Monthly Archives: June 2009
What does George Bush and the Iraq War have to do with Road Construction in Fairfax?
Nothing. Since road construction is funded by state funds, this has absolutely nothing to do with the Federal government, George W. Bush, and the Iraq War. Fairfax County Democratic Committee Chairman, Scott Surovell, made these claims in a recent letter to the editor that was published in the Mount Vernon Gazette on June 18, 2009, where he tied the lack of transportation funding to the Bush/Cheney Administration and the War in Iraq, in response to a previous letter to the editor by Jay McConville, who is running against Del. Kris Amundson.
McConville, in his letter to the editor that was published in the Mount Vernon Gazette on June 11, 2009, talked about the need for transportation improvements on Route 1 between the Beltway and Fort Belvoir. For anyone who has driven in this area, they can tell you that there is great need for improvement on this highway. McConville mentioned in his letter that the state seems to be pushing money to other areas of the State, including other areas of Fairfax County. The current Delegate has not been vocal on this issue, and just recently, she sent a letter to the Virginia Department of Transportation to get funding for transportation improvements.
So, what does transportation improvements on Route 1 (namely road construction) have to do with the Bush Administration and the War in Iraq? Nothing. In response to Surovell’s claims, McConville said:
“I’m not sure why Mr. Surovell felt this was a partisan matter that needed more finger-pointing while people continue to sit in traffic,” said McConville. “He went on about issues that have nothing to do with what I was discussing, and certainly nothing to do with our district. Getting people home at a reasonable time is not a partisan issue, nor is pedestrian safety. Results don’t have an “R” or a “D” next to them; unfortunately, Mt. Vernon hasn’t seen any results on transportation for far too long.”
Where in the World is Governor Tim Kaine?
It appears that Governor Tim Kaine has been traveling to various fundraisers lately, instead of attending to the various problems that the Commonwealth of Virginia has been facing. He has been jetsetting to Miami, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, and even more recently to Kansas City all for Democratic fundraisers. Kaine is showing that he is having a difficult time handling his so-called part-time gig at the DNC and his full-time gig of serving the people who elected him to serve the Commonwealth. With unemployment rising (and at 20% in Martinsville), Kaine would rather focus on the fundraising, instead of trying to address this situation and the economic crisis.
It is especially bad, when the Kansas City Star referred to Tim Kaine as the Former Governor of Virginia. He still has work to do in Virginia, and if he could not handle the duties of two jobs at once, then maybe, he should have given up one of those jobs.
All of Kaine’s recent travels have caught the attention of the Republican Party of Virginia, as they have filed a Kaine Foia to receive his daily schedule from January 2009 and the expenses pertaining to his State Police detail, etc. They also created a video that highlights Kaine’s travels and what has been happening to the economy in Virginia, while he has been out of office.
Tim Kaine, don’t you think it is time to come back and address the issues facing the Commonwealth.
Perriello and Connolly Vote to Bring Detainees to the U.S.
Yesterday, the House voted to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, and now, this paves the way for the relocation of prisoners to the U.S. What this means is that risk of having dangerous terrorists placed in a detention facility in the U.S. has just risen, and it could mean that they could be housed here in Virginia. This is not good in terms of national security, because the risk of one of these criminals could break out of prison and placing harm on our community (or other communities, if the Gitmo Detainees are moved to another area of the country).
So, who cast the deciding vote in favor of Speaker Pelosi’s grand plan? Rep. Tom Perriello of Virginia’s Fifth District. You heard that right, Perriello decided to abandon what was good for the people of Virginia for the sake of party leadership. Perriello voted against an amendment offered by Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) that would have prohibited the closure of Guantanamo Bay, which failed 212-212, where he cast the deciding vote.
Also, voting in favor of Speaker Pelosi’s plan to bring Gitmo detainees to the U.S. was Rep. Gerry Connolly. While this is no surprise, as Connolly is a puppet for Pelosi, it should be particularly concerning for those within the 11th, especially if the prisoners are relocated to Virginia. National security should be of importance to Connolly, as he represents a district that has more government workers, who commute to Alexandria (a site, where the detainees could be placed). Of course, this doesn’t matter to Connolly, as evidenced in this video (H/T to Virginia Virtucon).
ACLU Sues DHS in the Case of Unlawful TSA Searches
Finally, there might be some reason that the ACLU gains my respect. The ACLU is suing the Department of Homeland Security in response to the unlawful TSA searches and detentions that violate the Constitution. This was in response to the recent unlawful detention of Steven Bierfeldt, who is the Director of Development for Campaign for Liberty. I reported earlier about Bierfeldt’s case, and how he was detained and interrogated by TSA officials at St. Louis International Airport for carrying a metal box of money through a security checkpoint.
The ACLU released this statement today regarding their lawsuit.
“Airport searches are the most common encounters between Americans and law enforcement agents. That’s why it is so important for TSA agents to do the job they were trained to do and not engage in fishing expeditions that do nothing to promote flight safety,” said Ben Wizner, a staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project. “It is, of course, very important to ensure the safety of flights and keep illegal weapons and explosives off planes. But allowing TSA screeners to conduct general purpose law enforcement searches violates the Constitution while diverting limited resources from TSA’s core mission of protecting safety. For the sake of public safety and constitutional values, these unlawful searches should stop.”
We should be protected by the Constitution anywhere at any time, and this includes the airport. Mr. Bierfeldt, myself, or anyone else should not be threatened with unlawful searches or detention at any time, especially if they are doing nothing wrong. Hopefully, true justice will prevail in this case.
