McDonnell to protect mountain top removal mining

MoonHowler

From the Richmond Times Dispatch:

Gov. Bob McDonnell said Tuesday that he is prepared to protect Virginia’s coal-mining industry against costly and burdensome federal mining regulations, including a legal challenge if a surface or mountaintop-removal mining permit is denied.

McDonnell spoke to a “coal awareness” breakfast and assured industry leaders that coal is part of his overall plan to make Virginia the East Coast energy capital.

“For the foreseeable future, we know that coal’s going to be an extremely important part of Virginia’s and America’s energy future,” McDonnell told the gathering at a downtown Richmond hotel.

He added that Obama administration regulatory efforts have “been over the top” and have failed to balance job growth with environmental concerns.

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Low Hanging Fruit

MoonHowler

The other day, I got an email from Delegate Jackson Miller, trumpeting all the work he is doing to stop illegal immigration.  I expected to read that he had taken up personal vigil down on the border considering all the fanfare.  Such was not the case.  In part, his email stated:

 

During the 2011 Virginia General Assembly Session, we will be debating many issues that are important to the Commonwealth, but one issue of particular significance to me is illegal immigration.  As a former police officer with almost two decades of experience, I have seen firsthand the effect that illegal immigration can have on a community.  As your Delegate, I am working hard to find solutions to the many issues and challenges that illegal immigration has presented in our communities and in our Commonwealth.  

 Recently, I appeared on Fox News Channel’s morning program, Fox & Friends, to defend a bill on which I am a co-patron.  This bill, HB1465,   (click for full text)  stipulates that illegal aliens will not be eligible for admission to Virginia’s colleges and universities.  Higher education is a privilege, not a right, and placement in Virginia’s colleges and universities has become increasingly difficult for legal residents of our state to obtain.  This bill will require that all prospective students submit appropriate documentation showing proof of citizenship or a student visa for eligibility for enrollment. 

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Minting our own Funny Money

MoonHowler

Sideshow Bobby is at it again.  This time he wants to mint our own money here in Virginia–Not real money but not exactly funny money either.  Delegate Bob Marshall (R-13)  wants to not only mint our own coins but he also wants to establish a bank of Virginia.  From insidenova.com:

The 20-year veteran plans to introduce legislation during the Jan. 12 session of the General Assembly that would call for the Commonwealth to study minting its own coins in order to compete with what he calls “the monopoly of the Federal Reserve System.”

“We can’t mint money, but we can mint gold and silver coins,” Marshall said Wednesday night. “It sounds like a small difference, but it is a difference legally. If you look closely on a [dollar] bill, it doesn’t say that it’s money. It says it is legal tender ‘for all debts, public and private.’”

Marshall said that the Federal Reserve has created inflation that is detrimental to the economy because there is no competition in terms of payment.

“When you have a monopoly, you can do what ever you want,” he said of the Reserve.
The minting of gold and silver coins, which he compared to that of companies making commemorative coins, is something states can legally do as long as the coins meet the weight requirements.

And minting coins is just the first step.

“Obviously, it won’t always be convenient to carry around gold and silver coins,” Marshall said. “You could set up a debit system where you’d have a claim of gold or silver deposited with the trustee.”

Marshall would also like to see a bank of Virginia established.

What will Bob Marshall think of next?  Where is the features, advantages, benefits plan?  What’s in it for Virginians?  Is this just another way to get sued by the feds?  Marshall and Cuccinelli are the Frick and Frack of Virginia politics.  Next thing I know he will come up with a secessionist plan all our very own. 

Delegate Marshall need to go to Richmond and work on jobs and transportation.  He needs to figure out ways to support education and repay the VRS fund.  He needs to help his colleagues develop a plan to lure companies into Virginia to pump up our economy.  We don’t need bad publicity to drive them away.  He and the AG seem to be trying to out do each other on extremist plans to embarrass the state.  What is he thinking?!! 

