When McCain says greenhouse gases are proven to cause Global Warming, please disregard. Look at his class rank at the Naval Academy. Do you know what kind of grades he had to get in science and engineering classes to be that low in class rank?
Just excuse him. Unless, of course, McCain wins the presidency.
Just excuse him. Unless, of course, McCain wins the presidency.
Democrat Governor Tim Kaine's plan abolishes the HRTA and adds the HRBT to the list of 6 projects for Tidewater. That is progress.
The Republicans need to add these points in their promises as they criticize the Democrat tax and spend plan. I have yet to hear from our statewide elected officials on how they are going to kill the unelected, unaccountable, unseparated powers and UN-CONSTITUTIONAL Regional Governments - the same ones we rejected at the polls twice - that were key to HB 3202. Likewise, I haven't heard how Virginia's Republican leaders are going to add the HRBT as a transportation priority.
Okay, start the clock...
The Republicans need to add these points in their promises as they criticize the Democrat tax and spend plan. I have yet to hear from our statewide elected officials on how they are going to kill the unelected, unaccountable, unseparated powers and UN-CONSTITUTIONAL Regional Governments - the same ones we rejected at the polls twice - that were key to HB 3202. Likewise, I haven't heard how Virginia's Republican leaders are going to add the HRBT as a transportation priority.
Okay, start the clock...
The Regional Government the Republican "leadership" gave us in 2007 - for the Regional Government declared un-Constitutional by the Virginia Supreme Court just released this guidance on the taxes they say they can still collect - as a still living, undead Regional Government.
HAMPTON ROADS TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY: RESTATED GUIDELINES, POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE COLLECTION AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE FEES AND TAXES AUTHORIZED FOR USE BY THE AUTHORITY UNDER LAW AND BY RESOLUTION OF THE AUTHORITY ADOPTED AUGUST 10, 2007
Effective Date: May 1, 2008
The Transportation Funding and Reform Act of 2007, HB 3202 (the Act), authorized the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority (HRTA) to impose seven fees and taxes to generate revenues for designated transportation projects in the Hampton Roads counties and cities embraced by the HRTA, namely the cities of Suffolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Hampton, Poquoson, Newport News and Williamsburg, and Isle of Wight County, York County and James City County (the HRTA Jurisdiction). It also requires that the HRTA develop guidelines, policies and procedures for the efficient and effective collection and administration of the fees and taxes authorized for use by the HRTA. This document constitutes such policies, guidelines and procedures.
Policies
It shall be the policy of the HRTA to charge and collect the fees and taxes set forth below and in the Act to the fullest extent permitted by law and in a uniform, transparent, efficient and effective manner and to apply the revenues generated thereby in accordance with the Act. The HRTA shall assist and cooperate with the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, the Virginia State Police, the Virginia Commissioner of Revenue, the Virginia Department of Tax Administration and the Virginia Department of Taxation, and the Clerks of the Circuit Courts in the HRTA Jurisdiction to the fullest extent necessary to charge and collect the fees and taxes set forth herein and in the Act. The HRTA shall provide such information and coordinate with the above state agencies and Clerk’s offices at such times as may be reasonably necessary to successfully implement these policies, guidelines and procedures.
Guidelines and Procedures
Motor Vehicle Rental Fee
The HRTA approved a two-percent increase in the motor vehicle rental fee within the HRTA Jurisdiction. This fee should be collected by rental car companies and transmitted to the Virginia Department of Taxation. The Virginia Department of Taxation should then remit these revenues to HRTA’s designated bank account. The Virginia Department of Taxation should document the jurisdiction in which the tax is collected.
Sales Tax on Auto Repairs
The HRTA approved a five-percent sales and use tax on the labor associated with automobile repairs within the HRTA Jurisdiction. This sales and use tax should be collected by repair
companies and transmitted to the Virginia Department of Taxation. The Virginia Department of Taxation should remit these revenues to HRTA’s designated bank account. The Virginia Department of Taxation should document the jurisdiction in which the tax is collected.
Annual Motor Vehicle Registration Fee
The HRTA approved a $10 annual motor vehicle registration fee increase within the HRTA Jurisdiction. This fee should be collected by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). DMV should remit these revenues to HRTA’s designated bank account. DMV should document the jurisdiction in which each vehicle is registered.
Initial Motor Vehicle Registration Fee
The HRTA approved an initial one-percent motor vehicle registration fee that applies the first time a motor vehicle is registered by its owner in the HRTA Jurisdiction. There are four scenarios for the collection of this fee: vehicle registration associated with a purchase from a dealer; vehicle registration associated with a purchase from an individual; vehicle registration associated with a Virginia resident moving into the HRTA Jurisdiction; and vehicle registration by a non-Virginia resident moving into the HRTA Jurisdiction.
Each of these scenarios will need to be handled a little differently. For most vehicles purchased from a dealer, the dealer, if permitted by law, should collect the initial registration fee as part of the sale and remit it to DMV. The fee will apply based on the HRTA Jurisdiction in which the purchaser of the vehicle resides regardless of where the vehicle is purchased. If the dealer does not collect the fee, however, DMV should note that the initial registration fee has not been collected and should bill the vehicle owner, either directly or using a contractor.
For vehicles purchased from an individual, the fee will apply based on the HRTA Jurisdiction in which the purchaser of the vehicle resides regardless of where the vehicle is purchased. The new owner should visit DMV to register the vehicle, and DMV should collect the initial registration fee at the time of initial registration.
