Spank That Donkey

UVA just increased tuition 9.4% to $9,300 annually for FY 08-09', according to the Washington Times metro section.  What's the matter folks, didn't have the nerve to get the full 10%?  Tuition & Fees was $4,130 in FY 99-2000.

Governor's Mark Warner and Tim Kaine have absolutely opened the flood gates on tuition increases.  UVA has a $5 Billion dollar endowment.  Five Billion dollars, that is five times what the entire Commonwealth of Virginia has in it's rainy day fund?  Heck it took Governor Jim Gilmore four years to get Virginia's Rainy Day fund to $1 Billion...

Five billion dollars...

How much money annually would we be able to give to our other colleges if we just let them go private?  Out of State tuition is $29,600 annually.  Go for it, have at it.  This is getting to be like the Commonwealth of Virginia building a football stadium for the Redskins... like they need the subsidy?  Like their athletics department isn't raping their alumni already for season tickets.....

It is a bold step to let a college leave the system, but I sure would like to see the study on it.  I saw the figure in Jerry's post here, linking to VA Tech's mulling over crushing it's students with possibly a 10% hike in tuition.  It says $166 million is sent to VA Tech annually....  at least that much must be going to UVA.

What if we kept the medical school, and let the rest go private?  Establish a state scholarship fund to UVA from the money saved for the smartest students, and plow the balance into our other colleges to get this.... lower tuition.... It's getting out of hand folks, graduates carrying around $200 -$300 a month student loan bills only hurts the economy.  It makes it harder to purchase new vehicles, afford homes, afford health insurance, etc.

Five Billion dollars... If an institution with that kind of money can not be self sufficient, what the heck do they have a business school for?  Oh, I forgot, college is more about theory than practical application.... whatever... Five Billion Dollars!

Why in the heck are subsidizing a college with an endowment five times what the Commonwealth's cash reserves are?  Someone anyone?

 Well, now.  Seems that Yankee Philip, SWAC GIRL, and others, sorry if I skipped you, will get the link later, are reporting the fact that our Senator Hanger holds an excellent tax payers group in very low regard.

Let it be known, if Senator Hanger doesn't like AFP, he should put the reasons for it down in writing, as we bloggers do.  Along the same lines, he should have to defend his vote for SB 708 in 2006 in writing also.

That is what the blogosphere is about.  Posting the facts, giving your opinion, and backing up your arguments with solid rationale.  The AFP is not a 'splinter' group, and while tax payers state and nationwide are dealing with inflation in energy and food costs, attacking groups who would like to see good government practices is hardly productive.

We fell in behind you Senator Hanger after the primary; we have issues, and we hope you will be listening.

 What exactly is Governor Mark Warner talking about here in his Forward Together piece on SWVA?:

"Governor Warner focused an incredible amount of effort on recruiting businesses to locate, stay, and expand, in rural Virginia and manufacturing communities that have seen job losses due to global competition. Double-digit unemployment dropped into single digits in the most distressed counties for the first time in years."

UVA  at Wise in SWVA has seen it's tuition rise from $3,192 in FY 2000 to $6,151 in FY 2008.  That's just $233 dollars short of a 100% increase in tuition and fees.  Ouch!

Please reference Governor Jim Gilmore's Blue Ribbon Commission on Higher Education, pg 28, and the latest SCHEV report on Tuition and Fees, Pg. 11.

Maybe it's just me, but wouldn't attracting business to SWVA be enhanced by lowering the financial burdens on citizens living in SWVA, while encouraging them to get their college educations there, and to work in those businesses?  Furthermore, what if Governor's Warner and Kaine thought like Governor's Allen and Gilmore, and froze tuition at UVA-Wise and actually made that college the most tuition competitive in Virginia?  That would possibly attract more students from across the state to seek their educations there, and possibly relocate to SWVA to pursue careers, and raise families.

Higher Education institutions can drive local economies big time.  Take Blacksburg for instance, what is the impact of Virginia Tech on the local community?  Just a thought.

Republicans vs. Democrat/ics, Governor Jim Gilmore vs. Governor Warner, facts vs. rhetoric.

 Terry Kilgore has sponsored HB 172 that surely will have your Property and Casualty (P&C) Insurance Carriers raising their rates.  What are P&C carriers?  They are the companies that insure your homes, your cars, the people who build your homes and work on your cars.  Yes, I mean contractors, auto repair shops, business owners, or just about anyone you can think of that has a liability insurance policy.