Virginia protects businesses rather than homeowners

MoonHowler

Since the housing crash three years ago, Maryland and DC have moved to protect the homeowner.  This move only seems fair in light of some of of the shoddy practices  employed  by some  mortgage companies and banks.  While foreclosure laws changed to protect the homeowner in Maryland and DC, things have moved the opposite direction in Virginia. 

According to the Washington Post:

Last year, the state legislature overwhelmingly passed a law making it easier for lenders to defend themselves when accused of giving homeowners too little warning of impending foreclosures.

The process moves so quickly in Virginia – one of the fastest states in the nation – that homeowners can receive less than two weeks’ notice that their house is about to be sold on the courthouse steps.

That confronts homeowners with an almost impossible deadline. To get a court to stop the sale in that narrow window, they must gather evidence, file a lawsuit and potentially post a bond with the court that could total thousands of dollars. Instead of trying to find a lawyer and prepare a suit, many borrowers run out the clock trying to deal with their lender.

At a time when lenders have been cutting corners and using phony documents to seize huge numbers of houses, the hurdles can be insurmountable, according to lawyers, consumer advocates and borrowers who have tried to save their homes.

“There’s no question that people are losing their homes when they should not be,” said James W. “Jay” Speer, executive director of the Virginia Poverty Law Center, which is part of a legal-aid network.

In many states, homeowners facing foreclosure automatically get a day in court, a chance to tell a judge why they should keep their homes. The judicial process provides at least a modest check on error and abuse.

But in Virginia and 28 other states, as well as the District, according to the RealtyTrac foreclosure information service, borrowers have no such luck. They face “nonjudicial” foreclosure processes, meaning lenders can foreclose without going through the courts.

It looks like our Virginia legislators  have some work to do once they hit Richmond in January.  They need to be protecting the homeowner against what often has been really bad business practice.  It is now time for our delegates to get over worrying about who might be looking at their butt or who might be in the market for some crotchless panties in Old Town Manassas and get on with the business  of protecting Virginians.   All needed to ignore the whinings and pinings of Corey Stewart and just tell him to STFU, and that they are too busy to worry about his nonsense.  Then they need to get busy and protect Virginia homeowners from unscupulous lenders. 

Virginians are getting screwed.  Time for legislators to protect the citizens rather than giving the banks and mortgage companies, many who aren’t even based in Virginia, the execution’s axe to finish off the homeowners. 

More information from Washington Post

McDonnell Ups the Pension Ante

MoonHowler

Governor McDonnell has just upped the ante with the VRS, the Virginia pension fund.  He gets off on the wrong foot by saying that the pension fund has been problematic for years and years.  That simply is not true according to reports over the years from outside sources and independent audits.  VRS has only come under fire in recent years, specifically after the crash of 2008.    McDonnell’s attempts to paint the plan as compromised and unsustainable are purely political. 

McDonnell has outlined his plan which will affect nearly 90,000 state employees, according to the Washington Post:

RICHMOND – Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) proposed Thursday that 87,000 state employees begin making annual 5 percent contributions – the first in nearly three decades – to the state’s retirement fund as a way to shore up the commonwealth’s pension system.

Virginia is one of only four states where government workers make no annual contributions to their retirement fund, the result of a 27-year-old deal in which the state agreed to pick up employee costs in lieu of a pay raise in 1983.

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State Employees Bite the Bullet…again

MoonHowler

Governor McDonnell had a town hall meeting today  with state employees to deliver some sobering news. 

There will be no pay raises next year and state employees will have to pony up a portion  of the VRS contribution.  (Has that passed the General Assembly yet?)   According to the Richmond Times Dispatch:

He did not say how much but cited a Joint Legislative and Audit Review Commission report that found the Virginia Retirement System and other state-supported pension plans have unfunded liabilities of $17.6 billion.

The state has been paying employees’ 5 percent share since 1983. When a state employee at the town-hall forum pointed out that that payment began in lieu of a pay raise, McDonnell said “you are exactly right” but said the state employees will have to begin making a “shared sacrifice.”

