10,519 VA GOP Delegates for the May 30 Convention. 60% are for Marshall and 60% are for Gilmore?

It's a little early to be claiming victory, but that's just what Gilmore's camp is doing in press releases and blogs, and still in FLS interviews today.

Using his own math and presumptions however, I would recommend they refrain from such confidence so early on.

I've done a little polling myself, and found that the region we live in, seems quite a bit more tilted toward Marshall than Gilmore's crowd will admit. In fact, where Gilmore claims a 60% lead, I would be fairly confident in saying it's closer to 80% for Marshall.

If they're puffing numbers in other areas as well, this could prove to be a marketing disaster for Gilmore.

I like both candidates very much, and either would be a warm welcome to the US Senate compared to Mark "I'll raise every tax I can" Warner, but given the choices, vote counting credibility and steadfast principles will play a large part in my decision of who I support.

I'm also a big fan of not scrambling children's bodies with sharp instruments at any age, and only one of the candidates will hold up to the scrutiny of being 100% pro-life from conception onward.

Only one never voted for a tax increase, and one grasped the constitution well enough to fight and win, single-handedly, the reversal of the illegal HB3202 which I was ardently opposed to from its inception.

So brace yourselves fellow Republican delegates, for we're about to get another slew of campaign material in our mailboxes for the next few weeks! Do take the time to read it all over, and make your decision based on what principles are important to your family.

Then, no matter who wins, be prepared to accept that result and let's move forward into November as a unified force and defeat Mark Warner together!

Liberal Hate Monger Bill Maher Calls the Pope a Pedophile and Nazi!

Outrageous stuff even for Bill Maher.

Conservatives are calling for his head (again) and may get it this time.

See the video for yourself, and decide if you want to live a county full of liberals like him or not. Get involved with your area GOP if you don't.

You don't have to be Catholic to know this is over the line, but hey— "...when good men do nothing..." you get Democrats in charge.

Will you make any difference in 2008?

When can you expect your IRS Rebate Check?

"When can I receive my IRS Stimulus Rebate Check?"

Take the last two numbers in the primary filer's social security number and see below:

#00 through 09: May 16
10 through 18: May 23
19 through 25: May 30
26 through 38: June 6
39 through 51: June 13
52 through 63: June 20
64 through 75: June 27
76 through 87: July 4 (not likely in the mail "actually" that day!)
88 through #99: July 11

They will come earlier if you filed your 2007 taxes via electronic direct deposit.

However, Democrats have three options:

1) Democrats will need to sign the back of their check and return it to the IRS promptly so that they can put their money where their mouth is and make ridiculous entitlement government programs "fully funded" finally. After all, we're talking about $1.5 billion dollars coming back to American taxpayers, and you don't want that to happen. It would be like stealing from "other people's" money.

2) Spotsylvania Democrats, who make up the entire school board and now the majority of the Board of Supervisors, can sign the backs of their checks and return them directly to the school board. This way, the children whom you profess to always be in harm's way if MORE cash isn't poured immediately into the school system, will be fully protected from this horrific budget cut known by Republicans as a balanced budget with accountability to taxpayers.
You'll be a hero among your peers and "Doctor" Jerry Hill will personally hit a golf ball in your honor at his next teacher work day planning session.

If the 20,000 Democrat households in Spotsy gave their rebate check back to the schools where you keep saying it always belongs, we would have more than $20 million invested for "our future". Heck, we could almost build another empty school for that much!

Since Don Holmes reads this blog nearly every day, I'd like to take this moment to give a shout-out to "The Donald". Sup D?

3) And Democrats will hate this choice:

• ADMIT that all YOUR tax money paid to the government was YOURS to begin with,
• and that this rebate is YOUR cash (not a federal cookie jar program for the lazy, the illegal, and to serve the pleasure of the Washington elitists of any party),
• admit that it feels GOOD to see your cash again,
• admit that it would be nice to see this much cash returned every few MONTHS and not squandered by UNCONSTITUTIONAL PROGRAMS that our government has no business providing in the first place,

... and maybe, just maybe, there's a chance that you may actually grasp what REPUBLICANS HAVE BEEN SAYING FOR DECADES about the ever growing appetite of government and wasteful projects!

