Honestly, you would think that the press secretary of the White House would have a little more tact than this.
Stay classy, Robert.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Gov. Kaine's Good Intentions
Apparently, Gov. Kaine is going to attempt to have state employee insurance cover same-sex partners as well, just like married heterosexual couples. This is great in theory, and I whole-heartedly endorse the idea. However, you will run into a problem with this, and Gov. Kaine may create an unintentional legal loophole with this should it pass.
See, if unmarried same-sex couples can get insurance benefits, then unmarried heterosexual couples can get those same benefits. I know that this is not the intention of the Governor's plan, he is simply trying to extend benefits to gay couples who may very well be married if they had the right to do so. Now, if gay couples were able to get civil unions/marriage rights, you would eliminate these tricky legal situations.
Realistically, this is why I'm convinced that the term "marriage" should be defined as a union under God (which each church should have the free will and right to decide if it should be so for gay couples). Define unions under law as just that, a civil union, and allow this for heterosexual and homosexual couples with equal legal rights. This would also create a lot less of a problem in terms of contract law and less problems with propositions such as Gov. Kaine's.
(h/t NLS)
UPDATE
Some have stated that this proposal would simply cover those who are all within the same household as a state employee. Not so sure about how this would not cost the state taxpayers more money, but Kaine claims it won't.
See, if unmarried same-sex couples can get insurance benefits, then unmarried heterosexual couples can get those same benefits. I know that this is not the intention of the Governor's plan, he is simply trying to extend benefits to gay couples who may very well be married if they had the right to do so. Now, if gay couples were able to get civil unions/marriage rights, you would eliminate these tricky legal situations.
Realistically, this is why I'm convinced that the term "marriage" should be defined as a union under God (which each church should have the free will and right to decide if it should be so for gay couples). Define unions under law as just that, a civil union, and allow this for heterosexual and homosexual couples with equal legal rights. This would also create a lot less of a problem in terms of contract law and less problems with propositions such as Gov. Kaine's.
(h/t NLS)
UPDATE
Some have stated that this proposal would simply cover those who are all within the same household as a state employee. Not so sure about how this would not cost the state taxpayers more money, but Kaine claims it won't.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
New Market Mayor Faces Fraud Charges...From His Own Family
Once in a while, small-town politics can be home to something of interest or amusement.
New Market mayor Larry Smith is being accused by his brothers of stealing from their share of the inheritance left to all three of them by their mother when she passed in 2001.
Apparently, there were 2 trust accounts that were to be divided up so each brother would inherit $994,568. Instead, one trust paid the brothers $3000/month, and Smith kept the money from the other trust (if I'm reading this correctly).
"I was getting the majority of the value on the outset and there was a distribution to my brothers," Larry Smith said in a Dec. 9, 2008, examination with an attorney for Farmers and Merchants Bank, according to a transcript of the examination. "Because I was serving as the trustee, the understanding I was serving as the trustee and it was my sole source of income."
That statement, from the previously-linked Northern Virginia Daily article, cannot be true. Smith owns and operates the Cross Roads Inn which is a bed and breakfast here in New Market. Obviously, he has more than one source of income.
Smith also claims that he needs the money more than his brothers do. While that may be true (Smith is in the midst of his second bankruptcy filing in less than 16 months), he was not properly executing the distribution of the funds. Also, Smith claims that his has a right to the money as a fiduciary fee. Given that his brothers claim that Smith has paid himself over $2 million from the trust, I find a 60+% fiduciary fee hard to believe as reasonable.
Smith has also used the trust as a guarantor for many loans (both personal and business), and there is now $1.25 million in claims against the trust.
Ouch, Mr. Mayor. Business loans? I thought this trust was your sole source of income?
New Market mayor Larry Smith is being accused by his brothers of stealing from their share of the inheritance left to all three of them by their mother when she passed in 2001.
Apparently, there were 2 trust accounts that were to be divided up so each brother would inherit $994,568. Instead, one trust paid the brothers $3000/month, and Smith kept the money from the other trust (if I'm reading this correctly).
"I was getting the majority of the value on the outset and there was a distribution to my brothers," Larry Smith said in a Dec. 9, 2008, examination with an attorney for Farmers and Merchants Bank, according to a transcript of the examination. "Because I was serving as the trustee, the understanding I was serving as the trustee and it was my sole source of income."
That statement, from the previously-linked Northern Virginia Daily article, cannot be true. Smith owns and operates the Cross Roads Inn which is a bed and breakfast here in New Market. Obviously, he has more than one source of income.
