Sunday’s column: Will Tea Party battle wind up in Richmond?
From rpcva.org
Wednesday and Thursday I was down at Mountain Lake, the 150-year-old resort in Giles County, as a guest speaker for the Rural Planning Caucus of Virginia.
That 34-year-old group shares information about the unique planning needs of small towns and rural areas, and it has many knowledgeable and welcoming members. They invited me to talk about columns I had written on the Roanoke Tea Party.
Those have mostly focused on the Tea Party’s long and unsuccessful campaign to persuade the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors to drop its $1,200-a-year membership in the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives.
What I learned from the folks at the RPC was probably more interesting than anything they learned from me. It was essentially this: the battleground over the ICLEI-membership issue is likely to soon shift to Richmond.
For a couple of years now, this fight has been raging at the local government level. Local Tea Party groups have been hammering county boards of supervisors and city and town councils in many Virginia localities.
In some places, such as Albermarle County, they’ve won over a majority of supervisors with a paranoid conspiracy theory that ICLEI membership is a step toward United Nations control of local land-use planning. James City County and Abingdon have also dropped their ICLEI memberships.
But then there are places like Roanoke County, where a majority of supervisors has twice rejected pulling out of ICLEI. There, sanity has prevailed, and that’s been very frustrating for the Tea Party crowd. That’s why the fight will probably move to Richmond.
READ THE REST OF THIS COLUMN HERE.
October 21, 2012 - 6:00 AM
Dan Casey meeting with Rural Planning Caucus of VA. Crap meets Manure spreader.
The Tea Party is full of well-meaning but ill-informed, dim-witted and short-sighted reactionaries. And yes, I paint that whole group with a big, hyphenated brush. I have yet to hear anything from them that makes any sense in reality. They are dangerous if left unwatched.
Yeah, Saintbridge….fiscal sanity is the most `dim-witted, short-sighted` reaction of all….Do you and your family spend more than you bring in ? My guess would be yes.
I have yet to hear anything from them that makes any sense in reality.
Stop spending and hold the line on taxes. That’s it. That’s the Tea Party platform.
If you vilify that you’re a communist, plain and simple.
As best said on the program “The Newsroom,” they are the American Taliban. They will not be happy until we’re all goose-stepping to a gov’t sanctioned church every day.
I’ve constantly asked, and have never had answered, why if their party was truly about returning this nation to its Constitutional roots, and not some reactionary hate group organized after a black “Muslim” was elected president, where were they when the Bush administration was ripping our rights to shreds under the guise of protection?
I will not be happy until this group returns to the shadows from whence they came.
#4 Of course that’s not their whole agenda. Why even bother lying, suzie?
We vhave it within our power to stop the GA from doing things like this and for putting the lid back on the Tea Party radicals. All we have to do is step up in the next election and get rid of the Ralph Smiths, Bill Stanleys,, Steve Newmans, , etc. that we have allowed to go to Richmond and vote on issues like this and others such as transvaginal probes, efforts to kill planned parenthood, and the radical social and political agendas which the tea party supports.
SuzieQ can only endorse a mythical TP because even she can’t get over the nuttiness of the ACTUAL TP.
Saintbridge, do you really think the baggers are “well meaning”?
Suze…you left out a couple of the TP’s sweetheart planks..
That is anti-immigration and anti-compromise.
About that Lipton-teabag-hanging-from-their-hats crowd:
The Tea Party Is Helping Democrats
“If not for a series of tea party upsets in Republican primaries, the Republicans would be taking over the Senate majority in January.”
“In the 2010 cycle, tea party candidates caused the Republicans to lose three Senate seats easily within their grasp: Sharron Angle allowed Democratic leader Harry Reid to keep his seat in Nevada, Christine O’Donnell handed Joe Biden’s former seat right back to the Democrats in Delaware, and a tea party favorite in Colorado, Ken Buck, lost a seat that was his to lose.”
[...]