You could even grasp that this massive pre-paid "rebate"— $1,500,000,000.00— is not even a drop in the bucket compared to the spending each and every year on subsidy programs for the lazy and unwilling to work (NOT the unable to work like wounded veterans for example-they get a check.)

... not willing to go as far as option 3? Then you would be a BAD DEMOCRAT for not choosing 1 or 2, and an absolute HYPOCRITE for considering keeping the money— because you still think it's your duty to give 65% of your paycheck to the government (Like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton say you should). ... and if that's accurate, then the rebate money doesn't belong to you now does it? So you should return it to its rightful owners.

I'll be waiting for my check patiently, thank you very much. It's my money, and the feds shouldn't have had it in the first place!

I hope you enjoyed this little exercise and now believe that even if you don't consider yourself a card-carrying Republican all the time, you certainly don't consider yourself a Socialist/Democrat.

Visit http://www.irs.gov/ if you have any questions about your rebate. This easy to navigate website was brought to you by your tax dollars.

Spotsylvania County GOP Announces New Chairman

- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -

CONTACT: Herb Lux, Vice Chairman

540-786-7650

hlux@spotsygop.com

http://www.spotsygop.com

Spotsylvania, VA April 8, 2008–Spotsylvania Republicans gathered at their annual mass meeting April 5th and elected Livingston District resident Bryce Reeves as the committee’s new chairman.

Robert Stuber, the previous chairman, was recently appointed as the Vice Chairman of the 1st Congressional District Republican Committee and announced he would not seek another term as county chairman. Stuber supported Reeves’ candidacy and said he is pleased with the outcome of the election.

Reeves brings tireless energy, experience and proven leadership to the position being vacated by Stuber. His goals are to unify the Republican base in Spotsylvania County and bring more people into the Party to have an impact within the community of Spotsylvania County.

Reeves said, “I’m excited about getting to work on behalf of my fellow county Republicans and taxpayers. The time to bring leadership and fiscal discipline to the tax-and-spend mentality is now. We’re at a pivotal moment in our county’s delicate economy. Where we go from here in 2008 will chart the course for the next several years.

“I’m encouraged by the large number of recent membership applications to the GOP committee. This tells me that the local party is energized and more people are realizing that now is the time to get engaged.”

For additional information, please visit http://www.spotsygop.com/ or call Herb Lux, Vice Chairman of SRC at (540) 786-7650.

# # #
LINK TO PDF VERSION

When Our Newspaper Editor Thinks Too Much

I cracked open my (free online copy of) The Free Lance-Star today and couldn't help but laugh at the op-ed [here].

What a surprise to learn that my local newspaper editor is now an expert in rural planning and development practices! Moreover, he appears to know more than our elected officials combined and hold such a large crystal ball that he also knows more than the majority of the voters who elected these same leaders.

It must be an amazing thing to posses such vision and acumen and yet be held back by such trivial restraints such as, well, the fact that you aren't elected with solving these particular issues by the people who are most affected by them, and my meddling with the local government's decisions on the only large soapbox that we have is both irresponsible and dangerous! Never mind that no one asked you in the first place.

But then again, it's the Free Lance-Star, and the locals in these two districts especially, must surely know better than to believe the words printed in it—except for the date—they are factual and neutral about that.

It's beside the point that I happen to agree with the bulk of the opinion (that Berkeley and Livingston should remain largely rural as its resident majority wish), but I find it amazing that a NEWSpaper should get so involved in the micro-economic concerns of a specific county's districts.

Although if he happens to crack the code for making our housing values go back up, stimulate housing sales, recruits a single business to the county that employs people at greater than minimum wage, figures out a way to put a muzzle on Jerry Hill's outrageous fleecing of our county treasury, boosts tourism spending by 10%, or can opine his way into a bridge being built to connect Route 3 and Route 17 North—then I'll personally run his campaign for free!

Maybe it's time we put up "Elect Paul Akers- Landlord of Lord Spotswood's former territory" stickers on our cars?

