ShaunKenney.com

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Malek: McCain Puts Sound Organization Together

Former RPV Finance Chairman Fred Malek notes the recent addition of Steve Schmidt to the McCain presidential team.

Malek doesn't post terribly often... but when he does, you learn some insight every time.

Raising Kaine: I met Tom Perriello tonight

Yet another pleasantly surprised voter engages a Catholic politician, this time on the role of faith in the political arena:
Tom's response was interesting and unexpected. He made a distinction between religion in legislation (which he says he opposes), and religion in politics. He said that religion does have a place in politics if for no other reason than to understand the motivations of politicians. If a politician is casting a particular vote for religious reasons, that motivation should be public, not rationalized.
Not terribly far off course. One might hasten to add that religious belief forms one's character, and that character is inseparable from the individual. In short, faith informs conscience.

Jack Kennedy certainly believed this. It's a small wonder why today's modern left-leaning Catholics (Perriello included) don't share Kennedy's convictions, but rather are more than willing to allow political expediency contradict their own inner mores, character, and yes -- their faith.

Your Four Minutes of Civilization

Peter Warlock's Capriol Suite for Stringorchestra Part 1-3. If you like Vivaldi, you'll enjoy Warlock.

9%

The Democratic Congress scores the lowest approval rating in the history of modern polling.

This shouldn't be surprising. Republicans hate the "do-nothing Congress" almost as much as the Democrats hate their "do-nothing Congress." It used to be that a common theme with Democratic leadership (at least in the House) was the tradition of getting things done and greasing the wheels of power.

That tradition of Tip O'Neill is sadly lost, perhaps not to be recovered in a generation. At least Republicans during the 1990's had an example to follow... whether that is damning or faint praise (or both) is for the reader to decide.

Monday, July 07, 2008

Tertium Quids: RPV Chairman Jeff Frederick

RPV Chairman Jeff Frederick does the Tertium Quids Podcast, talking about HB 6055 (he opposes), the inheritance he received at RPV (says it's worse than he thought), and talks a bit about the GOP brand (need to rebuild the image, this time with substance).

You can listen to the podcast in its entirety. Well done, and one I will be adding to my iTunes list right now.

Rule .303: Top 5 Coolest Megafauna of America (which I would like to eat)

...or possibly barbecue.

J’s Notes: Oil vs. Dollar

This is precisely the graph I have wanted to see -- the dollar vs. the PPB of oil.

Saturday, July 05, 2008

Protesters Interrupt President’s Speech at Monticello

For as marginally concerned as I was (well... tasteless would have been a better word) about President Bush's interruption media stunt attendance at Monticello's swearing in of new citizens on the Independence Day, the behavior of the war protestors was deplorable at best:


So much for the high road.

Friday, July 04, 2008

Stars And Stripes Forever!

Happy 4th.


As only the Muppets can do it.

Rick Sincere: Liveblogging President Bush at Monticello

President Bush invades Monticello! Rick Sincere live blogs about it:
From the air-conditioned comfort of my living room, I am watching this year's naturalization ceremony at Monticello, with featured guest speaker George W. Bush. Channel 29 (WVIR-TV) is covering the event live, with Crystal Cameron on the scene and the Charlottesville Municipal Band playing in the background.
Okay... so he's not slugging it out with the intrepid souls at Monticello Mountain. But an admirable effort nonetheless!

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Reagan's GOP: Too blatantly Christian?

So says the city of Chesapeake about a cross in a parade.

Somehow, I get the feeling this is the opposite of what the Founders intended...

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Hope is Not a Foreign Policy

New Virginia blog focusing on the 2008 Presidential elections, specifically John McCain.

Senator Webb is Right

Suspend judgment for a moment until you watch this (and forgive the fact that it is Keith Olbermann asking the questions):

Webb is saying (rightly) that politics should stay out of military service, and that military service should not be a prerequisite for public service or a political talking point.

In short, it's military service. And it's something quite different if it's used for political gain.

Take the politics out, remove the grandstanding of General Wesley "I Almost Started World War III" Clark, and forget that Webb is a Democrat.

Jim Webb is 100% right about this.

Monday, June 30, 2008

Marshall on HB 6055

(forwarded by Delegate Bob Marshall -- reprinted with permission)

Can Virginia fix transportation without raising taxes? Yes, but unless you contact House of Delegates members before July 9 you may be facing higher taxes and fees, not just from Democrats who want higher auto, sales, real property and gas taxes, but from Republicans too!

Tax/fee increases are in the Republican Transportation Bill, H.B. 6055 pushed by Republican Speaker Bill Howell.

The bill authorizes Northern Virginia counties and cities to increase the sales tax on home and commercial property sales (grantor's tax) of an additional $0.40 cents per $100 of the sale price. Last year the Assembly authorized No VA localities to impose an additional tax on commercial real estate of $0.25 per $100 for roads and transit.

