Summer Musings

Wow! What a summer, eh? So Chris Saxman’s promising political career has seemingly come to an end. Some would say too soon – most would say unexpectedly and at a most inopportune time for local Republicans. Well, Mr. Saxman, I bid you Godspeed and adieu. Best wishes, my friend.

Moving on, like a good Republican should and does…
So I’ve spent a good deal of the summer in D.C. working for Congressman Bob Goodlatte and the House Judiciary Committee. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a lot of interesting people and working on a great many interesting issues. The research I did on the role of the Obama administration in the Chrysler and GM bailouts was quite revealing. Ladies and gentlemen, our own government is strong-arming private lenders into bad deals and handing over publicly held companies to labor unions.

And don’t even get me started on the issues of gangs – I staffed a Judiciary Committee hearing in which a prominent Democratic Congresswoman said gangbangers needed to be hugged and loved. This all came during a debate about a piece of legislation that would add billions of dollars more to the federal budget. Apparently, In D.C., the Democratic solution to gangs is to throw money at the problem, which is actually better than the Democratic solution down in Richmond, which is to do nothing. We have got to find a way to reinforce the missing link in the lives children who join gangs, we have got to encourage and strengthen the two parent homes that were once so prevalent but not nearly extinct. No amount of money or after school programs or boot camps will every replace the discipline and support that a two-parent home provides. Two parent homes are the most effective preventive measures out there.

In the category of interesting people I’d have to put Iowa Representative Steve King – a fiery anti-illegal immigrant advocate, who is passionately committed to ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King. We had a lengthy discussion on reaching Dr. King’s goal of a color blind society and he spoke with the same passion and vigor that he usually reserves for his speeches in which he implores us to enforce our immigration laws (look him up and you’ll see what I’m talking about). I also got to meet Mike Pence, a real conservative stalwart and 2012 hopeful.

Before I close this edition of Tate’s Take, I’d be remiss without mentioning the closing of all these rest stops along interstate. I travel down I-66 and 81 often, escaping from the captivity of NOVA often and have been disappointed to find my regular pit stops taken away. The Department of Transportation says it doesn’t have the money to keep them open but our gubernatorial candidates are vowing to reverse course, one 90 days after taking office, the other 60. But with what money? Here’s a novel idea – why not follow the example set by Delaware and New Jersey (yea, sometimes good things come out of Jersey, think Sinatra) and privatize the rest areas! We could lease the land to fast food chains like McDonalds and Popeyes and allow motel chains to operate.

The idea has the potential to bring in billions of additional revenue that can all be earmarked for transportation projects. Whoever ends up replacing Mr. Saxman, I hope you’re listening.