ACLU raises issue with McDonnell letter on judicial appointments
The ACLU of Virginia has asked Gov. Bob McDonnell to revise or remove from his questionnaire for judicial applicants two questions regarding mental and physical disabilities that may violate the American with Disabilities Act.
“These questions are unnecessary, inappropriate, invasive, and very likely illegal,” said ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Kent Willis. “Persons with disabilities fought for many years to eliminate employment and other forms of discrimination against them. The governor’s questions are an affront to them and the law, and we hope he will move swiftly to remove them.”
ACLU of Virginia Legal Director Rebecca K. Glenberg made the request in a letter sent on July 7, but as of this writing has not received a response. A recent check of the governor’s website for judicial appointments indicates that the application is still in use.
Question 38(c) of the Judicial Selection Questionnaire asks, “Have you ever been treated for any emotional or mental illness or condition. If so, please give the particulars.” Question 38(d) asks, “Do you suffer from any impairment of eyesight or hearing or any other physical limitation?”
Addressing the question about mental disabilities, Glenberg wrote: “The question …is highly intrusive and far broader than necessary to identify individuals who may lack judicial judgment or temperament….The vast number of persons who suffer (or have suffered) from some kind of mental or emotional impairment would not…be prevented from acting competently as a judge.”
On the issue of physical impairments, Glenberg wrote: “Manifestly, hearing and vision impairments have nothing to do with the ability to function as a judge. They do not affect a person’s judgment, intelligence, or temperament. With the availability of Braille, sign language interpreters, and a multitude of assistive technologies, there is no reason why a person with hearing or vision problems should be unable to perform judicial duties.”
Tides drop seventh straight at home
The Norfolk Tides lost for the seventh-straight time at Harbor Park Friday night, falling to the Gwinnett Braves 5-2 in front of 5,301 fans.
The Tides trailed all night after starting pitcher Mitch Atkins gave up a run in the 1st inning. Jose Constanza led off the 1st frame with a single and moved to third base on a single by Tyler Pastornicky. He came around to score a batter later on Matt Young’s double play.
Atkins (2-4, 3.38), pitching in his first game with the Tides since being optioned back to Norfolk on July 19, calmed down after the shaky 1st inning and lasted 7.0 innings. He was charged with four runs on the night on six hits. He struck out three batters and walked three.
The Braves added two more runs in the 4th inning off Atkins when Pastornicky led off with his second of three singles on the night. He came around to score later in the frame on Mauro Gomez’s double that hit off Robbie Widlansky’s glove in right field. Stefan Gartrell, who had gone to third base on the double, scored a batter later on a sacrifice fly from Ruben Gotay.
The Tides had their chances on the night but left 11 men on base while hitting just 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position. They had a chance to take the lead in the 3rd inning, loading the bases with one out, but Jake Fox hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat.
Fox had another chance to tie the game in the 9th inning off reliever Jairo Asencio. Kyle Hudson hit a one-out single and moved to 3rd on a walk to Ryan Adams. Following a Josh Bell groundout, Fox struck out to end the game.
Todd Redmond (7-8, 3.18) picked up the win after allowing two runs (one earned) in 5.0 innings. He gave up four hits while walking two and striking out two.
Asencio was credited with his 18th save.
Ryan Adams hit a solo home run to put the Tides on the board in the 6th inning. Tyler Henson delivered a two-out single that scored Bell later in the frame.
Kyle Hudson continued his hot stretch for the home team. The speedster recorded his second-straight three-hit game and is now hitting .429 (12-for-28) since returning to the Tides on July 17. It was his fifth multi-hit game of the run.
Gomez added a sacrifice fly that scored Pastornicky in the 6th inning. Constanza padded the visitor’s lead with bases-loaded, two-out single in the 9th inning off Josh Rupe.
The same two clubs will meet again Saturday night at 7:15. RH Steve Johnson (0-4, 6.81) will try to turn things around for the Tides opposite RH Julio Teheran (10-1, 1.70).
Gates to tomorrow night’s game will open at 5:00 to accommodate a pre-game concert on the field. Party Fins, a Jimmy Buffet Tribute Band, will play from 5:15-6:45. In addition, Reggy, The Purple Party Dude, will be in attendance to entertain fans throughout the game.
P-Nats hammered in opener with Dash
Friday night’s game in Winston-Salem was a study in opposites. Sammy Solis, the Nationals’ second-round pick and starting pitcher, had won all three of his Carolina League starts. Jake Petricka, the White Sox second rounder and Dash starter, had not won any of his four C.L. starts. The trend was reversed in the series opener: Solis struggled while Petricka cruised and the Dash pummeled the P-Nats 10-3.