This tax can never be rescinded by the local governments as long as there is any outstanding debt for Northern Virginia projects funded by this tax!

While HB 6055 provides that funds raised in No. VA are to be spent only for No VA transportation projects, it may be diverted to other uses and areas of Virginia “as may be required by any other law.” HB 6055 also adds $100 to the cost of a new driver's license.

Hampton Roads residents will pay $20 more for a registration fee and $20 more for inspection fees. HB 6055 authorizes a real estate tax increase on all property of $0.10 cents per $100. It diverts up to $250 million in yet to be collected taxes from business and individuals in the cargo container business to Hampton Roads transportation projects.

With Virginia families facing falling home prices, increased real property taxes, skyrocketing gas and food prices, an 18% electric rate hike for Dominion, a 6.4% monthly increase in natural gas prices, almost five decades of federal deficit spending, and a devalued dollar, the General Assembly should not raise taxes and fees.

If we say yes to a tax increase again, what happens when the next "crisis" happens a few years from now? Enough is enough. Taxpayers are not bottomless ATM machines.

Rather than raise taxes, the legislature should support changing work schedules, use toll and fare supported transportation bonds, set up bio-fuel capture centers in Virginia, make state government more efficient and spend the savings on roads and transit.

Here are some practical non-tax transportation proposals:

HJR 6007: Lock up the Transportation Trust Fund so transportation dollars are not diverted for other means. More than $1.2 Billion has been diverted has been diverted to non-transportation uses over the last 18 years. This must stop.

HB 6030: Fund major transportation projects using bonds paid by tolls or rider fares, i.e., Hampton Roads Bridge tunnel expansion, I-81 truck improvements (trucks pay tolls), Tri-County --Prince William-Fairfax-Loudoun-- Connector, expand commuter rail in No VA to Haymarket, buy more Metro Subway rail cars, etc.

HB 6049: Allow naming rights in exchange for corporations and individuals paying for building roads and other transportation projects, just as is done for stadiums and school buildings.

Implement the 2002 Wilder Commission efficiency recommendations that were projected to currently save $1.1 Billion annually without reducing services.

Allocate a greater portion of state revenue to transportation. Out of a 2-year budget of roughly $79 Billion, surely a greater percent could be allocated for transportation.

HB 6031: Require all tractor trailers (VA and out of state) to pay for a per mile road maintenance and damage charge which is now passed on to other Virginia drivers.

HB 6032: Set up a permanent state oversight Commission, similar to the federal cost cutting BRAC Commission, to evaluate whether state holdings should be sold, identify duplicate programs, and cut unnecessary overhead while maintaining the same level of services.

HJR 6011: Stop burning food! Request a waiver from the federal ethanol mandate. Ethanol results in less miles per gallon and increases food prices from diversion of food to fuel. (Speaker Bill Howell publically announced I would have all of 30 seconds—literally--to present this measure to his Rules Committee!)

HJR 6008: Assess methane resources now being wasted in Virginia which could be converted to fuel for cars/trucks.

Unfortunately, despite Rule 37 of the House of Delegates which provides that: "The Clerk shall, under the direction of the Speaker, refer all such original papers (i.e. bills) to the proper committee…" Nearly all bills introduced into the special session that would reduce expenses and use the money saved for roads and transit have been referred to the House Rules Committee, Chaired by Speaker Bill Howell, so he can kill them.

See http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?083+com+H20N01 for all bills referred to the House Rules committee for the special transportation session. For Delegate Marshall’s bills see http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?083+mbr+H57C.

To find out how to contact your state delegate and senator (or learn who they are) go to:
http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Cure for Cancer?

Maybe so.

Israel: A 60-year-old start-up

CNET News has a rather interesting take on the State of Israel:
Maybe it's the Israeli knack for compartmentalization, but the entrepreneurs and venture capitalists I've been meeting on this trip take the security question more in stride than do the outsiders. They continue to wax optimistic about prospects for the country's high-tech industry, particularly in the area of clean technology. And even though most would agree with Eric Benhamou's apercu that Israel is a 60-year-old start-up, one that's often overlooked strategic aims in favor of the tactical, the "return on investment" is enviable. In 1950, Israel had average annual gross domestic product of $3,500. Last year, it was $22,500.
Never thought of Israel in those terms before, though the nation's reputation for high-tech has grown dynamically with the rise of the Internet and clean industry.

Wait -- I Thought Abstinence-Only Wasn't Working?

Via NPR, we see the latest version of media-induced panic. Namely, that movies such as Juno and other young and pregnant celebrities are driving up the teen pregnancy rate:
Jane Brown, a journalism professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, says the Juno effect is real.

