Yes Mr. President, it is a big deal to many of us...

SWAC-Ambush at the Golden Corral...

Did Congressmen Bob Goodlatte know what he was getting into when he accepted the invitation to the "SWAC-Breakfast" this past Saturday at the Golden Corral?...

The "SWAC-Breakfast" is a new  political forum that is made up of several local political "activist" and made up primarily of a former Republican committee chairman, a Democrat committee chairman, and others who once were active in local party activities.

As reported by the faithful reporter from the NewsVirginian, Bob Stuart, he described the confrontation between the congressmen and his Republican primary challenger who was waiting for him at the SWAC-breakfast.

"She said that if Goodlatte was for decreased spending, she wanted to know why he voted for an increased debt ceiling and for federal health care as part of an omnibus spending bill. Kwiatkowski then pounded her fist on the table at the Golden Corral and said, “You need to cut spending! You need to cut spending!”

The organizers of the SWAC-Breakfast club have hosted a breakfast forum for the primary challenger, Kwiatkowski, in the past as well as a breakfast forum for the Democrtatic party challenger to Goodlatte as well....

Did the Congressmen walk into a local breakfast gathering to meet and talk with his local constituents or did he walk into a "ambush" set up and hosted by the "SWAC-Gang"?...

Goodlatte confronted by opponent at local political breakfast
By: Bob Stuart | News Virginian Published: April 29, 2012

Rep. Bob Goodlatte’s talk before the SWAC Political Breakfast on Saturday morning briefly turned into an impromptu discussion with his opponent in the June Republican primary, Karen Kwiatkowski. Kwiatkowski questioned the fiscal conservatism of the congressman, whose 6th District includes much of the Shenandoah Valley.

She said that if Goodlatte was for decreased spending, she wanted to know why he voted for an increased debt ceiling and for federal health care as part of an omnibus spending bill. Kwiatkowski then pounded her fist on the table at the Golden Corral and said, “You need to cut spending! You need to cut spending!”

Goodlatte, who introduced a balanced budget constitutional amendment last year that failed to pass the House, responded by saying that if “you balance the budget in one year, you never have to borrow more money. Each year the budget is not balanced, you will need to ask for more resources.”

When asked by another questioner why he would not debate Kwiatkowski, Goodlatte said he has chosen to conduct his re-election campaign by “reaching out to my constituents like today. I expect my opponents will do the same.”

Kwiatkowski said the lawmaker and his office have refused to honor debate requests. She described the incumbent as “weak and hypocritical.”

Goodlatte said he is running on his record of 20 years, and believes that if Republican Mitt Romney is elected president in November and the U.S. Senate becomes a majority Republican body, federal spending will be cut. For much of his talk Saturday, Goodlatte detailed what he described as the excesses of the Obama administration. He described the administration as the “worst in our nation’s history.” Goodlatte said that he considered then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama as the “most liberal and inexperienced person” ever to run for president when the Democrat campaigned four years ago, and that his hypothesis has proved true.

Goodlatte said that he is cautiously optimistic that the Supreme Court will overturn federal health-care reform legislation. He said Obama has done an “abysmal job on the economy, regulating sector after sector.” The overreach by Obama is at its worst on executive mandates regarding the Clean Water Act and the Environmental Protection Agency, the congressman said. Goodlatte said the EPA’s imposing of mandates onChesapeake Baywatershed states is wrong. “The federal government has the authority to set standards, but the states have the right to implement them,” he said. He said the EPA has failed to provide a cost-benefit analysis of what it is asking states to do with nutrient-pollution reduction in the bay.

One member of the audience, military veteran Andrea Jackson, wondered aloud why those in Congress are unable to work together in a more bipartisan way. She said she wished the “bickering” would stop inWashington.

Goodlatte pointed to a list of bills passed by the House and stalled in the Senate. “We would love to sit down with the Senate and work out our differences,” he said in response toJackson. Goodlatte called Saturday’s breakfast a good discussion of the issues, and then he left to attend a full day of activities in his district.

What to do with that "SWAC-promise"?....

Operation Drumbeat asks the oh-so-important question of if Supervisor Karaffa has already ruled out any increase in the real estate tax rate on Wednesday night, how will he fill the budget shortfall that the county now faces? Will he vote for a massive property tax increase or will he find ways to cut spending and waste within the budget?......

Is raising Tax-rates the correct thing to do?.....

There is much in the news right now about many local governments looking to raise their tax rates to cover the budget shortfalls they are looking at. Just as our federal government is looking at massive budget shortfalls and incredible deficits, our local governments need to understand that we can not continue to spend more than what we take in and there is little room to increase revenues by raising tax rates. Americans for Prosperity came out with this today and well worth looking at....

