This article is not intended to bash any party or candidate, but given the upcoming election, one should know how these discussed policies might affect Loudoun and its ability to finance its growth. Last week, the national debt passed the $16.2 Trillion level. According to Treasurydirect.gov the interest paid on U.S. debt YTD October 2012 is about $360 Billion. According to PIMCO, the Federal Reserve is currently lowering real interest rates by almost an entire percent through Operation Twist where the Fed buys mortgage securities. This means that without the Fed's action the current …

As my wife Susan and I find ourselves as empty nesters with two boys in college, we took a trip recently to the northwest. No – I'm not going to bore you with travel trivia, but rather point out a huge difference noticed between our community here in Loudoun and what we saw from Portland to Vancouver via Seattle and Victoria. The people were exceptionally friendly, food was abundant, roads and landscaping were well kept and the homeless were everywhere. Yes – our tour guide commented that there were only 7,000 homeless on the streets of Seattle. There were homeless encampments in Portland and…

When does school discipline policy discretion become an overreaching abuse? During my eight years on the Loudoun County School Board I had always wondered why fundamental contradictions in law versus school practice never seem to get resolved. I don't remember ever hearing a candidate for office run on the platform of expelling children from school when no emergency was occurring, no imminent harm was caused and, in some cases, no intent on the part of the student to violate any rule whatsoever. Do you check the contents of your car trunk before allowing your child to drive your car to school…