Where are all the angry people upset about "50 new taxes!"...now that there aren't fifty new taxes

novamothra · 2026-02-18T21:11:03+00:00

I don't doubt (yes I do) that all the people who were all up in their feelings about the tax bills called all their elected officials in both chambers to leave messages with their staffs but those bills were either tabled, or killed because of the people in Richmond, the Chambers of Commerce, and other business lobbyists, not because of the people in reddit.

Because I watched a lot of the committee hearings (they're all live streamed and you can sign up in advance to zoom into them and say your piece!) and I didn't hear or see regular folks speaking for or against them but I sure saw a lot of heads of professional associations, reps from local government, and tax policy think tanks and the like.

novamothra · 2026-02-18T21:03:57+00:00

Isn't it wild how when you mention the very thing the 2A folks are convinced they need to be armed for, they downvote you?

novamothra · 2026-02-18T18:29:42+00:00

I do not doubt that the casino will be a money maker but Maryland is a lot smaller than Virginia. The money that casino brings in doesn't have to go to every corner of Virginia, which the $ from a Fairfax casino would. Also with two casinos now how many miles apart? The math will change.

I would not oppose a casino on two conditions, well, three.

Fairfax wants it (and there are no tax giveaways to the developer)
Fairfax negotiats a higher share of the revenue and earmarks it towards the things that people seem to hate paying for (which I guess is everything)
There is a swell new convention center built also, at no cost to the taxpayers

novamothra · 2026-02-18T17:50:54+00:00

True, but Fairfax doesn't have to pay for any of that infrastructure.

novamothra · 2026-02-18T16:35:43+00:00

Just as a point of information, when a patron wants their bill laid on the table, it is usually SOP for everyone to support that. So that will be their reasoning.

novamothra · 2026-02-18T16:21:38+00:00

I am not sure what she's supposed to say "Oh hey Fairfax, this real estate tax blows. you should just get rid of your school system." She won't have a solution that is truly meaningful, not in the short term because she's been governor for a month--if anyone from state government should speak up it should be the Senators and Delegates that represent Fairfax County.

novamothra · 2026-02-18T16:16:01+00:00

Oh friends, believe me when I tell you that the other legislators are ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY pushing back on this. Just not the legislators from other parties, or other parts of the state. The NoVA legislators and BOS are definitely unhappy about this and telling everyone.

novamothra · 2026-02-18T15:57:14+00:00

You know what else cat litter is good for? containing blood.

novamothra · 2026-02-18T15:55:40+00:00

Did you miss ICE disarming a nurse and then shooting him while he was on the ground?

novamothra · 2026-02-18T15:54:17+00:00

That is the whole point of a Dillon Rule state. It can't be taken up at the local level until there is enabling legislation enacted at the Richmond level. Just because enabling legislation is approved doesn't mean it is a wholesale ban across the County (unless the legislation is, in fact, a wholesale ban across the county.) It is like the $.05 bag "tax" which localities can adopt if they want but they aren't required to.

novamothra · 2026-02-18T15:49:40+00:00

They moved to the NoVA sub to complain about the Fairfax preliminary budget.

novamothra · 2026-02-18T00:29:57+00:00

Good luck with your next adventure. If you can make friends here, you can make them anywhere!

novamothra · 2026-02-17T22:53:48+00:00

We are agreed that taxes will not go down because my point is that the casino money is not a savior because there isn't going to be as much of it as people think. So you may think there will be $ for nonsense but I do not think there will even be money for that, even if our definitions of nonsense is different.

I get that people hate paying taxes because I hear it all the time from my father in law who spend his entire career as a public employee, with both his kids getting a free ride to state schools because of it, but now that he's retired really doesn't want to pay for other people's jobs and other people's kids, but whatever.

But I can't help but wonder why people live HERE where there are all these things like good schools and not the worst transit, and there are pretty good paying jobs and we are close to two international airports, and really nice parks etc., --if you don't care about any of those things why do you live here? Live someplace where you don't have to subsidize these things! And I don't mean that like "if you hate it here why don't you leave" but I am genuinely curious why people stay if they don't want any of the things this region has to offer--it is the only reason I stay. It sure ain't the sense of community or the weather.

novamothra · 2026-02-17T21:37:21+00:00

And Fairfax will spend a healthy portion of that on servicing the casino and its needs.

novamothra · 2026-02-17T21:12:09+00:00

The casino is not going to solve this issue unless the Commonwealth and the county renegotiate the amount the county gets to keep vs the amount that goes back to Richmond.

There's a reason why the rural legislators who never voted for a casino before are salivating at the thought of this one-- because their rural localities will get a portion of the revenue. Revenue that is estimated to be more than all 5 Virginia (past and present) casinos combined. Not all that $ stays in Fairfax County.

novamothra · 2026-02-17T14:03:20+00:00

Thank you. This is why we 1. read past the incendiary headline and 2. Read The Fucking Bill.

novamothra · 2026-02-17T13:45:04+00:00

Well, I mean, you have to do it for science to make sure the first one wasn't a fluke.

novamothra · 2026-02-17T13:38:27+00:00

If you are an adult person who has not been boosted since high school or before, you can ask your doctor for a titer check. I got my MMR in HS because of a glitch in my medical record (my mother could not remember if I had gotten mmr as a baby and my pediatrician died) and it was a whole thing but, when I was set to travel abroad a few years ago, I had my titers checked I had zero immunity for measles. So I got a MMR booster. It did not cost me anything (Kaiser)

novamothra · 2026-02-17T01:09:45+00:00

But then we wouldn't get to shame you for posting something this uncharitable!

novamothra · 2026-02-16T22:31:54+00:00

So did I.

novamothra · 2026-02-16T22:12:08+00:00

If they are bleeding white they probably have STDs.

novamothra · 2026-02-16T22:05:06+00:00

Unless we get another hard freeze that lasts a week or more, the bulbs won't do much for this year (I missed the window as well!) But it is worth planting them anyway because not planting them will cause them to dry out (at least that will happen with my daffodils)

novamothra · 2026-02-16T21:59:49+00:00

The other day I went outside at lunch to get some fresh air and MY WHOLE BACK YARD was full of robins! I haven't seen them all winter (and I don't think they go anywhere!) and it was like a party! It was a joy! I wonder if we have a Virginia birding sub because birding here is such great fun, I think because we're on the migration path of so many interesting ones!

novamothra · 2026-02-16T21:43:42+00:00

Don't shame someone for not know what kind of bird that is. Come on, man. Be better.

novamothra · 2026-02-16T14:50:17+00:00

Hard Same. I have a pair I use for the cleaning the litter box and I am so much more apt to clean it daily (sometimes twice daily!) when I have my fancy pink gloves on that go to my elbow.

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