No smoking at county pools? Less government interference please!

MoonHowler

Oh dear God.  More government trying to regulate the private lives of citizens.  Is there no end?  I must be turning into Marv Marin in my sleep.

I have had several communications this morning from citizens expressing outrage over a proposal made during Supervisors Time to end all smoking at county pools.

Currently, smoking is limited designated smoking areas at each pool center.  This  plan, instituted under Parks and Rec directive, sounds like a  good plan.  Adults smoke.  Life guards smoke on break and parents also smoke.   As long as they smoke away from the general population, outside, let’s just leave it alone.  Yes kids see them.  So what.  Kids see all sorts of things, including old men in speedos and women with beer guts in bikinis.

If smoking is forbidden, fewer parents will bring their kids to the pool.  In the long run, this means less recreation and less exercise for kids.  If smoking is forbidden, people will be checking in and out of the pool area to go for a quick smoke.   Wasn’t a young mother just arrested for not attending to her kids supervision?  I believe she was charged with neglect because she went out front to sign in her friend.  Well….a smoking ban will force more people to take their eyes off their kids and sneak outside the parameter for a quick smoke.

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Virginia’s faux surplus? Don’t believe it for a minute!

MoonHowler

From Robley Jones email.  Robley is a VEA outreach specialist.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported on Friday that Governor McDonnell says Virginia will have a surplus for the third year in a row.  How has that surplus been achieved?  This is a surplus achieved, in part, by shortchanging Virginia’s students and teachers.  Here are a few ways the surplus was achieved which affect our schools and school employees:
  • We are still funding our schools at a level less than what was provided in 2008-09.

 

  • We are still funding VRS at a level significantly below the VRS Board of Trustees certifies rate for all employee groups. The 2013-14 certified rate for teachers was 16.77%, the state budget provides that state share of funding for 11.66%.  This increases the unfunded liability of the fund.

 

  • No funds have been provided for teacher salaries since 2008.
Shouldn’t some of the surplus go to funding public education?
Obviously, Virginia doesn’t have a real surplus because its pension liability is under-funded.  How long are we going to operate on lies and bull crap?  While this email specifically addresses VRS as it pertains to the teacher pool, the same can be said for all other state workers who are eligible for  the state pension.  While this communication is not just about teachers, it does show how enimic funding for education has been since 2008.  When the state doesn’t fund, guess who picks up the slack?  We do.  We pay, pay, pay out of our local taxes.   Next time you hit a pot hole that has been there since God was a child, start connecting the dots.
Its time to face the music and tell the truth, Governor McDonnell.  The chickens have come home to roost, to quote the Sheriff.   He and I just disagree whose chickens.

Labor, health and education spending bill craters most reproductive freedoms plus title X

MoonHowler

Huffingtonpost.com:

Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) released a labor, health and education spending bill on Tuesday that would defund Planned Parenthood and Title X, block the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, allow any employer to deny women birth control coverage under the ACA for “moral reasons” and increase spending for abstinence-only education.

Specifically, the bill prevents federal dollars from flowing to Planned Parenthood clinics until the family planning provider can certify that it no longer offers abortions, even though Planned Parenthood only uses federal money for non-abortion services.

The legislation also states that none of its funds can be used to carry out the Title X family planning program or be used to “implement, administer, enforce, or further the provisions” of the Affordable Care Act.

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