When you sit back and think about it, where is all the outrage regarding Virginia's economic perdicament? If a potential shortfall of 2.5 to 3 billion isn't enough, we now have potentially a deep national recession to consider which will certainly increase the Commonwealth's unemployment rate.
I am curious though how silent the liberal majority of Northern Virginia is on the issue. Well, other than blaming someone else. Liberalism in Northern Virginia is like two kids in the schoolyard caught by a teacher and both point at other kids and scream to high heaven others were to blame.
Displacing responsibility appears an acquired skill in Northern Virginia, especially amongst its political base.
I can't help but wonder just how many times you can dip into the Jim Gilmore and George Bush well before people begin to start realizing just what baseless rhetoric it truly is. Not to say these men did not play a part, but to catagorically displace any accountability for the lack of economic stewardship in Richmond under Mark Warner and Tim Kaine seems rather foolhardy.
You gotta admit its gotta be rather hard for Gov. Kaine to be out talking up Mark Warner given there is a good chance if all this keeps heading south he could credit his political demise to Warner regarding State finances. Good thing Warner does'nt need him much now that he is up 30 pts on Gilmore, but if that were a close race I wonder just what the heck Kaine would say out on the trail? Oh, I forgot, "Its Jim Gilmores fault".
I recall a time when the liberal wing of the Democrat Party of Virginia went full bore after then Governor Jim Gilmore for an unemployment rate of 4.2% by 2002. Where's the outrage now? Is a number just a number when it happens to come under your Party's watch? I recall the whole dot.com bubble and the impacts of 9/11 on the Virginia economy being completely dismissed. In short; from the lefts perspective it was the State GOP's fault.
Now of course, the Commonwealth has been led by two successive Democrat Governors and yet any accountability whatsoever for lost jobs or poor fiscal management is not placed at their feet, but on that of Washington or better yet the State GOP in the House of Delegates.
No outrage whatsoever in Northern Virginia, unless of course you count the fact they have been informed they can potentially forget to see the windfall of State transportation dollars in the coming years.
There has also been this latest debate in the blogosphere prompted by the assertion that NOVA is not indicative of "real Virginia". Evidently a snipe at ones ego means more to these folks than a real examination of our State economy and budget that is an utter disaster and a public disgrace.
Its no wonder Governor Tim Kaine got a pass on the VP slot. I wonder what the Obama campaign knew and when they knew it? Now that is some awesome vetting. Gotta give the Obama team credit on that one.
But in terms of the "real Virginia" debate, it amazes me how these same bloggers could get so upset by such an assertion when it was their liberal champion at Raising Kaine who promoted the idea that Virginia is becoming the next Maryland. Exactly just what part of "Virginia" where they referring to? Thats right. Northern Virginia. They emphatically implied that NOVA was more like Maryland than "Downstate" Virginia.
Funny how whenever these liberals in NOVA refer to Virginia they really only mean their part of Virginia isn't it?
So instead of recognizing the state of our economy and the part they have played, we get another round of how it has been the Republicans fault. Actually, heck why not it worked in 2006 with Congress. And yet, what has changed in Washington exactly? Oh, yeah thats the Republicans fault to because of the filabuster. Gee this wholesale displacement of accoutability is rather addictive.
So when is it exactly when liberal Democrats are not the victims of Republicanism?
Oh yeah, when Obama wins the Presidency,Reid controls the Senate, and Pelosi the House of Representatives.
No wait what am I thinking, Republicans will still get the blame for everything afterall its really hard to stop playing the victim and we should not expect liberals to start anytime soon.
Instead they will be concentrating all their attention on Governor Sarah Palin, whom if I am not mistaken actually balanced Alaska's budget and returned a rebate check to her constituents. Given these economic conditions and the state of our own budget, its no wonder that kind of experience is threatening.
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9 comments:
Ironic that all the 2009 candidates talked about to run on the Democrat ticket for Governor are all from up in Northern Virginia.
Ironic indeed Anonymous.
Amazing how they all flock back to Colin Powell now that he has endorsed Obama. Back in 2001/02 they lump him with Bush in their apathy towards him and forget he was the front guy before the UN regarding WMD....alas all is forgiven he is one of them now.
No worries, Colin Powell's son is working on behalf of the Mccain campaign and is still a Republican.
The world is going bonkers and no matter what the Liberal does in this country the Republicans get blamed. I really don't even think that people know how the three branches of government even work anymore..since Bush gets blamed for things that are done by Congress....Since this is obviously the start of the end times prophesies I might as well throw my hat in the ring and run for a BOS seat next time around.......we have a lot of preparing to do before the rapture.
