Eminent Domain to be on ballot this fall

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

Virginians will decide at the polls this fall if the state Constitution should be amended to make it harder for government to seize property by eminent domain.

Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (Cliff Owen – Associated Press) Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) this week signed legislation calling for the November referendum.

The measure was inspired by a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the right of governments to take private property for economic development projects.

The legislation passed the House and Senate last year. It came before the General Assembly again this year because in order to amend Virginia’s Constitution, the proposed change must pass the General Assembly twice, with an election in between. Then, it must be approved by voters through referendum.

Nothing got people’s hackles up like the Eminent Domain  Supreme Court case decided back in 2005.  The very idea that the government can seize someone’s property.  Although the moderates and liberals were fairly outraged, not one did the mad thing like the conservatives.   What I find interesting is that those calling for the City of Manassas to seize the property in Georgetown South and at 9500 Liberty Street seem come from the conservative wings of the City.

I suppose it all depends on the language of this proposed amendment.   I remember back when the interstates went through Virginia.  If the state wanted your land, they took it, paid you what they thought it was worth and that was the end of that.  Public good.  The State certainly should have to work hard to take your land.  I expect I will vote for the amendment but all depends on the language.

What will you do?  Is it  a shoe-in since this year is a presidential election?

Virginia Property Rights Coalition 

Huckabee to host talk show during “Rush time”

MoonHowler

Huffingtonpost.com:

Rush Limbaugh, the longstanding undisputed king of conservative talk radio who’s been dogged by controversy recently, is about to face some more heat. Not from the left, but this time from the right.

On Monday, former Arkansas governor and one-time Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee will launch a three-hour radio program on almost 200 stations across the country, going voice-to-voice with Limbaugh in the noon-to-3 p.m. time slot, Monday through Friday.

Cumulus Media, which owns and operates the new program, is already pitching Huckabee to listeners and advertisers as the “safe alternative” to a man who has recently found himself under weeks of intense fire – not for the first time – and who some believe could be vulnerable to a challenge from someone offering a kinder, gentler conservative voice.

“Our tagline is, ‘More conversation, less confrontation’,” Huckabee told POLITICO. “I’m going to treat every guest with respect and civility. Nobody is going to come on and get into a shouting match with me. That’s just not my style.”

Making a direct comparison with Limbaugh, John Dickey, the co-COO of Cumulus Media, adds, “This is going to be safer from a commercial standpoint, and more respectful from a listener’s perspective. I think that environment has been sorely lacking in talk radio.”

Mike Huckabee is a nice man.  I despise his politics but I think he is a decent human being.  I have never heard him be intentionally rude to a guest on his show.
So what’s the problem?  Is the Rush audience going to go for Mike Huckabee?  I seriously doubt it.  Limbaugh appeals to a certain type of person who wants controversy and gets off on allowing a bully to be their mouth piece.  Seriously, what person says they are proud to be a ditto head?
I hope Mike Huckabee finds his audience.  It won’t be me but he does speak for many people.  I would like to think that there are more Mike fans than Rush fans out there in conservative-land.  Do you think he will be successful?

 

Thomas Haynesworth to receive $1 Million from Virginia

MoonHowler

Governor Bob McDonnell signed legislation that will award $1 million to Thomas Haynesworth for stealing 27 years of his life.  Haynesworth was incarcerated for that length of time after being falsely accused and convicted of 5 rapes in the Richmond area.  He was released last year and recently exonerated by a Virginia Court of Appeals of all crimes.  Haynesworth was 18 when he was convicted.  DNA  testing proved his innocence. 

The DNA testing leads to a lot of “What If” questions.  What if there were no DNA samples saved?  Haynesworth would not have been released. How many other men are wrongfully incarcerated for rape?  How many of them are black?   Not all convicts are guaranteed  DNA testing for an appeal. 

How can a million dollars begin to compensate someone for the loss of nearly 3 decades of their life?  In fact, that amounts to about $37,000 a year.  Haynesworth has been free for a year now.  I hope his life had gone well.   How could he go through 3 decades of prison and not just become a nasty bitter person?  I am afraid I would be. 

