Filed under: Uncategorized
Just in case you didn’t notice, the Shenandoah County GOP blog is currently on a hiatus. The County Committee is reconsidering its communications plan. Comments are welcome and should be directed to Craig Orndorff at craig.orndorff@gmail.com.
We’re considering taking on alternate contributors, but if there’s no takers, the blog will be shut down for good effective 12/1/2008. However, the archives will remain up as long as the good people at WordPress will allow.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Delegate Todd Gilbert (R-Woodstock) today announced that he will patron legislation to reverse a new and potentially destructive ruling by the Virginia Department of Taxation to collect sales tax on the processing of consumer-owned food items by butchers and meat processors. As a result of the recent ruling, hunters who drop off deer carcasses to be processed and farmers who bring in cattle and hogs to be butchered for their own consumption will be required to pay the 5% Virginia sales tax on the processing of those meats. Although the Department of Taxation based their new ruling on existing statutory law and their own administrative code, it is a first in Virginia for the Department of Taxation to apply this longstanding rule on the fabrication of goods to consumer-owned food.
On October 22nd, Blue Ridge Meats, a small slaughterhouse located in Front Royal, was notified by the tax department that it would have to begin collecting sales tax on meat that it processed for consumers, even if the meat was brought to them by the consumers themselves. The company is appealing the ruling and is represented by Front Royal attorney and 18th District Delegate, Clifford L. (Clay) Athey, Jr.
Delegate Gilbert stated in a prepared statement: “I represent countless hunters, family farmers, and other consumers who routinely take meat to the butcher so that they can put in their freezers and help feed their families during the year. They pay for this service. To then charge them a sales tax on food they already own is preposterous. Not only is it inherently unfair for the tax man to line up for his cut, this tax will have real consequences for those who are forced to pay it. Farmers are already struggling to pay their livestock feed costs, and the Virginia Department of Taxation now demands that they pay a 5% sales tax for the necessity of converting their own livestock into food for their families. In an area where our hunting heritage is so important to so many people, hunters will likewise be taxed for bringing in their game to be processed in a safe and hygienic manner. My bill will exempt such food items from the hungry eyes of the tax man.”
Delegate Athey (R-Warren) added: “I represent the folks who are fighting this unfair ruling as both their lawyer and their delegate. I was shocked to learn of this inherently unfair ruling and we are working to reverse it both legally and legislatively.”
Delegate Beverly Sherwood (R-Frederick) added: “As Chairman of the Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee and a member of the Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee, I work very hard to protect the rights of our local hunters and the livelihoods of our farmers. I will do everything in my power to ensure this bill becomes law.”
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I’ll post some backstory later, but THIS is a sign:
5:50.
Toms Brook, VA.
A crowd waits outside of a United Methodist Church. Many have just gotten up. Some are getting ready to go to work. Nobody’s dressed too particularly well. There’s about thirty in all.
Idle chit chat takes up the moment, but you can tell there’s a certain anticipation here.
It’s nearly over.
The wait.
After two and a half years, this little town of about 300 (plus about 1,000 residents who live in the surrounding area) gets to have its say in what will surely go down as a legendary contest, where the stakes were never higher and the choices never clearer. It’s been a campaign of twists and turns, some good, some bad. There’s been comebacks. There’s been failures. There’s been the sudden emergence of new political leaders onto the national scene. Once more there’s a deep concern for the direction of this country, an understanding of the issues, and a desire on both sides to do something about. Gone are the days when politics were for the rich or college professors. Everyone’s interested. Everyone’s working.
And it all reminds you about just what’s so great about this country, and what makes it such a special and unique place on this Earth. Is it without fault? No. But America has always learned. And even when she stumbles, she’s always been able to pick herself up and keep on going.
And I have no doubt that that’s what we’ll do after today.
I always feel special on Election Day. Not everyone gets the right. For me, it’s the height of being a citizen. It’s the embodiment of the American spirit. Choice. Self-determination. Freedom of expression. Everything rolled into one package. When I was a young kid something just struck me about the simplicity of the act and how average people could work their way up the ladder to have a shot at leading an extraordinary people.
So, to set aside partisanship for a second, I encourage every to vote, regardless of your politics. This nation is too special and too many young men and women have died to preserve this right for it to be squandered by simple indifference. Even above the smoke and fog of the campaign, there are principles, there are values on both sides. Weigh yours. Weigh theirs. Make a choice.
And vote.
This election year is crucial for the state of Virginia and for our nation.
It is absolutely critical that we elect a candidate to the U.S. Senate who will stand up to the big spending liberals in Congress…someone who will fight for the taxpayers of our state…a person willing to fight to reduce wasteful spending and lower taxes…a U.S. Senator who will protect our families and the working men and women…a man with the courage and honesty who will go to battle for Virginians.
You deserve a U.S. Senator with all of those qualities. You should demand a Senator who is honest and tough and who will work for you. And, my friends I submit that candidate in this election is former Gov. JIM GILMORE, and I hope you will help us elect him as our next U.S. SENATOR!