Petricka (1-4) was the beneficiary of 20 Winston-Salem hits, the second most surrendered by the Nationals in 2011. Solis (3-1), meanwhile, got just two hits and one run of support in his four innings of work and allowed nine Dash hits, the most he has yielded with Potomac.
The Dash (45-53, 13-14) got to work early against Solis. A leadoff walk haunted the lefthander, who then allowed consecutive doubles to Jared Mitchell and Andy Wilkins that scored a pair of runs. Wilkins scored on Mike Blanke’s double and the Dash led 3-0 after the first.
Winston-Salem added a run in the second with a two-out rally. Tyler Saladino opened a string of three straight singles that scored Saladino and pushed the Dash lead to four.
The Nationals got on the board in the fourth, and did so in style. J.R. Higley launched a massive home run to deep left field that made it 4-1.
Solis allowed baserunners in both the third and fourth innings but kept the Dash at bay; he was lifted before the fifth for Mitchell Clegg.
Clegg was rocked for six runs on ten hits in a pair of innings, which put the game away for the Dash. Winston opened the fifth with six straight hits; the big blast was Saladino’s two-run single. In the sixth, three more consecutive hits opened the inning and became a pair of runs on a Dan Wagner groundout and a Saladino sacrifice fly.
On the night, Saladino was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored, while Mitchell finished 4-for-5 with an RBI. Wilkins was 3-for-5 with the first three RBIs of the game.
The bottom four hitters in the Dash lineup – Juan Silverio, Nick Ciolli, Kyle Colligan and Wagner – were 0-for-8 with four strikeouts against Solis. Against Clegg, they were 8-for-8 with six runs scored and two driven in.
The Nationals got a pair of runs back in the eighth. Francisco Soriano led off the frame with a walk and moved to third on a Jeff Kobernus double. They would both score on consecutive groundouts by Destin Hood and Brian Peacock.
The Nats look to get back on track on Saturday night with Paul Demny on the mound at 7 P.M. The broadcast can be heard at www.potomacnationals.com beginning at 6:40.
Salem knocks off Lynchburg
Lynchburg scored first and last, but the Red Sox rallied for enough offense in between to emerge victorious for the third straight night, garnering a 6-4 triumph in front of a season-high crowd of 5,544 at LewisGale Field on Friday night. Five different Sox drove in runs for Salem in a pair of three-run innings, while Ryan Pressly overcame a rocky first to complete five strong frames and pick up his sixth victory of the season.
Salem trailed 2-zip before it batted on Friday night, with Joe Leonard’s two-out, two-run single in the top of the first giving the Hillcats an early edge. In the bottom of the first, however, Derrik Gibson led off with a triple and was promptly driven in by Kolbrin Vitek’s single, slicing the deficit in half. Two batters later, Bryce Brentz blasted a double off the wall to bring home Vitek and tie the score at two. Then, the flustered Lynchburg starter, Aaron Shafer, fielded Dan Butler’s grounder to the mound and fired the throw into center-field, allowing Brentz to score and giving Salem a 3-2 lead.
With the same score in the last of the third, Jorge Padron smacked the first pitch of the inning down the right-field line for a double, and he made it 4-2 by scoring on Butler’s RBI single two batters later. Following an Alex Valdez fielder’s choice, Peter Hissey crushed a double to the fence in right-center field, bringing home Valdez to make it 5-2. The Red Sox plated their final tally on Miles Head’s ensuing wall-ball single to left. Though Head was thrown out at second base, Salem had leapt out to a 6-2 lead after three innings.
The Hillcats responded with one in the top of the fourth, inching within three on Christian Bethancourt’s single that scored Leonard, but Pressly bore down and retired the final six batters he faced over the fourth and fifth innings to complete his victorious outing. In relief, Kendal Volz grabbed the baton and ran with it, setting down nine of the ten men he faced over three innings, with three strikeouts.
Lynchburg threatened in the top of the ninth against Will Latimer, scoring once on L.V. Ware’s two-out double that made it 6-4 and moved the potential tying runs into scoring position. But Marcus Lemon grounded out to second base, ending the game and earning Latimer his fifth save.
Gibson and Hissey led the Sox with two hits apiece, while Vitek, Padron, Brentz, Butler, and Head each contributed one knock on the nine-hit night for the Red Sox. Leonard finished with a game-high three hits, going 3-4 with two RBI and two runs for the Hillcats.
