Return the Tax-payers money?.....

Ed Long over at Conservative Virginian has some interesting observations regarding the selection of the new Augusta County BOS Chairman and his views. Ed also has some observations of the first meeting chaired by Pyles and maintains a informative website over at: Conservative Virginian...

Tracy Pyles was elected Chair and Jeff Moore elected Vice Chair by the Augusta County BOS. I think the hope is that Tracy will be less difficult. One can only hope he will also listen better. But I am not certain this will be so because he immediately launched into an acceptance
speech that sounded like Tracy Pyles.

He said he was entirely opposed to – and he seemed ticked off with – Ben Cline’s statement that any State $ surplus represented over taxation and should be returned to the taxpayers.

To me Tracy spoke like the Democrat he is. To me it is clear he believes Government owns the money. He does not believe any surplus should be returned to the taxpayer, the very ones from whom that money was taken. He wants any surplus given to him so he can spend it. (Do you recall the statement made by then-congressman Tom Perriello: “If you don’t tie our hands, we will keep stealing.” )

Tracy presented two props – homemade, over-sized checks on poster board. One represented on the order of $306,000 which Tracy said represented 7 sheriff deputies and the other on the order of $333,000 representing 10 firemen. These two values were dollar amounts Augusta County owed and sent to the State Government. (I wonder if Augusta County had not had to send the money to the State would it have been spent on these 17 individuals. Would it instead have been spent on a social program or some project of which Tracy felt Pastures District was in
need?)

Finally,
Tracy said for 2012 number of Augusta County school children receiving free lunches would be ~ 3036. This is up from ~ 2426 in 2008. I called the Augusta County School Administration the next day and learned that the number of school children in the Augusta School System for K through 12 is about 10,300 for 2012. This means 30 percent of all school children are from families so poor they are being provided free lunches. That does not seem believable. [In 2010 14.3 % of the U. S. population was below poverty level, 24 % of the population was younger than 18 and 13 % over 64, click HERE. For Virginia the values were 10.6, 23.2, and 12,2 %, click HERE. For Augusta County, the values were 9.3, 21.4, and 16.1 %, click HERE. Yet 30 % of the school children in Augusta County receive free lunches because they are either considered to be under poverty or on some form of welfare.] When I was a school child in Virginia I took one or more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with me for lunch – every day. I grew up fairly healthy and believe me when I tell you my family was dirt poor.