What is a” shared sacrifice?”  Who else is sharing this sacrifice?  McDonnell did share some good news after the double whammy.  He informed state workers that there would be no furloughs and health insurance would not go up.  The furloughs were particularly troublesome in the past. 

The good news is, people still have jobs. 

Has pay been frozen for the General Assembly and for the executive branch of the state government? 

This was the first town hall meeting for state employees.  Most employees said that they appreciated the candor.  Those who were not present could view the town hall meeting on the governor’s website. 

Virginia Public Employees May Have to Pay Own VRS Contributions

MoonHowler

Virginia public employees may have to start paying their own 5% VRS contribution if some lawmakers have their way.  According to the Richmond Times Dispatch:

Virginia legislators are preparing to take a fresh look at whether to require state and local government employees to pay their full share of pension costs.

Faced with rising rates to pay for long-term liabilities, members of the General Assembly are considering requiring all public employees — not just those hired after last June 30 — to pay 5 percent of their salary toward their pensions.

The legislature also is likely to discuss whether to offer state employees the option of contributing to a 401(k) plan they can manage themselves instead of a defined-benefit plan run by the state.

“There is no doubt this issue is going to be revisited this session,” said Del. S. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on compensation and retirement.

Jones also said he is disappointed that most local governments and school systems chose to pay for new employees’ share of pension contributions.

A new law took effect last July 1 that allowed localities to hold new employees responsible for their own contributions.  Very few localities took advantage of this offer.  About 80% continued paying this benefit for new employees.

…[T]he governor and the legislature also deferred paying $620 million into the state and teacher pension plans to balance the $70 billion biennial budget. That diminished the retirement system’s ability to pay future liabilities at the same time it lowered its expectations for returns on market investments. The result is intensified pressure on contribution rates, which will be reset in 2012.

McDonnell has promised to begin making up those deferred payments in the coming year, but he wouldn’t say last week whether he will propose to reverse a 27-year-old deal that allowed the state to cover employee shares of their pensions instead of raising their pay.

In an interview last week, McDonnell said he will recommend changes to the retirement system when he reveals his proposed budget amendments Friday, but he would not elaborate.

“What I’m interested in is the long-term solvency of the retirement system,” he said, adding that he has 22 years of state service vested in the system.

McDonnell said he created a work group several months ago to consider pension options. He cited concerns about unfunded, long-term liabilities; the increasing number of employees retiring; and the potential for big increases in employer contribution rates next year.

The amount borrowed from VRS keeps changing.  At one point it was in the neighborhood of 6 billion dollars.  At one point, VRS received accolades  for being one of the best handled retirement systems in the United States.  How could things have gone south so quickly.  Perhaps Eric Cantor’s wife can explain it.  She is chairman of the board of directors of VRS.   We cannot ignore the fact that large sums of money were borrowed from the pension fund and that is part of the reason it isn’t in as good of shape as it once was.  

Of course the VRS lost money during the \crash of 2008.  However, it lost around 20% which is a whole lot less than what most individuals lost.  The investments were very solid.  As for employees electing to go the 401k route rather than the pension route…what fool is going to fall for that one?  No one would do that unless the pot were sweetened a great deal.

Many people rely on the VRS for their retirement.  All state employees, judges, magistrates, commonwealth’s attorneys, sheriffs, police, county employees, and teachers are part of the system unless the locality elects to have its own form of retirement.  It is unfortunately that this retirement system appears to have appendages on the chopping block because of state deficits.  Strange that it was the first place the state looked to borrow from when the budget needed balancing. 

Back in the day when employees had to pay their own 5%, they weren’t given an option to join or not join.  It was required.  How is that different than being required to have health care?  Can   a government require an individual to buy retirement?  Perhaps Cuccinelli will sue the state over that one, should it come to pass.  Wait…he is the state.  Ooops.

[note:  highlighting by administration.]