After three straight losses to start the homestand, the Sox have won three in a row heading into the series finale with Lynchburg on Saturday night, a 6:05 start at LewisGale Field. Stolmy Pimentel is scheduled to be on the mound for Salem, while Lynchburg will toss lefthander Chris Masters.
FMS to showcase education mission
Small class sizes, loads more one-on-one instruction, discipline to set a course for a lifetime. That’s what Fishburne Military School offers, and what the Waynesboro-based private school will be showcasing in a series of upcoming open houses.
Fishburne will be hosting Open House events on Saturdays beginning this weekend and running through Aug. 20. Parents and prospective students are invited to tour the campus and talk with teachers and administrators to get a feel for what FMS has to offer the young men in its charge.
“There’s something about visiting and touring the campus that really makes you feel what we can do here at Fishburne,” said Ryan Catherwood, the director of communications at Fishburne Military School. “Parents and visiting students really develop a bond with the school walking the grounds here.”
Founded in 1879, Fishburne is an all-male, college preparatory, private day and boarding school focused on preparing boys in grades 7-12 and post-graduate with a whole-man education which includes the academic knowledge and skills to succeed in college, along with the character and leadership values to succeed at life.
More information on Fishburne Military School is available online at www.Fishburne.org.
The AFP on WKAV: Football Kickoff Preview
AFP editor Chris Graham talks ACC football with WKAV-1400AM’s “Mark Moses Show.”
Chris previews the upcoming 2011 ACC KIckoff set for this weekend in Pinehurst, N.C. Who will he be voting for as the preseason favorites in the Atlantic and Coastal? Usual suspects, sure, but Chris is high on Florida State and Virginia Tech.
Who might be this year’s sleeper? And where does UVa. fit into the mix?
Salem knocks off Lynchburg in series opener
Bryce Brentz and Mark Wagner each belted two-run bombs that bookended Salem’s scoring, blasting the Red Sox past the Hillcats 7-1 in the series opener on Thursday night at LewisGale Field. Derrik Gibson also drove in a pair with a two-run double to the wall, more than enough offense from the duo of Chris’, who teamed up to hold Lynchburg without an earned run over nine innings. Chris Hernandez improved to 9-5 and struck out five Hillcats over five innings, while Chris Martin set down 12 of the 13 men he faced during four overwhelmingly dominant frames, earning his fourth save for Salem this season.
Though the game felt like a rout by the late innings, the first frame belonged to the visitors, who assumed a 1-0 lead thanks to a Salem error. Andrelton Simmons reached on Kolbrin Vitek’s throwing miscue to begin the ballgame, scoring three batters later on Joey Terdoslavich’s ground-out to short. The Hillcats sent five men to the plate in the first; over the final eight frames, four Hillcat hitters in an inning was the maximum.
Lynchburg starter Blaine Sims harnessed his inner Tom Glavine over the first three innings, setting down nine of the ten men he faced for the Braves-affiliate. But with the Hillcats still ahead 1-zip heading to the last of the fourth, Salem’s offense awakened with back-to-back singles from Vitek and Jorge Padron. The latter base hit was negated since Padron was thrown out in his attempt to stretch it into a double, but Brentz soothed the pain of the baserunning out, swinging swiftly to send a missile over the left-field fence for his tenth Carolina League homer. The two-run laser surged Salem in front, and the Sox would not relinquish the lead the rest of the night.
Salem stretched its edge with three runs in the fifth, plating a pair on Gibson’s deep drive double to the base of the wall in left-center that made it 4-1 before Padron’s second single of the night let Gibson score to give the Sox a four-run lead. Padron’s knock chased Sims from the game, but not before the Red Sox mustered eight hits, with seven of them coming in the fourth and fifth innings.
In the bottom of the eighth, Wagner’s two-out blast was the cherry on the sundae, giving Salem seven unanswered runs on the night. Wagner finished 3-4 with the two-run jack, his fourth of the season. Gibson, Padron, and Shannon Wilkerson each had two hits to help pace the dozen-knock night for the Red Sox.
Hernandez induced nine ground-outs in five innings, throwing 52 of his 75 pitches for strikes to pick up his team-leading ninth victory. In relief, Martin extended his scoreless innings streak to 18.1, retiring 11 in a row before Joe Leonard’s two-out single in the top of the ninth interrupted his perfection. After Lynchburg’s lone hit, Martin induced a game-ending ground-out from Shawn McGill to complete his superb performance, picking up his fourth save.