Right now, several localities are proposing various tax increases that will have a negative impact on families across the Commonwealth. At a time when families and businesses have cut back on spending, in addition to feeling the pinch of rising gas prices, it is appalling that localities would consider raising taxes. Bottom line, Virginia's cities have a spending problem, not a tax problem.

Principles are not always popular, and we need to ask local government offices to stand for the principles of limited government and economic freedom, and to cut spending rather than raising taxes.

The following are just a few of the localities that are proposing some form of a tax increase. To find out more about your locality, check out or website.

Augusta County is proposing a three cent increase in real estate taxes and a 32-cent increase in taxes on cars and trucks. If the tax increases are approved later this week, taxpayers would end up paying;

a rate of 51 cents per $100 on real estate
$2.57 per $100 personal property taxes on cars and trucks
Call your board members at (540) 245-5610 to let them know you are against these tax increases.

Lynchburg City is trying to increase the city real estate tax and add a new storm water fee that could result up to a 13-14 percent increase combined. We’re standing with City Councilman Jeff Helgeson against the fight. Stand with us by contacting the board by clicking here.

Pittsylvania County budget proposes a 50-cent increase in the personal property tax and an increase in the real estate tax rate by four cents. In addition, several fees for homebuilding, and water and sewer will increase as well.

Fluvanna County is proposing a 20 percent increase, which would raise the tax on the average county property to roughly 350-400 dollars. Click here to call or e-mail the board members.

In addition, the following localities have all proposed a tax increase on tobacco sales.

Buena Vista: Tobacco tax proposal that equals 30 cents per pack of cigarettes. Call the city council to express your concern: (540) 261-6121

Danville: Tobacco tax proposal that equals 30 cents per pack of cigarettes. Find your Council person here and tell them to oppose this tax increase.

Williamsburg: Proposed cigarette tax hike of 30 cents. Click here to contact the city council.

Emporia: The proposed tax increases would increase to 50 cents per pack in the city of Emporia. Click here to contact the city council members.

Newport News: Proposed cigarette tax hike of 85 cents per pack. Click here to contact the city council members.

Poquoson: Proposed cigarette tax hike of 25 cents per pack. Click here to contact the city council members.

Town of Bridgewater: Proposed cigarette tax of 20 cents per pack. Click here to contact the board of supervisors.

There are dozens of cities and counties that are proposing various tax increases. Click here and tell your local officials to cut spending now.

Sincerely,

Audrey Jackson
State Director
Americans for Prosperity

Senator Webb can even see what would happen....

Even Democratic Party Senator Jim Webb understands what would happen to the gas prices we would face if they were to eliminate the government "subsidies" to the oil companies. There has been much talk about the profits that the oil companies have been getting but little follow up with the facts showing that the oil companies have one of the lowest profit margins when compared to other industries as well as the incredible amount of taxes already paid. Many tend to point to the profits made by the oil companies but yet avoid mentioning the Billions paid to federal and state governments at the same time...

.

Unfortunately our President has decided to make this a campaign issue and practicing the art of only mentioning select data and avoiding the truth were needed to maintain the agenda. Fortunately Senator Webb saw that by eliminating "subsidies" for companies seeking out additional sources of energy would only raise the retail price of the product at the pump...

.

Now if we could only get Virginia's other Senator, Mark Warner (D), to understand that Virginia needs to develop and provide the large resources of energy we have offshore...

.

Additional info over at RollCall...

“Is this the best we have to offer folks who are staring at $4-a-gallon gasoline?” McConnell asked before the vote. “A bill that even Democrats admit won’t do anything to lower the price of gas? And a process that blocks any other idea from even coming to the floor for a vote?




.

Jose Wejebe ~Spanish Fly~ R.I.P.

I recall sitting across from Jose in a little "Puddle-jumper" of a plane that goes from Key West up to Miami when I was on a trip up to Virginia to see my parents and watching Jose looking out the window as soon as we got any altitude. I leaned over and asked him if he was checking the "weed-lines" for fish and he returned a very BIG smile that I remember to this day... Once we got to Miami where the plane debarks right on the ground and with no ramp-way, I look back to see Jose stopping and talking with several of the ground\maint airport workers that gathered to meet the plane upon arrival and again there was that very BIG smile on his face...
.
My longtime friend and charterboat Captain Mike told me of a time where he had a family fishing with him and there was a young boy 12-14 years old who was a victim of a severe form of cancer. The parents told Mike that the boy would be going back into the hospital the following week and would not be leaving because of his disease...

.