…in Missouri, as in Indiana, Delaware, Colorado and Nevada, the tea party has done serious damage to Republicans’ hopes of being the majority.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-the-tea-party-is-helping-democrats/2012/10/19/815e07e0-1a08-11e2-aa6f-3b636fecb829_story.html
Dan,
I have a question that deviates from the name-calling above. Do the localities who pay the $1200 annual membership see any actual benefit or return from this expenditure? In times of fiscal hardship, it seems like that should be the guiding question.
“Dan,
I have a question that deviates from the name-calling above. Do the localities who pay the $1200 annual membership see any actual benefit or return from this expenditure? In times of fiscal hardship, it seems like that should be the guiding question.”
Chuck, They’ve told me they benefit, and here’s how: Membership in ICLEI (which costs RoCo 1.3 cents per county resident, btw) gives the county access to energy-use auditing ssoftware that has pinpointed potential energy savings. Recommendations resulting from it have saved the county $75,000, and will save them an estimated $1 million in the next 10 years because of reduced energy consumption.
That is what they’ve told me. Have you put the question to them yourself?
Re: Comment by Suzie — October 21, 2012 @ 10:01 am
1) Once again yet another “you’re a communist” charge being spewed out over something that has nothing to do with communism. Tebowing (TM) at the alter of ignorance are you?
Show us where the level of the current US taxes or equalizing them by removing the unfair breaks the 1% have is one of keys in the writing of Marx or Engels [ http://ebookcollective.tumblr.com/post/30156337342/the-marx-engels-reader-second-edition-formats ]
Or in The Principles of Communism – Frederick Engels 1847 [ http://tinyurl.com/9eohn ]
Their proposal was to use excessive taxes as a tool, along with the confiscation of the possessions, to advance the elimination of all private property.
As long as you cannot show that one supports the elimination of all private property you are showing ignorance by calling them a communist.
2) you ignored the rest of the TP’s “Core Beliefs”
http://tinyurl.com/9lcg2oy
**
15 Non-negotiable Core Beliefs
1. Illegal aliens are here illegally.
2. Pro-domestic employment is indispensable.
3. A strong military is essential.
4. Special interests must be eliminated.
5. Gun ownership is sacred.
6. Government must be downsized.
7. The national budget must be balanced.
8. Deficit spending must end.
9. Bailout and stimulus plans are illegal.
10. Reducing personal income taxes is a must.
11. Reducing business income taxes is mandatory.
12. Political offices must be available to average citizens.
13. Intrusive government must be stopped.
14. English as our core language is required.
15. Traditional family values are encouraged.
**
@Dan,
One of the main purposes of preemption (as you mentioned in the article, related to firearms) is so that law-abiding citizens can move freely throughout the state without having to worry about violating a different law once they have crossed over into another locality.
It doesn’t just apply to parks, but also to places like public libraries, police departments, etc.
Also, it restricts localities from creating any local laws or ordinances, with the exception of those related to discharging the firearms.
It makes perfect sense. I drive a blue car and it would certainly be ridiculous to think that I drove into Botetourt County only to find out that it is a misdemeanor to drive a blue car there.
Would you think it was silly if Botetourt County had the power to make driving a blue car a crime? Of course, you could possibly sneak through there and then get to Alleghany County only to find out that you’re committing a crime there because vehicles with two axles are against the law… as are power windows.
It’s no different than anything else in Virginia… localities are allowed to pass laws that the state allows them to pass. It makes perfect sense to me, and if you weren’t referring to an example specifically about guns, it would make perfect sense to you, too, I’m sure.
“Fiscal sanity”, now that is a good one Jeff Doto! I think we are living the results of the TP/R fiscal policy. And should you get your wish, it will be even harder for the average American. Gee Thanks!
Virginia is a Dillon Rule State — i.e., state preeminence over local governments was expressed as Dillon’s Rule in an 1868 case: “Municipal corporations owe their origin to, and derive their powers and rights wholly from, the legislature. It breathes into them the breath of life, without which they cannot exist. As it creates, so may it destroy. If it may destroy, it may abridge and control.” — Clinton v Cedar Rapids and the Missouri River Railroad (24 Iowa 455; 1868). In Municipal Corporations (1872), Dillon explained that in contrast to the powers of States, which are unlimited but for express restrictions under the state or federal constitution, municipalities only have the powers that are expressly granted to them — http://tinyurl.com/9f93pyn
Dave Hicks,
The Tea Party is a movement, not a political party. I am a Tea Party adherent , but not a member of any specific organized group of that name. I’ve never received a mailing or attended an event. Leftwingers seem to have a lot of trouble with that concept. While it’s true that most conservatives do believe in the list you include, many of these tenets are rephrasings of the original two.