Smith also claims that he needs the money more than his brothers do. While that may be true (Smith is in the midst of his second bankruptcy filing in less than 16 months), he was not properly executing the distribution of the funds. Also, Smith claims that his has a right to the money as a fiduciary fee. Given that his brothers claim that Smith has paid himself over $2 million from the trust, I find a 60+% fiduciary fee hard to believe as reasonable.
Smith has also used the trust as a guarantor for many loans (both personal and business), and there is now $1.25 million in claims against the trust.
Ouch, Mr. Mayor. Business loans? I thought this trust was your sole source of income?
NY Senate Strikes Down Gay Marriage Bill...
Really, does government need to legislate such things? What consenting human adults do in their private sexual lives is really none of the government's business. Also, I really don't see the harm in gay marriage under law. As far as under God, let the individual religions handle that on their own.
Nonetheless, I love the "objective" reporting in this article. For example...
"The State Assembly passed it, but the dysfunctional Senate could only muster 24 of the 32 votes it needed."
Hmm, I wonder what this reporter was looking for in an outcome...c'mon, let's just report the news instead of injecting commentary. It would be greatly appreciated.
Nonetheless, I love the "objective" reporting in this article. For example...
"The State Assembly passed it, but the dysfunctional Senate could only muster 24 of the 32 votes it needed."
Hmm, I wonder what this reporter was looking for in an outcome...c'mon, let's just report the news instead of injecting commentary. It would be greatly appreciated.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Thoughts on the Smoking Ban
This is a comment I left over at NLS on this topic (which he supports with great fervor)...
I am a former cigarette smoker (and occasional cigar aficionado), but I'm not one of these self-righteous fools who believes that only those they agree with have rights. They don't like smoking, so they believe a smoker should not have the right to enjoy a meal and a cigarette in the same place. Especially in bars and nightclubs, where getting in and out of the establishment to have a smoke can be a hassle.
Lest we forget, a lot of tobacco companies do business in Virginia...they could very well take their business, their jobs, and their tax revenue to another state if we keep demonizing innocent civilians who happen to enjoy cigarettes.
I believe that the property owners and restaurant managers should make the decision regarding whether or not they will allow smoking, and the free market (meaning us, the patrons) will decide if we will go to a non-smoking or a smoking-permitted establishment. Unfortunately, there are those who feel that the state should provide legislation that bans everything that they don't like, no matter how ridiculous it may be.
I am a former cigarette smoker (and occasional cigar aficionado), but I'm not one of these self-righteous fools who believes that only those they agree with have rights. They don't like smoking, so they believe a smoker should not have the right to enjoy a meal and a cigarette in the same place. Especially in bars and nightclubs, where getting in and out of the establishment to have a smoke can be a hassle.
Lest we forget, a lot of tobacco companies do business in Virginia...they could very well take their business, their jobs, and their tax revenue to another state if we keep demonizing innocent civilians who happen to enjoy cigarettes.
I believe that the property owners and restaurant managers should make the decision regarding whether or not they will allow smoking, and the free market (meaning us, the patrons) will decide if we will go to a non-smoking or a smoking-permitted establishment. Unfortunately, there are those who feel that the state should provide legislation that bans everything that they don't like, no matter how ridiculous it may be.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
A Return...?
It's been quite a while, but the Podium may be seeing a return to action.
Yours truly has been off finishing up his Bachelor's Degree program, and will be done by mid-December, thus leaving me with the free time that I did not have previously. So right now, I'm simply contemplating the idea of coming back to blogging. The time seems right, and I've talked plenty of politics with people during my hiatus, so I've stayed pretty much up-to-date regarding most of the shenanigans that are Virginia politics.
Will I or won't I, that's the question I have to wrestle with at this time. We shall see...
Yours truly has been off finishing up his Bachelor's Degree program, and will be done by mid-December, thus leaving me with the free time that I did not have previously. So right now, I'm simply contemplating the idea of coming back to blogging. The time seems right, and I've talked plenty of politics with people during my hiatus, so I've stayed pretty much up-to-date regarding most of the shenanigans that are Virginia politics.
Will I or won't I, that's the question I have to wrestle with at this time. We shall see...
Thursday, November 20, 2008
One-Vote Wonder...
Out of all of the manually-recounted ballots cast in Minnesota, this is the only one that Al Franken is challenging...? As if there is some kind of debate about the voter's intent?
I'm wondering if he's thinking to himself "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, but doggone it, this guy didn't like me."
I'm wondering if he's thinking to himself "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, but doggone it, this guy didn't like me."
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