March 2, 2010
The other day I wrote that Republicans faced a choice in Virginia. This was in reference to newly elected Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell proposing policies that seemed to be the opposite of what candidate McDonnell supported while claiming to be a “fiscal conservative” and “anti-stimulus” Republican.
Voters sent a strong message in November when they elected McDonnell by a landslide margin. However, they did not elect him to go knocking on Obama’s door for stimulus cash on behalf of Virginia. Yesterday, Anita Kumar with the Washington Post covered McDonnell’s latest “stimulus” scheme. McDonnell, along with former Virginia Governor and DNC Chairman Tim Kaine, have gone hat in hand to Obama to request $350 million for educational purposes in Virginia. The Federal money would come from the Race to the Top Program.
According to Anita Kumar:
“The $350 million requested by Virginia would be split between the state and the 117 local education agencies that have asked for funding. Money would be spent on charter schools and low-performing schools, finding and retaining teachers, and improving student assessment, among other purposes. All of Northern Virginia’s school systems signed on.”
How does Mr. McDonnell expect to pay for these programs once the “stimulus” cash runs out? And, what happened to the “fiscal conservatism” that Mr. McDonnell sold over the course of his campaign? Activists are paying attention and will hold Mr. McDonnell accountable for his increased spending propositions.
The Typical GOP Rears Its Ugly Head
It looks like Mr. McDonnell is doing the usual GOP two-step routine when it comes to his position on the stimulus. McDonnell has publicly stated that he believes that as long as stimulus money is there, Virginia should have it’s share but states that he is against a stimulus bill in the first place. But does Mr. McDonnell even know what Virginia’s share of that money really is? Doubtful.
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Politics | Tagged: Bob McDonnell, Fiscal Conservatism, GOP, Republicans, Stimulus, Virginia, Virginia Budget Deficits, Virginia Politics | 
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Posted by adamrbitely
March 1, 2010
Here is a guest Op-Ed I had published in Saturday’s Suffolk News-Herald:
Republicans and conservatives throughout the country are near giddy as they survey the prospects for the 2010 elections. As the policies of President Obama and the mobbed-up Congress of Nancy Pelosi become more exposed, the American people are running from them in droves.
All predictions are that the GOP will have a banner year and may reclaim a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. And while the odds are that Harry Reid’s Democrats retain their Senate majority, it is certain to be much more narrow a margin.
But scratch the surface of this euphoria and a nagging fear is prevalent. What if, the fear whispers, the Republicans take back the majority and immediately revert to the same weak, vapid, self-destructive behavior that characterized the Republican Congresses that so repulsed the public before? Have they really changed? Are they willing to boldly do those things necessary to save the Republic?
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Leave a Comment » | Politics | Tagged: Bob McDonnell, Public Broadcasting, Public Employee Pensions, Republicans, Virginia, Virginia Budget | Permalink
Posted by adamrbitely
February 11, 2010
According to the Office of Personnel Management, it costs a whole lot. And the cost is on the back of the tax payers.
Aside from the normal cost of government removing snow, OPM chief John Berry claims that the taxpayers are saddled with a $100 Million cost of work not done by employees while off on snow days. Seriously.
ABC News’ Devin Dwyer has the story:
But experts say this month’s storms, with their “historic’” proportions, are ultimately a net negative for taxpayers, who foot the bill for snow cleanup and the lost productivity of more than 230,000 idle federal employees. Official Washington was shut down for a third straight snow day — unprecedented in recent times.
Office of Personnel Management chief John Berry, who decides when to close the federal government, has said each snow day costs taxpayers an estimated $100 million in work government employees don’t do.
Federal workers are still paid for the unanticipated days off due to weather. Other government shutdowns – such as the six-day closure in November 1995 during a budget dispute in Congress – furloughed non-essential workers, thereby saving taxpayers money.
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Leave a Comment » | Big Government | Tagged: Big Government, Government Spending, Office of Personnel Management, Snowmageddon | Permalink
Posted by adamrbitely
February 11, 2010
While watching Glenn Beck the other night I noticed something that needs to be addressed. When people hear of services being cut by government, most people assume that the service will disappear completely. While this could happen, one must also remember that if the service is demanded, there will always be someone to supply it.
When people hear the ideas behind Anarcho-Capitalism, those that cannot imagine what a free market society truly is conjure up images of people running in the streets committing insanely violent acts against others. While this is far from what would really happen under a shift towards freedom, these ideas need to be combated if we are ever to see success in rolling back the size and scope of government.
A lot of people fear that all these “great” services provided by government will disappear. For instance, if people were to cease paying taxes, would public education disappear? Short answer. Yes. Public education would disappear. But would education disappear? No. Private schools would flourish. People would simply pay to send their children to private schools instead of paying the government to provide a school. Standards in education would probably increase and the cost would most likely decrease since people will not have to subsidize the free riders that currently exist.
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Leave a Comment » | Voluntaryism | Tagged: Anarcho-Capitalism, Big Government, Education, Government Services | Permalink
Posted by adamrbitely
February 5, 2010
Recently, while reading the Logic of Collective Action by Mancur Olson, a thought came to mind, why do people believe that taxes are necessary? If there was no law forcing one to pay, how many would willingly send money to the government? It would be far more likely that people would turn to private corporations to receive services and would put their dollars into the hands of these more efficient producers.
