The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1379561
B-4 Wednesday, June 2, 2021 The Press-Dispatch OPINION Submit Letters to the Editor: Letters must be signed and received by noon on Mondays. Email: editor@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg A test for the nation in Virginia Governor's Race Americans may not have to wait until 2022 to sense the potential for Republicans to move the nation back in a conservative direction. The race for governor in Virginia, one of just two major elections taking place this year, could be a barometer of national sentiment. Republicans have just nominated a dream-team ticket, combining tal- ent and achievement with all the di- versity demands of today's political marketplace. The nominee is investor/busi- nessman Glenn Youngkin, who cam- paigned for his party's nomination as a "conservative, Christian outsid- er." Youngkin is a wealthy man who was co-CEO of the highly respected investment firm The Carlyle Group. On the ticket for lieutenant gov- ernor is former Marine Winsome Sears, a conservative black woman and immigrant from Jamaica. Running for attorney general is Jason S. Miyares, a member of the state legislature and son of a Cuban immigrant. This conservative ticket — pro-Second Amendment gun rights, pro-family, pro-life, promoting growth through lower taxes and less regulation — advertises the truth those on the left wish to muz- zle: that the conservative values that built America are not "white values" but universally true American val- ues. The state of Virginia is an appro- priate laboratory for this test because Virginia is a poster child for the mal- adies of our nation. Virginia was for years a solid red state. Virginians voted for Republi- cans in every presidential election from 1952 through 2004, with the ex- ception of 1964. It has picked Demo- crats in every election since — 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020. What's happening? The population growth of the state has been in northern Virginia, which is basically a suburb of Wash- ington, D.C. From 2010 to 2019, ac- cording to University of Virginia re- search, northern Virginia account- ed for 66.5% of the state's population growth. Per Washington Post reporting of a 2017 study from Old Dominion Uni- versity: "Virginia's fortunes are more tied to the federal budget than those of perhaps any other state. Almost 30 percent of Virginia's gross domestic product — its total output of goods and services — is directly related to federal spending." Given that government is increas- ingly the meal ticket for northern Vir- ginians, it should be no surprise that Democrats — the party of big gov- ernment — are increasingly becom- ing the party of Virginia. In 2020, Joe Biden won 51.3% of the vote nationwide, and Donald Trump won 46.8 % . In Virginia, Biden got 54.1% and Trump 44% . Even among white voters nation- wide, Biden got 41% and Trump 58 % . But in Virginia, Biden won 45% of white voters and Trump won 53% . In northern Virginia's Fairfax County, with a median household in- come of $124,831, 70.4% of the vote went for Biden and 28.2 % for Trump. As more Virginians benefit from the largesse of profligate govern- ment, they increasingly turn to Democrats, who promote this gov- ernment meal ticket while advanc- ing policies that are destroying our country. The inflation that many have been worried about, due to excessive gov- ernment spending producing re- cord deficits and debt, is beginning to show itself in the marketplace. Recent Census Bureau reports showing historically low birth rates mean there is an aging population — a direct result of the collapse of fami- ly and an increase in pro-abortion at- titudes and policies. What is happening in Virginia points to the same trend nationally: more citizens getting government money and thus getting behind poli- cies that are destroying our country. Leadership can turn things around. 'Are you on the take?' Home prices keep climbing. It's another reason to let people build housing. But corrupt politicians sometimes prevent that. The little town of Edgewater, New Jersey, sits right across the Hudson River from Manhattan. A develop- er, Maxal Group, bought a dumpsite there and proposed building more than a thousand new waterfront apartments. The town said no. Why? The development would gen- erate $12 million a year in taxes for Edgewater. To please the politicians, Maxal even offered to build parks and a school at no cost. But Edgewater Mayor Michael McPartland and his town council re- jected the parks, school and extra tax revenue. Instead, they spent tax money on lawyers to try to seize the proper- ty using eminent domain law. They claimed they wanted to use site to park garbage trucks. Why would they do this? So gar- bage could have a beautiful view of Manhattan's skyline? Reportedly, they did it because they wanted to please a competing developer, Fred Daibes, says Justin Walder, lawyer for the Maxal Group in my new video. A lawsuit he filed alleged "corrupt transactions" between Daibes and Edgewater politicians. Walder says the politicians received "underval- ued rentals, loans for their business purposes through a bank that Dai- bes started." Daibes did once tell a reporter, "You can't be in Edgewater and not be affiliated with me." McPartland even lived in a build- ing owned by Daibes and paid