Healthcare funny business

March 10, 2010 – 9:10 am

With Nancy Pelosi and gang  making a big push in the House to vote for the Senate’s healthcare bill (which would make that Senate Bill a signable bill for Obama, but I digress), little gems are being revealed all over and Democrats are resigning in droves.

This information coming from Tom Perriello’s office raised quite a few questions for me.  Tom’s  press secretary Jessica Barba said that his office’s tally on Thursday, March 4 showed that 88% of the calls came from outside the district.  Then she said “We believe that we have had more calls in support of health are from inside our own district,” said Barba.

Read both those sentences again and take a moment to think about what they are saying.

So Tom’s office claims that 88% of the calls on a single day came from outside the district because they are keeping records of this. But “We believe that we have had more calls in support of health are from inside our own district”.   This sentence doesn’t quite read right and that’s another indicator of problems.   The problem I have with it is that they ‘believe’ more calls from the district are in support of healthcare.

Tom’s office has tallied where the calls are coming in from but not tallied the  numbers regarding the views of the voters in our district.  This is a great example of selective reporting.  What are the tally numbers for our district?  How many were for Gov’t Care and how many oppose it? What were the tally numbers for those outside of our district?  Where are the calls coming from? C’mon tallyman, show us the data!   Of course, we’ll never see the data and Tom’s office is trying to justify his YES vote for healthcare, whereas the majority of the district is against it.

Its important for all of us to weigh in with our opinion regarding Healthcare.  Take a moment and call Tom Perriello’s office and tell him how you feel about Congress’s healthcare bill.    He can be reached here: (202) 225-4711.

By vawatchdog | Posted in Perriello, Virginia, Washington | Tags: , , , | Comments (5)

Boyd’s Upcoming Dilema

March 2, 2010 – 11:37 pm

The County of Albemarle is looming towards financial chaos, just like the Federal Government under Tom.  Revenues from real estate and sales taxes are falling as fast as Obama’s approval rating.  The school division is threatening to cut up to 99 teachers, and the county is cutting some staff and freezing positions again.  If you can freeze it, you can cut it.

It is sure to be a noisy budget hearing tomorrow in Lane Auditorium and the public will be taking sides of whether to raise taxes or hold them where they are. How will this affect Ken Boyd?

Let’s take a look at a few things. Boyd was elected to the BoS (Board of Supervisors) in 2003. The county operating budget, includes both general expenditures and schools, were at $197.7 million before he was elected in 2003.  Last years county operating budget was $270.8 million. That’s over a 50% increase in 6 years.   That’s a BIG (a little big wouldn’t be right)  increase in government.  It can’t be all put on Boyd’s shoulders as there were two tax and spend liberals on the board in cahoots with the two remaining tax and spend liberals still on there.  I’ve heard him say that he was responsible for cuts  I’m not sure on that one though, I think he was only 1/6th of the cutting team.

I’ve combed through the county’s budget documents like most people have been doing the last few months while getting ready for the looming budget hearing and haven’t been able to see lots of transparency.  I can’t find a single monthly expenditure report.  It’s all figured out by the year, so I’m not sure how much is being spent each month. There are no organizational charts showing departments and staffing (none that I could find on the county website) so I’m not exactly sure where savings could be found and what I would cut.  And like most civil servant jobs, the staff are making gobs of money, much more than the private sector, and that has a lot of people ticked off.   It’s almost as if it was a reflection of Washington DC in a mirror.

These exact same problems also permeate the school division too.  I can’t find monthly expenditure reports or organization charts.  I have a serious problem with the lack of transparency from both the county and the schools.  Like father, like son, so the saying goes.  Is this the kind of leadership that the 5th needs? 6 years of what exactly? Tax hike after tax hike say most residents of Albemarle County.

Is Boyd, who helped lead and direct a $300 million county budget qualified to direct the nation and control the purse strings on the US Treasury?  Will he lose support when he raises/lowers the citizens of Albemarle’s taxes?  If he lowers/holds taxes, he cuts school funding and you know how riled up parents get when that happens.  What will happen if he raises taxes?   What will he do?

This will be interesting to watch and I’ll report again on how he votes in about a month.

By vawatchdog | Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | Comments (11)

Why are you a Conservative?

March 1, 2010 – 5:02 pm

I find that I’ve been spending lots of time the last few years critically thinking about various subjects.  I spend time analyzing my thoughts, opinions, and actions and how they fit in with all things that occur.

Why do you consider yourself a Conservative, a Republican, or however you define yourself?

By vawatchdog | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (2)

Observant Readers, Who is VaWatchDog?

February 28, 2010 – 6:12 pm

Observant readers will notice that this blog has an additional author now. Now on to more details and dispelling conspiracy theories.

Who is VaWatchDog?  I am a conservative American who believes in God, the US Constitution,  strong national defense, limited government, and low taxes.    I am not associated with any other blogs except for the one that I made when I made my VaWatchDog account. I’m not even sure if I’ll use it but claiming was a good idea.