For vehicles owned by Virginia residents who move into the HRTA Jurisdiction, the owner should visit DMV to register the vehicle, and DMV should note that the initial registration fee has not been collected. DMV should bill the vehicle for the initial registration fee either directly or through a contractor.
For vehicles owned by non-Virginia residents who move into the HRTA Jurisdiction, the owner should visit DMV to register the vehicle, and DMV should collect the initial registration fee at the time of registration.
In some cases, the vehicle owner may not change his or her address on the vehicle registration. In these cases, the local Commissioners of the Revenue or Department of Tax Administration may be the first to know the owner has moved into the HRTA Jurisdiction. In these cases, the Commissioner of the Revenue or Department of Tax Administration should flag the registration in the DMV system. DMV, or its contractor, should bill the vehicle owner for the initial registration fee.
This fee will apply even if the new vehicle owner is moving within the HRTA Jurisdiction or already resides in the HRTA Jurisdiction where an initial vehicle registration fee may already have been collected from the prior owner of the same vehicle.
DMV should remit all revenues it collects less its transaction fees to HRTA’s designated bank account. DMV should document the HRTA Jurisdiction in which each vehicle is registered.
Safety Inspection Fee
The HRTA approved a $10 annual motor vehicle safety inspection fee increase within the HRTA Jurisdiction. This fee should be collected by service stations performing inspections. The inspection station owner should remit the fee directly to an HRTA lock box to be established. The State Police should inform each inspection station in the HRTA Jurisdiction that it must collect the additional $10 fee for HRTA. The State Police should also provide HRTA a list of the number of inspections conducted by each inspection station on a regular basis.
Congestion Relief Fee (Grantor’s Tax)
The HRTA approved a $0.40/$100 valuation congestion relief fee on the sale of real property in the HRTA Jurisdiction. The Act specifies that this Congestion Relief Fee will be collected by the Clerk of Courts in each HRTA Jurisdiction. The Clerks should remit this fee to HRTA’s designated bank account.
Retail Tax on Motor Fuels
The HRTA approved a two-percent retail tax on motor fuels. This tax should be collected by the Virginia Department of Taxation and remitted to HRTA’s designated bank account.
HAMPTON ROADS TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY: RESTATED GUIDELINES, POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE COLLECTION AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE FEES AND TAXES AUTHORIZED FOR USE BY THE AUTHORITY UNDER LAW AND BY RESOLUTION OF THE AUTHORITY ADOPTED AUGUST 10, 2007
Effective Date: May 1, 2008
The Transportation Funding and Reform Act of 2007, HB 3202 (the Act), authorized the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority (HRTA) to impose seven fees and taxes to generate revenues for designated transportation projects in the Hampton Roads counties and cities embraced by the HRTA, namely the cities of Suffolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Hampton, Poquoson, Newport News and Williamsburg, and Isle of Wight County, York County and James City County (the HRTA Jurisdiction). It also requires that the HRTA develop guidelines, policies and procedures for the efficient and effective collection and administration of the fees and taxes authorized for use by the HRTA. This document constitutes such policies, guidelines and procedures.
Policies
It shall be the policy of the HRTA to charge and collect the fees and taxes set forth below and in the Act to the fullest extent permitted by law and in a uniform, transparent, efficient and effective manner and to apply the revenues generated thereby in accordance with the Act. The HRTA shall assist and cooperate with the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, the Virginia State Police, the Virginia Commissioner of Revenue, the Virginia Department of Tax Administration and the Virginia Department of Taxation, and the Clerks of the Circuit Courts in the HRTA Jurisdiction to the fullest extent necessary to charge and collect the fees and taxes set forth herein and in the Act. The HRTA shall provide such information and coordinate with the above state agencies and Clerk’s offices at such times as may be reasonably necessary to successfully implement these policies, guidelines and procedures.
Guidelines and Procedures
Motor Vehicle Rental Fee
The HRTA approved a two-percent increase in the motor vehicle rental fee within the HRTA Jurisdiction. This fee should be collected by rental car companies and transmitted to the Virginia Department of Taxation. The Virginia Department of Taxation should then remit these revenues to HRTA’s designated bank account. The Virginia Department of Taxation should document the jurisdiction in which the tax is collected.
Sales Tax on Auto Repairs
The HRTA approved a five-percent sales and use tax on the labor associated with automobile repairs within the HRTA Jurisdiction. This sales and use tax should be collected by repair
companies and transmitted to the Virginia Department of Taxation. The Virginia Department of Taxation should remit these revenues to HRTA’s designated bank account. The Virginia Department of Taxation should document the jurisdiction in which the tax is collected.
Annual Motor Vehicle Registration Fee
The HRTA approved a $10 annual motor vehicle registration fee increase within the HRTA Jurisdiction. This fee should be collected by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). DMV should remit these revenues to HRTA’s designated bank account. DMV should document the jurisdiction in which each vehicle is registered.
Initial Motor Vehicle Registration Fee
The HRTA approved an initial one-percent motor vehicle registration fee that applies the first time a motor vehicle is registered by its owner in the HRTA Jurisdiction. There are four scenarios for the collection of this fee: vehicle registration associated with a purchase from a dealer; vehicle registration associated with a purchase from an individual; vehicle registration associated with a Virginia resident moving into the HRTA Jurisdiction; and vehicle registration by a non-Virginia resident moving into the HRTA Jurisdiction.