The Red Sox will try to make it three straight victories on Friday night in the middle-matchup of the three-game series with Lynchburg. Ryan Pressly starts for Salem opposite Aaron Shafer, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05.
Building bridges to EMU
The feeding patterns of indigenous clams, human respiration, measurements and robotics were just some of the topics covered during the 2011 Summer Bridge Program at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU).
“We try to expose students to the core majors we provide and let them experience what each has to offer,” said Roman Miller, PhD, EMU professor of biology.
The Summer Bridge Program (SBP), June 25 – July 16, allows students from Blue Ridge Community College, Bridgewater College, EMU and James Madison University to experience all fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). EMU became a part of the program thanks to a grant from the National Science Foundation.
“The students attend a morning math session at Blue Ridge Community College before traveling to a specific college for that week,” added Miller. “They interact with their peers and instructors while getting acquainted with each campus on a week-to-week basis.”
The three-week program features field trips, educational seminars and recreational activities in addition to working in the classroom. Students are able to earn college credit hours upon completion.
Studying and Problem Solving
The 50 students that attended this year’s program were grouped into “organic cells,” or subgroups, and spent a day with an instructor in their field of expertise.
Jim Yoder, PhD, EMU professor of biology, gave a discourse on the difference in size and feeding rates of indigenous clams to Asian clams – an invasive species found locally in Virginia. Students analyzed the digestive rates and graphed their results to formulate a conclusion.
“Working with live clams, graphing the data and seeing their internal structure makes for an interesting lab,” said Yoder.
EMU professor of physics Leah Boyer, PhD, and professor of biology, Greta Ann Herin, PhD, had their respective classes work with alternate forms of measurement. Boyer instructed her class on calculating the rate of projectiles, using geometry to figure the angle and pitch of an object.
Herin’s class measured respiratory capacity – breathing rate while resting, holding their breath or following an exercise.
“Students automatically come with judgments as to what is good or bad and what is viewed as healthy or not,” said Herin. “These exercises demonstrate to the students what a huge capacity the human body has and how we are designed to move.”
Down the hall, robotics took center stage as EMU professors of computer sciences Dee Weikle, PhD, and Charles Cooley taught an experimental lab in writing programmable code. The code relayed from a computer to a robotic car, giving the car a command to turn or accelerate.
“Problem solving skills and building connections between the students was one of the focuses of this lab,” said Cooley. “We wanted them to gain exposure to all aspects of STEM related fields and have fun in the process.”
Growth in the Program
“The program has experienced continued growth in the three years that we’ve been apart of it,” said Miller. “We have seen an increase in students who want to attend EMU and become STEM majors.”
Of the students that attended this year’s program, 10 were registered to attend EMU in the fall.
“Our numbers and the quality of student that we bring in continue to climb throughout the time we’ve been involved,” said Miller.
Herin agreed, adding, “the students that are coming to EMU continue to stand out from their peers due to their skills and knowledge in each field.”
Future Summer Bridge Programs
The National Science Foundation, in partnership with the four area colleges, announced a two-year extension on the grant that allowed EMU to be included in the Summer Bridge Program.
“This cross-institutional collaboration has not happened in 20 or more years,” said Miller. “Bob Kolvoord and JMU were big factors in inviting EMU to participate in this program and making this work.”
The extension and the prospect of future EMU students being involved in the program will continue to pay dividends to the university, says Miller.
“The program has been a huge recruiting tool and it benefits the incoming class of students who built relationships with professors and have a grasp on what it takes to be a STEM major at EMU.”
David Reynolds: Inside Washington
Outside it was beautiful. It was one of those clear sunny days in summer. Tourists were on every street corner. From my table I could see yachts slowly moving into the Washington Channel to go sailing out on to the Potomac River and maybe down to the Chesapeake Bay. Our Nation’s Capital never looked better.
Inside Washington the scene was a bit different. Nothing was moving except the waiters in the restaurants and bars where the money brokers gather at midday. Inside Washington it is still winter.
Sorry to report such grim news from up North. But if anyone out there sees a flicker of light at the end of the fiscal tunnel — besides Mark Warner’s Gang of Six grand play, please let me know.
Be that as it may, the talk in river city is always about reducing government spending. But, as usual, it is just talk. Nonetheless, what better place to eavesdrop than at the semiannual luncheon meeting of the Bureau of the Budget In Exile Unrequited Marching and Chowder Society (BOBIEUMACS). That’s the full name of our small and dwindling group that at one time served as the president’s fire wall against all the evil spending forces the federal agencies and their many friends could muster.