What do you think?

Attorney General McDonnell Announces Settlement with Auto Title Lender Auto Cash Title Loans Agrees to Make Refunds to Eligible Consumers

For Release: March 25, 2008 / Contact: J. Tucker Martin or David Clementson /Website: www.vaag.com / Phone: 804-786-2071 / Email: Tucker.Martin@oag.state.va.us or dclementson@oag.state.va.us

Attorney General McDonnell Announces Settlement with Auto Title Lender Auto Cash Title Loans Agrees to Make Refunds to Eligible Consumers

RICHMOND – Attorney General Bob McDonnell has reached a settlement for violations of Virginia ’s Consumer Finance Act with Auto Cash Title Loans, LLC, an automobile title lender operating in Richmond and Spotsylvania .

“I am pleased we were able to reach a fair and reasonable agreement with Auto Cash to provide refunds and other relief to affected Virginians,” McDonnell said.

Auto Cash generally makes loans to consumers which are secured by a motor vehicle title. Since June 2007, Attorney General Bob McDonnell has successfully negotiated settlements with six automobile title lenders. These settlements have provided the following total relief to consumers:

• $458,668 in refunds to 2,637 borrowers;
• $1,926,969.88 in forborne deficiency collection from 2,944 defaulting borrowers who had their vehicles repossessed; and
• $5,089,354.09 in forborne interest collection from 9,624 borrowers.

The civil settlement with Auto Cash Title Loans LLC is in the form of a Consent Judgment that has been filed with the Richmond Circuit Court for approval.

According to the Complaint, Auto Cash’s violations occurred between January 2006 and June 2007. During this time, Auto Cash charged its borrowers interest rates that exceeded statutory limits in the Consumer Finance Act. Unless exempt, that Act prohibits unlicensed lenders from charging and receiving annual interest exceeding 12 percent on consumer loans.

The settlement includes the following key terms relating to future loans and title loans made by Auto Cash during the period in question:

• A permanent injunction preventing Auto Cash from violating the Consumer Finance Act in the future by charging and receiving interest in excess of 12 percent on consumer loans, unless Auto Cash is otherwise exempt by statute;
• Auto Cash agrees to make refunds totaling $25,137.44 to 115 borrowers for finance charges paid on loans paid in full during the first 60 days after the loan was made;
• Auto Cash agrees not to collect deficiency amounts totaling $33,550.31 owed by 76 borrowers who obtained loans, later defaulted on those loans, and whose vehicles were repossessed;
• Auto Cash agrees not to collect $89,075.00 in interest owed by 40 borrowers who obtained loans, later defaulted on those loans, and whose vehicles were not repossessed;
• Auto Cash agrees not to collect $200,629.36 in interest owed by 132 borrowers who obtained loans and are current on monthly payments;
• Auto Cash agrees not to repossess vehicles belonging to borrowers who obtained loans during the relevant period; and
• Auto Cash agrees to pay $15,000 for reimbursement of the Commonwealth’s attorney’s fees.

The Attorney General’s Office will be monitoring the compliance phase to ensure that the settlement is properly administered.

Consumers who have questions about the settlement may contact Auto Cash directly: (804) 745-9007 in the Richmond area, and (540) 507-4080 for the Spotsylvania store. Under the settlement, Auto Cash must accept settlement-related collect calls from consumers residing outside of the local calling area.

###

"Why didn't you use that money wisely last year?"; Culpeper BOS Manhandles Spendy School Board!

One of the best lines I've ever hear coming from a Supervisor! If only Spotsy Supervisors were so courageous... but then again, you probably aren't telling them to stop spending your money–are you?

from today's Free Lance-Star:

After hearing School Board Chairman George Dasher spend nearly two hours defending a $6.7 million FY-09 budget increase, Supervisor Tom Underwood was brutally honest.

"Given the tax increase necessary relative to the current economic situation, I don't believe [$6.7 million] is affordable," Underwood said. "In fact, I don't think half that amount is affordable."

Then Underwood asked Dasher, "Do you have a contingency plan for lower levels of funding?"

