Governor asks VA General Assembly to revoke driver fees

[Bill Glasheen]

Those who know me understand my libertarian streak. One salient aspect of that is my desire not to be told to drive like an Alzheimer's candidate on roads designed for brisk driving. I'm not talking about driving insanely. I'm talking about driving w/o alcohol at a speed consistent with the flow of traffic. In the passing lane, of course...

Last year ago, a couple of lawyers who make a living defending drivers accused of driving infractions instituted a law which heaped fines in the thousands of dollars for quite a few "abusive" but not-so-uncommon offenses. Furthermore since these were bald-faced taxes, they applied only to Virginia drivers accused of these infractions. The goal was to generate revenue (weath redistribution) and purportedly to make the roads safer.

Well... Last year was a near-record year for driving fatalities in Virginia. Oops!! I suppose it didn't help when out-of-state drivers were driving on I-95 and I-81 on average about 10 to 20 mph above the prevailing speed.

And of course there was a bit of a citizen backlash. An online petition garnered hundreds of thousands of signatures, and comments that made me appear civil on the matter. And lets not forget the unkind words for the lawyers who initiated the legislation. They got their windfall in the form of more cases to bring to court, but there was a whole lot of wind of a different nature coming their way.

The thing that surprised me the most when bringing this topic up for public discussion is how a handful of people supported these measure. However... All those who did were from OUT OF STATE. Well... maybe that wasn't so surprising. Bash those Virginia drivers and tax the hell out of them, but thank you for letting me speed through your state.

And now....

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine last night urged scrapping the bad-driving fees that triggered a voter revolt last fall and that further splintered the legislature that will largely shape his legacy over the next two months.

In a surprise start to the symbolic midpoint of his four-year term, Kaine said the penalties -- part of last year's hard-fought multibillion-dollar fix for transportation -- are a flop.

"The abuser-fee idea has flunked with our voters, and we should acknowledge it and move on," Kaine said to enthusiastic huzzahs in his State of the Commonwealth message to a joint session of the General Assembly.

The cash penalties, some of which were four figures and payable over three years, outraged Virginians because they did not apply to out-of-state drivers. Further, the fees are under challenge in courts across the state.

Kaine, a Democrat, and the Republican leadership initially defended the fees and vowed to repair them. But support for the penalties was further weakened by a recent study by the General Assembly's investigative arm, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, that they would fall short of generating the projected $65 million a year for roads and rails.

"One part of our transportation plan clearly is not working," Kaine said. "Virginia citizens in huge numbers have told us that the fees should be repealed. We should listen to them. I hope that this session, you will send to my desk a bill fully repealing the abusive-driver fees."

- Times Dispatch

Bottom line... SPEAK OUT when your elected representatives make stupid laws. Support your concerns with hard data, and don't back down. Now and then, they listen.

- Bill

[benzocaine]

Well, it's nice to see he is trying to do SOMETHING right

I recently e mailed him regarding Arizona's newillegal immagration laws and suggested he take a page from their playbook. Instead I got the noncomital cookie cutter response.

Shows where he stands

Dear Mr. Hathaway:



I share the frustration of many local officials over the federal government's failure to seriously address the issue of illegal immigration. However, I remain concerned that the result will be a confusing and unworkable 'patchwork' of different local policies and procedures.



I also am concerned that inconsistent local ordinances could send a message that the Commonwealth of Virginia is not a place that welcomes new Americans. All of us can agree that message would not be an accurate reflection of who we are, or how we have conducted ourselves since those first British visitors landed at Jamestown 400 years ago this year. (WTF??!! we are talking about illegals right??[/u]



Federal law requires our public schools to educate every child presented at the schoolhouse door, and that is reasonable and appropriate. In addition, there are common-sense reasons why the Commonwealth should provide emergency medical services to those individuals who seek treatment for communicable diseases, regardless of their citizenship status.



Please be assured that our administration will be working closely with the General Assembly on a bipartisan study of the ramifications and benefits of immigration through the remainder of this year. I urge you to participate if you choose in what will be an open, honest and robust debate about these issues during the upcoming 2008 General Assembly session.



Sincerely,

Timothy M. Kaine

[Bill Glasheen]

Ben

The whole issue for the most part ends up being a political football.

Hispanics very shortly are going to be the largest minority - surpassing African Americans. And that means that Hispanics soon will be a very powerful voting block. And many Hispanics view ANY Hispanic - citizen or otherwise - as one of "their" people. So... you are a politician with national aspirations, and your party is the party of the "disenfranchised." Do you want to piss off one of your largest constituencies - just because you want to see that people obey the law?