NRN Interviews Rep. Ron Paul
Adam Bitely of NetRightNation featured an interview with Congressman Ron Paul, who talked about his bill to audit the Fed, H.R. 1207. One thing is for certain that this will be holding those within the Federal Reserve accountable for their actions.
Is Torian Fleecing His Flock?
Could it be that Pastor Luke Torian, who is a Democrat running in Virginia 52nd House District, might be in trouble with the law? After a June 12th confrontation with a voter who questioned whether or not Torian could provide a copy of his church’s (First Mount Zion Baptist Church) IRS 990 report, I am starting to wonder whether or not he might be hiding something.
This voter inquired about the 990 report, after hearing the claims from some disgruntled members of Torian’s congregation that he is overpaid — allegedly he makes $200,000 and his wife, who serves as the church’s Associate Pastor, is said to pull in $100,000 (which together is surprisingly more than TRIPLE the median household income of those living in the zip code of 22026). Many from within the community report that they have seen Torian driving around in a Hummer and a Lexus, sporting Rolex watches.
Torian refused to provide a copy of the 990 report to the voter, and said, “I don’t care about the IRS.” The voter, then handed Torian a copy of the law, and he still refused to comply with the request.
Torian is required by law immediately to hand over the 990 reports to any member of the public who requests this during regular business hours, as his church is a 501(c)(3) organization, and all non-profits must comply with this request. The information in a church tax return must include unrelated business income and the top five compensated employees of the church.
Now, the registration and reporting rules for churches are slightly different, and according to this IRS publication,
“Churches that meet the requirements of IRC section 501(c)(3) are automatically considered tax exempt and are not required to apply for and obtain recognition of tax-exempt status from the IRS.
“Although there is no requirement to do so, many churches seek recognition of tax-exempt status from the IRS because such recognition assures church leaders, members, and contributors that the church is recognized as exempt and qualifies for related tax benefits. For example, contributors to a church that has been recognized as tax exempt would know that their contributions generally are tax-deductible.”
This law was enacted in 1987 after TV ministers, such as Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker were found living the lavish lifestyle off of their congregations without giving much back in the way of charitable services.
If Torian’s church is relying upon the automatic 501(c)(3) exemption and did not file (which would be very curious for a church this large with a self-described multi-million dollar facility), then he should have stated that to the voter. Instead, the fact that Torian was handed a copy of the law, refused to read it and was so defensive is not only suspicious, but raises questions about what sort of legislator he would be and how he would hold the public trust.
Regardless of whether or not Torian’s church is required filed a tax return, the following would still apply. Again, from the IRS:
Churches and religious organizations, like all exempt organizations under IRC section 501(c)(3), are prohibited from engaging in activities that result in inurement of the church’s or organization’s income or assets to insiders (i.e., persons having a personal and private interest in the activities of the organization). Insiders could include the minister, church board members, officers, and in certain circumstances, employees. Examples of prohibited inurement include the payment of dividends, the payment of unreasonable compensation to insiders, and transferring property to insiders for less than fair market value. The prohibition against inurement to insiders is absolute; therefore, any amount of inurement is, potentially, grounds for loss of tax-exempt status. In addition, the insider involved may be subject to excise tax.
Would TRIPLE the median household income for the area be seen as unreasonable compensation to an insider? You make the call…
Then there is the issue of employment taxes.
The compensation that a church or religious organization pays to its ministers for performing services in the exercise of ministry is not subject to FICA taxes. However, income that a minister earns in performing services in the exercise of his ministry is subject to SECA tax, unless the minister has timely applied for and received an exemption from SECA tax.
We’ve seen some of Obama’s cabinet nominees taken down for failure to pay self-employment taxes. People have the right to know if the Democratic candidate in the 52nd District has been paying his.
Pastor Torian owes it to the people of the 52nd District to clear the air on all of this. I call upon Pastor Torian to release immediately any tax records for his church that have been filed over the past year, to disclose his salary and that of his wife as well as any other compensation that they may receive from the church, and to release his most recent personal tax returns. The allegations made by members of his own congregation are troubling. His attitude towards the law that he exhibited before a potential constituent is even more so.
Reason #122 on why Jody Wagner does not deserve a promotion
Can anyone say driving the Commonwealth further into debt by not accurately projecting revenues? Now, thanks to Jody Wagner’s service as Secretary of Finance during the Kaine Administration, the Commonwealth of Virginia is now trying to figure out how they will crawl out of a $288 billion dollar hole. Her projections said that revenue collections should be at 7.3%, and the Commonwealth has already declined to 9.3% for this year.
If you think this is bad, Jody now wants to be Lieutenant Governor and “live in the Lieutenant Governor’s Mansion.” How can we expect her to serve as Lieutenant Governor, when she drove the state into a huge deficit?
Miller attacks local non-profit…for being Christian
Recently, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Finance, Government Services, and Operations Committee was looking to review whether or not to assess service charges on organizations who are exempt from paying property taxes, after meeting with county financial staffers. Although they decided not to pursue this option, one supervisor wanted to attack a non profit for discriminating on the basis of religion, because they only served Christians.
According to Leesburg Today, Dulles Supervisor Stevens Miller wanted to look into whether the Prison Fellowship Ministries Foundation was still eligible for the tax exemption status, due to only serving Christians. The other Supervisors disputed this inquiry. If this move by Miller were considered, this could impact other organizations with similar missions.
What does Miller have against a foundation that ministers to those who have done wrong and wants to transform them?
The Straight-Up Thug Town Called Arlington
For your entertainment this weekend, I would like to share a rap video that is gaining tons of traction. How about a rap about a straight-up thug town called Arlington?