"A lot of things are being explored," Dasher replied, "including the possibility of not opening one of the two new schools."

The School Board's $75.7 million funding request came at the end of a long day for the Board of Supervisors, who yesterday spent eight straight hours listening to various county departments ask for money for next year.

When it came to the school system, which consumes the lion's share of the county's budget, the supervisors were not in a very good mood.

Supervisors Sue Hansohn and Steve Nixon reminded Dasher that the school system got almost $3 million in new money last year and they chose to give teachers and administrators an 8 percent to 10 percent raise.

"You're coming in here and asking for $6.7 million when you could have used some of that money," Nixon said.

"Why didn't you use that money wisely last year?" he asked, reminding the School Board chairman that his body knew a year ago that two new schools would be opening this year.

Supervisor Larry Aylor followed suit, saying, "I don't think that [8 percent in raises] gives the kids a better education."

Aylor also said he was tired of hearing "the School Board say that we have to compete with [school systems] up north."

Nixon also said that he couldn't justify teachers getting a 1.5 percent step raise when all other county salaries were frozen.

READ MORE...

How NOT to Write a Press Release and Attract Conservative Voters

This is however, exactly how to get fired if you wrote this for a campaign I worked on... the word "smarmy" comes to mind, not "savvy".

GILMORE CAMPAIGN DEMANDS BOB MARSHALL APOLOGIZEAND STOP ATTACKING PRO-FAMILY LEADERS

ALEXANDRIA - The U.S. Senate campaign of former Gov. Jim Gilmore today demanded that Del. Bob Marshall, R-Prince William, who is also seeking the Republican U.S. Senate nomination, apologize and stop attacking Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling, Attorney General Bob McDonnell, and the long list of prominent pro-family Republican leaders who are supporting Jim Gilmore.

“To say that Jim Gilmore or the many prominent Republican leaders who support him have a “death wish” or are not pro-life is, at best, ill informed and, at worst, out of control political opportunism,” Gilmore’s campaign manager, Dick Leggitt, said. “Del. Marshall’s unfortunate attacks on these distinguished Virginians are repugnant.”

“Del. Marshall should apologize to the Republican leaders he has unfairly attacked and take a moment to remember the alternative is electing Mark Warner to the U.S. Senate to vote with liberals Harry Reid, Barbara Boxer, Chris Dodd and Ted Kennedy on this and other important issues like taxes, spending and national security.”

“It’s a shame that Del. Marshall’s rhetoric is becoming so overheated. He needs to remember that the goal of Virginia’s nominee is to defeat liberal Mark Warner in November,” Leggitt continued. “The fact is, the objective of this campaign is to prevent liberal Democrats like Mark Warner from taking complete procedural control of the U.S. Senate. To that end, it would be helpful if Del. Marshall would either come in out of the sun or put on a hat.”

“Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, Atty. Gen. Bob McDonnell and the more than 30 pro-family Republican leaders who are actively supporting Jim Gilmore as the Republican candidate who can defeat liberal Mark Warner know that as Governor of Virginia , Jim Gilmore stood for the preservation of traditional family values time and time again,” Leggitt said.

“These Republican leaders know Governor Gilmore is the only active statewide Republican leader who has carried the state twice and carried Northern Virginia twice and they also know he pushed through successful legislation that created a 24-hour waiting period for women seeking an abortion,” Leggitt said.

“Governor Gilmore successfully worked for legislation which required parental notification for minors seeking an abortion and helped enact legislation which banned partial birth abortion. He also created the Virginia Abstinence Initiative, dramatically increased funding for adoption services and signed into law legislation banning human cloning,” Leggitt said.

######

VA Ranks 49th Now

According to this Free Lance-Star article, Virginia now has the second lowest number of Union workers in the country, and it's been on the decline since the early 1990's.

Perhaps we have a declining manufacturing sector where these jobs traditionally are, but no area has a net financial benefit from Union presence as a whole (Detroit, New York, Pittsburgh come to mind). So we can count this on the 'pros' side of the column for economic development attractions.

Bob Marshall may be Unconventional, but He's a Conservative!