On this fine day our group was down to thirty. Still it represented over 700 years of inside Washington knowledge, which is a few years more of understanding than the typical television pundit. At one time we were inclined to put our know-how, i.e., which government programs work and which do not, to put out fiscal fires and chase after runaway spending. But no more. Now our main focus is on the Channel Inn’s scallops and sole when we are not thinking about the empty chairs at the empty tables.
Yet, around town, few are truly engaged with the growing national debt — a debt that now about equals our annual GDP. Please note that “truly engaged” does not mean playing to the partisan peanut galleries in order to raise more peanuts, or do a Congressman Goodlatte — endorse an ineffective and foolish Balanced Budget Amendment for political cover. (How many blankets does Bob need in this hot weather?)
In the fall of 1985 we invited a reporter from the New York Times to our luncheon. He wrote, in part, “Not a word of serious discussion was heard about today’s $200 billion budget deficit, widely regarded as the nation’s No. 1 problem.”
Twenty-six years later only more zeros have been added. There seems to be no cure for Potomac fever. Cultures do not change. They have no need to tell it to you straight. But I do. Before, during and after our luncheon there were three instances which show how difficult it is to change Washington’s ways.
Before lunch I was engaged in light conversation with two former colleagues. So, I safely said, “Isn’t it wonderful that someone has finally proposed a healthcare plan as good as to one we (active and retired federal government workers) have where insurance companies compete for our business.” Apparently not! I received a lecture on the evils of the private insurance industry and why we need the power of government to defend our personal health needs. (I made a mental note to cancel my home, auto and life insurance policies when I got home.)
During the luncheon, our speaker, Professor Gordon Adams of The George Washington University, was asked questions concerning the budgets for defense and international affairs. Every question was in relation to the rest of the federal budget — not in relation to the nation! That is how Washington thinks — in a closed loop. All solutions must come from within. Don’t question the role; just question the numbers.
After the luncheon I returned home via Amtrak. As usual, the train was late arriving in Staunton. Not because there is a lack of funding to modernize the equipment or improve the roadbed. No, it was because twice we had to go off on a siding in order for a freight train to pass! You see, government knows how to solve problems by throwing money at them — seldom by changing the rules of the game, such as telling the railroads that passengers are more important than freight.
And so it goes. What will happen next inside Washington? Stay tuned. That’s why we have a 24/7 news cycle.
Column by David Reynolds
Christine Owens: Minimum-wage earners falling further behind
Two years ago this week, 4.5 million of America’s workers enjoyed a modest pay increase, as the federal minimum wage rose from $6.55 to $7.25 an hour. The increase was the final of a three-step boost enacted in 2007. Of those getting a bump in pay, more than three-quarters were adults, nearly two-thirds were women, and nearly half a million were single parents with children under 18.
Yet during the past two years, these working families have seen the real value of their wages fall. Minimum-wage earners working full-time make roughly $15,000 a year. Had the minimum wage rate kept up with inflation, their paychecks would have increased by $800 this year. Instead, our nation’s lowest-paid workers have had an even harder time providing basic needs for their families. This is one more reason that Main Street is having a tough time recovering from the economic calamity brought on by financial collapse.
CEO compensation grew 23 percent in 2010, while pay for the average American worker grew only half a percent. Minimum wage workers have fared even worse: Since the 2009 increase, the real value of the minimum wage has fallen 5 percent.
The decline in value of the minimum wage during the past four decades has been even more dramatic, as prices for goods and services have risen much faster than the wage floor. If the minimum wage had kept up with inflation since the late 1960s, it would be $10.38 today. Yet, roughly a quarter of the nation’s work force is now earning less than that.
Instead of keeping the minimum wage current, Congress has acted just three times in the last three decades to increase it. The deterioration of the wage floor has helped fuel a level of economic inequality not seen in this nation since the early 1900s—the era of sweatshops and robber barons. With more and more income and wealth being transferred from working families to the super-rich, our economy, our democracy and the American way of life are under threat.
Some will say this is not the moment to be concerned with the minimum wage. But restoring the value of the minimum is in fact a key building block of sustainable economic recovery.
Businesses and economists agree that lack of demand is the primary driver of the stalled recovery and high unemployment. Without customers lining up for goods and services, employers will not expand their production or their payrolls. Raising the minimum wage would put more money in pockets of the lowest earners who have little choice but to spend their wages immediately. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that raising the minimum wage to $9.50, as President Obama proposed during the 2008 presidential campaign, would generate more than $60 billion in new consumer spending.