Now Mike is already known to be one of the most intense Captains when it comes to finding fish and never allowing the angler to slack or "whine" but yet in a way that makes the angler comfortable and enjoyable experience. It soon became known to Mike that this young boy was an avid follower of Jose and his ~Spanish Fly~ television show and followed it every Sunday...

.

During the ride back to the dock at the end of the day of fishing Capt Mike called Jose and told him of his charter and their special angler and the situation. Jose dropped what he was doing and met the boat when it got to the dock and spent several hours with the young angler and fan making it a truly memorable day for the boy...

.

Nice work Capts..

.

This past week Jose Wejebe died when his private plane crashed while taking off at a small airport in the Florida Everglades. His weekly television show ~Spanish Fly~ has a incredible following and by far showed this man to be one of the most informative sportfisherman in tactics, equipment, attitude, and love of this sport... He will truly be missed by the sportfishing community and all who have met & followed him by ~Spanish Fly~...

.

Adiós y vaya con Dios mi amigo...

What the Oil\Natural Gas Industry means for Virginia.....

With gasoline prices here in Augusta County right at the $3.99 gallon point it's once again time to look at what this industry already means to the citizens of Virginia as well as the potential to all of us...

.

API has come out with additional facts regarding the industry in Virginia and what more can be done...

More than 128,000 statewide jobs provided or supported – with an average salary of $57,281 for non-gas station oil and natural gas employees.

$6.5 billion contributed to
state labor income.

$11.6 billion contributed
to the state’s economy.

.

Virginia already has a strong economy and low un-employment rate as compared to the rest of the country and this may be the result of a state government that aggressively looks towards developing its energy industries. This was obvious at the Virginia Energy Summit a few years back...

.

Imagine where we could be now if we were allowed by the Federal government and the Obama administration to drill for the know Oil\Nat gas resources off the coast of Virginia as well as other energy sources?...

Yancey Fire Department got their higher rating but at what cost to others?....

The Yancey Fire Department now has a higher rating but has also lost it's volunteer status in the process. The County has increased and paid for a paid staff but at what cost to the rest of the districts in Augusta County? Operation Drumbeat has link to NewsLeader article...

“You can stand with oil companies, or you can stand with the American people.”

Recently some of the best "Political" conversations have been in the break room at work where it is possible to sit with other "middle class" workers in varying economic situations and talk about current "political" events... It has been a pleasure to watch several of my co-workers who have been and some who are still JMU students, and were past supporters of Candidate\President Obama and now have a better understanding of the real "Hope & Change" he was selling as Candidate Obama...

.

One of my friends sent me his observations of the recent speech by our President regarding the war he is obviously promoting between the evil oil companies vs. the people...

.

A few weeks back in New Hampshire, President Obama said in a speech, “You can stand with oil companies, or you can stand with the American people.” A choice between oil companies and the American people? Hardly. President Obama should get an A+ for playing politics, however when it comes to leadership and economics, he deserves an F.

This administration will say and do almost anything to increase oil and gas companies’ tax rates. But the question is why would we ever want to do that? The oil and gas industry is one of the few areas of our economy supporting economic growth and lots of jobs, more than 9 million jobs in fact. The industry also pumps over $1 trillion into the American economy. Best of all, U.S. oil and gas companies are actually positioned to stimulate the economy in the future without having to use government IOUs.

So why do some people not understand that placing new taxes and regulations on this industry will have dangerous repercussions? It’s because President Obama continues to frame the issue as oil companies vs. Americans as if it’s a zero-sum game. This may sound good in a speech, but let’s think about that for a second. These oil companies that President Obama so openly vilifies are actually American businesses that employ millions of American workers and contribute to the American economy. Let’s not forget to mention they provide American energy so we can drive to work and transport goods.

Most troubling is that Obama’s agenda of higher energy taxes and more regulations disregards basic energy research. According to a statistic from the American Energy Alliance, repealing oil and gas sector tax provisions would reduce household earnings by almost $35 billion over the next 10 years. Another study from Dr. Joseph Mason at LSU shows that eliminating these provisions would bring in $30 billion in federal tax revenue at the expense of $341 billion in economic output.

The math clearly doesn’t match Obama’s rhetoric. More than 20,000 new jobs have been created by the U.S. oil and gas industry since the recession started, yet this president continues to use “oil companies” as a scapegoat for his own failed economic policies. American energy can help create more jobs and help turn the economy around, but it will take real leadership from a reluctant White House. It appears President Obama needs some more education on American energy and the vast potential it holds for our economy.

Augusta County takes control of Yancey Volunteer Fire Department...

Many could turnout to protest the higher insurance rates but nobody could volunteer to staff their own firehouse?...

Operation Drumbeat: augusta takes control of yancey vfd

.