The winner for the week of January 22nd-28th is the Giles County School Board.
The Board voted this week to spend tax dollars to go to court to preserve displays of "The Ten Commandments" in public schools.
I've got nothing against The Ten Commandments. But Giles County is an area that is heavily subsidized in state funding formulas- especially for education. The money being spent for legal fees to keep a religious display on the walls is being paid for from the tax dollars that Virginia is sending to Giles to fund their public schools. I don't want to pay for this shit. If Giles wants to do this, they ought to have a special local tax to pay for these lawyers that is assessed when the final bills come in and is kept separate from the state money they are being sent.
Any school board willing to allocate dollars meant for kids and instead send it to lawyers to try and defend something already decided in court deserves to be thrown out on the street. In the meantime, here's some well deserved public ridicule for the Board- Drema McMahon, J.B. Buckland, J. Lewis Webb Jr., Joseph Gollehon and Ronald Whitehead.
As the Supreme Court already ruled: “Posting of religious texts on the wall serves no educational purpose... If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments are to have any effect at all, it will be to induce the school children to read, meditate upon, perhaps to venerate and obey, the Commandments. However desirable this might be as a matter of private devotion, it is not a permissible state objective under the Establishment Clause.”
Agreed. I am tired of these "welfare queen" locailities wasting our taxpayer dollars.
Until they prove they can get off the taxpayer dole we should strictly limie their behavior.
Posted by: conservative taxpayer | January 31, 2011 at 08:04 AM
These supervisors should be drug tested until they get Giles County off the state welfare program.
Posted by: NOT AFP | January 31, 2011 at 08:06 AM
Is anyone else in Virginia tired of these localities sucking our tax dollars away from our localities and then wasting it.
My gosh. Every sentient human being knows it is illegal to post the commandments. I hope Giles gets sued, goes into bankruptcy and falls off the face of the earth.
Posted by: The Part of VA that actually works | January 31, 2011 at 08:09 AM
Instead of the Ten Commandments, maybe Giles County and the other tax-payer dollar sucking, welfare dependent localities should post something like "Graduate High School, Go to College If You Can, Get a Job, Start a Business, Just Do Something to Contribute to the Economic Well-Being Of the Commonwelath.
Posted by: WTF | January 31, 2011 at 08:14 AM
Nice call Ben. When I originially read the story I just figured it was another group of conservative politicians doing some "base" politics.
Never connected the dots that money from the rest of the state will end up paying for this losing lawsuit of choice.
Posted by: Anonymous | January 31, 2011 at 08:27 AM
This is one reason to pass the Governor's transportation plan. It allows NOVA and HR to kep more of their tax-payer dollars that instead go to the General Fund and then are sent to the rural areas.
Once that plan passes and after re-districting, NOVA and HR can find more ways to keep their tax payer dollars in their region.
More car tax relief anyone? Let the rural localities starve.
Posted by: Suport McDonnell's "Two-VA" Policies | January 31, 2011 at 08:35 AM
My vote for "Weenie of the Week" are those suing the school in the first place.
Posted by: jack | January 31, 2011 at 09:08 AM
Tax rate for Giles County: $0.54 per $100.00
Tax rate for Fairfax County: $1.09 per $100
Tax rate for Loudoun County: $1.30 per $100
Tax rate for Prince William County: $1.31 per $100
Tax rate for Alexandria City: $0.978 per $100
Tax rate for Arlington County: $.0958 per $100
I have to agree with Ben. Stop wasting my money litigating settled law.
Posted by: Brian W. Schoeneman | January 31, 2011 at 10:38 AM
Man, you guys up in Fairfax and Loudoun are getting ripped off by your local governments.
Posted by: bubba | January 31, 2011 at 11:04 AM
Bubba, you're right about that.
But, Ben is right about this lawsuit. What's the point of this? The Supreme Court has already ruled on decisively, and correctly, on this issue.
I wonder how these folks would feel if passages from the Koran or the Book of Mormon or the Upanishads were posted on the school walls?
Posted by: Steve Vaughan | January 31, 2011 at 11:49 AM
Isn't it the parents right to teach this to children? Why doesn't Giles County trust parents??
;)
Posted by: GretchenLaskas | January 31, 2011 at 12:30 PM
Ben-- I liked this, but I'm not sure how you missed Del. O'Bannon as weinie of the week.
Posted by: Steve Vaughan | January 31, 2011 at 12:38 PM
At this point, according to the article, there is no lawsuit.
Posted by: Jack | January 31, 2011 at 12:42 PM
Nothing against "The Ten Commandments?" Which Ten Commmandments? The Protestant version? The Catholic version? The Jewish version? The Samaritan version?
I have a problem with posting iconography which clearly favors one religion over the others.
Posted by: NotTimothyGeithner | January 31, 2011 at 01:26 PM
Steve,
You need to join twitter, I've been doing an open nomination process there each week.
Posted by: Not Larry Sabato | January 31, 2011 at 02:30 PM
Ah, I didn't know. Did O'Bannon get any votes?
Posted by: Steve Vaughan | January 31, 2011 at 03:00 PM
No one nominated him.
