Ron Paul will not run for Congress again

It’s a sad day for libertarians and fiscal conservatives the country over. While Paul is forgoing another run for Congress in order to pursue the presidency, the chances of him winning are next to zero. For all practical purposes Ron Paul has announced his retirement from politics.

I could never get on the Ron Paul bandwagon despite the fact he had a lot of good to say about our economy. The hippie in me could never really take any discussion of returning to the gold standard as serious talk. I simply can’t get behind a system that further enthrones the ideal that greed is the sole driver of our national economic vehicle. I am too much of an optimist when it comes to our national character, which is probably a shortcoming of mine.

You might not like his politics, but you have to like Ron Paul, at least a little.

The second problem is that he sired–and I am sure, to some extent, helped to raise–Rand Paul. I think that criticism is pretty self-explanatory.

I had the pleasure of watching Ron Paul work a Tea Party press conference in Richmond last year and was blown away by the ease with which he could twist a question into something more manageable. Economic questions in particular seemed to always result in the reporter who asked the question feeling disoriented and dumb for having dared to speak up. Paul is now hoping that the Tea Party, who has embraced him over the past couple years, will now rally behind his presidential run. Unfortunately for Paul and for our country the Tea Party is no longer a fringe group of small government purists blind to party affiliation, but simply a vocal subset of the Republican mainstream. In fact, one could argue they are on track to representing the average Republican in today’s political atmosphere. This move into the full embrace of the Republican caucus regrettably leaves an outlier like Ron Paul out in the cold. Tea Party enthusiasts are hesitant to let someone like Mitt Romney in the room because of fear of his Mormonism; it’s that same fear that holds the Tea Party back from embracing some of Paul’s more reasonable positions, like getting us out of Afghanistan.

Ron Paul was the best thing out there for libertarians and old school fiscal conservatives. He was a firm follower in the tradition of Hayek and the morality of markets. He was a small man with large ears and a quick wit. American politics will be a less interesting place when he is gone.

Ron for the love of god take your son with you.

Virginia Beach city council appoints Black Business Executive to vacancy

For the third time in Virginia Beach history a black man has a seat on the city council. Prescott Sherrod, CEO and President of PEMCCO, also serves on the economic development authority for the city, making him a good fit for the business centric council. I applaud the members (except for Bill Destephm who–surprise!!!–did not support the appointment) for making a decision aimed at inclusion and diversifying the city’s elected officials.

Sherrod (Pic | wvec.com)

The Virginia Beach NAACP is however dissatisfied with the decision as they had thrown their support behind Tanya Bullock, a black woman who had a strong showing in the last city council elections but fell just short with 46% of the vote. The vice-president of the Virginia Beach NAACP chapter was so displeased with the decision that he said the council had selected an “Uncle Tom.”

Another NAACP organizer, Venus Marshall, had the following to say about the council, “”You sat with us, ate with us, and slapped us in the face.”

I am sorry to see a decision that could have gone towards lessening feelings of disenfranchisement for black residents in Virginia Beach come to such a sour conclusion. While I am not familiar enough with any of the possible candidates to say much about their qualifications, I do know that this is a severe symbolic blow to many who hoped for a more consensual choice. The city had the opportunity to make a choice that could increase the buy-in for black residents of the beach and opted for what they viewed as the more business oriented of the candidates. I don’t know if that is a good thing or not to have the city make its decision weighted more heavily towards business over race here. I do know that this has reinforced feelings of exclusion to many of the most vocal advocates in the black community. And that’s no way to build community.

Bob McDonnell signs measure to replace state vehicles with Eco-Friendly fleet

The order “requires development of a plan to replace state-owned vehicles with those that run on natural gas, electricity or other alternative fuels.” This is big news for the environment and a step in the right direction for our state. Still, it’s not ideal news for environmentalists. In presenting the measure McDonnell made it clear that this is to increase America’s energy independence, and not to fight climate change (which may or may not exist).

So with this in mind it should not be surprising that the next thing Bob hit the papers for is…

Uranium Mining In Virginia!

Bobby McDonnell, in a fantastic feat of logical maneuvering, has said that ‘safe’ uranium mining could benefit Virginia. The thing of it being that if you tack the word ‘safe’ onto anything that turns a profit it immediately becomes an unmitigated good.

I support this simple methodology for turning potential environmental catastrophes into sound economic plans for the Commonwealths economy. To that end I have a number of additional items we should roll into the economic development plan:

-        ‘Safe’ overfishing

-        ‘Safe’ fertilizers dumped into the bay

-        ‘Safe’ mercury in the water supply

-        ‘Safe’ mountaintop removal

-        And last but not least… ‘Safe’ destruction of our wetlands

These safe measures will put Virginia on the path to be the safest and richest state in the nation. Let’s get to work folks.

Virginia Uranium is spending money hand over fist to lobby our state officials to let this disaster go forward. I hate to say it, but it looks like it could work. Call your delegates if you prefer not to have Uranium mining run-off in your drinking water.

Get to know where a politician's money comes from, you get to know him.

Whose got Bobbys back? Big Business.

When your elected officials make decisions you just cannot understand, the first place to look is at their money. What does Bob’s money have to say?

“Nearly all of the $1.53 million Gov. Bob McDonnell’s political action committee raised the past three months came from donors who wrote checks of $10,000 or more.”

“The nonprofit and nonpartisan tracker of money in Virginia elections said that $700,000 of the cash McDonnell’s PAC has received this year came from two sectors of the economy: coal and energy producers and the real estate and development industry.”

I think that says most of what we need to know.

HRT to end free shuttle service

As part of the restructuring of HRT in advance of the light rail opening, the free service around downtown is being phased out and replaced with another flat rate (1.50) bus route. While I understand the move and the need to put a fee on it I can’t help but lament the added burden this means for many citizens living hand to mouth already. As one resident of Ocean View put it,

“Basically, I have to pay to work,” said Brian Barton, an Ocean View resident. “For a short distance, I have to pay that much money when it used to be free.”

While many of us have little sympathy for Brian as we spend crazy money on gas every week, this is a new cost for many Norfolk residents who have come to depend on the subsidized transportation. Times are tough and an extra 15 dollars a week starts to add up.

42% of Adults in the labor pool do not work

This just blows my mind. We currently have the lowest percent of eligible people working since 1983. Whenever we need a reality check on our wealth and relative prosperity let’s remember that almost half of our labor pool can sit out the rat race and we still produce enough wealth to be the world’s most powerful nation.

This is, however, a small consolation to the hordes of Americans unemployed, underemployed and struggling to find a way back above water.

Here is a story on one such man trying to regain his financial footing

I love to share awful political ads with you all and today I have a whopper. This good intentioned challenger to Delegate Tim Hugo in Northern Virginia has self-produced this gem of a campaign ad. Pay special attention to the double entendre on the Victor Hugo reference. Classic.