[UPDATE:  noon  12/12/10-  Blue Virginia’s take on this issue   http://www.bluevirginia.us/diary/2572/pension-plan-pay-cut]

 

Virginia participants

 

 

 

Fimian, Pharmacies and Birth Control

MoonHowler

For the past several days I have been seeing and hearing a Gerry Connolly campaign commercial that paints Candidate Keith Fimian as an extremist.  Most campaign ads are background noise to me so it went in one ear and out the other.  Besides, most campaign ads are full of hyperbole and exaggeration.  Then I perked up my ears.  The ad said that Fimian supported the rights of pharmacists to not dispense contraception.  Now THAT IS extremist. 

I have tried researching this allegation, without much luck.  I even went to the  Legatuswebsite.  Fimian is a member of Legatus, which is a Catholic organization, founded by Dominos Pizza Magnet Tom Monaghan for very wealthy Catholic business folks and their spouses.  I didn’t find out much there either.  Maybe it’s me.  However, I haven’t heard anything which disputes this claim.  This makes me nervous. 

There has been somewhat of an uproar the past several years about pharmacists with religious objections being forced to dispense contraception, in particular, the morning after pill.  NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia  has this to say:

In addition to lack of contraceptive equity, Virginia’s so-called “conscience clause” allows pharmacists to decide which prescriptions they will and will not provide. This means that a pharmacist could legally refuse to fill a doctor’s prescription for birth control or stock or distribute emergency contraception. Since when do pharmacists get to step inside the doctor-patient relationship and refuse to fill necessary prescriptions?

 

Conscience Clause?  Where did that come from?  Someone slipped that one by me.  The more I google, the more I unearth and the angrier I get.  This thread needs to be a work in progress.  First of all, anyone who has knowledge of Fimian’s position on allowing pharmacists to cherry pick what prescriptions they will fill, please let us know.  I don’t have a bone to pick with private pharmacies who post, in clear view on their door that they do not sell or dispense contraception.  However, other stores open to the public without disclaimers should really not be involved in type of exclusionary behavior.  I consider it equivalent to the Muslim cab driver who wouldn’t let bottles of liquor in his cab.  Find another job. 

Secondly, what kinds of legislation have been passed that allow ‘conscience clauses and require pharmacist counselling?  How offensive.  If one works for a pharmacy, the job is to fill prescriptions, not chime in with a moral opinion.  If that is an issue, go work for a private religious hospital or pharmacy. 

I would especially welcome and appreciate word from the Fimian campaign that this information is indeed false.  This is the year 2010, in the United States of America.  Griswald was decided 45 years ago. 

 

 

 

 

Virginia spends millions on college dropouts, study finds

MoonHowler

Virginia has spent millions on college drop outs.  According to the Richmond Times Dispatch:

Richmond, Va. —

Virginia taxpayers spent $177.7 million over five years on 35,461 college students who dropped out after their first year, according to a national study on the cost of attrition.

Federal grants to those students totaled an additional $33.7 million, the American Institutes for Research says in a report being released today that looked at freshmen who didn’t return to four-year schools during the 2003 to 2008 academic years.

Nationally, those costs exceed $9 billion, said the report, which is intended to focus attention on institutional accountability at a time when the state and federal governments are seeking to increase the numbers of students who earn degrees.

“If you don’t finish the first lap, you can’t cross the finish line,” said Mark Schneider, the American Institutes for Research vice president and a former U.S. commissioner of education statistics.

Why are we spending this kind of money?  When do we decide WHO CARES?  If we are going to cut back on spending, here would be a great place to start. 

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McDonnell’s ABC Privatization Plan Meets Obstacles with Republicans

MoonHowler

Governor McDonnell’s ABC privatization plan is meeting with some obstacles within the Republican party.  Many folks are digging their heels in and saying, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”  According to the Richmond Times Dispatch:

Del. R. Lee Ware Jr. is a political conservative standing on principle in the debate over whether to get Virginia out of the liquor business.

