Walker resignation not his fault; not unexpected

After five years of service Waynesboro City Manager Doug Walker announced his resignation this afternoon. The move should not come as a surprise, but it didn’t need to come at all.

Walker was fond of pointing out that he “worked at the leisure of council,” which is to say he worked for them and under their direction. There are plenty of people who will point to fiscal challenges and a ballooning budget as reasons to push Walker out. Others will point to the newly elected city council in Waynesboro and say the writing was on the wall. At the end of the day, however, both statements are irrelevant.

The departure of Walker rests solely on the shoulders of Nancy Dowdy, Lorie Smith, and Tom Reynolds.

Waynesboro City Council trims fat and passes the gravy

She was getting hefty. She had some rolls developing and with bikini weather coming it seemed appropriate to get her in shape. After all, is she can lose some fat she’ll probably be much more productive and in the end provide more of a payoff for those who support her efforts.

That’s the description that fits WCC’s decision to cut $600 thousand dollars from a proposed $41 million dollar budget and hold the tax rate at its current level of 70 cents per $100 dollars of real estate owned.

Attorney General Bob McDonnell continues to show strong leadership

Attorney General Bob McDonnell has filed a lawsuit against NJG, Incorporated and Nicholas J. Gianakos, the operators of Instant Cash Title Loans (“Instant Cash”), a Charlottesville- based automobile “title lender,” for violating Virginia’s Consumer Finance Act.

Yet another state caps interest rates…

The Ohio state legislature votes in a 28% APR cap on payday loans

The Virginia Partnership to Encourage Responsible Lending, VaPERL, applauds the state of Ohio for capping payday loans to 28% APR. Unlike the Virginia General Assembly, the Ohio legislature rejected payday lender efforts to tack additional fees onto the 28% APR limit.

Jay Speer , Executive Director for the Virginia Poverty Law Center points out “Unlike Virginia , several states have recently rejected well-funded efforts by payday lender lobbyists and returned to usury caps that make sense.”

India to America: Eat less, fatties

By: Simon Robinson

President Bush has never been known for his eloquence, but his comment earlier this month that India’s growing middle class was demanding “better nutrition and better food, and so demand is high, and that causes the price to go up” was neither particularly mangled nor, at first flush, offensive. In the days since, though, India’s most nationalistic politicians, newspapers and television pundits have expressed outrage, calling Bush’s comment rude and insensitive because it suggests Indians are to blame for recent global food price increases and implies they should eat less.

We can slow global warming and still grow the economy

by Ted Leach, Member of the REP Board of Directors
(written in collaboration with Chuck Henderson of Chuck Roast Mountainwear, Conway, NH)
published in the Union Leader, Manchester, New Hampshire, May 4, 2008

The New Hampshire Union Leader’s Earth Day editorial follows a playbook we’ve been seeing since science first confirmed the dangers of climate change.

First the public was told that the Earth wasn’t warming. When the evidence became overwhelming, skeptics and deniers admitted it was getting hotter, but denied that human activity was to blame.

Now that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has concluded that humans — not sunspots, not 90,000 year orbital cycles — are the cause of recent climate change, skeptics have beaten a new retreat. The newest excuse for inaction: climate change can’t be solved. The critics went straight from “it’s not happening” to “we can’t stop it; and even if we could, it will cost too much.”

Michael responds to Roller’s plan to appeal

As published in the Staunton News Leader

By Kurt Michael

I am grateful the 6th District confirmed my election as Augusta Republican chairman at its convention last week. By a clear margin, the 6th district upheld the results of the Augusta Mass Meeting held April 10.

In Waynesboro: A United Conservative Front Destroys Opposition

On Tuesday the Republican Party was provided a sound example of what can happen when conservative ideals meet a passionate contingency of volunteers.

It was not only a clean sweep for conservatives in the election for Waynesboro City Council, but an overwhelming and dominant performance to boot. Bruce Allen and Frank Lucente both garnered more than 60% of the vote in their individual campaigns while their closest competitor earned less than 27%, and when added to the uncontested election of Tim Williams, Waynesboro will be led by a strong conservative voice for at least the next four years.

Rancor continues in Augusta County; they just don’t get it

Much has been said these past few weeks to address the actions of Republicans inside the Augusta County Committee. The battles have been ugly and public and they aren’t over yet. On the one hand I have heard that this website doesn’t have the facts and the only thing that matters is the removal of their identified enemies. On the other hand I have heard that the ill will and divisive tactics used by Augusta County Chairman Kurt Michael are unwanted, unnecessary and unproductive.

Augusta County Republican “leaders” are leaving a sad legacy

There’s not much to say to add to the tabloid coverage of the spectacle that is the Augusta County Republican Committee. Most of us just want the ugliness to end, and most importantly, to simply go away. What is lost, however, is the damage their display is inflicting on the image of local Republican politics and the ability to get every day citizens involved.