Then there is the biggest WHAT IF of all.  What if Thomas Haynesworth were not black?  Would he have been accused and convicted of 5 rapes he did not commit?  We will never know, but its something to think about.  

Tom Robinson had to die.  Tom Haynesworth  became a millionaire.  I doubt he would think it was worth it.

 

 

Reince Priebus, You are the Orkin Man, Dude!

MoonHowler

Comparing women to caterpillars really isn’t the way to get our vote, Reince  Priebus, who is still blaming  the Democrats for  saying the GOP is waging  a war on women.   Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus denied there was a war on women.  Instead he made some absurd comparison to the Democrats and the media saying there was  a war on caterpillars. 

 He needs to look at things from our point of view.  There has been a continual onslaught of restrictive laws on access to abortion and contraception.  GOP legislators both federally and at the state level  need to own it or stop doing it.   Stop blaming others.  Grow up and assume responsibility for your own actions. 

 

He has earned it. 
 

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Is Virginia Critical to President Obama’s Re-election?

MoonHowler

In a word, NO.  However, if Obama wins Virginia, he is re-elected, according to James Carville, speaking to a crowd at Randolph Macon College.   However, it is a crucial win for the Republicans. If they cannot take Virginia, they cannot win the White House.

According tot he Richmond Times Dispatch:

Virginia is not a must-win state for Democrats the way it is for Republicans in 2012 — but if President Barack Obama carries the commonwealth again, he will win re-election to the White House, political strategist James Carville said.

“Right now Virginia is to Democrats what Wisconsin is to Republicans,” Carville said before his lecture Wednesday night at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland.

“Republicans could lose Wisconsin and still win the presidency. We can lose Virginia and still win,” explained Carville. “But if we win Virginia, we win the presidency — it’s a must-win swing state for Republicans.

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“Stand Your Ground” examined by Florida task force

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A task force examining Florida’s “stand your ground” self-defense law was told Thursday that the Trayvon Martin shooting is one example of the law’s ambiguity and the potential unintended consequences it has created.

“What we’ve discovered is, in a drug deal gone bad, people die, and this is the defense,” Buddy Jacobs, general counsel for the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association, told the 18-member panel. “Our conclusion is that this law ought to be repealed. We don’t think it’s a thing we can tweak.”

The 2005 law is under nationwide scrutiny following the Feb. 26 shooting in Sanford of the unarmed, 17-year-old Martin by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. Martin’s family and supporters want Zimmerman arrested, but police say they were prevented from doing so because of the law. At least 20 other states have similar stand your ground laws.

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The Woman issue: Doing damage control

MoonHowler

Conservatives like Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina, attempting to do damage control, told  millions  that women don’t care about contraception.  She appeared on The View and said not only were women not interested in contraception, they were interested in jobs and the economy and raising their families. 

What planet did Haley and yes, Mitt Romney, fly in from?   Romney is spouting the same nonsense.  Contraception is a real basic to jobs, the economy and kids.  Unless women can control their own reproduction, they have limited options when dealing with getting a good job, an education and raising kids.  Unless Republicans back off and stop minimizing the importance of having safe, reliable contraception, they will lag at least 10 points behind with the women vote.  No one likes being dismissed or told what they consider important. 

Nikki Haley should know better.  Most middle class women can take care of their own contraception.  However, just about everyone can look back to a day when $50 bucks was a BFD.  Young women are often short of cash and take unnecessary risks when short on money.  They also know that women who aren’t middle class don’t have the luxury (and very often the transportation) to travel around looking for affordable contraception.  They  know unplanned pregnancy  keeps women in poverty.  Pissing off one demographic pretty much includes everyone. 

Teen pregnancy costs this country 7 billion dollars annually.  Women (and also men) had better be interested in contraception.  It is a matter of national financial well-being.  It breaks the cycle of poverty like nothing else. 