I’ve always been interested in politics and the last few years have been unbelievable.  Like most, I’m not happy with the direction our elected leaders are taking this country and most of those elected leaders don’t have a spine and aren’t worthy of having the label “leader”. But there are some good ones up there.

As for elections, I’ve always voted for someone who represents as much of my views as possible. Its hard for any candidate to represent all the views of the individual as we all have different life stories.  But sorting out which person is best is part of the political process and its part of a process that we use to judge others we meet.  Everyone goes through the life filter.

Let us continue with the filter process and talk about important ideas, concepts,  realities, and politics within the 5th District, Virginia, the Federal Government, Democrat and Republican parties.

By vawatchdog | Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: | Comments (14)

Perriello Blames GOP, Fails to Analyze Himself

February 27, 2010 – 9:17 pm

Congressmen Tom Perriello tries to lay blame on the GOP for stalling a one month extension of programs supporting laid-off workers and other more wastefully expenditures of money in the bill.  The Republicans finally have concern that the $10 billion bill would add to the budget deficit that is predicted to hit a record $1.56 trillion this year. But Tom is not worried about the spending, he’s just pandering to 2010 election voters.

Here’s Tom in his own words. “Enough is enough.  Senate Republicans must stop playing games with the economic security of American workers.” No Tom, you and your socialist friends must stop playing the games.  Your stimulus bill failed and you are burdening our nation with financial debt for generations to come.  Is cap and trade, son of stimulus, and card check good economic policy?

“These workers deserve these benefits, and now when they need them the most, Senate Republicans are holding them hostage for partisan gain.” For an entire year, Congress was controlled by the Democrats. They had every chance to do whatever they wanted and got sidetracked for 7 months trying to ram healthcare down our throats instead of cutting all manner of taxes to stimulate the economy.  Hostages?   Tom, look in the mirror.  You are the kidnapper and the US citizenry are the hostages.

“Every week the Senate fails to act on the 290 bills already passed by the House, we are losing jobs. Well, next week, thanks to Senate Republicans, even those Americans who don’t have jobs will pay the price for these partisan shenanigans.” Every bill in the 290 bills that the House has already passed will make jobs? Everyone who voted for the stimulus package said it was going to get the economy back on track. But 291 bills later, the Democrats are failing  America. How many times must the Democrats continue to prove that spending doesn’t get the nation out of this mess? 292? 300? 1000?  If 1200-page bills can’t fix it, then maybe 10,000 bills from the Democrat House can?  Maybe no bills from Congress for a year might actually achieve something.  As for answering the implied question of partisan shenanigans, just remember which party controlled Congress for the last year.

Tom has never stopped campaigning for the 5th District seat.  He slowed down for a bit but these statements reveal that he knows he’s in trouble for re-election and he’s ramping up his efforts to show how ‘important’ he is for the district.

By vawatchdog | Posted in Perriello, Virginia, Washington | Tags: , , | Comments (17)

Perriello Opposes Self Sufficiency

February 21, 2010 – 12:27 pm

It seems that our esteemed Congressman along with all the other far left liberals believes that it is up to the Federal Government to take care of the people in their retirement years. As is typical of those on the left he does not believe that the American people are capable of taking care of themselves. Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin has purposed the partial privatization of Social Security for those who are 55 and younger; the status quo would remain for those over 55.

Of course Mr. Perriello as is typical of liberals does not trust even a small portion of a person’s social security dollars in the hands of the people that actually earned the money in the first place. For some reason the congressman believes that the government is better at taking care of our money than we are, although I have yet to see any proof of that. Because of the government’s inept handling of social security it will be insolvent before mid century and will have more money flowing out then coming in within the next decade. As it is all the money that has been put into this ponzi scheme has already been spent by the government which has been substituting IOU’s for our dollars.

Lefties like Perriello claim that allowing people to invest part of their social security on their own is too risky because of market fluctuations and they point at 2008’s large drop in the stock market as an example. This is a straw man argument that has been used for years but has no basis in reality. I can use our own retirement fund as a great example; in 2008 our retirement investments dropped by about 25% a significant number by any standard. However in 2009 these same investments showed an annual return of almost 30% once again putting us on a firm foundation. The overall return over the last decade and a half has been in the 12% plus range a significant number compared to the less than the 2% that a social security investment returns. As any investor with half a brain knows that when you get close to actual retirement you move your investments into secure funds that will provide a much lower return but will not be affected by market variations. One other difference between the private investment and social security is that I can leave my money to my children whereas the government gets to keep the money I have put into their program.

This desire by Perriello and the Democrats to scare people away from partial privatization of Social security is just another way to continue the redistribution of wealth. This would be a voluntary program that would be utilized by those who are responsible, ambitious and self reliant, in other words people who the left depend on to support those that aren’t. That is the real reason that the left is not interested in privatization and will never support any idea that gives any power back to the people.

By blueridgeguy | Posted in Perriello, Virginia, Washington | Tags: , , , | Comments (14)

Feda For Draft, Against Fairtax

February 21, 2010 – 9:02 am

Just recently Feda Morton has taken two stances that appear to set her apart from the other candidates. At a recent forum hosted by the National Armed Forces Fellowship a veterans group Feda stated that she would support a draft.

