A Case Example of Government Greed: Kanawha County School Levy

The Charleston Daily Mail's Don Surber provides this week's example of government greed at work.  It's worth a quick read.

The Kanawha County School Board asked voters to support a levy that would cost $130 million over five years.  Within the request was $3 million for school libraries, but a lot more for who knows what else.

Voters rejected it, breaking from history.

Surber writes that Kanawha County has changed over the past few decades.  What was once a manufacturing center has become a shopping destination.  The valley has jobs, they just pay a lot less.  Supporters argued that it would be one less latte per day, which is true.  Most voters, however, never buy lattes because it is ridiculous to pay so much for a cup of coffee.  

We're talking about people who have to brown bag tuna salad because they want to pay their bills and save a little for Christmas.  Surber notes that it adds up to one less night eating out per month, which will end up meaning one less restaurant.

In general, this is a classic case of government greed.  They ask for more than the voters can bear and try to make voters feel guilty because golly gee, it's for the children.

No it is not for the children.  It is for the bureaucrats.  It is for federal mandates that kill, rather than support education.  It is for retreats and conferences.  Don't say it is for the children.  It rarely is in education.  

And all too often, it is not for the teachers either.

Kanawha County would have supported a small levy simply for libraries because they see the value in that.  But tens of millions more that would not have been spent wisely?  No.  Not today.

Government got greedy and voters did not fall for its manipulation.  It is a shame that its greed cost the children.

Things are tough all over.  And government does not care.

Could Start a Run of Bad Luck For the EPA

http://dailycaller.com/2012/01/25/supreme-court-poised-to-end-homeowners-nightmare-story-of-alleged-epa-abuse/

The above story discusses how the Environmental Protection Agency faced tough questions from the U.S. Supreme Court over their mistreatment of homeowners seeking to fill a mud puddle on their property. It could lead to stricter boundaries on the EPA's purview while opening up the agency to a flood of litigation. Currently, the agency maintains that they cannot be sued and may only answer in a court of law if they choose to file suit. With this challenge to the authority of the courts, it is probably not surprising that eight of the nine justices had tough questions for the EPA's lawyers.

Coal and timber operators should take note. The rule of Queen Jackson of the EPA may be threatened

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Love the headline on Don Surber's Daily Mail blog

"West Virginia Gives Tax Break to Crackers"

Being a long time reader of Mr. Surber's, I would not doubt that his sense of humor is behind letting this one slip out. After all, it should garner a lot of attention and hits across the country from the 99.9999995% of people who do not know that a cracker is a natural gas processing facility.

An Image of Environmental Authoritarianism: The Green Police of the Audi Commercial

Audi is a German company and, if they were trying to portray themselves as environmentally conscious, they should probably have known better.

Certain images have a context and advertsisers ought to always be aware of what they are. Audi during the Super Bowl last night created a commercial that portrayed a police state run by environmentalists hwere the enforcement arm is known as the "Green Police."

During the height of the Nazi terror before and during World War II, much of the law enforcement in Nazi Germany was handled by the Order Police, also known as the "Green Police" because of their distinctive uniforms and their flag, portrayed on the left.

Interestingly this image created in the commercial does speak to the most extreme fears about environmentalism, that its concern for the environment is merely a stalking horse for a wide variety of political and social controls. Don Surber of the Charleston Daily Mail tabulates the slow creep of environmental authoritarianism in Great Britain and notes that left wingers want to bring the same draconian laws here that would force old ladies from their homes for not being energy efficient enough. Their desire to intrude and destroy natural rights is as chilling as almost any totalitarian movement one can think of.

Audi may have been parodying the fear of environmentalism or the environmental movement itself. What it succeeded in doing was giving conservatives and libertarians a frightening image that they can combine with the words of most extreme of environmentalists. With this, we can attack cap and trade and a host of other insane proposals brought about by enviro-authoritarianism. Some of these people, like Ed Begley Jr., want to see this world come about. A picture is worth a thousand words. How many is a short clip worth?

Thanks Audi, whether you meant it or not, you helped American natural rights supporters out tremendously!

Thank You Sarah Palin!

I do not mean to be a copycat, but this is way too important to not share.