Brown runs the Teen Media Project, which recently completed a study into the images seen by girls between the ages of 12 and 14. The research showed that kids who had "heavier sexual media diets" became more than twice as likely to become sexually active by the age of 16.

Part of that stems from teens' natural curiousity about sex. Kids who are more interested in it seek information from a variety of sources, Brown says, including movies like Juno. "In the context of parents still not comfortable talking with their children about sex, with schools talking only about abstinence until marriage and with religion saying it's still a sin, the media have become very powerful sex educators," she argues.

Brown says teen pregnancy rates had been falling, but she worries that the numbers are again on the rise. She says the generation of girls raised in abstinence-only education programs may not know as much about contraception as kids used to know. Meanwhile, images of unwed mothers have gone mainstream.
So let me get this straight. Teen pregnancy rates have been falling, statistics are backing this up, and instead of attributing this to a shift away from contraception-based sexual education... we blame abstinence-only education and movies such as Juno?

To be perfectly blunt, it's not the government's responsibility to teach my kids anything about sexual mores. Still, a line of argumentation that treats the symptoms (teen pregnancies) without addressing the root causes (sexually active 13-19 year olds) then band-aiding a solution by saying 95% effective contraception solves the problem... is missing the point.

Welcome to the World of Viral Marketing

Gatorade paid for this, though I wonder whether I would have gotten the point if every blog in the universe wasn't screaming how Gatorade did indeed pay for the ad.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

New Virginia Blog: I’m Surrounded By Idiots

New-ish blog from Caroline County native Timothy Watson entitled I’m Surrounded By Idiots.

More than happy to up bloggers from my old stomping grounds!

UK Telegraph: Bill Clinton says Obama must 'kiss my ass' for support

DAMN.
It has long been known that Mr Clinton is angry at the way his own reputation was tarnished during the primary battle when several of his comments were interpreted as racist.

But his lingering fury has shocked his friends. The Democrat told the Telegraph: "He's been angry for a while. But everyone thought he would get over it. He hasn't. I've spoken to a couple of people who he's been in contact with and he is mad as hell.

"He's saying he's not going to reach out, that Obama has to come to him. One person told me that Bill said Obama would have to quote kiss my ass close quote, if he wants his support.

...

The party strategist (unsourced), who was allied to one of the early rivals to Mr Obama and the former First Lady, said Mr Clinton was "very unhopeful" about the nominee's prospects in November.

"Bill Clinton knows the party will unite behind Obama, but he is telling people he doesn't believe Obama can win round voting groups, especially working-class whites, in the swing states," the strategist said.

"He just doesn't think Obama will be able to connect with the voters he needs."
That is indeed sour news for the Democrats, and the telltales of internal fracturing amongst Democratic leadership aren't unexpected. Of course, most of this is hullabaloo... the Dems will unite at the last minute, as both major parties tend to do. It's bandwagon psychology, after all.

 

RedStormPAC

$

About

ShaunKenney.com is one of Virginia's oldest political blogs, focusing on the role of religion and politics in public life. Shaun Kenney, 30, lives in Fluvanna County, Virginia.

Contact

E-mail
RSS/Atom Feed

Links

Bacon's Rebellion
Deo Vindice
First Things
Google News
Hiron's Blog
Instapundit
J's Notes
Jaded JD
Jefferson Mammoth
Not Larry Sabato
Republitarian
Save the GOP
VCAP
Virginia Centrist
Virginia Club for Growth
Virginia Progressive
Virginia Virtucon
Vivian J. Paige
Waldo Jaquith

The Jeffersoniad

China Freedom Blog Alliance

China e-Lobby
Democratic China
One Free Korea
ShaunKenney.com

Previous Posts

Malek: McCain Puts Sound Organization Together

Raising Kaine: I met Tom Perriello tonight

Your Four Minutes of Civilization

9%

Tertium Quids: RPV Chairman Jeff Frederick

Rule .303: Top 5 Coolest Megafauna of America (whi...

J’s Notes: Oil vs. Dollar

Protesters Interrupt President’s Speech at Montice...

Stars And Stripes Forever!

Rick Sincere: Liveblogging President Bush at Monti...



Search VA Blogs

BlogNetNews.com

JEFFERSONIAD POLL: Whom do you support for Virginia Attorney General?

1) John Brownlee
2) Ken Cuccinelli

View Results

Recent Music


Politics Blogs - Blog Top Sites Powered by Blogger



Archives


March 2002
April 2002
May 2002
June 2002
July 2002
August 2002
September 2002
October 2002
November 2002
December 2002
January 2003
February 2003
March 2003
April 2003
May 2003
June 2003
July 2003
August 2003
September 2003
October 2003
November 2003
December 2003
January 2004
February 2004
March 2004
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
April 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008