Election Day. Write about your votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ll go in reverse order, because it\u2019s more interesting that way. Further, I expect all of my positions to be defeated. This is not at all uncommon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was an amendment tinkering once again with the Virginia tax laws to excuse more people narrowly from paying taxes. If I was a good Democrat(TM), I\u2019d say, \u201ctheir fair share.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The entire tax system needs overhaul in the Commonwealth. More targeted tax cuts for specific people. No. The same thing applies to the Federal system. I paid more in Federal Income Tax (not fucking payroll taxes) in 2009 than I grossed in 2002. Why? I didn\u2019t rent a house from the bank in 2006 that I couldn\u2019t afford. Similarly, I pay for my health insurance with after-tax dollars, and have since I was laid off for the second time in three years in early 2014. During the \u201cGreat Recession,\u201d it\u2019d gotten to the point where more than half of people who filed taxes paid absolutely nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To the people who\u2019d be \u201chelped\u201d by this proposal, I\u2019m sorry for your situation; it sucks. But for every dollar you don\u2019t pay, someone else should<\/em> pay an extra one. Whether or not that\u2019s actually happening is another matter. Eventually, it will have to be paid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stop with these stupid token things, and fix the bigger issues. Some of your supporters may actually end up having to pay taxes. Some rich people might end up paying more. Whatever. Do the right thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next amendment was about adding the principles of right-to-work to the Virginia Constitution. I, somewhat reluctantly, voted for this amendment. You shouldn\u2019t have to join a coercive organization in order to work somewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organized Labor, especially the AFL-CIO, is vehemently opposed to more formalization of right-to-work. That, by itself, might have made me enough to vote for this. At the same time, I\u2019m not a shallow Republican or Democrat, so that\u2019s not enough. One of the things the Democrats have been hammering this year is problems with the \u201cgig economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your health insurance should be tied to your job. (And if you can\u2019t work full-time in an office, you should be a charity case.) If you agree with those things, I hope you\u2019re probably against the amendment, and support the mainstream Democrat candidates. The new Chrysler, which the US Supreme Court tore up 200 years\u2019 worth of bankruptcy law to create, has only four pay bands. If you have a job there, you will pay a big portion of your salary to the union thugs, and never move up beyond the top band. Good shit. But, hey, after 30 years, you get a watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Similarly, for the House of Representatives, after the Supreme Court essentially reversed its 1993 decision on majority-minority districts, there\u2019s actually a Republican running against my Representative (who\u2019s been there since 1993). I voted for him, despite knowing that he\u2019ll probably still lose. So said Mark Twain, \u201c[p]oliticians are like diapers; they need to be changed often and for the same reason.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do I think Rep. Scott is doing a terrible job? No. At the same time, he\u2019s been there for longer than some of the voters have been alive. I also was very encouraged by him signing on to Rep. Ellison\u2019s bill significantly curtailing the mortgage interest deduction. Although I\u2019d go farther with it, I\u2019d also add to that an absolute 30-year limit to using it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The days of buying a 2500 ft.\u2019 McMansion are over. People want to live in cities. They don\u2019t want to live with four generations in under the same roof. Deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Back to the House, however. Where in the Constitution is the House limited to 435 members? Nowhere. Make the House proportional again. Take a state\u2019s population, divide by Wyoming\u2019s, and round to the nearest whole number. If the House won\u2019t fit in the current chamber, hold things somewhere else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Expanding the House would also fix the Electoral College. It\u2019d also be much easier to make sure minority-majority districts stay that way. (I write that as a mostly-white guy who will probably never know his true racial heritage, and is okay with that….)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Virginia\u2019s two Senators are not facing re-election this year (although the junior one with his $160K in gifts as governor will probably end up being Vice President\u2026), so we\u2019re to the Presidential race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I did what I promised myself that I would; I looked at the last polls, and I don\u2019t think Virginia is going to be close, so I voted for the Libertarians. Since I started voting, I\u2019ve pretty much stuck with this. In 2008, I kind of abandoned this, thinking Obama would be terrible. Otherwise, I\u2019ve stuck to it. If Virginia was going to be a contest within ten points, I\u2019d hold my nose, and vote for the less-horrible major party candidate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This year, however, the two parties\u2019 candidates were both unspeakably bad, so I adjusted my threshold. I looked at the last Virginia polls, decided Clinton was probably going to win, and punched the high contrast, large text button for Gary Johnson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do I have issues with Governor Johnson? Yes. So, why\u2019d I \u201cwaste\u201d my vote? I want the LP to have recognition going forward. They went with some particularly bad candidates after Browne, but are trying to build a legitimate organization. Thanks to decades of two-party manipulation of election laws to maintain their duopoly, it\u2019s very difficult for something different to get any foothold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t believe in forcing you to do anything. All of those things bring consequences, and those consequences will be for you, and those who love you, to deal with. Please don\u2019t expect me, a person who can barely see and walk, to pay for it. No, more than that, don\u2019t get men with guns to make me pay for it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Election Day. Write about your votes. I\u2019ll go in reverse order, because it\u2019s more interesting that way. Further, I expect all of my positions to be defeated. This is not at all uncommon. There was an amendment tinkering once again with the Virginia tax laws to excuse more people narrowly from paying taxes. 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You shouldn\u2019t be able to use your car to drive people around.
You shouldn\u2019t be able to let people stay in your awesome place while you\u2019re going to be away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do I have issues with Governor Weld? Yes. Even moreso after his bit with Rachel Maddow on MSNBC recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you want to take drugs, that\u2019s up to you.
If you want to do stupid things, financially, that\u2019s up to you, too.
If you want to live as a professional student, fine.
If you want to rent a house from a bank for your entire life, that\u2019s fine, too.
If you want to have a bunch of kids, fine. Understand that they\u2019re your responsibility until they reach the age of majority, and the state will protect their rights until they reach that age if you\u2019re not doing the job.
If you want to follow a seventeenth century English King\u2019s version of the Bible, that\u2019s fine. I don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n