Clarification on this statement: It has been made known to me that Ms Morton qualified this statement saying that she supported a draft in the case of a national emergency.

Many believe that unless our country becomes engaged in a large scale war that a volunteer army is still our best option which after clarification appears to be Feda’s stance as well.

This past week on the Rob Schilling Show when asked if she supported the Fair Tax Feda answered:”Not totally, no.” This is a definite departure from the other candidates, although I do not know what Senator Hurt’s stance is on this issue. I am not sure what Ms. Morton meant by “not totally” and because of the format, this was asked during a “lightning round”, she was not able to elaborate on her answer. This response took me by surprise considering that many in the grassroots movement are behind the Fair Tax. We will have to see if anyone makes this an issue during the primary campaign.

By blueridgeguy | Posted in Virginia, Washington | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Comments (14)

He’s In He’s Out

February 21, 2010 – 8:45 am

Scott Schultz who entered the race for the GOP 5th district Congressional nomination less then a week ago has already dropped out. As of yesterday he sent out an email announcing his withdrawal from the race, this has to be the shortest run for an elected office I have seen.

It is obvious that Mr. Schulz had not put much thought into his run for office or he would not have announced in the first place. He must have realized that the expense of a primary campaign versus his chance of actually succeeding was prohibitive. I am sure that there are plenty of grateful people in the 5th that are glad to see one less candidate muddying up the waters. It will be difficult enough as it is nominating a decent candidate with so many prospects in the race. However the fact that Mr. Schultz considered running at all is indicative of how unhappy the people are at what is happening in our nation’s capital and does not bode well for Perriello.

By blueridgeguy | Posted in Virginia, Washington | Tags: , , | Comments (7)

Perriello Bill Fails On All Levels

February 17, 2010 – 7:57 am

At first glance the legislation that Congressman Perriello is promoting looked reasonable. This bill cosponsored by Perriello and Congresswoman Markey purposes to repeal the insurance industry’s exemption to the federal anti-trust laws. This exemption came as a result of the McCarron-Ferguson Act of 1945, as a consequence of this act among other things it:

• partially exempts insurance companies from the federal anti-trust legislation that applies to most businesses
• allows for the state regulation of insurance
• allows states to establish mandatory licensing requirements
• preserves certain state laws of insurance.

It does not exempt insurance companies from federal anti-trust regulation concerning boycotts, coercion or intimidation. As a person who holds the tenth amendment sacred I do not have a problem with insurance regulation being left to the states. According to Robert Zirkelbach a spokesman for American Health Insurance Plans, “Health insurance is one of the most regulated industries in America at both the federal and the state level.”

After speaking with three different people about this bill, a physician, an insurance specialists and a financial adviser, I have come to the conclusion that this piece of legislation will do nothing to lower health care costs and instead of increasing competition may actually harm smaller insurance companies. This bill does not address one of the major problems that drive the increase in health care costs and that is tort reform. If Congressman Perriello is truly interested in bringing costs down then he should purpose legislation that will address this problem.

For many physicians malpractice insurance is a major portion of their monthly overhead. Of course these costs are passed on to the patients but are only a small part of the additional expenses caused by excessive law suits. Because of the constant threat of possible legal action doctors will do additional diagnostic tests that may be needed in defending themselves from possible legal action in the future, tests that would not ordinarily be needed and which push the costs of health care ever higher.

If Congressman Perriello is serious about reducing the costs of health care then he needs to go after one of the real culprits, trial lawyers, and stop making this populist play by attacking insurance companies. It appears to me that Tom is trying to get back into the good graces of the residents of the 5th district by claiming he is doing something to reduce our health care costs when in actuality this bill may put some small insurance companies out of business and reduce competition. Mr. Perriello if you want to impress us do something worthwhile and quit bowing to the Pelosi/Reid cabal.

By blueridgeguy | Posted in Perriello, Virginia, Washington | Tags: , , | Comments (12)

Another One Enters the Race

February 15, 2010 – 8:53 am

As if there is not enough uncertainty in the fifth district GOP race Scott Schultz an Albemarle County resident is preparing to enter the contest and will be making his official announcement today. The primary pool isn’t crowded enough so Mr. Schultz decided he is going to jump in to test the waters out.

I am not sure what would posses a person to leap into the primary race at this point. We already have a fairly diverse group of people in the race, from right of moderate to very conservative. Unless Mr. Shultz is a very moderate Republican or maybe even a liberal Republican(there are those), there would not seem to be a good reason to throw his hat in the ring unless he means to make things more difficult for the Republican Party and easier for Perriello.

With all that has been going on with the 5th District race it concerns me that this person would decide to jump into the fray this late in the game. I know there is another three and a half months to go to the primary but the other candidates have anywhere from a three to five month advantage on him in regards to name recognition. I hate to be a skeptic but being that he runs a small business I have to wonder if he is doing this to promote this business. Let’s face it how better to get free publicity for your business then by announcing a run for an office that is already getting national attention.

By blueridgeguy | Posted in Virginia, Washington | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Comments (21)