I was poking around the Internet yesterday, looking at State parks in reasonable driving distance. We have a lovely RV that hasn't been anywhere in too long, and I thought I'd look around and see if anything piqued my interest. I remember that may years ago we stayed in the general area of Phohick State Park -Westmoreland, I think - and had a great time.
So, I was googling around, and saw that in the Pohick area (or at least, I think it was in that area, I wasn't looking at maps) is also Mason Neck. And for some reason, I came across this blog post, essentially saying that Gov. McDonnell doesn't love our State parks, because he's closing five of them.
I see that Blue Virginia has also jumped on the bandwagon, with an approving mention of that post by Benny-Wenny over at Not Larry Sabato (get your own link to that reprobate).
Now, Norm over at Tertium Quids as well as Krystle at Bearing Drift have already chimed in on this - and far more eloquently than I might - but I do want to ask the leftosphere something. A few somethings, actually.
Do you really think that, after only a month in office, Gov. McDonnell really holds a particular animus for these parks? Or do you think that, maybe, in an attempt to look over the budget snarl the recent *ahem* Democratic *cough* governors have bequeathed to the Commonwealth and bring some sanity to spending, Gov. McDonnell reviewed various proposals by the many departments of government to see where they said they could cut costs? Perhaps - possibly - the Governor saw that the Department of Conservation and Recreation said that these parks were losing money for the State due to low visitation revenue vs upkeep expenses... And, perhaps, the Governor saw this as a way to cut costs with the least impact possible to jobs?
I realize jobs will be lost in this move - but I didn't realize that Virginia had a policy of guaranteeing jobs so long as there were breathing bodies to occupy them. I'm sorry some people will be out of work, but what if it's a case of 100 jobs in the recreation section vs 500 jobs in education or health?
Folks, everyone is having to tighten their belts in these difficult times, including the Commonwealth.
Would you rather we keep spending money we don't have, placing more of a burden on future generations and eventually teetering on the edge of bankruptcy like, oh - California? Hard times mean hard choices. Get with the program, pare down non-essential services as much as possible, make wise spending decisions, and get inside sensible budget restrictions, and we'll weather the storm and come out better.
But as long as y'all keep whining, things are just going to get worse.
C'mon, Virginia Democrats - don't be like your big brother.
(crossposted to Virginia Virtucon)
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