Posted by: Not Larry Sabato | January 31, 2011 at 03:14 PM
"Man, you guys up in Fairfax and Loudoun are getting ripped off by your local governments." - Bubba
Yeah Bubba. Maybe my locality should just slash our taxes so we can live off the hard work and pocketbooks of others. Like you.
Posted by: Tired of Supporting ROVA | January 31, 2011 at 03:23 PM
hey rova, your local property tax dollars are not spent outside of your county. and at last check, you're still getting ripped off by your local government.
Seriously, what in the world are you getting from your local government that is worth the doubling of your taxes versus what someone in Giles County gets from their local folks?
Given your planning and transportation problems, it can't be outstanding land use planning. Given your crime statistics, it can't be public safety.
Posted by: bubba | January 31, 2011 at 04:31 PM
Bubba- if you look at some of the tables of organization of NOVA governments it's pretty clear what they are getting for their extra tax dollars -- "assistant deputies to the deputy assistant chiefs" of various departments.
Posted by: Steve Vaughan | January 31, 2011 at 05:31 PM
A world class school system? One of the best qualities of life in the country?
I am not saying that we aren't overtaxed, but I am willing to best that Giles County takes a lot of state education dollars that the state takes from folks in Northern Virginia to subsidize the fact that Giles County wants to keep their property tax rate at half that of every locality in NoVa. That's the point. They don't pay for their schools so we get to.
And now we get to pay for their lawyers.
Posted by: Brian W. schen | January 31, 2011 at 08:59 PM
A world class school system? One of the best qualities of life in the country?
I am not saying that we aren't overtaxed, but I am willing to best that Giles County takes a lot of state education dollars that the state takes from folks in Northern Virginia to subsidize the fact that Giles County wants to keep their property tax rate at half that of every locality in NoVa. That's the point. They don't pay for their schools so we get to.
And now we get to pay for their lawyers.
Posted by: Brian W. schen | January 31, 2011 at 08:59 PM
A world class school system? One of the best qualities of life in the country?
I am not saying that we aren't overtaxed, but I am willing to best that Giles County takes a lot of state education dollars that the state takes from folks in Northern Virginia to subsidize the fact that Giles County wants to keep their property tax rate at half that of every locality in NoVa. That's the point. They don't pay for their schools so we get to.
And now we get to pay for their lawyers.
Posted by: Brian W. schen | January 31, 2011 at 08:59 PM
A world class school system? One of the best qualities of life in the country?
I am not saying that we aren't overtaxed, but I am willing to best that Giles County takes a lot of state education dollars that the state takes from folks in Northern Virginia to subsidize the fact that Giles County wants to keep their property tax rate at half that of every locality in NoVa. That's the point. They don't pay for their schools so we get to.
And now we get to pay for their lawyers.
Posted by: Brian W. schen | January 31, 2011 at 08:59 PM
A world class school system? One of the best qualities of life in the country?
I am not saying that we aren't overtaxed, but I am willing to best that Giles County takes a lot of state education dollars that the state takes from folks in Northern Virginia to subsidize the fact that Giles County wants to keep their property tax rate at half that of every locality in NoVa. That's the point. They don't pay for their schools so we get to.
And now we get to pay for their lawyers.
Posted by: Brian W. schen | January 31, 2011 at 08:59 PM
I hate this iPad keyboard.
Posted by: Brian W. Schoeneman | January 31, 2011 at 09:00 PM
Bubba,
Giles gets 80% of it's school spending from the state. Fairfax gets 20%. Most of those taxes go to the school system.
Basically, our kids are learning French and Japanese in elementary school while yours aren't. Our high school kids are preparing for college. Yours are preparing for the military and/or a life of low wages and limited job opportunities.
Posted by: NotJohnSMosby | January 31, 2011 at 09:40 PM
Thanks for taking my nomination, Ben.
BTW. Liberty University offered to pay for attorneys.
The ACLU is waiting for either a Giles resident or student/parent to complain before filing suit.
The original letter of complaint from the Freedom from Religion Foundation is not in Giles County so can't sue.
Posted by: Valerie | January 31, 2011 at 11:29 PM
Your kids are getting ready for college because both of their parents went to college, not because the school system offers Japanese.
Kids of college educated parents in Giles County go on to college at the same clip as kids in Loudoun. Kids who are from homes where the parents didn't go to college go to college at about the same rate in Giles and Loudoun.
And at the end of the day, the kid who becomes your mechanic or plumber makes more than you and retires earlier, with a higher quality of life, than many of those aforementioned college grads.
Way to make this about snobby class warfare.
Posted by: bubba | February 01, 2011 at 01:02 PM
Read Appearance,path first express sea display cultural damage bring material extra bloody discipline additional over population vision understanding tiny aspect good present branch manner estimate end mass meal release sign origin date smile style hair gate demand forest treatment nod trend staff distance culture too expenditure issue at probably whole state spend great history around magazine store huge reader assembly people broad top forget blow phase professional account police forest hell pub current fear require mark send issue speaker dream chemical technique fully that
Posted by: guenstigepauschalreisen.net | February 10, 2011 at 06:35 AM