Our little race in Virginia is catching some national news as in today's Washintgon Times.

Both sides can spin this article for positive gain. But both would have to agree that Bob Marshall has a more solid conservative voting record.

{READ MORE}

Democrats Continue to Eat Their Own While Re-Writing Local History

I always enjoy reading what Democrats write when they attempt to use their brain. Especially noteworthy of insanity is how the uber-liberals of Fred2Blue can use the name Kandy Hilliard, Nancy Pelosi and Bill Clinton in a paragraph without laughing so hard that they type crooked, but they manage to write about Kandy's comments about good local business and somehow keep this rant of trifecta-do-nothings in a positive light!

Talk about the perfect storm {of losers}.

Lest we not forget that Kandy "chunky ankles" Hilliard is the ousted supervisor, of the Aquia District in Stafford, who was literally made famous across the USA when she banned a fiberglass pig from the roof of a BBQ stand in her district. She then went after the giant Jalepeno pepper atop Chili's restaurant and successfully had that removed as well. These are not to 'community standards' she said. Forget about runaway school spending and transportation gridlock- the plastic pig HAS to go now!

Certainly never mention Pelosi's first 100 days of Congress led by Democrats where NOT A SINGLE new bill was passed despite her boasting how they're going to change Washington and get things done...

And Bill Clinton- well- if you need a history lesson, then you probably can't be reached on a blog level... then they have a national position where they fall in line behind the nation's biggest socialist since, well, Hillary Clinton tried to push a national free healthcare system down our throats as First Lady... yet another failed attempt to turn the US into a completely socialist nation.

from the Raising K-K-Kaine blog:

"Raising Kaine is a Democratic blog. It is legitimate to criticize the specific actions of Democratic candidates and office holders. It is inappropriate to engage in personal invective or unwarranted trashing, either of Democratic public officials and candidates or of other participants at Raising Kaine.

We acknowledge that those who support Senator Clinton are not happy with the position of the editors to support Senator Obama. That does not warrant some of the kinds of things posted recently. We welcome reasoned discourse and disagreement. One of the two senators will be the Democratic nominee and in all likelihood the next President. If we wish to achieve that presidential victory in November partisans of both candidates need to remember that we will have to work together if we wish to ensure making Virginia a blue state in November, and thereby probably guaranteeing a Democratic victory - for those who may have forgotten, the last time the Old Dominion went Democratic presidentially was in the landslide of 1964.

We strongly encourage all participants to moderate their language and tone, and as editors reserve the rights that we do not wish to invoke - to remove posts that are over the line, to make invisible comments that are too extreme, and if necessary, to ban repeat violators from participation at Raising Kaine."

ouch....

Mark Cole- A Leader On Fire with Activity, but God May No Longer Exist at William & Mary

Delegate Mark Cole has once again taken the lead on traditional, reasonable values in Virginia. In the wake of William and Mary's increasing uber-liberal activities including denegration of God one month and hosting a sex-show the next, Cole wants some answers.

He's holding a Q&A with W&M's leadership just as soon as practical to hear their side of the story. Maybe there's a darn good reason why a cross had to be removed from Wren Chapel on campus- like God, nor morality no longer exists on W&M's Board of Directors for example.

...And maybe there's a darn good reason that the school president Gene Nichol changed his mind and allowed a group of transvesites, homosexuals, an sex addicts to host a "Sex Worker's Art Show" on campus with benefits to go to Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest taxpayer-funded abortion chain- like God, nor morality no longer exists on W&M's Board of Directors for example.

-- READ MORE --

Cole's had recent string of activity in a number of issues, like:

• a bill to not penalize employers who have no choice but to fire workers who refuse to learn English enough to do their job,
• a bill requiring that online campaign donors must disclose who their funders are (such as the anonymous ActBlue- a shill for liberal millionaires,
• a bill for an online Veteran Benefit program simplified like TurboTax for efficiency,
• repealing the HB3202 Abusive Driver Fees (he never once voted for them) that are both wrongly applied and unConstitutional.

The man is on fire! Go Mark Cole!

Mark has a regular email update about his work. Contact his office to ask to get in the know.