Each of these scenarios will need to be handled a little differently. For most vehicles purchased from a dealer, the dealer, if permitted by law, should collect the initial registration fee as part of the sale and remit it to DMV. The fee will apply based on the HRTA Jurisdiction in which the purchaser of the vehicle resides regardless of where the vehicle is purchased. If the dealer does not collect the fee, however, DMV should note that the initial registration fee has not been collected and should bill the vehicle owner, either directly or using a contractor.
For vehicles purchased from an individual, the fee will apply based on the HRTA Jurisdiction in which the purchaser of the vehicle resides regardless of where the vehicle is purchased. The new owner should visit DMV to register the vehicle, and DMV should collect the initial registration fee at the time of initial registration.
For vehicles owned by Virginia residents who move into the HRTA Jurisdiction, the owner should visit DMV to register the vehicle, and DMV should note that the initial registration fee has not been collected. DMV should bill the vehicle for the initial registration fee either directly or through a contractor.
For vehicles owned by non-Virginia residents who move into the HRTA Jurisdiction, the owner should visit DMV to register the vehicle, and DMV should collect the initial registration fee at the time of registration.
In some cases, the vehicle owner may not change his or her address on the vehicle registration. In these cases, the local Commissioners of the Revenue or Department of Tax Administration may be the first to know the owner has moved into the HRTA Jurisdiction. In these cases, the Commissioner of the Revenue or Department of Tax Administration should flag the registration in the DMV system. DMV, or its contractor, should bill the vehicle owner for the initial registration fee.
This fee will apply even if the new vehicle owner is moving within the HRTA Jurisdiction or already resides in the HRTA Jurisdiction where an initial vehicle registration fee may already have been collected from the prior owner of the same vehicle.
DMV should remit all revenues it collects less its transaction fees to HRTA’s designated bank account. DMV should document the HRTA Jurisdiction in which each vehicle is registered.
Safety Inspection Fee
The HRTA approved a $10 annual motor vehicle safety inspection fee increase within the HRTA Jurisdiction. This fee should be collected by service stations performing inspections. The inspection station owner should remit the fee directly to an HRTA lock box to be established. The State Police should inform each inspection station in the HRTA Jurisdiction that it must collect the additional $10 fee for HRTA. The State Police should also provide HRTA a list of the number of inspections conducted by each inspection station on a regular basis.
Congestion Relief Fee (Grantor’s Tax)
The HRTA approved a $0.40/$100 valuation congestion relief fee on the sale of real property in the HRTA Jurisdiction. The Act specifies that this Congestion Relief Fee will be collected by the Clerk of Courts in each HRTA Jurisdiction. The Clerks should remit this fee to HRTA’s designated bank account.
Retail Tax on Motor Fuels
The HRTA approved a two-percent retail tax on motor fuels. This tax should be collected by the Virginia Department of Taxation and remitted to HRTA’s designated bank account.
Not much excitement. Contested races for Elector and Delegates to the RNC Convention.
I was elected to go back on State Central Committee.
Candidates for state-wide elections spoke. I took the four minutes they gave me to support my choices. Here is my 4 minutes to the 1CD convention.
Twice before this body has elected me to represent itat State Central. I’m grateful and honored to be your representative again. Most meetings in Richmond are exercises in cheerleading. We say 'Aye' a lot and clap. Yet, in the one or two votes a year that really matter to this political party my vote has been voice of the majority of our 23 city and county leaders. Every single time. I serve to represent the will of the majority of the rank and file Republicans through our elected chairmen. Thank you for another opportunity to do so again.
Now let me use the remainder of my time to endorse others.
Please vote for Janet Jackson for elector (She won!). Janet will perform this solemn Constitutional duty well. It is a fitting honor for a lady who has given so much, asked so little and stands so strongly for the best of what we believe in.
Consider what we believe in. It’s important. For me, my politics are driven by ideas. I am an unashamed ideologue. Because ideas, like words, have consequences. For 400 hundred years the ideas of the English-speaking people who live right here in Tidewater created and guided an idea called Virginia. An idea called the United States of America. An idea known as the Republican Party of Virginia. Our ideas are true, triumphant and still ascending.
Those shared ideas are held in common by all of our candidates for state party chairman and the U.S. Senate. Yet, the distinctions in how they implement ideas in politics matter enough to sway your support.
Jeff Frederick is not a business as usual party leader. When Republican party leaders tried to cram unelected, unaccountable, unseparated powers and - un-constitutional - regional government down our throats for the 3rd time with HB3202, Delegate Jeff Frederick stood up to be counted. And, the people of his liberal leaning district responded rightly at the polls. Because the majority of Virginians – even in Northern Virginia where I grew up – recognize good government and leadership. He has the vision and vigor for the future. Vote for Jeff Frederick for State Party Chairman.
Jim Gilmore carried Northern Virginia in two state-wide elections. He will carry it again. Because Governor Gilmore gets it. He is the quiet champion for and of the People. He will be the best champion of our Conservative ideas in the U.S. Senate. I supported him for President as the most Reaganesque of the candidates. Today, I see him much like another national hero, a man from another party, but a man that Ronald Reagan supported with all of his heart. Harry S. Truman.
Jim Gilmore reminds me of Truman in many ways – his ability to take heat, the underestimation by the political class and media, his core values, his breadth and depth of learning, his life story of earning his way up, his world vision, his integrity, and his courage. Also, Truman’s service in the U.S. Senate was a key to our national war effort in World War II. He had 30 years of military experience. Today, we are a nation at war, in a long, long, long war, where no one understands homeland defense better than Jim Gilmore. No one.