Jody-
Let the canvassing begin. I am not in your district, I think yours in Matoaca or Bermuda, but sign me up to help out. We have our own (I) Supervisorhere in Midlothian, okay he really is a Democrat to unseat next cycle but I think we could handle working two areas. Afterall, our Supervisor not part of the problem eventhough he been part of the game for like nine years now. Yeah, some change.
That said, I know exactly how you feel. We are allowing liberals to identify conservatism in a negative light and though some of that has to do with us sending the wrong kinds of Republicans. Look I may be pro-life, but until we stop focusing on our socially inclined membership and focus on putting true fiscal conservatives up for offcie we will be entering some dark times for the GOP. For example, I still question whether Gilmore would have beaten Tom Davis in a statewide primary. I any case we put up a guy who the other side already had the talking points up in running for years on.
While some may see Jeff Frederick recent comments a bit harsh, he has to oversee a transition back to the core values of the majority and that majority has to take the Party back by increasing participation.
How do I become a GOP delegate at the GOP Convention is all I want to know...maybe if we get more fiscal conservatives and moderates in there we will see some changes in concentration.
Matoaca BTW so we have our own issues with our new Supervisor....I have to say the more I see and hear from Jeff Frederick the more I personally think he is what we need here in Virginia. My blog(when you multiple posters they’re free to their opinions) and his campaign didn't get off to the best start due to some postings but the more we go down the path of a changing Virginia we need something to shake the party up and I think he is going down the right path. I totally agree that we need to start from a fiscal conservative perspective and that should inform all decisions we make. Cut spending, belt tightening, budget audits (and performance audits) to find inefficiencies and them eliminate them is where we all should demand government start (who would disagree with that) and then we can move into social issues. This comment is getting to long and apologize AOF but I think we or at the cusp of a great turning point in America and we will either defend democracy and free enterprise or go to a socialistic economy that with drain the incentive to be successful and proper (the American dream.)
I agree Jody.
In observing Congress in the last two years under Reid and Pelosi I fear ot will get much worse without having a true check and balance if they gain control of the Senate and can thrawt any filibuster (our last protection if Obama wins by the way.
I also realize however that if we really want to reform the GOP it starts here at the local level and specifically here in Chesterfield. Us and Hanover are strongholds for GOP support, but appear to have been neglected or at the very least taken for granted. We need to work to reenergize at the local level and bring all Republicans into the fold and reach back out to any independents whom may have abandoned the GOp in the last eight years. We can come to greater common ground on local issues than the national debate. We are all impacted by taxes for sure, but our schools, roads, safety and security and of course growth are issues we CAN SEE everyday here in Chesterfield. We have to tap into that. We have to demonstrate that we can move Chesterfield forward and by doing so on a local level will help rebuild the coffers of the State GOP with votes. We went top down for too long and need a bottom up approach.
And where do we start? we start with showing Chesterfield residents just what this Regional Transportation Authority is all about; taxing and feeing and bigger government. It is being endorsed by a few our Supervisors, in large part in my view because they seek to go outside their own budget to make things happen. They have reduced taxes but the net effect on residents has been nominal given the higher assessments; but its always great to tout a tax cut isn't it?
We will be sparred most likely the deep impacts of a recession whenh compared to other areas, but my fear is the dependence on commercial retail will dry up in the coming years and with it most of the new jobs that they plan on creating. I have never been a fan of a majority of new jobs being retail because they are the first to slide in a downswing.
The beauty is we have some time before the next cycle of elections for Supervisor to get behind a new and clear vision of where we want to go as a County.
We were promised "Planning Not Politics" in Midlothian with the election of Daniel Gecker. While keeping an open mind, I am still waiting for the "planning".
As always sir, you are right on the money. We need to get behind, and have candidates to get behind, that look through a conservative filter yes, but also come to the table with fresh and real solutions to our problems and not rely on old play books...they do not apply any longer (in my humble opinion) As you have stated time an again (and I paraphrase), make solid financial conservative choices in governement and we can sort out what to do with the left over cash later...but we need to have left over cash first.....Alter of Freedom ROCKS!!
Must be our under-40's brand of Republicanism. Now if we all can just convince the ranks that what Alter and Jody have identified is the direction we need to move. I agree it starts at the local level on the Board and our Delegates first then on the our Congressional delegation. It takes time but afterall, its our future and our childrens.
When do we start the DRAFT JODY and DRAFT ALTER OF FREEDOM campaign?
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