  Both Bush and Clinton could connect with others and make them feel like they were just like them.

Contrast the Bush/Clinton phenomena to others who have run for office.  Gore, the wooden candidate. John  Kerry? Would you really want to have to go drink a beer with him?  He just wasn’t like us.   Daddy Bush?  His wife, yes.  Him?  Not so much.  Nice guy.  Bubba gets along with him but Bubba gets along with everyone.  Mitt Romney seems to suffer the same fate.  He isn’t like us.  He knows he isn’t like us and he tries to fake it.  It isn’t working. 

For all we laughed at George Bush’s inability to publicly speak and called Clinton Bubba, these were endearing traits.  These traits made us over-look a lot.  Both Clinton and Bush know how to do people-speak and they know how to work a crowd. 

Does it really matter?  In the long run, no.  What are our chances of having to relate to Bush or Clinton?  They could both have the personality of a stump but its the impression they leave.  And its what gets them elected.  Getting elected is the hard part.  The rest is easier.  Presidents are removed from the masses.   I am not sure Mitt is ever going to connect.  He just isn’t one of the masses.