For thousands of years, governments have sought out ways to extort money from the people they lord over. These methods of extortion are broadcast to the public as good things. But, when it comes down to it, one can see that if they look behind the curtain, many of these so-called good things are nothing more than a sly move to commit grand larceny against the citizenry. many of the services are poorly carried out, or are not even done!
For instance, consider that a portion of your paycheck is withheld each week to pay numerous types of taxes. While one might suggest that this is a service that allows people to not have to set aside a portion of their income each week to pay the taxes at the end of the year, this is nothing but a way for the government to assure that they collect the money. If people had truly planned on paying the government, they would do so without needing the money to be withheld.
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Leave a Comment » | Federal Government | Tagged: Collective Action, Government, Taxes | Permalink
Posted by adamrbitely
February 1, 2010
Reading a great post on Campaign for Liberty today definitely got my thoughts rolling. If you want to read a great piece on the old argument about voting for “the lesser of two evils”, than give Adam de Angeli’s piece a read:
I recently read a member post that argued that one must sometimes support the lesser of two evils. The author explained it with a metaphor, by saying that, on the one hand, if offered two unhealthful foods, one could refuse to eat either of them, but if being forced to choose between an unhealthful food and poison, one would have to take the unhealthful food to avoid the poison. Likewise, he argued, having no choice but John McCain or Barack Obama, he should have voted for John McCain rather than the third-party candidate.
It is a popular, understandable belief; an intuitive tactical judgment. But upon close examination, it is principally due to this belief that our politicians get away with betraying us.
Indeed, it is essential for success that we defeat acceptance of the lesser of two evils. Therefore, let us examine what’s wrong with supporting the lesser of two evils.
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Leave a Comment » | Politics | Tagged: Adam de Angeli, Campaign for Liberty, Democrats, John McCain, Obama, Politics, Republicans, Voting | Permalink
Posted by adamrbitely
February 1, 2010
As a subscriber to The Economist, I get the occasional good “Special Report” in my weekly editions. This week, was one of those good weeks. The special report focused on Social Networking, one of my favorite subjects and the subject of what I do professionally all day long.
If you don’t have a subscription to either the print or online edition, I believe you can see a preview of the report here. I highly recommend reading this for any of you Social Network geeks like me.
I-Pad/Netbooks
On a side and somewhat related note, I recently joined the netbooking world. I must admit, this is one of the best upgrades I have ever done (second only to when I upgraded from a regular cell phone to BlackBerry). While I am overwhelmingly pleased with my new netbook, I almost wish I had held out for the new I-Pad.
Check out this informational piece on the I-Pad here.
Leave a Comment » | Social Networking | Tagged: Apple, Ipad, Netbook, Social Networking, The Economist | Permalink
Posted by adamrbitely
January 26, 2010
As someone who has refused to fly since Christmas due to the unnecessary restrictions that are now placed on me, I found this article interesting. I have also enjoyed driving much better as my mode of transportation for travel. My only movement restrictions are self imposed. Wilt Alston wrote a great piece at Campaign for Liberty that everyone should read.
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Leave a Comment » | National Security | Tagged: Airport Security, Campaign for Liberty, National Security, Terrorism, TSA, Wilt Alston | Permalink
Posted by adamrbitely
January 11, 2010
Last week, I had the pleasure to go skiing for several days at the Wintergreen Resort in Virginia. While out on the slopes, I noticed something that might serve as a good example of how order emerges out of what would appear to be chaos.
When I first began to ski (which I hadn’t done since I was 10, and wasn’t exactly an expert), I was nervous that I would collide with other people on the more elementary slopes where I started. After a few good runs down the hill, I started to notice that everyone was watching out for themselves on the hill to avoid collisions and other skiing disasters.
The slopes had several sections that would merge into one central area. People would be skiing in to the elementary slopes at high speeds from the more advanced hills. However, I saw almost no accidents! And, there was no one there policing everyone on the hills.
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Leave a Comment » | Voluntaryism | Tagged: Central Planning, Order, Skiing, Voluntary Society, Wintergreen Resort | Permalink
Posted by adamrbitely
January 5, 2010
Here is what normally happens when government is proven to be inefficient at a certain task. Once the public starts to see the inefficiencies, the government responds by over correcting their bad behavior ten fold. Today’s detainment of Michael Yon was a perfect example. Here is the story I posted at NetRightNation.com:
This seems to have happened about an hour ago. Apparently, Michael Yon was arrested at the Seattle Airport after refusing to tell airport security how much money he earns! This seems like a resonable reason to detain someone…
On Michael Yon’s Facebook Fan Page, the following updates were posted:
Got arrested at the Seattle airport for refusing to say how much money I make. (The uniformed ones say I was not “arrested”, but they definitely handcuffed me.) Their videos and audios should show that I was polite, but simply refused questions that had nothing to do with national security. Port authority police eve…ntually came — they were professionals — and rescued me from the border bullies. (About an hour ago)
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Leave a Comment » | Civil Liberties, National Security | Tagged: Airport Security, Michael Yon, National Security, Seattle Airport, TSA | Permalink
Posted by adamrbitely
