BOCS considers county tax extension

MoonHowler

Manassas Patch:

Because of the federal government shutdown, the Board of County Supervisors should extend the deadline for paying personal property taxes, which are due Saturday, a Prince William County Supervisor said.

Brentsville Supervisor Wally Covington on Thursday said that he would ask the Board to extend the deadline for up to 90 days, the maximum allowed by state law. Thousands of Prince William County residents are employed by the federal government, and many may not be receiving paychecks, Covington said. He will propose the resolution at the Board’s Tuesday meeting.

“In recognition of the fact that many citizens have already endured years of economic uncertainty due to the inaction of Congress to pass their own budgets and now, many of those same citizens today literally do not know when their next pay check is coming, we as their elected officials have a duty to use our power to bring them some relief,” Covington said in a prepared statement.

Supervisor Peter Candland indicated he would probably support Covington’s resolution.  Manassas Patch stated that taxes were due today, October 5.  They are actually due of October 7.  Even if the resolution does not pass, supervisors should consider dropping the late fee and interest for those who are paying late.

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Self-Immolation on the Mall

MoonHowler

Just when you thought things couldn’t get more bizarre, on Friday a man doused himself with gasoline right there on the mall and set himself on fire. Just the thought of the act brings back bad flashbacks to the Vietnam War era where Buddhist monks set themselves on fire during the Vietnamese Ngo Dinh Diem regime .  That was a rather horrifying form of protest and also where the term ‘self-immolation’ evolved.

We don’t know much about Friday’s incident.  It more or less got buried in the midst of shutdown news.  Perhaps we have just become desensitized by recent events.  We also aren’t hearing a strong debate over the fact that law enforcement in DC shot and killed an unarmed woman with a child in the car, putting passersby, tourists, and federal employees at risk of being caught in the crossfire.

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Rep. Neugebauer berates park service ranger for doing her job

MoonHowler


Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) also told the park ranger that she should be ashamed of herself. Where do these arrogant sons of bitches get off going out and bullying federal employees who are probably working without pay? These employees don’t make enough when they ARE being paid to put up with the bullshit from these self-serving egotists. Neugebauer obviously has disdain for the rank and file federal employee, as his demeanor shows.

This man should be hung permanently in the Bad Congressman Hall of Shame. He is a disgrace to the office he holds and should immediately apologize to all federal employees. He also needs to stop blaming Harry Reid. The budget originates in the House. Rep. Randy Neugebauer knows what needs to be done to fund the government. He is lying to himself and to all of us. He needs to take much of the blame on himself.

Neugebauer is also a birther. I am sure he had plenty to say about blaming President Obama also. It just wasn’t captured on the video. Why is he even down at the WWII Memorial? It’s obvious that he is grandstanding and stirring up trouble. Perhaps he misses the irony that President Barack Obama’s maternal grandfather was a WWII veteran who sserved under General Patton. The WWII Memorial should not become a the new gathering place for banana republicans who want to continue to stamp their brand on the site. They are not worthy.

Shots heard at the Capitol

MoonHowler

Information sketchy.  Medi-vac helicopter landed on the mall.   Capitol Policeman on a gurney.   Incident started at the White House.  Black car involved.  FBI and swat teams on board.

Please add information.  There is no current active shooter.  The Capitol is still in lock-down.

Treasury: Just the expectation of default harms economy

MoonHowler

New York Times:

The debt-limit impasse could cause credit markets to freeze, the dollar to plummet and interest rates to rise precipitously, the Treasury Department said in a report released Thursday. A default might prove catastrophic, the report said, and could potentially result “in a financial crisis and recession that could echo the events of 2008 or worse.”

“As we saw two years ago, prolonged uncertainty over whether our nation will pay its bills in full and on time hurts our economy,” said Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew in a statement urging lawmakers to act. “Postponing a debt ceiling increase to the very last minute is exactly what our economy does not need – a self-inflicted wound harming families and businesses.”

The report shows that the Congressional debt-limit standoff in 2011 hurt consumer confidence, small business confidence, household wealth and the stock market, with ramifications for lending and the economic recovery.

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It’s the F***ing Law part 2 (how a bill becomes a law for dummies)

MoonHowler

Thanks to clueless for this cartoon.