“Fiscal sanity”, now that is a good one Jeff Doto! I think we are living the results of the TP/R fiscal policy.
Sure. 0bama adding $5 trillion in deficit spending is “the result of Tea Party fiscal policy”.
Do you morons ever think about the nonsense you post?
I’ll bet Sandi believed the crap in 0bama’s wrap-up remarks at the second debate where he sounded more conservative than Ronald Reagan.
@3: No, the TP advocates fiscal suicide (see: Debt Ceiling near-fiasco). But moreover, griping about the deficit today is disingenuous. The time for that was when W was in office. And that’s the end of THAT story.
@4: Huh? Sorry, my troll repellant filters out nonsense. Try again later.
@9: I am trying to have pity on those whose brains never fully developed.
@3: No, the TP advocates fiscal suicide
Right. Controlling spending is the road to fiscal suicide. I wonder if that ‘s how Greece got into the trouble it’s in. LOL.
I wish the Romney campaign had pointed out after Clinton’s grandstanding speech that spending rate reductions are what caused the “surplus” of the late 90s.
Re: Comment by Suzie — October 21, 2012 @ 7:27 pm
The Tea Party is a movement, not a political party. I am a Tea Party adherent , but not a member of any specific organized group of that name. I’ve never received a mailing or attended an event. Leftwingers seem to have a lot of trouble with that concept. While it’s true that most conservatives do believe in the list you include, many of these tenets are rephrasings of the original two.
—————-
I am well aware that you have said that in the past.
So, I continue to call you out on your repeated attempts to speak for a movement that you are “not a member of any specific organized group of that name.” Or, you have “never received a mailing or attended an event.”
That is as nonsensical as your misrepresentation of the Communist party.
You can pretend to know and delude yourself all you want to. However, it is ludicrous for you to publicly claim to speak for a movement of which you have never attended an event. Or claim to speak for an organization in which you have no bona fides, no qualifications, and no recognition or achievements.
You really do need to read: http://tinyurl.com/yca2435
**
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1999, Vol. 77, No. 6. ] 121-1134
Copyright 1999 by the American Psychological Association, Inc. 0022-3514/99/S3.00
Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One’s Own
Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments
Justin Kruger and David Dunning
SNIP
**
Dave Hicks = they sure are brainiacs with this “Non-negotiable Core Belief”
1.”Illegal aliens are here illegally.”
and snowflakes are, well, snow….bwhahahahahahahaha
poor most ill-informed @18, evidently excluded from the Tea Party emails….
Re: Comment by Suzie — October 21, 2012 @ 7:27 pm
Also, “The wise know their weakness too well to assume infallibility; and he who knows most, knows best how little he knows.” – Thomas Jefferson, The Proceedings of the Government of the United States, in maintaining The Public Right to the Beach of the Missisipi, Adjacent to New-Orleans, Against the Intrustion of Edward Livingston (1812) [Note: This passage is often erroneously quoted as, "He who knows best, knows how little he knows."]
IOW, your claim to speak for an organization in which you have no bona fides, no qualifications, and no recognition or achievements is clearly an unwarranted assumption of infallibility, which speaks volumes to how little you know. Which, in turn, makes you a poster child for the K-D effect.
Who here thinks that Suzie actually supports the TP position that special interests must be eliminated — especially the RW PACs; the over 12,000 registered lobbyist in Washington; all the industry trade group, business association or sector association, and other organization founded and funded by businesses; Religious interest groups, which tend to support the republican party; Single-issue interest groups such as the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC); Ideological interest groups, such as the American Conservative Union (ACU) and the TP?
Who here thinks that Suzie actually supports the TP position that “Political offices must be available to average citizens”? That the cost of running for office should be eliminated / restricted in some way? That the unemployed or the underemployed should have the same chance at election as the very rich and well connected?
