Roanoke Tea Party

There is a lot of anticipation for Tuesday. Here is a breakdown of the upcoming elections…including local, sate and federal issues. Don’t forget our Incumbent Retirement Party at 7PM Election night at the Blue 5 Restaurant…click here for more information….

We will also be having a raffle for some cool items that night….as we watch the first tentative steps our nation is taking to restore our Republic.

Our normal public meeting will take place as normal on Thursday 11-4. More on that soon…

Federal

The main event for Tuesday of course are the midterm Federal elections. The leadership of the Roanoke Tea Party remains pessimistic that these elections will accomplish little more than gridlock in DC.

Not that that is a bad thing.

We think Congress and the Executive branch accomplishing nothing is a good thing right now as only a handful of our Federal officials seem to have actually read or understand the Constitution.

We did do a voter guide for the 6th District Congressional Race. You can look at the full document here. We are not endorsing a candidate.

Congressman Goodlatte must continue to show that he takes his oath of office seriously. When Goodlatte ran for Congress for the first time in 1994, part of his platform (as well as the rest of the Congressional GOP) was that the Department of Education was unconstitutional.

Yet in 2003, Goodlatte voted to expand the Department of Education through the Head Start program. And he continues to vote to fund a Department he, at one time, felt was unconstitutional.

Our expectation of a Congressional candidate is that they will stand up for the Constitution (as is their oath of office) with EVERY vote.  No matter how difficult or unpopular it might be.

Stuart Bain did as well as any candidate could do without a voting record.  We hope Conservative voters will at least consider Bain before just blindly voting for Goodlatte.
Constitutional issues aren’t the only issues voters must consider when selecting a candidate, but they certainly should be a primary driver in our decision making. So look at both candidates and their positions before you cast your ballot Tuesday.

We did not do a formal vetting for the 5th District Race (Periello vs. Hurt) or 9th District Race (Boucher vs. Griffith). We have in both cases,  corrupt Democratic incumbents facing off against state level Republicans with a voting record of some concern to the RTP…(Hurt more so than Griffith)

We are not endorsing any of these candidates either. While an early retirement for Periello and Boucher would not hurt any of our feelings at all, (they would have been rated Epic Failures in our vetting process) we are not going to tie ourselves to candidates unless we are confident they will act differently than normal politicians.

Otherwise why have a Tea Party movement? Conservatives have been marginalized by the GOP forever…because we won’t stand up to the GOP and hold them to account when they go wrong. We will support candidates from any party if they consistently support our principles.

We believe in the Constitution, Fiscal Responsibility and limited government based on the 10th Amendment. We don’t care what the letter behind their name is if they support these principles. When politicians start understanding we can’t be easily bought off, they may actually start listening and changing their ways.

State:

There are 3 Constitutional Amendments on the ballot that have gotten very little attention. They were passed unanimously by the state legislators…(that should be the first warning that this is a bad idea)Here is an opposing view written by Rob Schilling. I am voting no and I urge you to vote no too…

“Virginia Ballot Questions 2010: Vote NO on 1, 2, and 3
by Rob Schilling on Tuesday, October 26, 2010 at 9:15am

On November 2, 2010 Virginians will be faced with several seemingly innocuous but fatally flawed ballot questions, primarily dealing with various facets of taxation in the Commonwealth.

At hand are three constitutional amendments, which appear on the ballot following a multi-stage approval by the Virginia General Assembly, as follows:

A constitutional amendment, as established in Section 1 of Article XII, can be proposed in either house of the Virginia General Assembly. If a proposed amendment is approved by a simple majority vote in one session of the state legislature, it is automatically referred to the next session of the state legislature that occurs after the next general election of members of the Virginia House of Delegates. If in that second session the proposed amendment is “agreed to by a majority of all the members elected to each house” it is then placed before the state’s voters. If approved by a simple majority vote, it becomes part of the state’s constitution.

Question 1 reads:

Shall Section 6 of Article X of the Constitution of Virginia be amended to authorize legislation that will permit localities to establish their own income or financial worth limitations for purposes of granting property tax relief for homeowners not less than 65 years of age or permanently and totally disabled?

Question 2 reads:

Shall the Constitution be amended to require the General Assembly to provide a real property tax exemption for the principal residence of a veteran, or his or her surviving spouse, if the veteran has a 100 percent service-connected, permanent, and total disability?

Questions 1 and 2 deal with real estate taxation. Helping veterans, disabled, and elderly people is a noble goal, as is tax reduction; the means by which the assistance will be granted, however, is insidious.

America’s founders recognized inherent peril in progressive taxation: a citizen exempt from paying taxes that his neighbor must pay, has no incentive in keeping the tax low because he, himself, does not pay the tax.