Hat tip to Don Surber for the following:

Via Mickey Kaus, this exchange with David Leonhardt of the New York Times:
OBAMA: “I mean, the chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives are accounting for potentially 80 percent of the total health care bill out here.”
LEONHARDT: “So how do you — how do we deal with it? ”
OBAMA: “Well, I think that there is going to have to be a conversation that is guided by doctors, scientists, ethicists. And then there is going to have to be a very difficult democratic conversation that takes place. It is very difficult to imagine the country making those decisions just through the normal political channels. And that’s part of why you have to have some independent group that can give you guidance. It’s not determinative, but I think has to be able to give you some guidance. And that’s part of what I suspect you’ll see emerging out of the various health care conversations that are taking place on the Hill right now.”

This is not too far from another political leader musing changes in how his country approached "end of life care."

"Reich Leader Bouhler and Dr. Brandt are charged with the responsibility for expanding the authority of physicians, to be designated by name, to the end that patients considered incurable according to the best available human judgment of their state of health, can be granted a mercy death."

Guess who that is. Both statements reek of administrative language hiding the fact that the government will decide who lives and who dies.

Thank you Sarah Palin for bringing the focus back to the "Death Panels."

The Biggest Threat to Our Constitutional Rights

Credit Don Surber for bringing this to our attention.

Let's do some math.

Take the Department of Homeland Security listing tea partyists, NRA members, veterans, etc as potential terrorists.

Add it to a current proposal by Democratic Senator Frank Lautenburg to outlaw gun ownership for anyone on the TSA's no fly list.

What do you get?

A system by which the federal government could outlaw gun ownership to anyone that could not prove their innocence to a liberal bureaucrat.

It is interesting that liberals are so concerned about the rights of those captured on the battlefield, while they seek to void the Constitution for law abiding American citizens.

"Liberalism" is supposed to be based upon the same root as "liberty." All liberals seek to do is tax your wealth, infringe upon your rights, and augment their power.

These people seek to not only roll back the Reagan Revolution, but to also redefine the ideals, values, and very freedoms of this nation. I teach my students that rights are given by God, not a list of things the government lets you do. These people never took that class. At the end of the day, if we let them, we will end up with all the freedoms of North Korea along with the prosperity of that ill starred land.

Big Daddy "emeritus"

This evening the World Famous Don Surber analyzes an article in politico.com that reports that Byrd be getting his wings clipped on the Senate Appropriations Committee soon.

Apparently, Senate Democrats are growing impatient waiting for Byrd's time to come and have decided to bump him off as the leading Democrat on Appropriations, a post he has held for over 20 years, by giving him the figurehead title of "Chairman Emeritus"

Speaking of Don Surber

When he is not blogging, Don Surber has a weekly column at the Charleston Daily Mail, which is the closest thing we get to relief from the morning paper here on the banks of the old Kanawha.

Just like most Thursdays and the occasional Saturday, Don has a column out today, in which he demonstrates that Bush deserves credit if Iran is indeed abandoning their pursuit of nuclear arms. Here is my favorite line:

The real danger to the world is not a strong commander-in-chief. It is a weak
one. A mealy-mouthed one. One who worries more about world opinion than he does about the world's security.

His columns are often humorous and entertaining to read, but he has a knack for understanding history and how current events will be woven into its fabric.

Hello, Everyone!

Hello, I am Charles Bolen, Vice-President of the West Virginia Republican Club. I am above with the love of my life, Crystal. You can visit my MySpace page at: http://myspace.com/charlesbolen

I live in Charleston, and am also occasionally known in the blogosphere as the unofficial chief of the "South Hills Bureau" of Don Surber's world famous blog at the Charleston Daily Mail (closing in rapidly on 2 million served - click on his counter and look at where all the hits come from. It is amazing.)

I was invited to participate by my good friends at the Potomac Highlands Republican Club, and I hope to be able to share some interesting news and commentary in the future.

To learn more about the West Virginia Republican Club, you can visit our website at: http://wvrepublicanclub.org/ and you can visit our blog "Think Tank" at http://blog.wvrepublicanclub.org/. My good friend Gary Howell will also be posting there from time to time.