I know, I know, my comment is dripping with sarcasm. But it is what it is.

We need leadership in this country. It's a rare commodity in government.

But FWIW...

In Richmond, Hispanics - legal or otherwise - represent a group of people with some of the best work ethic I've seen in a long time. They are the kinds of dishwashers in restaurant kitchens that I was when I did such a stint as a young lad. They're the most common worker found in professional lawn services around here. I did that as a high school job, and still mow my own lawn. Both of these jobs represent SERIOUS work under some pretty tough conditions. (Every few years, I get skin lesions removed from my shoulders that are the result of over-exposure to the sun at a young age.) And when I'm in a building at 8:00 PM as the lonely last one in the office, it's a group of Hispanics who come by and empty my trashcans, clean my floors, and dust my furniture.

I don't know, Ben... My dad said he remembers a time when he saw signs that said "Irish need not apply." My Irish descendents were not allowed to enter this country on a potato famine boat from Ireland because there were sick people on board. The boat was quarantined. My Irish ancestors jumped the boat, and swam ashore somewhere on the shores of the New York Harbor.

Another Irish ancestor - at the age of 14 - came as a starving immigrant from Ireland. He was given a rifle and told he could fight for the Union army. And so he did - just so he could get 3 square meals a day. The rest is history.

And then let's take my Lithuanian side (the X chromasome). My Lithuanian ancestors came to this country - with their church - to work the mines of Shenandoah, PA. The Anglo Saxons considered mining too dirty, and beneath their social status. So they'd import Poles and Lithuanians to work the mines because they were reknown for their physical strength and work ethics. (When tiny Lithuania broke free from the Soviet Union, their basketball team won the bronze medal in the Olympics - on their first try as a national team.) Well... My great grandpa wanted to open a tavern in Shendandoah. But the WASPs would have none of that. So they passed a law limiting the number of licenses available to run taverns in the town. So my great granddaddy waited until a WASP owner of a license kicked the bucket, and he bought the license from the family. My grandpa was killed in a coal mining accident when my grandma was a 16-year-old newlywed. So my grandma and her aunt left the coal mining town as young girls to seek their fortunes in New York City. My great aunt Bonnie became a Rockette, and my grandma had my mom as a single parent. And my mom? She was valedictorian of her high school class in Greenwich, CT. But she was too poor to go to college.

In all that history, there's a little bit of not-so-legal activity going on. So... Let's just say that I identify with anyone who wants to go the extra mile and do work that nobody else has the heart to do. And legal or not, I will treat all hard-working people with the respect that they deserve.

These days I work in a research group where a third of our team has Mandarin as a first language. And they are some smart MF-ers! They are legal, but they are first-generation Americans.

And the moral of the story for us "natives"? Tell your kids not to take anything for granted. There are a lot of hungry people in this world who want all the privileges that they take for granted, and they are willing to work for them.

And tell the "disenfranchised" that the gravy train is soon going to be no more. There will be no John Edwards "Two Americas." Just as I've seen the old black-and-white Richmond dramatically transformed in the last 15 years, there's going to be a most interesting and dynamic salad bowl of ethnicities. And that genetic and cultural mix will help us continue to be one of the strongest and competitive nations for several generations to come.

I realize I'm all over the map here, John. Let's just say that it IS a complex issue, and deserves some careful and creative leadership.

- Bill

[benzocaine]

Bill, I agree with you that the Hispanic culture (for what ever reason) has demonstrated a very solid work ethic. I have worked lousy, sweaty, jobs with pleanty of folks. I can say all sorts of obscenitys in spanish as a result

I feel it is unfair to those Americans who came here through the proper legal channels. For instance, I know a couple girls who came here as nannys from sweeden and finland. Every so often they have to renew there green cards...and from what I am told it isn't always easy.

It is unfair that a company will pay illegals slave wages, while those that play by the rules have to pay minimum wage, match social security contributions, and keep track of tax information...as well as follow all they other labor laws that exist.

[Glenn]

Hispanics very shortly are going to be the largest minority - surpassing African Americans. And that means that Hispanics soon will be a very powerful voting block. And many Hispanics view ANY Hispanic - citizen or otherwise - as one of "their" people. So... you are a politician with national aspirations, and your party is the party of the "disenfranchised." Do you want to piss off one of your largest constituencies - just because you want to see that people obey the law?
- Bill

Actually Bill, this already happened roughly seven years ago. According to the Census Bureau, Hispanics became the largest minority sometime between the April 2000 Census and the July 2001 Population Estimates.
Hispanics Now Largest U.S. Minority