And Jim Gilmore understands economics much better than Truman did. He knows that taxes kill jobs, limit opportunity, expand government, enfringe on freedom and punish families.
Governor Gilmore is the Conservative to trust – on every social, fiscal, defense issue. I trust Jim Gilmore as our quiet champion. Vote for Jim Gilmore to be the Virginian to serve Virginia in the U.S. Senate.
More comments later.
I was elected to go back on State Central Committee.
Candidates for state-wide elections spoke. I took the four minutes they gave me to support my choices. Here is my 4 minutes to the 1CD convention.
Twice before this body has elected me to represent itat State Central. I’m grateful and honored to be your representative again. Most meetings in Richmond are exercises in cheerleading. We say 'Aye' a lot and clap. Yet, in the one or two votes a year that really matter to this political party my vote has been voice of the majority of our 23 city and county leaders. Every single time. I serve to represent the will of the majority of the rank and file Republicans through our elected chairmen. Thank you for another opportunity to do so again.
Now let me use the remainder of my time to endorse others.
Please vote for Janet Jackson for elector (She won!). Janet will perform this solemn Constitutional duty well. It is a fitting honor for a lady who has given so much, asked so little and stands so strongly for the best of what we believe in.
Consider what we believe in. It’s important. For me, my politics are driven by ideas. I am an unashamed ideologue. Because ideas, like words, have consequences. For 400 hundred years the ideas of the English-speaking people who live right here in Tidewater created and guided an idea called Virginia. An idea called the United States of America. An idea known as the Republican Party of Virginia. Our ideas are true, triumphant and still ascending.
Those shared ideas are held in common by all of our candidates for state party chairman and the U.S. Senate. Yet, the distinctions in how they implement ideas in politics matter enough to sway your support.
Jeff Frederick is not a business as usual party leader. When Republican party leaders tried to cram unelected, unaccountable, unseparated powers and - un-constitutional - regional government down our throats for the 3rd time with HB3202, Delegate Jeff Frederick stood up to be counted. And, the people of his liberal leaning district responded rightly at the polls. Because the majority of Virginians – even in Northern Virginia where I grew up – recognize good government and leadership. He has the vision and vigor for the future. Vote for Jeff Frederick for State Party Chairman.
Jim Gilmore carried Northern Virginia in two state-wide elections. He will carry it again. Because Governor Gilmore gets it. He is the quiet champion for and of the People. He will be the best champion of our Conservative ideas in the U.S. Senate. I supported him for President as the most Reaganesque of the candidates. Today, I see him much like another national hero, a man from another party, but a man that Ronald Reagan supported with all of his heart. Harry S. Truman.
Jim Gilmore reminds me of Truman in many ways – his ability to take heat, the underestimation by the political class and media, his core values, his breadth and depth of learning, his life story of earning his way up, his world vision, his integrity, and his courage. Also, Truman’s service in the U.S. Senate was a key to our national war effort in World War II. He had 30 years of military experience. Today, we are a nation at war, in a long, long, long war, where no one understands homeland defense better than Jim Gilmore. No one.
And Jim Gilmore understands economics much better than Truman did. He knows that taxes kill jobs, limit opportunity, expand government, enfringe on freedom and punish families.
Governor Gilmore is the Conservative to trust – on every social, fiscal, defense issue. I trust Jim Gilmore as our quiet champion. Vote for Jim Gilmore to be the Virginian to serve Virginia in the U.S. Senate.
More comments later.
I blogged about this on Bacon's Rebellion in my installments on the new Information Era economy - using Robert Reich's book, Supercapitalism, as the vehicle for discussion.
Here is one way to deal with the huge sums of money spent to win elections and buy influence.
The issue is money and influence. Power to move power. It’s as old as governments are in ancient civilizations and as American as apple pie. The difference in the transforming Information Era economy is how much money there is to influence politics and who has access to vast sums of money.
(I didn’t think that big money could matter that much in the very short election season following Rep. Jo Ann Davis’s untimely death last year. Old party horse that I am, still I was shocked to find out how much money could be spent in the 3 weeks I was a politician running for her seat – and how much huge money meant to key activists.)
Consider the problem of scale – big money. The money won’t go away. Prohibiting the sale of alcohol would be more effective (and we know how that worked) than every foolish attempt to ban money from politics. Money can’t be separated from power anymore than sex can be taken out of prostitution.
Virginia can’t fix the dysfunctional federal electoral legislation, like McCain-Feingold (or the extended Voting Rights Act for that matter). Yet, our Commonwealth can keep and improve the openness and easy access to information. Sunshine is the best disinfectant.
Consider the problem of concentration of power – who has the money. It can be very wealthy persons, corporations, unions, or advocacy groups (ostensibly yet laughably ‘non-profit’). If it is impossible to prevent them from using their accumulated wealth, then perhaps the remedy is to redistribute the resources they are willing to spend to buy power. Tax every contribution, fund-raising events themselves, services and the assets of every registered lobbying organization. Tax like a Democrat with a grudge.
If you tax at a high rate you increase the opportunity cost to pay to play for power. The government can use those taxes for more audit capabilities to the point of diminishing returns. Perhaps, the rest of the taxes could be put into a pot for a vox populi - to pay for public access multi-media. The rules for access, obviously, will open and close doors for participation in the political process.