Time for the stupid talk to stop and time for reality to set in.  It might be too late for the Republicans however.

How big is Big Government? It depends on what body part it is probing!

MoonHowler

Apparently, according to the Supremes, it is big enough to strip search any person in the United States who is taken in to custody by law enforcement for any reason.  The reasons might run from committing murder to jay walking or eating on a subway. 

 

 Jon Stewart to the rescue to help us understand this SCOTUS decision. 

I thought conservatives wanted to limit the scope of government.  There really do need to be some limits here.  The police cannot be given unlimited power to strip search anyone they pick up for whatever reason. 

It is decisions like this and Citizens United that make me wonder if these 5 aren’t out to destroy the nation. 

Ask me again why I will not be voting Republican any time in the foreseeable future.

Bullying from the bench

MoonHowler

Huffingtonpost.com:

It’s quite rare for a judge to openly display his or her political leanings in public, let alone in a courtroom. Smith’s outburst was quickly noticed by administration officials, though the Justice Department had not released a public statement about the incident by late afternoon on Tuesday. The comment also underscores just how sensitive hearings over the president’s health care law have become since last week’s Supreme Court oral arguments.

Smith was responding to remarks the president made during a Monday press conference, in which he said he was confident that the Supreme Court would uphold the Affordable Care Act and argued that it would be a bout of judicial activism not to. The president addressed the topic again on Tuesday. Speaking at an Associated Press luncheon, he reiterated that it would be unprecedented for the court to rule that Congress didn’t have the authority to compel individuals to buy health insurance coverage under the commerce clause. But the president also went out of his way to stress that he respected the court’s authority to call constitutional balls and strikes.

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President to introduce “To Kill a Mockingbird” on USA Network

MoonHowler

As I watched American Masters biography of Harper Lee last night, I thought about “To Kill a Mockingbird” and how I really needed to rewatch it.  Each period of my life that I see this remarkable movie brings yet another dimension to understand.  Then low and behold, guess what I see this afternoon?

The LAtimes.com:

President Obama will introduce a new restoration of the 1962 courtroom drama “To Kill a Mockingbird” on April 7 on the USA Network.

Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee, “To Kill a Mockingbird” tells the story of white Southern lawyer Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck), who defends a black man accused of rape, Tom Robinson (Brock Peters).

The airing on USA marks the first national broadcast of the movie since it was digitally remastered and restored by Universal Pictures and the American Film Institute in conjunction with Universal’s centennial this year.

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Voter Fraud! Voter ID laws would have been worthless….

MoonHowler

Richmond Times Dispatch:

A Richmond grand jury on Monday indicted 10 convicted felons on charges of election fraud for allegedly lying on voter registration forms during the 2008 presidential election campaign.

The grand jury indicted five men and five women on one count each of making a material false statement on a voter registration form, a felony.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael N. Herring said the charges stem from a statewide investigation by the Virginia State Police into allegations of fraud in 2008.

Herring said each of those indicted spoke with a solicitor who was trying to get people to register to vote. In most cases, the person told the solicitor that he or she was a felon, and some of those indicted told a solicitor they therefore could not vote.

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Rainbow Riding, Hand in the Tax Payers Cookie Jar AGAIN!?

Elena

Here we are again, less than 6 months later, having a deja vu moment.  Allow me to recap recent financial events regarding Rainbow Riding and tax payer dollars.

Back in November Moonhowlings wrote about 100 grand of discretionary money from Supervisor Covington being directed to Rainbow Riding.  Mr. Covington ended up pulling that money, but apparently, plan B was even more expansive.

The proposed FY 13  budget includes $32,477 for this community partnership; Rainbow Riding Center  has requested an additional $178,398 in the form of a one-time capital  investment for FY 13.

Have I mentioned yet that Silver Lake has a Master Plan that has YET to be funded?  Yes, Silver Lake, the land upon which Rainbow Riding has a 35 year FREE lease, has yet to have any real county dollars directed towards capital improvements.

Here are a few of the items on the Master Plan, adopted by the county, that are still not done, in fact, those project have not even begun.

