Friday, December 28, 2007
Grandkids will have to even the score
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Grandkids will have to even the score
By voting to revise the Alternative Minimum Tax, Rep. Virgil Goode, D-Rocky Mount, again voted to saddle future generations with outrageous federal debt so that baby boomers' taxes can be cut today. This time, Congress added another $50 billion to the debt.
It's greedy but will surely earn Goode extra votes in 2008. Stick it to our grandkids, Virgil! We vote, not them.
The federal debt now totals $30,250 for every living American. Most of that debt accumulated during Republican administrations. The "party of fiscal responsibility" died when Reagan took office in 1981.
Here's some advice for our grandkids, to help get them out of this mess:
n Run up inflation to 20 percent. Pay down Grandpa's debt with cheaper dollars. Don't worry that a few years of 20 percent inflation will decimate Grandpa's life savings. Grandpa never worried about your ability to repay his generation's $9.2 trillion overspending spree.
n Eliminate Social Security cost-of-living increases. You won't be able to afford them.
n If Grandpa complains, tell him "We run the government now. We're just following your example."
Thanks, Rep. Goode, for your generosity to us baby boomers. But beware the day when our grandkids run Congress. They'll need to even the score.
Reappointing McNeil was the right thing
Regarding the letter "New supervisor has cause to object" (Dec. 24):
Remember that Charlotte Moore won over Rodney McNeil by an insignificant, razor-thin margin. McNeil put forth little if any effort to oppose Moore and no "voter discontent" can be attributed to this mishap.
Mike Wray was one of the best supervisors and was not avoiding "the possibility of being voted out of office." He did exactly the right thing by reappointing McNeil, who received about as many votes as Moore.
Perhaps someone other than McNeil would serve real estate interests better. I look forward to shopping in the new Wal-Mart.
Inspections needed every year
Gov. Tim Kaine is proposing legislation to change Virginia car inspections from annually to every two years. This is a bad decision that, if passed, will place you and your loved ones at risk.
His intent is to "save everyone time, without compromising vehicle safety."
Facts show Kaine is wrong. A two-year inspection will compromise safety and put your life in jeopardy.
Last year, more than 14,000 safety inspectors performed almost 8 million inspections. Approximately one in four cars (1.9 million vehicles) were rejected because they were unsafe and dangerous. Problems included unsafe brakes, inoperative lights, horns, bald tires, etc.
Virginia was one of the first states to begin an inspection program, which began in 1932. And we are fortunate that our state troopers direct such a worthwhile program. By ensuring safe vehicles, this dramatically reduces injuries and death from faulty equipment.
Contact our local representatives today and tell them safety is important to you and to keep the program an annual, not a two-year requirement.
Certified Safety Inspector
Insignificant violations get man jail time
It only proves you can stay right here in good old Roanoke and see the mighty hand of the law at work against transgressors, regardless of how insignificant the violation against society ("Man gets jail time over derelict houses," Dec. 22 article).
Apparently, Tony Lawhorn didn't move fast enough to satisfy the wheels of our bureaucracy. To Commonwealth's Attorney Andrew Stevens and a judge, building code violations on an owner-occupied dwelling translate into 10 days in jail at Christmas. I'm sure Roanoke's late justice Bev Fitzpatrick would have winced at this one.
If smoke detectors in his dwelling are so important, why didn't the zoning inspector call the fire department for a free installation? Whoops -- Roanoke code requires they be powered from a hard-wired circuit, requiring installation by an electrician and, of course, a city inspection (for fee). No installing a simple battery-operated smoke detector here.
I wonder what other building code violations warranting Christmas in jail have the same bureaucratic tangle?
Stevens, the judge, and building inspectors: Your justice prevails. You got him.
Council should show compassion to homeless
Roanoke City Council has no heart when it comes to the people of this city. All they care about is making the laws and getting their money.
I have been living in Roanoke since 1978 and grew up here and had a mother who was homeless. Homeless people have always been here, and that probably will never change.
Luckily for me, I got to know my mother and share special times with her before she was killed in a house fire on Dec. 5, 1989. The case was never solved. I was only 17 years old.
So every time I see a homeless person, I try to be as nice to him as she was to me, and if he asks for a few cents or a smoke, if I've got it, then of course I'll share.
Tax water usage during a drought?
When there is a water shortage in a town or region, there could be a temporary tax on water usage. The tax could be invested and returned later as a negative tax when water becomes plentiful.
This plan is analogous, but in the reverse direction, to the biblical story of Joseph's interpretation of a dream by the Pharaoh as seven plentiful years followed by seven years of famine.
In the seven years of plenty, the grain was stored and was available during the following bad years. Some of the grain was sold to other regions.
The quantitative details of this plan could be estimated by a panel of economists and meteorologists.
A creative spin on the Bible
In his commentary "A just God loves gay and straight alike" (Dec. 15), Dick Bauman's effort to correct most people's biblical interpretation has resulted in a stunningly creative spin on a familiar Scripture. I hope this is an accurate condensation:
God did not know what was going on in Sodom so he sent two angels to investigate. Some Sodomites did not welcome the snoopers, so some heterosexual men were recruited to gang rape the angels and humiliate them "like women." The angels blinded the potential rapists and took refuge in Lot's house, and he properly welcomed them. The angels text-messaged God and snitched on the Sodomites. Lot's reward for his hospitality was a timely warning to get out of town. After Lot left, the whole place and the people in it were destroyed by fire and brimstone because of the inappropriate welcome -- and some "unspecified wickedness."
For those who don't already know, this was the precedent for the practice we still hold to of meting out capital punishment for not properly welcoming strangers. Brilliant.
There are several congressmen who are eagerly awaiting Bauman's help with the bad press they are getting because they added sexual diversity to our culture.