As long as humans remain human, buying influence will be part of politics. The real issue is how legislation and moral suasion shape “who gets what” - which is Lasswell’s classic definition of ‘politics.’
Begin with electing Virginians to Congress who will repeal the worst and most odious election laws. Then, push towards openness, freedom and accountability in the pursuit of paying for power.
Here is one way to deal with the huge sums of money spent to win elections and buy influence.
The issue is money and influence. Power to move power. It’s as old as governments are in ancient civilizations and as American as apple pie. The difference in the transforming Information Era economy is how much money there is to influence politics and who has access to vast sums of money.
(I didn’t think that big money could matter that much in the very short election season following Rep. Jo Ann Davis’s untimely death last year. Old party horse that I am, still I was shocked to find out how much money could be spent in the 3 weeks I was a politician running for her seat – and how much huge money meant to key activists.)
Consider the problem of scale – big money. The money won’t go away. Prohibiting the sale of alcohol would be more effective (and we know how that worked) than every foolish attempt to ban money from politics. Money can’t be separated from power anymore than sex can be taken out of prostitution.
Virginia can’t fix the dysfunctional federal electoral legislation, like McCain-Feingold (or the extended Voting Rights Act for that matter). Yet, our Commonwealth can keep and improve the openness and easy access to information. Sunshine is the best disinfectant.
Consider the problem of concentration of power – who has the money. It can be very wealthy persons, corporations, unions, or advocacy groups (ostensibly yet laughably ‘non-profit’). If it is impossible to prevent them from using their accumulated wealth, then perhaps the remedy is to redistribute the resources they are willing to spend to buy power. Tax every contribution, fund-raising events themselves, services and the assets of every registered lobbying organization. Tax like a Democrat with a grudge.
If you tax at a high rate you increase the opportunity cost to pay to play for power. The government can use those taxes for more audit capabilities to the point of diminishing returns. Perhaps, the rest of the taxes could be put into a pot for a vox populi - to pay for public access multi-media. The rules for access, obviously, will open and close doors for participation in the political process.
As long as humans remain human, buying influence will be part of politics. The real issue is how legislation and moral suasion shape “who gets what” - which is Lasswell’s classic definition of ‘politics.’
Begin with electing Virginians to Congress who will repeal the worst and most odious election laws. Then, push towards openness, freedom and accountability in the pursuit of paying for power.
First night in three when I have the connectivity and time to blog. Plenty to write, but not able to do it. My apologies are my excuses.
Muc h on my mind. Just not able to share it when earning my daily bread as this.
I asked my wife this question about this trip: "Are 10 hours in conference room Hell, death by powerpoint, less than, equal to, or greater than 2 hours of beach time?" The older I get, the easier it is to answer this question.
I'll post when I can. Much to write. Just takes time to write it as I will.
Muc h on my mind. Just not able to share it when earning my daily bread as this.
I asked my wife this question about this trip: "Are 10 hours in conference room Hell, death by powerpoint, less than, equal to, or greater than 2 hours of beach time?" The older I get, the easier it is to answer this question.
I'll post when I can. Much to write. Just takes time to write it as I will.
During the War of Northern Aggression, General U.S. Grant developed the American Way of War. Read anything and everything by the late Russell Weigley. I'm using his language. This way of war used to mean the key in the Industrial Era of Modern War (1608-1862 Gunpowder, 1862-1989/91 Industry, 1989- Information) was the emphasis on one of nine Principles of War - Mass.
In 1864's precursor to WW I of continuous combat ending in a trench warfare equilibrium, U.S. Grant never won a tactical fight over Robert E. Lee. Grant lost 60,000 men to Lee's 20,000 men. But, given the ratio of forces, that meant that Grant could maneuver to a new fight and he won the operational campaign - losing every battle.
We still employ Grant's American Way of War. Except, in the sustainment and support operations of Iraq and Afghanistan the need to mitigate collateral damage mitigates against using mass. We still use massive firepower and overwhelming forces whenever possible.
This emerged from the central experience of the American Republic - a terrible civil war. Our way of war came from 150 years ago in history and, yet, is part of what happens today to make new history.
God Bless America and God Save the South.
In 1864's precursor to WW I of continuous combat ending in a trench warfare equilibrium, U.S. Grant never won a tactical fight over Robert E. Lee. Grant lost 60,000 men to Lee's 20,000 men. But, given the ratio of forces, that meant that Grant could maneuver to a new fight and he won the operational campaign - losing every battle.
We still employ Grant's American Way of War. Except, in the sustainment and support operations of Iraq and Afghanistan the need to mitigate collateral damage mitigates against using mass. We still use massive firepower and overwhelming forces whenever possible.
This emerged from the central experience of the American Republic - a terrible civil war. Our way of war came from 150 years ago in history and, yet, is part of what happens today to make new history.
God Bless America and God Save the South.
I'm off by a few days to say goodbye to Southern History Month 2008. So it goes. I travel with my day job. It means some nights I'm too tired to think, let alone write well - or as well as I can. Or, some nights the hotel broadband doesn't have juice enough for all the folks pulling on the same straw. So, I sleep. Or, as I did the other night, stay up way too late watching 'Zulu' from the 1980s. I connect to that movie at many levels in a number of ways.
I end Southern History Month with a few thoughts of the South and the World and the South's Future.
Now, not in the above order...my thoughts.
At some point, like the 95 theses on the church door, the South will awaken to an idea. The idea will connect elsewhere too. But, in the South it will be a majority or the magical quotient of revolutions - the one-third willing to risk all - life, liberty, property, family, pain, all - for ideas that rises again.