Wielding outdated economic theories, opponents claim that raising the minimum wage will cost jobs and slow rehiring. The tired canard that the minimum wage causes unemployment recently received national attention when reporters revisited 2005 testimony in which Congresswoman Michele Bachmann argued that eliminating the minimum wage would wipe out unemployment entirely. This extremist view was roundly criticized, yet many corporate interests still promote the dogma that raising the minimum wage reduces employment.
While simplistic supply and demand theory suggests that employment will fall as wages rise, this 18th century model fails to capture the complexities of how the labor market works. Two decades of rigorous empirical research has revealed that increases in the minimum wage have not cost jobs or slowed rehiring, even during times of high unemployment.
Since the end of the recession, corporate profits have recovered and CEO compensation has skyrocketed. Corporations are sitting pretty on nearly $2 trillion in assets that they refuse to use to expand production or rehire because the rest of America has little cash of their own to spend on goods and services. Raising the minimum wage will help Main Street share in—and power—a robust economic recovery. It’s the least we can do for those with the least means to stay afloat and get ahead in a brutal economy.
Christine Owens is executive director of the National Employment Law Project.
W&M ranked #1 in preseason football mag
For the second-consecutive year, the William and Mary football team has garnered a preseason No. 1 national ranking by Phil Steele’s College Football Preview.
The Tribe returns 13 starters from last season’s squad that captured the Colonial Athletic Association title and earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Playoffs, marking the program’s second-consecutive postseason berth.
In addition to the lofty ranking, the publication also selected four Tribe standouts as preseason All-Americans – running back Jonathan Grimes (first team), cornerback B.W. Webb (second team), linebacker Dante Cook (third team) and tight end Alex Gottlieb (fourth team). Joining the quartet on Steele’s preseason All-CAA First Team was defensive end Marcus Hyde and safety Brian Thompson, while center James Pagliaro, left tackle Mike Salazar and linebacker Jake Trantin all garnered preseason second-team all-league distinction.
The start of the 2011 season is rapidly approaching with the Tribe set to open its campaign at Virginia on Sept. 3. Game times for 10 of the Tribe’s 11 games have been announced and are available by clicking here. The kickoff time for the Old Dominion game should be available in the near future.
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Chris Graham: No way to run a country
Posted on July 21, 2011 · 1 Comment
That it’s all the sudden a sin to do so is politics.
This is no time for politics.
Remember the recession? It’s hard for some to forget. For me, I had to hold on for dear life, scratch, claw and anything and everything else you want to say cliche-wise to make it through. At the depths, I stayed up many nights thinking through what bankruptcy would do to me.
Fortunately we were able to get back on our feet – and actually, we’ve been quite fortunate. From the depths of despair, now it seems that we don’t have enough time in the day most days to do what we need to do.
Again, we’ve been quite fortunate.
So when I read that the silly partisan posturing over raising the debt ceiling could very well push us back to another recession, well, now, I don’t know how that can make any sense.
Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, when you vote, key to your vote, most likely, is which side will do the best job creating and maintaining a stable economy.
The pending default on our debt obligations will push up the cost for the federal government to pay on the national debt. That takes more money out of the economy – for what? Not to go to seniors on fixed incomes, not to go to soldiers and police and emergency personnel keeping us safe.
Not to go to education. Not to go to long-overdue road improvements that keep business moving.
Not to go to creating new jobs.
Nope. It would cover the asses of two groups of people who obviously can’t do what we hired them to do.
Republicans. And Democrats.
Memo to the politicians: You screw this up, and it seems pretty clear that you’re intent on doing just that, you’re done.
Bob Goodlatte – done.
Barack Obama – done.
Mark Warner – we can’t vote on you until 2014, but consider yourself toast.
I think I speak for the vast majority of Americans who don’t care if the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party gets its way, or if the Blue Dogs or liberals in the Democratic Party end up in ascendancy, or what-the-hell-ever. We just want to be able to pay our rent or our mortgage, keep paying the car payments, get groceries at the store, maybe have some extra spending money for something fun to do every so often.
Get the message, powers-that-be? I doubt it. You guys and gals are too busy drafting press releases about how hard you’re working for us to actually get anything done.
This is no way to run a country.
Filed under Blogs · Tagged with debt ceiling, no way to run a country, republicans democrats, us debt