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One response to “Rebellion Lite”

1. 

   Groveton

   April 2, 2007

   An open letter to Margaret “Margi” Vanderhye and (the other Democratic contender) Richard “Rip” Sullivan:

   1. I live in the 34th district, I vote and my friends and neighbors in the 34th also vote. We are all listening carefully to your points on the issues. Or, more accurately, your lack of points on the issues (more in this later).

   2. I have visited your web sites, read your interviews and tried to get a feeling for what you’d specically do if elected.

   3. Your commentary to date is just about useless. It seems more geared to vague complaints about the Republicans and the Republican Party than speific points regarding the 34th District and what you’ll do to help the voters and taxpayers in that district. No one cares about your petty party politics at this level. Leave that to Hillary, Mitt and the rest of the primadona parade.

   4. You are not running for President of the United States nor are you running for US Senate, US Congress or even State Senate. You are running for Delagate from the 34t districh which includes McLean, Great Falls and parts of northern Fairfax County. Please try to remember that. Stop talking about world hunger and making ethanol out of switchgrass (unless you think we can grow a lot of switchgrass or refine it into ethanol in the district). Please start talking about the density of development in the 34th district, the cost and benefit of education to the people of the 34th district, transportation and land use in the 34th district, etc. Virginia is a strict Dillon Rule state. Our county supervisors are, by law, pretty much neutered. You are the politician closest to the local jurisdiction with some authority over what happens in the jusridiction. Please start acting like you understand our local problems and stop running for national office. Abortion and stem cell research are important issues but they are “above your pay grade”. Get to the point.

   5. Both of you will clearly raise taxes although neither of you has the courage to be specific on this matter. For the record – will you raise taxes for the people in the 34th district? If so (and also for the record) how much?

   6. The state of Virginia has a long standing history of taking tax receipts from one jurisdiction and spending the money somewhere else. The people in the district you hope to represent overwhelmingly believe that they pay far more in taxes than they receive in benefits from the state. Now you want to raise our taxes again to pay for transportation. For the record – will you provide an accounting of what is paid by the taxpayers of the 34th district and what is received in the 34th district? Will you describe how any new taxes you take in tax hikes will be used to benefit the citizens of the 34th district?

   7. You portray the use of General Funds to pay for transportation as somehow robbing children and old people (at least roughly that line of nonsense). The state has a surplus. We need more money to be spent on transportation. Why not use the surplus before raising taxes? Please try to keep your comments focused on the pros and cons of using the surprlus to pay for transportation rather than charging off on some illogical tangent about George Bush and impoverished school children. This is a simple question and it deserves a simple answer.

   8. If elected, what are your top three priorities and how will you finance the accomplishment of those priorities? How will your proposed actions benefit the voters in the 34th district?

   9. Finally, no one cares that you worked for Henry Kissinger or went to Langley High School. Henry Kissinger was part of the Nixon administration and the Langley class of 1977 graduated 30 years ago. What are you proposing today? What will you do over the next two years to make things better in the 34th district?

   Thank you.

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