When in history has a federal law ever been held hostage so the government wouldn’t be shut down?

The sheer hypocrisy of the House Republicans acting surprised that the government shut down. I hope everyone takes a good look at the seriousness of the actions of that crew. That’s why there are no exceptions. Rule of Law goes well with hardball.

What happens to a place like Chincoteague?

MoonHowler

chincoteague map

Tim Kaine was on Morning Joe just a few minutes ago telling us about the impact of the government shut down on places you just wouldn’t think about.  Senator Kaine got much communication from people on Chincoteague Island, over on  the Eastern Shore over the shutdown.  Why on earth?  That’s a conservative area in the middle of nowhere, isn’t it?

Chincoteaque relies heavily on tourism and that tourism comes from Wallops Island where NASA is based, Wallops Island National Wildlife Refuge, Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, and Assateague Island National Seashore.  97% of NASA is closed.  The other areas are totally closed.  In essence, there is little reason during the shutdown to go to Chincoteague and the residents who rely on tourism and associated activities like fishing are suffering.  Their economy which only has a finite part of the year to prosper has dried up.

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Government Shutdown: Mission Accomplished

MoonHowler


Obviously this shutdown has been planned since the 2010 elections. In fact, many of the 80 hardliners, the banana republicans, campaigned on the notion of shutting down the government to get their own way.

Are these people just plain stupid or are they un-American? Is Obamacare really the issue or is destruction of the country the real issue. Many people have suggested that the Republicans have painted themselves into a corner and want out. Some of them apparently don’t. They are giddy  to quote several of them.

Those who want the government closed clearly don’t want to assume the responsibility of governance. The slash-and-burn, scorched  earth policy we have just seen will run into the more serious issue of  raising the debt ceiling. Failure to raise the debt ceiling will have far more perilous  consequences than shutting down the government, which, unless we have a volcanic eruption or  a meteor strike, is simply a costly  inconvenience and an embarrassment. Failure to raise the debt ceiling could have a catastrophic impact not only here in the United States but also around the world.

The Republicans need to send a clean bill to the Senate that funds the full government  so we  get back to doing business as Americans. These close encounters with brinkmanship must stop. These encounters are bad for the economy,  bad  for  Americans, bad for our standing in the world  and bad for the country in general.

Banana republicans flaunt tresspassing at the WWII Memorial

MoonHowler

 


Washingtonpost.com:

The elderly veterans piled off the chartered buses in front of the World War II Memorial, some in wheelchairs, some using canes, all determined to pay homage to each other and their fallen comrades from more than half a century ago.

Metal barricades and signs announcing a closure due to the shutdown of the federal government  awaited them.

The graying and stooped men, wearing blue baseball caps, red T-shirts and garlands of red, white and blue flowers, surged forward, accompanied by members of Congress — the same lawmakers who, hours earlier, had triggered a government shutdown by failing to pass a budget resolution.
(video on next page)
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It’s the effen Law!

MoonHowler

I really needed something to laugh at. Jon Stewart to the rescue.

The Affordable Care Act is the law.  It doesn’t have to be negotiated.  It passed both houses of Congress, was signed by the President and affirmed by the Supreme Court, or as Stewart puts it, 9 pre-cogs in magic  robes.

Rocking Shutdown Eve did everything but rock.  It went off with a whimper and a whole lot of pontificating out of  some of the tea party ‘republicans’ in the House of Representatives.  Their hero was nowhere to be seen or heard.  Those who are holding out need to dig out those Constitutions, even if it takes a comic book form and  review how a bill becomes a law.  President Obama addressed the military and assured them that they and their families would be paid.

The behavior of the tea party ‘republicans’ endangers the GOP, endangers the economy, endangers the country, and hurts the American people.  One buffoon suggested on MSNBC that the federal workers should be happy because they get a paid vacation.  Meanwhile, who pays their mortgage?

Several people have begun calling Senator Cruz the new speaker of the house because he bullied and directed congress from the Senate.  That’s not what *I* call him!!

As an aside, my newly acquired congressman was featured in the Stewart montage.  You guessed it, the one making an A-hole of himself.  I cannot win.