Moonhowlings

During Governor Tim Kaine’s last radio show, he had a caller, ‘Barry from D. C. ’ The Virginia governor had quite a suprise from this ‘Barry from D. C.’

As it turns out, ‘Barry from D. C. ‘ was none other than the President of the United States, who had called to play a trick on the governor who is also Chairman of the DNC and to wish him well.  These 2 along with Senators Warner and Webb had quite a whirl wind trip through Virginia in 2008.

According to Politico:

“Barry from D.C.” was on the line Tuesday morning for the last edition of Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine’s “Ask the Governor” radio program.

“Well, Governor Kaine,” said “Barry” when he was patched through, “this is actually the president of the United States calling.”

“No,” Kaine said, cracking up. “Oh, my gosh.”

President Obama said he’d been planning to complain about the traffic in Northern Virginia, but decided to thank Kaine for his service instead.

“I just wanted to say how proud we are of your service as governor of the commonwealth of Virginia and just wish you and your family all the best this Christmas season after a terrific round of service,” Obama said. “We are just very proud of you.”

Governor Tim Kaine  leaves office next month.

Obama!  You prankster.  Imagine being cranked by the President of the United States.

The convicted   Beltway sniper, John Allen Muhammad, wants to exchange the death penalty for life imprisonment.  He claims he is the victim of Gulf War Syndrome and is therefore mentally ill.  Muhammad’s lawyer, Jonathan Sheldon,  met with members of the Kaine staff to discuss a stay of execution.  Kaine stated last month that a stay of execution was very doubtful.

According to the News and Messenger:

During the meeting Thursday, Sheldon told staff members Muhammad has shown signs of brain damage, brain dysfunction and psychotic and delusional behavior. Those symptoms were made worse upon Muhammad’s return to the U.S., after serving as a sergeant in the first Gulf War.

“I am confident from our meeting and our past experiences that Governor Kaine will consider seriously and carefully our request for commuting John Muhammad’s sentence from execution to life without parole,” said Sheldon.

 

John Muhammad was convicted of killing Deane Meyers of Gaithersburg, MD at Battlefield Sunoco, while the man gassed up his car. In all, 13 people were killed or wounded during the rampage of terror that Mohammad and his young accomplice inflicted on our area back in 2002.  Of those 13, ten died.

Sheldon and his staff also submitted to the governor a compilation of audio interviews with attorneys, as well as mental health expert and eyewitness accounts that Sheldon said supports their claim that Muhammad is mentally ill.

Sheldon also plans to file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 3.

Malvo was a juvenile and is currently serving 4 life sentences. Muhammad deserves the same clemency his victims received before he and/or Malvo executed them. Governor Kaine does not want to even entertain the notion of saving this evil person’s life.

Terry McAuliffe, former Hillary Clinton campaign manager and former DNC chair from 2001-2005, has sent out a very savvy email, perhaps the most sophisticated I have seen to date, announcing his candidacy for Virginia Governor. Sorry I can’t attach it.

He will formally announce on Jan 8. He will be in our area Saturday, Jan. 10.

Terry is out of the gate running. He will be a very difficult candidate to stop.

Breaking News: Kaine to Become DNC Chairman.
Va. governor Timothy M. Kaine will operate in part-time capacity until 2010, when he’ll take over the job full-time after his term as Virginia Governor is up.

Yesterday Governor Tim Kaine and his financial advisors discussed a nearly $2.8 Billion dollar deficit for the state. He will present his budget revisions to the General Assembly December 17. The news is going to be grim. Yesterday Gov. Kaine met with Barack Obama in to discuss the economy. The FY 2010 budget begins July 1.

The pain, however, is not being evenly felt. Arlington has a huge commercial tax base which will help keep it from total hard times. The huge decrease in home values in Prince William County has eviscerated county finances. PWC lacks the extensive commercial tax base that Arlington enjoys.

Less money will go to Richmond and in turn, that means less money for localities. Arlington County officials are considering an increase in 1.7 cents for next year, although that wouldn’t totally fix their budget deficit.

The PW BOCS is still playing around with the tax rate. At last glance it appears that $1.13.[correction from $1.16 to $1.13] was being considered. Currently the tax rate is at $.97. Even with the increase in rate, most residents will find their tax bill less because of the substantial drop in property value. The average home value in PWC has dropped about 30%. PWC has the most foreclosures in the state of Virginia.

The PWC BOCS is looking at a variety of ways to help keep the wolf away from the door, including enacting cigarette, admissions and meals taxes. Chairman Corey Stewart was quoted as saying “We ought to focus our guns on core issues and not get sidetracked by other things.”

According to an article in the Washington Post:

Prince William, which has the highest number of foreclosures in the state, wants additional authority to place liens on vacant property to help recover the cost of cleaning graffiti. It also wants to extend liability protection to neighboring property owners who mow grass or remove trash and debris from vacant properties.

What else does Stewart have in mind? Obviously his Immigration Resolution didn’t bring in the savings we were promised. Of course, no one believed that one. That was just a way to fool people and even at that, only a few bought in to that blarny.

The school system will be slammed by these cuts. Already there is talk of no cost of living increase for employees and larger sized classes. There is also talk of delaying capital improvements which would include delaying the building of a new, much needed high school.

Are there solutions to lessen the problems facing PWC? Would people be content having the 2010 tax rate even higher to maintain services? Would a higher tax rate drive out businesses?

Having the most foreclosures in the state of Virginia is sure a distinction I could do without.