Rigell gives up big bucks to serve
By JR Hoeft | Wednesday, September 7th, 2011 | PolicyScott Rigell has dumped a good chunk of his public salary to serve, reports Roll Call today.
Admittedly, the auto sales industry has been very good to Rigell, but he didn’t go to DC to earn a paycheck. He has said often that his goal of service is to ensure that there is someone with commonsense and conservative values representing the 2nd Congressional District in Congress – especially during a time where every decision matters.
Roll Call writes:
The Virginia Republican has vowed to donate 15 percent of his paycheck, which amounted to more than $6,500 in the second quarter.
“Rep. Rigell believes that the trajectory of spending in Washington presents a material threat to our nation’s future,” spokeswoman Kim Mosser said in an email. “He also believes in leading by example in controlling spending.”
$26K is not exactly a small gesture by an individual. Kudos to Congressman Rigell for representing the 2nd District through action.
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Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.
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14 Responses to "Rigell gives up big bucks to serve"
Let’s be honest; to serve in the House today, you need to be rich. Rigell is rich, he used bail out money to ensure the success of his business, so now he gives a bit back to buy some credibility. Better to examine his conservative philosophy and the damage it has caused to most americans; that is, the 99% of us who work for a living and are essentially left out of the political calculations of the republican party bent on preserving the wealth and status of the top 1%. The Bush tax cuts benefitted the rich and wealthy at the expense of middle class, and worse, they invested in emerging markets and in companies that moved their operations overseas. Giving more money to them in tax breaks insures they get their capital gains; it does nothing for us, the broad middle class, nor for american infrastructure that is deteriorating rapidly due to republican intrasigence.
Mike, are you in a union? The new Democratic rules state that you can’t call yourself “middle class” if you aren’t in a union. So you had better get on the same page as the unions or you will be reported by the leftists who are monitoring this blog. Either you are an SOB like the rest of us, or you are a “middle class” worker… you can’t have it both ways.
Those in the middle class know who they are without your attempts to muddy the water. Fact is, even white collar professionals, middle skill, middle class jobs working men and women, service industry workers, have faced the hollowing out of the prosperity to which we had all aspired. Even so called information technology jobs are being moved overseas or simply being replaced due to technological innovation. A tiny elite seems immune, floating up above all the rest. You can make all the jokes and provide all the insults you want, but when citizens and communities get trapped in a cycle of discontentment at best, decay at worst, the dissolution of the american fabric is not far behind. So recovery today does not mean returning to the prior path, it means changing the path, and I genuinely hope that the President and Congress understand the challenge facing America and will own up to solutions that are necessary and required.
Give me a break Mike Barrett! You are such a blind partisan that if a Republican saved a baby from a burning building, you would cry about how they should have single handily put out the fire.
It’s called leadership by example, a very simple concept. Your President’s economic and spending policies have bankrupted the nation, so you have zero credibility.
Besides, I know you adore multi-millionaire Mark Warner, why hasn’t he given some of his salary back?
Yes, Rigell did lead by example. He took bail out money and then condemned the program. If you do not see the hypocrisy in that action, perhaps it is you who is partisan. If he wishes to use some of that federal money he got in assistance to pay back the U.S. Government, then fine, more power to him. If he really wants to display his commitment, then return the federal bail out he got instead of a tiny percentage of his wealth. It has not escaped anyone that he has a tough election campaign in front of him against an opponent who is not so dismissive of the 98% of the citizens who work for a living and for whom Cantor/Boehner/Rigell don’t seem to take much notice of.
Isn’t this the same “stimulus” bill you support? Let me guess, you still hold the thoroughly disproven concept that more government spending equals economic prosperity.
Because that has worked so well in Greece!
Face it — your President is a failure; your cherished liberal views on economics has been completely discredited.
It explains a lot your perpetual whining about anything Republicans do right.
“Hope and Change” has now become “Despair and Confusion”
Folks, never mind, Mike. We all know he’s looking for some sort of taxpayer-funded deal to support some sort of property deal he’s working on.
After all, he’s the CEO of:
http://www.runnymedecorp.com/company-profile.php
He also is president of the laughably “non-partisan” Virginia Beach Vision:
http://www.virginiabeachvision.com/view_details.php?s=177
The reality is Mike is in the property development business and VBV is all about development too.
Mike just likes to get the government to pay for his projects instead of the free market.
FYI: Virginia Beach’s “Vision” is the real closet government of Va. Beach. In Va. Beach, what Vision wants, Vision gets…
Don’t under estimate Mike’s reach… JMO
J.R., thanks for the plug and the link to our web site. I do find it absolutely amazing that on Bearing Drift, a republican web site that presumably supports capitalism, business, and development, to find the editor criticizing me for my profession. That is a sad commentary on what has become of the republoican party today. Commercial development does increase the tax base and keeps the tax rate low for residential homeowners. I did not know that was considered to be unethical by Bearing Drift.
As to V.B. Vision, we are advocates for rational public policy at the Beach, and we work closely with other leadership groups in our region. We ask each member to leave their partisan hat at the door so we can focus on strategic issues. Frankly, it is absolutely amazing what an organization can accomplish if partisan rancor is missing from the deliberations.
C’mon Mike, quite whining like a little girl. JR just complemented you on the fact that your business feeds at the public trough which is the pinnacle of status in your leftist circles where you take and take and take as much as you can until a public bankruptcy or a bunch of investor SOBs go broke. As far as VB Vision “it is absolutely amazing what an organization can accomplish if partisan rancor is missing from the deliberations.” Your pushing off of the leftist dictatorial model where It’s either your way or the highway… no “partisans” with “rancor”ous opinions need apply.
Whining Tim J? No, I don’t think so. I would suggest to you and to J.R. that on the local level, the republicans I deal with are focused on economic development, community improvement, and doing business in our community. They are a much different lot than the extremists and zealots who frequently post herein. Frankly, I don’t know what has happened to the republican party that used to represent the interests of the main street business sector. Most of us in local businesses are not out to trash the other guy, nor to disadvantage our employees either. We work regularly with members of Council and with the staff to try to advocate for what is best for Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads.
Let me finish your thought for you, Mike
…especially when taxpayer dollars can be spent on our development projects.
PREACH IT JR! Maybe Mark is really mad that none of Obama’s “stimulus” money went to his back pocket.
All makes sense now why he continues to drink the Koo-Aid and fight for government spending.
So Mike, in addition to being “community organizer” for “Republicans” and like minded individuals interested in taking public money, you multitask as a “community developer” and run organizations aimed at sucking as much money as possible from VB as well as the region, state and Federal Government? You guys remind me of a bunch of ticks on a big ‘ol fat hound dog.
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