In 2004, I thought that the Ten Commandments in public places could be the trigger to explode enough energy for all folks, us Willy Nomans, most of us regulars, to consider in our free will the choices. And the consequences of civil disobedience. It didn't happen, except for one judge - an old West Pointer.
So, I shifted to consider what would be the point of no return to most Southerners. I can think of two things at this time. Most likely, I'm wrong on both accounts and the cause celebre which becomes the cause de guerre actuale at some point will be something in the same strain, but different enough in specifics to matter in fact and perception.
So, I consider the odd thought that ideas take on characteristics like physical objects and move according to physical, Newtonian laws. That means that sooner or later the Liberals (Human Secularists) or the Islamists will push too hard on something. Like when the Cherokee raiding party that hit my family on Sunday picnic in upcountry South Carolina, or the call to independence from the British crown, or the invasion of Federal troops in Virginia or the call came to defend our home against foreign enemies on foreign fields in WW I, WWII, Vietnam, and now WW IV someone Southern, a lot of Southerners, will rise to the fight (I left off the fights where I can't name someone of my blood or marriage instantaneously who served -maybe a cousin something removed went to the War of 1812, dunno) and history will change.
Let's set aside the particulars for now. Eventually, the South will rise again. My hope is that the South has grown and crossed the 33.4% threshold and when it does, it has the political clout and moral suasion to carry the Nation, our America. If the Liberal Yankees want to secede, it'll be their problem.
Thence comes the deliberation. "De quoi s'agit'il?" as Napoleon asked. What is it about?
Southerners are good folks to have on a frontier to conquer new land to make part of the South. At least they were. Southerners are lousy colonists. They pine too much to go home.
So, as America is in its Imperial Republic Era - the crucial time when a Nation with such power has imperial responsibilities without imperialist ambitions in a world where an ancient evil pushes for world domination - so America must work to remain a Republic based on the Rule of Law or lose it - the South will be the bulwark for one way forward.
The South will defend the West - and Israel.
The South will champion the rule of law.
Southerners will evolve more to a multi-racial, mixed ethnicity Christian identity, yet traditional Judeo-Christian culture - above and beyond any 19th century artifact.
The South will love and serve America as long as it is American - and loyal enough to the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
The South will lead America into the next, new Conservative century.
If not, then consider how the Scotland which was barbarian tribal, not quite a nation-state in the early 17th century - and, thus, united with England with James I (James VI of Scotland) moved to independence 300 years later at the end of the 20th century. Not the full nation state status, but a national independence unthinkable since the Battle of Culloden. If worse came to worst in the North and other America, then the South, which once fought under the Scottish cross of St Andrew - and in whose culture the many echoes of Scotland still resonate lo the centuries pass - might find its own way.
I doubt that will happen. I think the South will lead the Nation. As Virginia did in thinking for the Revolution and in the formation of America, Virginia and the South will lead again.
The South will rise to leadership, not rebellion.
I end Southern History Month with a few thoughts of the South and the World and the South's Future.
Now, not in the above order...my thoughts.
At some point, like the 95 theses on the church door, the South will awaken to an idea. The idea will connect elsewhere too. But, in the South it will be a majority or the magical quotient of revolutions - the one-third willing to risk all - life, liberty, property, family, pain, all - for ideas that rises again.
In 2004, I thought that the Ten Commandments in public places could be the trigger to explode enough energy for all folks, us Willy Nomans, most of us regulars, to consider in our free will the choices. And the consequences of civil disobedience. It didn't happen, except for one judge - an old West Pointer.
So, I shifted to consider what would be the point of no return to most Southerners. I can think of two things at this time. Most likely, I'm wrong on both accounts and the cause celebre which becomes the cause de guerre actuale at some point will be something in the same strain, but different enough in specifics to matter in fact and perception.
So, I consider the odd thought that ideas take on characteristics like physical objects and move according to physical, Newtonian laws. That means that sooner or later the Liberals (Human Secularists) or the Islamists will push too hard on something. Like when the Cherokee raiding party that hit my family on Sunday picnic in upcountry South Carolina, or the call to independence from the British crown, or the invasion of Federal troops in Virginia or the call came to defend our home against foreign enemies on foreign fields in WW I, WWII, Vietnam, and now WW IV someone Southern, a lot of Southerners, will rise to the fight (I left off the fights where I can't name someone of my blood or marriage instantaneously who served -maybe a cousin something removed went to the War of 1812, dunno) and history will change.
Let's set aside the particulars for now. Eventually, the South will rise again. My hope is that the South has grown and crossed the 33.4% threshold and when it does, it has the political clout and moral suasion to carry the Nation, our America. If the Liberal Yankees want to secede, it'll be their problem.
Thence comes the deliberation. "De quoi s'agit'il?" as Napoleon asked. What is it about?
Southerners are good folks to have on a frontier to conquer new land to make part of the South. At least they were. Southerners are lousy colonists. They pine too much to go home.
So, as America is in its Imperial Republic Era - the crucial time when a Nation with such power has imperial responsibilities without imperialist ambitions in a world where an ancient evil pushes for world domination - so America must work to remain a Republic based on the Rule of Law or lose it - the South will be the bulwark for one way forward.
The South will defend the West - and Israel.
The South will champion the rule of law.