But he’s standing on a different principle than Gov. Bob McDonnell, who says the state has no business selling distilled spirits through the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

“The control of the sale of alcoholic beverages is a legitimate function of state government in serving the public good,” said David A. Bovenizer IV, spokesman for Ware, R-Powhatan. “Consequently, the free-market assertion regarding privatization of ABC is at best secondary to the common good.”

Bovenizer said Ware also regards the governor’s projections of state revenue from a private liquor industry as “unpersuasive” and the sale of the liquor monopoly unnecessary to raise money for road improvements, given the findings of a recent state audit of the Virginia Department of Transportation.

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Sales Tax Moratorium on Energy Savers Oct. 8-11

MoonHowler

InsideNova:

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia is holding its fourth annual tax holiday on energy-efficient products.

Gov. Bob McDonnell said Monday the tax holiday will begin on Oct. 8 and run through Oct. 11.

During that time, residential consumers can save money by buying sales-tax exempt items like heat pumps, dishwashers, washing machines, insulation, toilets and showerheads. Other products include air conditioners, refrigerators, ceiling fans, compact fluorescent light bulbs, programmable thermostats and faucets.

New and used items must be priced at $2,500 or less and certified as being energy efficient with the Energy Star and WaterSense designations.

Online purchases also will be exempt from the 5 percent sales tax if the orders are placed during the tax holiday and the sellers have the items available for immediate shipment.

The governor’s office says some retailers also may choose to pay the tax on any nonexempt merchandise.

October 8-11.  That is a mighty small window of opportunity. I think that having a tax moratorium on energy savers is an excellent idea. I would like to see the time frame last at least a week. There is also the matter of the merchant having the item in stock for immediate shipment. I can see room for bait and switch in this model. Also, are there incentives for merchants to pay the sales tax for the customer?

But over-all, good for Virginia for holding its 4th annual tax holiday. Perhaps next year that small window of opportunity will open up a bit more.   Perhaps Virginia might also consider a spring and fall moratorium. 

Virginia Ready to Fry a Woman

MoonHowler

Dead woman walking–Convicted killer Teresa Lewis is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection this Thursday, September 30. If the execution goes through, Lewis will be the first woman to be executed in Virginia since 1912.

Lewis was convicted of killing her husband and stepson for $250,000 in insurance money. Death penalty activists say that Lewis is being treated unfairly because the 2 gunman who killed the victims only got life in prison.

According to the Richmond Times Dispatch:

Lewis, then 33, plotted with her then-22-year-old lover, Matthew Shallenberger, and his friend Rodney Fuller to murder her husband and stepson on Oct. 30, 2002. Killed were Julian Lewis, 51, and C.J. Lewis, 25, a soldier visiting the Lewises’ mobile home.

She was to be the beneficiary of her stepson’s $250,000 life insurance policy should he and her husband die. She left a door unlocked so Shallenberger and Fuller could enter early that morning. The two arrived armed with shotguns paid for by Teresa Lewis. She left the bedroom and waited in the kitchen during the shooting.

The gunfire over and her husband dying, Lewis retrieved his wallet from their bedroom and divided the money with the killers. She waited 45 minutes before calling for help, but Julian Lewis lived long enough to tell a deputy sheriff, “My wife knows who done this to me.”

Teresa Lewis, Shallenberger and Fuller pleaded guilty. The judge sentenced Shallenberger and Fuller to life and Lewis, whom he called “the head of this serpent,” to death.

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Defying Gravity Wins 3rd Place on America’s Got Talent

MoonHowler
Credit: Trae Patton/NBC
Credit: Trae Patton/NBC

The VA Tech black light impressionist group, Defying Gravity won 3rd place in America’s got talent in the season finale last night. 

The group are fraternity brothers–Pi Kappa Alpha and got their start performing in a school talent show.  Pretty impressive.  Hokies continue to amaze us. 

They have been asked to play at the Hard Rock Cafe in Vegas on New Years Eve.  When asked about returning to Tech, the answers were iffy.

Now if the football team could only do that well. sigh.