Columns

By Bob Kibler
    Veterans and survivors who are eligible for a VA pension and require the aid and attendance of another person, or are housebound, may be eligible for additional monetary payment. These benefits are paid in addition to monthly pension, and they are not paid without eligibility to Pension.

    Last month Jack Jones, the county’s director of fire and rescue, reminded the Bedford County Board of Supervisors how much it costs to equip a fire department.
    Jones was asking for funds for turn-out suits, the coats and pants firefighters wear. One item that he presented was a diagram showing how much it costs to equip a firefighter, including the air packs that allow them to go into a smoke-filled building. The total cost came to $11,088.

Just a few days ago, President Obama announced that he would once again “pivot” to the economy. The bottom line of his speech: after four-and-a-half years of the Obama Administration, “We're not there yet.”

The President is right. We’re not there yet.

    Virginia’s economic growth, which has outpaced the national recovery, has been driven in no small part by our more than 640,000 small businesses.  
    With more than 3 million employees throughout the commonwealth working in small businesses, many of them technology-based startups, it is imperative that we maintain the competitive edge that makes Virginia one of the best places for businesses to grow or locate.  But a forthcoming tax threatens to put the brakes on this fragile economic recovery we are experiencing.