(no subject)

John Scalzi: A Small Plea to the Right: Vote Left in 2006

Second, and rather more importantly, voting Democrat in this case doesn't make you a Democrat. Far from it -- it makes you a better Republican, one who recognizes that the likelihood of Republican party reforming itself and re-embracing genuine Republican principles without being booted on its ass is roughly the same as, say, Al Gore waxing poetic about the health advantages of breathing coal dust. By voting Democratic, you're letting the GOP know that you think it would be nice if it stopped being the party of swelling deficits and shrinking individual rights and got back to what it says it believes in.

(Found in comments to also_huey's post)

(no subject)

On the tax exemption amendment on today's ballot

There are actually three state constitutional amendments on the ballot today. Other than the hateful marriage amendment, one is an easy "yes" (to remove a section that's been deemed unconstitutional) but the other took some research to figure out how I wanted to vote. The sample Democratic ballot suggests voting in favor of it, but it's not really explained very well, at least anywhere I can find.

Ballot Question Three
Shall Section 6 of Article X of the Constitution of Virginia be amended to authorize legislation to permit localities to provide a partial exemption from real property taxes for real estate with new structures and improvements in conservation, redevelopment, or rehabilitation areas?

The "conservation [...] areas" made me wonder why the Democrats were in favor of this, because the first thing that comes to mind is "new townhouses built on wetlands with a partial tax credit for the developers". In context though, that just didn't seem to make sense. A bit of poking around in the VA Code leads to this:

§ 36-3. Definitions.
[...]
"Conservation area" means an area, designated by an authority that is in a state of deterioration and in the early stages of becoming a blighted area, as defined in this section, or any area previously designated as a conservation area pursuant to this chapter.
[...]

§ 36-49.1. Adoption of Conservation Plans.

A. An authority may adopt a conservation plan for a designated conservation area to address blight and blighting conditions, to conserve such area, prevent further deterioration and prevent such area from becoming blighted, and in particular is specifically empowered to carry out any work or undertaking in the conservation area, including any or all of the following:
[...]

That makes much more sense. I do wish I hadn't had to go combing through the state code to find out that "conservation area" has a specific meaning that isn't likely the first one that comes to mind for people who aren't real estate developers.

(no subject)

FBI looking into possible VA voter intimidation.

Here is the call that an Arlington man got this morning threatening him with arrest if he voted. (Unlike these folks, I'm not going so far as to say it was definitely Allen's campaign responsible. I'm also not going to say that it definitely wasn't.) Voters in Covington, Hampton and Colonial Heights, and Accomack, Northampton and Fairfax counties reported receiving calls in the past few days telling them their voting locations had changed (they hadn't). In at least one of those alleged incidents, the caller claimed to be with Jim Webb's campaign and directed the voter to a non-existent polling location after he assured her he was planning on voting for Webb.


Elsewhere: D'oh! South Carolina governor turned away because he forgot his voter registration card..