What will this bill do?

Simple, it will disclose your liability limits to an attorney for an injured person.

That is now only possible through the process of 'Discovery' after a law suit is filed.  In other words the trial attorneys would like to include in their decision making process exactly how deep the pockets are of the person they are contemplating bringing a law suit against.  You see these folks not only get awards for their clients, but they also get to get a percentage, and these guys don't like to waste their time.

Let me give you a scenario on how this just might play out.

You accidently rear end some one in a traffic accident.  You get out and exchange information with the other party.  The police arrive, but since it appears to him that it is less than $1000 in property damage, he does not write an accident report.  Both parties drive away.

The next day the attorney for the person you rear ended contacts your insurance company's claim adjuster.  If this bill were to pass, that adjuster would have to disclose that in fact you do have a $500,000 combined single limit for liability, and not the state mandated $25,000 per person to a maximum of $50,000 for bodily injury coverage.  Furthermore, you also have an 'Umbrella', or excess policy for $1,000,000, which potentially brings your limits now to $1,500,000.

Do I need to go any further with this?  Do you see exactly what the Trial Attorneys are hoping to accomplish here?  I for the life of me, can not believe Republicans voted for this bill, much less sponsored it.  Check out who voted for it:

YEAS--Albo, Alexander, Amundson, Armstrong, Athey, BaCote, Barlow, Bouchard, Brink, Bulova, Caputo, Crockett-Stark, Dance, Ebbin, Eisenberg, Englin, Fralin, Griffith, Hall, Howell, A.T., Hugo, Iaquinto, Ingram, Joannou, Johnson, Jones, D.C., Kilgore, Lewis, Marsden, Mathieson, May, McClellan, Melvin, Miller, P.J., Moran, Morrissey, Nixon, Orrock, Peace, Phillips, Plum, Purkey, Putney, Scott, J.M., Shannon, Sherwood, Sickles, Spruill, Suit, Toscano, Tyler, Vanderhye, Ward, Ware, O., Watts--55.

NAYS--Abbitt, Bell, Bowling, Byron, Carrico, Cline, Cole, Cosgrove, Cox, Frederick, Gear, Gilbert, Hamilton, Hargrove, Hogan, Hull, Janis, Jones, S.C., Landes, Lingamfelter, Lohr, Marshall, D.W., Marshall, R.G., Massie, Merricks, Miller, J.H., Morgan, Nichols, Nutter, O'Bannon, Oder, Pogge, Poindexter, Poisson, Rust, Saxman, Scott, E.T., Shuler, Tata, Valentine, Ware, R.L., Wright, Mr. Speaker--43.

ABSTENTIONS--0.

NOT VOTING--Loupassi--1.

If you do not want your premiums for auto, home and just about every other P&C product in the Commonwealth of Virginia going up; I suggest you take an interest in this bill.  It is going to the Senate Courts of Justice Committee, and the make up:

Membership: Marsh (Chairman), Saslaw, Stolle, Quayle, Norment, Howell, Lucas, Edwards, Reynolds, Puller, Cuccinelli, Obenshain, McDougle, Deeds, Hurt

 Taking a look at Augusta County's returns there are three overwhelming factors involved in the numbers.  The first is that the local MSM didn't spare any ink letting the local populace know that Senator John Warner, the former Governors, LG, AG, etc endorsed Senator John McCain.

Secondly, beyond numerous phone calls from the candidates, and radio ads condensed into a five day window the electorate really didn't get a decent amount of time to look at the candidates.  I think that if the county had a couple weeks worth of exposure to the candidates, and a couple issue comparison pieces to study you would see a far wider of margin for Gov. Huckabee.

The ballot had six candidates, which fractured the vote further, and Rush Limbaugh pounding the snot out of Gov.  Huckabee for two months straight made a huge difference.  Still the County went Huckabee, plain and simple.  Twenty Six out of Twenty Six precincts. 

In my opinion the largest factor was the Top GOP Leadership giving McCain the 'green light', and they just voted the name, and surely not his positions.

Overall, when I saw that the county was  not 3-1 Huckabee, I knew he was sunk state wide.  Like I said in a previous post, GOP Leadership knew that McCain was going to be vindictive towards our state, and Senate candidate former Gov. Jim Gilmore in particular if they didn't all get behind him, they made the move, and here we are.

The bottom line of course is that if not for all of the above, and Senator John McCain's true voting record were laid out before our electorate,  he would have gotten the three to one trouncing he deserved.