You may remember that as Virginia’s Governor Jim Gilmore signed into law five different tax cuts for Virginians totaling $1.5 billion, including a 70 percent cut in the Car Tax. Time and again, Jim Gilmore stood his ground against those who wanted to tax and spend and take more money from your pockets. For his courageous stands against wasteful spending and increased taxes, Jim Gilmore was three times awarded the “Friends of the Taxpayer Award” by Americans for Tax Reform.
You may also remember that as Attorney General Jim Gilmore launched successful investigations into Medicaid fraud, government waste, and consumer protection. The fact is that Jim Gilmore is someone who stands up for the working people of Virginia. We MUST elect Jim Gilmore to the United States Senate on November 4th!
Filed under: Election 2008, Election Fraud, Election law and process, Strategy and Tactics, Technology and Politics
The polls haven’t even opened yet, and yet the litigation continues. The NAACP is still pushing to extend polling hours across the Commonwealth. From WVEC:
The NAACP has asked a federal judge to step in to extend Virginia’s voting time by two hours.
The group also alleges there aren’t enough voting machines, especially in minority-heavy districts. And the group wants paper ballots available in case lines are too long.
Gov. Tim Kaine says it’s not necessary to have the extra time and he says he doesn’t have the authority to do it.
The NAACP had withdrawn its request for a hearing on Thursday after receiving new information from state officials about the placement of election day resources. At the time, NAACP officials said a new hearing before the election was unlikely.
But after assessing the updated information, the NAACP concluded preparations were still insufficient and on Friday requested a new hearing.
“We went back and looked at the numbers, and it’s still the same old bad news. We’re still seeing disparities between black and white precincts,” said Ben Jealous, national NAACP president.
State Elections officials have stated anyone in line at the 7:00 p.m. deadline Tuesday will be able to cast a vote.
Meanwhile, both parties are gearing up for a fight once the votes are counted. From the Washington Post:
Lawyers could be present at almost all of Virginia’s 2,349 precincts to monitor the process, protect voters’ rights and challenge voters suspected of fraud, officials said. They also will be involved in extraordinary attempts to identify party supporters who have already voted so that those who have not can be contacted and urged to do so.
Lawyers have long played a part in the electoral process. But given the heightened intensity of the race and the unprecedented turnout expected, voter protection has taken on added importance, even attracting lawyers to Virginia from out of state, officials said. That is especially true, they say, in the wake of the contested 2000 presidential election in Florida, when Bush vs. Gore moved from the voting booth to the docket of the U.S. Supreme Court.
“We’ve never done anything like this before where it’s been this comprehensive,” said Gerry Scimeca, spokesman for the Virginia Republican Party. “With the heightened number of new registrants, Election Day poll watching is taking on an added urgency.”
A training manual that the Virginia Democratic Party distributed to hundreds of lawyer volunteers instructs them on the Obama campaign’s get-out-the-vote effort, called the “Houdini Project.” Lawyers will periodically enter into a database the names of those who have cast ballots so that campaign staff can contact those who have not voted, almost in real time.
It’s going to be a fight folks, and we have to fight in. Join us at our Strasburg Headquarters or at United Country Real Estate in Mt. Jackson tomorrow for phone banking from 10 until 6:45.
Every. Vote. Counts.
Filed under: Election 2008, State Government and Politics, The Important Things
America is a great country and we are at a crossroads that will determine our future. Like you, I know the spirit that built our country was bold, not timid. It was a spirit of pride, confidence and courage that we could do anything. I’m proud of America – all that it is and all that it can be.
Ronald Reagan often spoke of the “shining city on a hill” as the ideal embodied by America. When we think of that city and our friends and neighbors across Virginia, what often comes to mind are the values that we cherish – family, hope, opportunity, patriotism and, most of all, freedom.
Of course, freedom comes at a price.
Even now, Americans from every walk of life are in harm’s way defending the very freedoms people sometimes take for granted. Indeed, many generations of Americans have made the ultimate sacrifice so you and I might enjoy the blessings of liberty – including the right to vote.
My purpose in writing is to urge you to vote in this coming Tuesday’s election.
Please do so not because I asked, but because a son or a daughter of an American generation died to ensure that all of us continued to have our freedoms, including your right to vote.
If you’ve already voted, thank you for exercising this civic obligation. If you haven’t, I hope you’ll think about the sacrifices made so all of us have the right to choose our elected leaders.
Yes, voting is a constitutional right. But it is also a patriotic duty – one thing we can do to give back to our wonderful country in which we are so blessed to live.
If you haven’t already, please vote on November 4.
Why should I tell you when Obama himself put it so eloquently?
Hear the full interview here. Obama thinks “assault weapons” are only for crime. Sure, and nobody ever enjoys target shooting in this country, and certainly there’s no need to maintain the balance of power between the people and their government. They’ll always protect us!
Sure. And no one ever gets attacked outside of their homes either.
Shenandoah County GOP 