be- low-market rent, said Walder. McPartland later denied that. The mayor and city council say they de- nied the project because it was too big. But "they just approved a larger project! " Walder told me. That larger project, twice as tall as Maxal's, was controlled by devel- oper Daibes. Daibes declined our requests for an interview. Edgewater's mayor and city coun- cil didn't even respond to our re- quests. So, I dropped in on one of their meetings. "Are you on the take? " I asked. "Rejecting one building in favor of the one owned by the guy where you live? " That led to awkward silence. I continued. "Is it true that four of you are getting loans from Daibes' bank, and is it true that you (McPart- land) get a discounted apartment in Daibes' building? " More silence. Then the town's lawyer turned to the mayor and said, "As your legal counsel, I'm going to suggest and recommend that you don't answer the question." The mayor didn't. He ended the meeting. That confrontation occurred sev- eral years ago. A fter Stossel T V released video of that moment in Edgewater, McPart- land issued a statement that said: "The complaint filed and the biased reporting are slanderous and defam- atory to me and the other members of the council. I am somewhat con- strained with what I can say, given this matter is in litigation. But I look forward to shining a light on these greedy and profit-only driven devel- opers who are looking only to heli- copter into Edgewater, overdevel- op the site and then leave with their profits." Two years later, he apparently changed his mind about "greedy and profit-only driven developers." He ap- proved a somewhat smaller version of Maxal's plans. Maxal also agreed to transfer some land to the town for free. In return, Maxal dropped its cor- ruption lawsuit. Daibes still faces unrelated con- spiracy charges. But no Edgewater politician has been prosecuted for self-dealing. The apartments that would have had views of the beautiful Manhat- tan skyline still haven't been built. Maxal's project is now held up by a new lawsuit. It's such a waste. There could have One of my early memories, and not a happy one, is sitting in gas lines in the 1970s. My parents would rus- tle me out of bed early on frigid Feb- ruary mornings, and we'd pack into the Ford and speed over to the gas station. When we got there, there would often be six or seven cars in front of us. Sometimes, we'd wait 20 or 30 minutes for a fill-up. And we'd notice that every few weeks there would be someone on a ladder post- ing a higher price on the 20 -foot-high sign. It always sticks in my memo- ry because even though I was only about 12 years old, it was a shock- ing indicator that something terribly wrong was going on in our country. I couldn't understand how a bunch of Saudi oil sheiks could hijack the greatest nation on earth. Fast-forward four decades, and for the first time in my life, we had a president, Donald Trump, who made America energy-independent again. In the last week of December 2020, the United States imported zero oil from Saudi Arabia. Hooray! In the wake of the cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline, one of our major domestic energy pipelines, the 1970s malaise was brought back into focus. In many parts of the Southeast, there was no gas to be had at any price be- cause of the supply disruptions. Alas, this wasn't just a re- sult of some evil for- eign hackers. This is the predictable outcome when we have a president who teams with the radical green left and declares war on American energy. President Joe Biden has said that he wants to eliminate American fos- sil fuels over the next 15 years. He's doing his best to keep that prom- ise, starting with his cancellation of the Keystone XL Pipeline. (How de- ranged does that seem today?) A few weeks later, he stopped oil and gas drilling on federal lands. We have some $ 30 trillion to $50 trillion of energy resources underneath fed- eral lands and federal waters. This "America last" energy poli- cy is not just a frontal assault on our economy, transportation system and national security. It is a policy that imposes a hefty tax on the poorest people. According to A A A, when Biden was elect- ed, the average gasoline price across America was $2.20 a gallon. Since then, the price has risen every month, and on May 15 of this year, the average gas price hit $ 3.04. Make no mistake: this 84-cent-per-gallon price hike is a highly regressive "tax" on motorists, just as lower gas pric- es during the Trump administration were the equivalent of a tax cut for consumers. I doubt that billionaire Democratic donors such as Mike Bloomberg, Tom Steyer or Bill and Melinda Gates, who are significant financial supporters of the war on fossil fuels, care much that gas pric- es are rising. But for the rest of us, when the price of a fill-up rises by $10 or $12, that's a genuine financial hardship. That's especially true for those on fixed incomes or earning less than $50,000 a year. Yes, indeed, gas Congress and the Biden Admin- istration are contemplating chang- es to the military justice system that would make it more likely that seri- ous crimes, such as sexual assault and child abuse, will go unpunished. Congress is considering legisla- tion that would remove military com- manders' authority to refer charges to trial and instead vest military law- yers with that responsibility. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is consider- ing similar recommendations from a panel he convened to look at the issue. These initiatives are intended to reduce the number of sexual assaults in the military, but the method be- ing pursued will result in fewer cas- es brought to court martial and a de- terioration in overall order and dis- cipline in our military. Policymakers should abandon this approach before real damage is done to the fabric of the U.S. military justice system. Sexual assault is unquestionably a major challenge in the U.S. mili- tary. Despite multiple changes to law and policy, the number of re- ported assaults remains stubborn- ly high. Service members reported 6,290 sexual assaults in fiscal year 2020, a one percent increase over 2019. In a profession that depends on mutual trust, even one as- sault is too many. In response, Con- gress and the DoD have implemented numerous changes, including trained victim's counsels, confidential report- ing methods, increased prevention training, retaliation protections, and transfer programs for victims. Yet despite these changes, little prog- ress has been made. Now with under- standable frustration—but no sup- porting evidence of its efficacy—ad- vocates propose to remove military commanders from the decision pro- cess for justice. The die might have been cast when then-presidential candidate Joe Biden pledged in April 2020 to remove military commanders from the system. Although Austin says he is still reviewing the issue, it is not clear whether the White House would overrule any input the Pentagon provides in order to make good on Biden's prom- ise. Austin says he wants to hear from his military lead- ers by the end of the month. But some have already gone on record on this idea, and it is unclear why they would have a change of heart now, after decades of service. Gen. CQ Brown, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, says he believes strip- ping commanders of disciplinary au- thority over felony violations, includ- ing sexual assaults, puts unit cohe- sion, combat effectiveness and readi- ness at risk. Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville has made similar statements. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley had been a vocal advocate for keeping justice in the hands of commanders. In 2019, he testified that "…commanders and commanders alone are personally Race for the Cure By Star Parker Give Me a Break John Stossel Continued on page 5 I got hold of a book from our lo- cal library which caught my atten- tion, entitled Guide to Life After High School by Len Woods. The last weeks of May are loaded with announcements for graduations at all levels of education. One of my grandsons graduated from elementary school and now en- ters middle school. Our friends' chil- dren and grandchildren have gradu- ated from high school, college and universities, one special friend grad- uated from St. Meinrad seminary af- ter years of schooling and now will be ordained as a priest. We have been seeing graduation announcements from different news- papers, Facebook, and different so- cial media outlets. They all show the happy faces of students who fi- nally made it and is now ready to en- ter different phases of life. Some will re-enter schools for higher educa- tion, some will enter the work force, some will just take a break and see what's out in the world. I understand things are so dif- ferent now regarding ceremonies, gatherings, and celebrations due to the resolving mis- erable pandemic. In any case, one of the most thrilling things we see in life is the yearly cycle of graduations. As I was looking at the special sec- tion of The Press Dispatch about our local graduates, I am so thrilled to see their smiling faces. At the same time I have this strange feeling of bewilderment as to what will happen to the next phases of their lives. I also feel like I must be really get- ting older because I know some of them, but since they are about the second, third and fourth genera- tions from the surnames I have come across since I transplanted here in 1978, I am struck by the reality of the speed of passing time and my sense of disconnect from these suc- cessive generations. Are you in the same boat as I am in? ••• Back to the book. The au- thor outlined his topics in- to several sections. Let me share what he wrote. In the first section, Truths about Life, he wrote, life is hard. Life is not fair. When truth is rejected, life becomes unbearable. Life requires a certain amount of intoler- ance, and life is shorter than you think. In the second section, Truths About People, he wrote, people have infinite worth. Some people are not basical- ly good. Nobody has it together. No- body gets away with anything. Peo- ple were created for relationships. You don't know everything. You can measure your spirituality by how well you love. You need the church as much as the church needs you. You will be either a Christian who consumes or a Christian who com- My Point of View By H. K. Fenol, Jr., M.D. A guide to life after high school Continued on page 5 Continued on page 5 Continued on page 5 Eye on the Economy By Stephen Moore Biden's 'gas tax' is a pain at the pump Heritage Viewpoint By Thomas Spoehr Don't sabotage the military justice system Continued on page 5 SABOTAGE Court