Alexander Hamilton warned against multi-tiered real estate taxation schemes in Federalist 35:

“No tax can be laid on land which will not affect the proprietor of millions of acres as well as the proprietor of a single acre. Every land-holder will therefore have a common interest to keep the taxes on land as low as possible; and common interest may always be reckoned upon as the surest bond of sympathy.”

The disastrous results of nearly a century of progressive income taxation can be seen in present day America where 47% of U.S. households paid no federal income tax in 2009. Those paying no tax actually have a vested interest in seeing rates raised for federal income-taxpayers, in order to maintain their own tax-free status.

Virginians would be unwise to allow their system of property taxation to emulate the federal model of progressive income taxation with its designated “winners and losers” and special “protected” classes.

By adding more exceptions to the rule, Virginia Ballot Questions 1 and 2 continue the erosion of “flat” (i.e., equitable) real estate taxation in the Commonwealth, ultimately to the detriment of maintaining Hamilton’s referenced common interests in private property rights and ownership.

Ballot Question 3 fundamentally enlarges state government at the expense of ordinary citizens and the overall state economy.

Question 3 reads:

Shall Section 8 of Article X of the Constitution of Virginia be amended to increase the permissible size of the Revenue Stabilization Fund (also known as the “rainy day fund”) from 10 percent to 15 percent of the Commonwealth’s average annual tax revenues derived from income and retail sales taxes for the preceding three fiscal years?

Increasing the allowable size of Virginia’s “rainy day fund” by 50% is a colossally bad idea. The state is not a bank, an investment, or a savings account; it should hold as little of the people’s money as is practical.

Funds retained by government are unavailable to the state’s economy and thus stifle economic activity both of businesses and individuals.

In addition, fattening the state’s “slush” fund encourages growth in the size and scope of state government, and it is a disincentive to vital cost cutting and budget reform/reduction measures.

Disappointingly, many known “conservatives” publicly are supporting some or all of these constitutional amendments— each of which was passed unanimously in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly. In reality, legislators will reap political gain and political power from the passage of the measures: this is another opportunity to buy votes and to curry favor from large constituencies, all in the name of providing assistance.

As an entire class, property owners are deserving of relief from crushing real estate taxation in Virginia, but such reprieve granted piecemeal is detrimental to property rights and to America’s common interest in limited government. There are better and more American-centric ways to assist veterans, disabled, and elderly people. And, growing the ability of the state to confiscate—and ultimately spend—greater sums will further saddle taxpaying Virginians and encumber Virginia’s struggling economy.

Don’t be fooled by seemingly sympathetic subjects. Progressive taxation and government largesse have not benefited America in the preceding century. The 2010 ballot questions are bad news for liberty loving Virginians, and if passed, they will result in greater state control over our everyday lives.

Virginia Ballot Questions 2010: Vote NO on 1, 2, and 3.”

Local

There are a few local races of note. There is a Sheriff’s race in Roanoke County between Independent Mike Stovall and Incumbent Democrat Mike Winston. The Sheriff’s department in Roanoke County has been stripped of any meaningful power by the County and that power now resides in the Police Department.

One of the most important roles of any County Sheriff is his willingness to uphold his oath to uphold and defend the Constitution. Sheriff’s should serve the citizens of their county (when necessary)by defending them against unconstitutional Federal laws. Since all the Sheriff’s Department does in Roanoke County is run the prisons and other similar duties, we don’t see that this role has a critical role. So we don’t have a strong opinion about this race.

It should be noted that Winston is an incumbent Democrat that is endorsed by the Roanoke Times Editorial Board and Democratic State Senator John Edwards.  My first instinct in dealing with those entities is to do the opposite of whatever they support.

In Botetourt County, the Fincastle District Supervisor position has:

Larry Celola (R) Gwen Ickenberry (I) and Steve Vaughn (D) running. We don’t have a position on this race either.  A Q and A is here….

Larry is a good man and is solid on principles (other than not pledging unconditionally to not raise taxes) but none of the candidates have a strong enough grasp on local issues to garner an endorsement.  We wish GOP candidates would stop being wishy washy and just say they aren’t raising taxes….you can’t get an endorsement from us….if you don’t pledge to not raise taxes….period!

We hope that helps you sort out the myriad of issues on the ballot. We wish we could be more supportive of candidates but frankly, the lack of endoresments really speaks to the state of politics today. Until we get elected officials who understand and actually support our Constitution, we will never get our country out of the mess it is in today.

See you at the polls and at the party Tuesday night.

Chip Tarbutton

President

Roanoke Tea Party