Southerners will evolve more to a multi-racial, mixed ethnicity Christian identity, yet traditional Judeo-Christian culture - above and beyond any 19th century artifact.
The South will love and serve America as long as it is American - and loyal enough to the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
The South will lead America into the next, new Conservative century.
If not, then consider how the Scotland which was barbarian tribal, not quite a nation-state in the early 17th century - and, thus, united with England with James I (James VI of Scotland) moved to independence 300 years later at the end of the 20th century. Not the full nation state status, but a national independence unthinkable since the Battle of Culloden. If worse came to worst in the North and other America, then the South, which once fought under the Scottish cross of St Andrew - and in whose culture the many echoes of Scotland still resonate lo the centuries pass - might find its own way.
I doubt that will happen. I think the South will lead the Nation. As Virginia did in thinking for the Revolution and in the formation of America, Virginia and the South will lead again.
The South will rise to leadership, not rebellion.
01/05: Follow the Money on Earmarks
From the blog, I'm Surrounded By Idiots:
"Contributor to Rob Wittman’s (R) campaign gets his organization awarded with $2,200,000 in earmarks.
That would be Richard Pearce and Riverside Health System.
On August 29, 2007, Richard Pearce gave $500 to Rob Wittman’s House of Delegates reelection campaign despite not living in Wittman’s district (not that that is illegal or anything) (VPAP).
On December 14, 2007, Richard Pearce gave $2,000 (the maximum an individual contributor can give to a candidate is $2,300 [FEC]) to Wittman’s campaign for the special election to replace the late Jo Ann Davis (Contributions to Wittman’s campaign from the FEC).
Richard Pearce is the President/CEO of Riverside Health System (Riverside Health System).
Sometime this week, Rob Wittman finally got around to posting his requested earmarks on his website and lo and behold the following (Appropriation Requests FY 2009):
Project Name: Riverside Hospital Emergency Preparedness
Requested By: Riverside Health System
Amount Requested: $1,050,000
[...]
Project Name: Riverside Health System, Patient Navigator Program
Requested By: Riverside Health System
Amount Requested: $575,000
[...]
Project Name: Riverside Radiosurgery Center Synergy Project
Requested By: Riverside Health System
Amount Requested: $1,500,000
That’s $2,200,000 in earmarks for the organization of a major contributor.
How convenient…
The only other hospital to receive funding was Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters in the amount of $1,325,000. Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters isn’t even located in his district. It’s in Bobby Scott’s (D) 3rd Congressional District.
The right-wing liberal has more, by the way.
More to come kids."
"Contributor to Rob Wittman’s (R) campaign gets his organization awarded with $2,200,000 in earmarks.
That would be Richard Pearce and Riverside Health System.
On August 29, 2007, Richard Pearce gave $500 to Rob Wittman’s House of Delegates reelection campaign despite not living in Wittman’s district (not that that is illegal or anything) (VPAP).
On December 14, 2007, Richard Pearce gave $2,000 (the maximum an individual contributor can give to a candidate is $2,300 [FEC]) to Wittman’s campaign for the special election to replace the late Jo Ann Davis (Contributions to Wittman’s campaign from the FEC).
Richard Pearce is the President/CEO of Riverside Health System (Riverside Health System).
Sometime this week, Rob Wittman finally got around to posting his requested earmarks on his website and lo and behold the following (Appropriation Requests FY 2009):
Project Name: Riverside Hospital Emergency Preparedness
Requested By: Riverside Health System
Amount Requested: $1,050,000
[...]
Project Name: Riverside Health System, Patient Navigator Program
Requested By: Riverside Health System
Amount Requested: $575,000
[...]
Project Name: Riverside Radiosurgery Center Synergy Project
Requested By: Riverside Health System
Amount Requested: $1,500,000
That’s $2,200,000 in earmarks for the organization of a major contributor.
How convenient…
The only other hospital to receive funding was Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters in the amount of $1,325,000. Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters isn’t even located in his district. It’s in Bobby Scott’s (D) 3rd Congressional District.
The right-wing liberal has more, by the way.
More to come kids."
29/04: Earmarks for 1CD Virginia
"By NEIL H. SIMON, Media General News Service
April 25 2008
WASHINGTON-As his colleagues debated a moratorium on congressionally-directed budget earmarks this month, Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., requested $132.5 million for local projects.
The requests to congressional appropriators ranged from new roads and military construction to a host of projects aimed at restoring the polluted Chesapeake Bay.
"So much of who we are is the bay," said Wittman, who called for $12 million for eight programs directly related to cleaning the bay or studying ways to rebuild its fish and oyster industry.
Looking at the list of requests, several of which would go to the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, bay advocates said it read like a wish-list for the waterway.
The funds would help remove nitrogen and sediments from the bay, study different ways of growing oysters, and look at harmful algae that can make the water and its fish deadly under certain conditions.
"From the point of view of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, every one of them ought to be funded," said foundation lobbyist Doug Siglin.
The oyster population is less than four percent of its natural level, Siglin said, and oysters help filter sediments out of the water.
Wittman remembers the bay teeming with marine life, even when he was a teen working on a fishing boat.
"I was always up to my knees and elbows," he said. "You'd find seahorses, fish, crabs, it was just jam-packed."
Now as a first-term representative, he sees the appropriations process as one way to help local agencies who are committed to bringing back that kind of life to the estuary.
"We've got to look to restore that bay for economic reasons and for cultural reasons," he said.
But critics at Citizens Against Government Waste, a nonprofit organization that opposes congressional earmarks, say Wittman is seeking to help the bay in the wrong way.