No one Dave Hicks, not even her.
#18 IOW, suzie admits to lying again.
“2.Pro-domestic employment is indispensable”
This isn’t even English.
“14. English as our core language is required”
LOL
First, English is the core language of the United States.
Second, is anyone aware of a country whose core language has been supplanted by another language, as a result of immigration? It happened as a result of colonization in north and south America, but those weren’t defined countries.
“but those weren’t defined countries.”
Who says? The conquerors? Just what do you consider a “defined country”?
Pre-Columbian civilizations in the Americas most certainly had defined borders and warred over them all the time. What a narrow (and insulting to some) viewpoint.
JM White,
Point taken. But jeez.
The issue with the Tea Party and their “English must be the core language” stuff is that we’re losing our national identity by allowing in foreigners and we need to make them hew to our language and customs.
I believe that’s garbage, and I wanted to hear from RWers if they know of any nations whose language had actually changed as a result of immigration.
I see your point, as well, and agree.
Most TPers/RWers also fail to see the irony in a mandating a language that was brought here from another continent in the first place – originated by a country that overtaxed (everyone should pay less taxes, remember?) and legislated (over-regulation and disrespect for state’s rights, anyone?) us to the point of revolt. You’d think they’d actually want to distance themselves from English.
If they are truly language purists, they should really mandate old German (from whence English came) or even Latin. But of course, that would mean that they have to consider and admit that languages are never static – they’re constantly evolving – so the notion of preserving or making one compulsory is absolutely ridiculous and severely detrimental to the advancement of humans as a race.
Think about how stunted we would be if we froze language in place, never to be amended. Language, and it’s inherent diversity, is what made us who we are as humans. Arguably, it’s most responsible for our place as the dominant species of this planet.
There is no pure English language, nor has there ever been one. It’s an assimilation of hundreds, maybe thousands of other languages, dialects and semi-useful slang.
What I’ve found in my travels and dealings with the “Speak English, dang it!” crowd is that they’re often the very same ones who have an extremely limited grasp of the language in the first place. I like to get them riled and cussing about damned foreigners and their native languages and then let them know that very few of the cuss words they just used are actually from English.
But I’m a prick like that.
“What I’ve found in my travels and dealings with the “Speak English, dang it!” crowd is that they’re often the very same ones who have an extremely limited grasp of the language in the first place.”
In most cases, the English language is not the only thing they have an extremely limited grasp of.
#35 “There is no pure English language, nor has there ever been one. It’s an assimilation of hundreds, maybe thousands of other languages, dialects and semi-useful slang.”
Now you’re really taxing their brains.
What I’ve found in my travels and dealings with the “Speak English, dang it!” crowd is that they’re often the very same ones who have an extremely limited grasp of the language in the first place. I like to get them riled and cussing about damned foreigners and their native languages and then let them know that very few of the cuss words they just used are actually from English.
But I’m a prick like that.
You’re talking about your shirtless motorhead co-workers, aren’t you? I guess you fellas all took the day off today like you do every Monday. I’m sure you know these guys and their live-ins are all big 0bama supporters. Gotta keep them freebie checks coming. Hopefully your boss is playing ball by paying them in benjamins so they can keep that unemployment rolling in. And if alcoholism can be declared a ‘disability’, these guys will totally have it made.
Suzie, go play your game somewhere else, preferably where you’re not so completely outclassed. Besides being off-topic and eyeball-deep in ad hominem, it’s truly none of your business. I do more work before lunch on Mondays than you do in a week and I, nor anyone I work with, gets any kind of “freebie check”. You in no way support me any more than I support you.
Do you ever get tired of hearing yourself squawk?
Or is this because of my comment about your 40 million aborted babies being in Hell unless they were baptized and absolved? http://bit.ly/TsVklt
Hey man, that’s your religion, not mine. Kill the messenger if you like; it doesn’t change the facts.
I do more work before lunch on Mondays than you do in a week
Yeah, looks like you’re tearing it up this morning, ace. Unless you consider blogging “work”. But anyway, JMWhite, I’m retired now, so I don’t have to work. I hire fellas like you to do grunt work for me. (I just try to stay away from Mondays.)