1)Picnic Pavilion

2)Playground

3)Outdoor Classroom

4)Community Garden Area

Why, you may be asking, are these minimal improvements being ignored while the county even entertains the suggestion of giving away $200 grand of our taxpayer money to an organization that only services less than 100 children?

Did you know there is not ONE quality public playground in western Prince William County.  I take my kids to a park in Fauquier County!   That is simply disgraceful in my opinion.

Lets not forget the Eastern end of the county and their critical needs.

The Chinn Public Library and Community Center are woefully over crowded and in need of serious renovations to accomodate the thousands of adults and children that use those facility’s.  There was suppose to be a Park Bond that was intended for those improvements but it was redirected, to where, I am not sure.

Park and Community Centers serve everyone in the community and I firmly believe, until we can ensure those facilities are fully funded, our tax payer dollars, in such large sums, should not be directed to small non profits.

When I spoke at citizens time a couple of weeks ago, a man from Fairfax County, yes, you read that correctly, Fairfax County, shared that his children use the Rainbow Riding facility, and that he hoped the Board would approve the additional funding for the facility.  Does anyone here have an issue with a resident from another county asking us to put our limited resources for a facility that draws people from other counties?

Rainbow Riding has a great funding resource and if the Board would like to put their personal money towards Rainbow Riding, or help, on their own time, plan a fundraiser, I support that fully. However, to give ONE non profit such a large sum of money, is unconscionable and an insult to the all the other worthy non profits in this county who would welcome even a smidgen of what Rainbow Riding has recieved from the County coffers..

My hope is that the BOCS will reject this improper use of county funds and we begin to move towards a more holitistic approach to the needs of all county residents regarding our Park services.

Addendum:  It appeaars that Rainbow Riding is sitting on a ton of money,  according to their federal 990 form.  To download, click here.

Forever debts: college loans

MoonHowler

The feds had better get it quick.  More and more senior citizens still owe outstanding loans.  In fact, $36 Billion  is owed by seniors in outstanding loans.  Some of those loans are from original college days.  Others are from going back to school, in hopes up upgrading job skills.  Still other debt comes from co-signing for kids and grand kids.  Filing bankruptcy doesn’t help.  You can’t throw college debt into the dissolve pile. 

Washington Post:

New research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows that Americans 60 and older still owe about $36 billion in student loans, providing a rare window into the dynamics of student debt. More than 10 percent of those loans are delinquent. As a result, consumer advocates say, it is not uncommon for Social Security checks to be garnished or for debt collectors to harass borrowers in their 80s over student loans that are decades old.

That even seniors remain saddled with student loans highlights what a growing chorus of lawmakers, economists and financial experts say has become a central conflict in the nation’s higher education system: The long-touted benefits of a college degree are being diluted by rising tuition rates and the longevity of debt.

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Gov. Ultra-Sound has kitchen problems

MoonHowler

If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen brings on a new dimension to the Governor’s Mansion this past week.  The head chef, who was not vetted, had a criminal record for embezzlement.  According to The Richmond Times Dispatch:

Controversy is simmering in the kitchen at Virginia’s two-century-old Executive Mansion. If it boils over, Gov. Bob McDonnell could get burned.

State police confirmed a criminal investigation into unspecified improprieties in the kitchen operation. Authorities say the mansion’s celebrity chef, Todd Schneider, is the focus. Schneider has left after nearly two years, saying he wanted to concentrate on his catering business.

No charges have been filed, no arrests made. There’s a lot we don’t know. However, newspaper reports indicate McDonnell’s staff did not conduct a required criminal-background check on Schneider. Had they, they’d have learned Schneider was convicted of embezzlement, for which he received a six-month suspended sentence.

That this is a sensitive investigation is an understatement. Personal or professional indiscretions — if that’s what they are — could, in the eyes of law enforcement, qualify as law-breaking.

That’s not what McDonnell needs, not now — not atop the battering he’s taking in public-opinion polls.

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