"Whether it sounds meritorious our not, this (funding) is not going to get any supervision or compete against any project that may be beneficial to the bay," said spokeswoman Leslie Page.
But Wittman says he knows his district's needs better than federal agency bureaucrats who would otherwise dole out the money.
In his first budget cycle, Wittman sought funding for 52 projects. The largest is $17.5 million to replace a 40-year-old missile support facility at the Navy's Dahlgren Division in King George Co.
"It's very urgent," Wittman said, citing million-dollar annual maintenance costs and damaged equipment at the current building.
He also sought $17 million for expanded broadband access, mostly in rural areas, and $10 million dollars for two transportation projects to improve access at Quantico Marine Corps Base, which is expecting an influx of roughly 3,000 jobs by 2011 due to Pentagon base realignments.
Side-stepping the intra-party debate over new House earmark policies, Wittman said he made sure his requests were supported by local agencies, contained non-federal funding, and pledged to publish his requests on his Web site.
"What we try to do is step out in front and develop our own policy and be sure we are transparent," Wittman said.
But critics said it would have been better for him to not participate in the earmark process at all.
"He's not starting off very well," said Paige. "If he's already climbing on the runaway train that is the earmark culture in Congress, he's going in the wrong direction."
Critics also say the earmark process increases spending, because lawmakers support each other's pet projects.
Wittman said he will suggest "spending reductions in other places to offset spending for (his) earmarks."
Lawmakers were required to submit any requests for fiscal year 2009 to the House Appropriations Committee early this month. Nothing requires them to reveal what they sought until the committee includes it in a budget bill.
Wittman's $132.5 million request ranks in the middle of the five Virginia lawmakers who shared their funding requests this month.
Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., requested $48.8 million for 39 projects.
Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., requested $168.9 million for 55 projects.
Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va, requested $249.6 million, almost all of it for mass transit near Dulles International Airport.
Cantor made no appropriation requests for the second year in a row and has called on lawmakers to follow suit while Congress considers reforms to the earmark process. "
April 25 2008
WASHINGTON-As his colleagues debated a moratorium on congressionally-directed budget earmarks this month, Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., requested $132.5 million for local projects.
The requests to congressional appropriators ranged from new roads and military construction to a host of projects aimed at restoring the polluted Chesapeake Bay.
"So much of who we are is the bay," said Wittman, who called for $12 million for eight programs directly related to cleaning the bay or studying ways to rebuild its fish and oyster industry.
Looking at the list of requests, several of which would go to the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, bay advocates said it read like a wish-list for the waterway.
The funds would help remove nitrogen and sediments from the bay, study different ways of growing oysters, and look at harmful algae that can make the water and its fish deadly under certain conditions.
"From the point of view of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, every one of them ought to be funded," said foundation lobbyist Doug Siglin.
The oyster population is less than four percent of its natural level, Siglin said, and oysters help filter sediments out of the water.
Wittman remembers the bay teeming with marine life, even when he was a teen working on a fishing boat.
"I was always up to my knees and elbows," he said. "You'd find seahorses, fish, crabs, it was just jam-packed."
Now as a first-term representative, he sees the appropriations process as one way to help local agencies who are committed to bringing back that kind of life to the estuary.
"We've got to look to restore that bay for economic reasons and for cultural reasons," he said.
But critics at Citizens Against Government Waste, a nonprofit organization that opposes congressional earmarks, say Wittman is seeking to help the bay in the wrong way.
"Whether it sounds meritorious our not, this (funding) is not going to get any supervision or compete against any project that may be beneficial to the bay," said spokeswoman Leslie Page.
But Wittman says he knows his district's needs better than federal agency bureaucrats who would otherwise dole out the money.
In his first budget cycle, Wittman sought funding for 52 projects. The largest is $17.5 million to replace a 40-year-old missile support facility at the Navy's Dahlgren Division in King George Co.
"It's very urgent," Wittman said, citing million-dollar annual maintenance costs and damaged equipment at the current building.
He also sought $17 million for expanded broadband access, mostly in rural areas, and $10 million dollars for two transportation projects to improve access at Quantico Marine Corps Base, which is expecting an influx of roughly 3,000 jobs by 2011 due to Pentagon base realignments.
Side-stepping the intra-party debate over new House earmark policies, Wittman said he made sure his requests were supported by local agencies, contained non-federal funding, and pledged to publish his requests on his Web site.
"What we try to do is step out in front and develop our own policy and be sure we are transparent," Wittman said.
But critics said it would have been better for him to not participate in the earmark process at all.
"He's not starting off very well," said Paige. "If he's already climbing on the runaway train that is the earmark culture in Congress, he's going in the wrong direction."
Critics also say the earmark process increases spending, because lawmakers support each other's pet projects.
Wittman said he will suggest "spending reductions in other places to offset spending for (his) earmarks."
Lawmakers were required to submit any requests for fiscal year 2009 to the House Appropriations Committee early this month. Nothing requires them to reveal what they sought until the committee includes it in a budget bill.
Wittman's $132.5 million request ranks in the middle of the five Virginia lawmakers who shared their funding requests this month.
Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., requested $48.8 million for 39 projects.
Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., requested $168.9 million for 55 projects.
Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va, requested $249.6 million, almost all of it for mass transit near Dulles International Airport.
Cantor made no appropriation requests for the second year in a row and has called on lawmakers to follow suit while Congress considers reforms to the earmark process. "
