Thursday, March 06, 2008

Dwight Eisenhower, 34th President...

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“A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.”

IBD (Investors Business Daily) has been running some interesting and timely quotes lately……

The "Pumpkin" Campaign...

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Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Courage...

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Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.



Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sunday, March 02, 2008

World War II Memorial ~Washington D.C.~

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HB1360 Virginia Budget On-line ~Delegate Ben Cline~

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I had contacted Republican Delegate Ben Cline a week or so back asking him about House Bill #1360 that he submitted in the General Assembly while in Richmond. This bill would require the Director of the Department of Planning and Budget to establish an online database that would make it possible for a citizen to search\collect information on VA budget items.
Delegate Cline responded in a follow up letter with this:
“As you know, HB1360 would have required the Director to create the database by July 1, 2009 and when fully operational, all data in the database would be maintained for a minimum of 10 years. The bill would require the Director to work with the Auditor of Public Accounts and the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to avoid any duplication of efforts. It is my hope this bill would establish a form of accountability in that it gave citizens the ability to see review budget items and collect information on where funds are allocated.”

“HB1360 was referred to the Appropriation Committee on January 9th, 2008. It was assigned to the Appropriations Subcommittee on Technology Oversight and Government Activities on January 18th. HB1360 was continued to a 2009 by a voice vote on January 30th, 2008. Unfortunately, this would mean that HB1360 will not be voted on during the 2008 session. However, we did include language in the House budget to direct the administration to begin preparations for such a system.”

It only makes sense that in the age of technology we now live in that we have the ability to view and track the way the Virginia government is spending our tax money.