Yet More on the Driver Abuse Fees
Yeah, I know they are the Abusive Driver fees. Right...
Ok, so look at this article from the Washington Post,
Va. Bad-Driver Fees Could Snag Officials
Lawmakers No Strangers To Infractions, Records Show. My feeling is that they better damn well snag some officials, particularly these damn elitists who pushed this taxation sans representation scheme. (By the way, if you supported this and I find out about it, you don't get my vote.)
The fees, which range from $750 to $3,000, were passed by the General Assembly in the spring as part of a package aimed at funding scores of transportation projects. Backers have also said the fees would improve highway safety by cracking down on the state's worst drivers -- those guilty of severe traffic offenses including drunken driving, reckless driving and driving on a suspended license.
But if some of the state's leading lawmakers -- as well as several backbenchers -- qualify, just who are the so-called abusive drivers?
"Just because you get one [ticket for going] 20 miles over, you may not be an abusive driver," Kilgore said. "We probably need to look at that."
Yeah, you might want to look at that.
The truth is that this ill conceived, elitist, back handed, method of avoiding voting for or supporting additional taxes while abusing drivers in the Commonwealth needs to be rescinded and never, ever re-visited.
Labels: AbuserFees, Politics
Yet More on the Traffic Fees
I've been looking but I see little in the local "conservative" blogs vis-a-vis these hideous fees. Rightside VA has a post
here and
here. In Politically Correct had
this anti-Dem/S post. Now our inimitably Dem/S Governor Kaine did make the exceptions for out-of-state drivers but he wasn't the only one who argued for them. Neither did he veto the bill. The Republicans being the majority didn't defeat this either. They allow common sense pro-gun bills to go down in committee but forwarded this? My disgust knows no bounds.
Not a conservative blog, Not Larry Sabato had
this.
Links:
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Recent tickets drive home lesson on fees for delegates Two delegates, architects of the abusive driver fees, have gotten speeding tickets recently. By Mason Adams Thursday, July 26, 2007Labels: AbuserFees, Politics
Public Cynical about Politics... Oh Really?
Public grows more cynical about politics, poll finds By Elizabeth Miller July 27, 2007 I wonder why...
- Dem/S don't give a damn about the war on the US by the terrorists and paint us as the bad guys to get back at Bush.
- Republicans abandoned US to the waves of illegal immigrants to curry the favor of the Hispanics who still don't like them and pissed off the rest of us in the process.
- Dem/S want to raise taxes when low taxes (relatively) are what is keeping the economy going despite the war.
- Republicans can't field a viable candidate who doesn't look like a leftist light. They have flat abandoned fiscal responsibility and are working to find ways to run from national security.
- The Media is more worried about Lindsay Lohan and Michael Vick than they are about Iranian nukes and the bloodbath that will follow if we precipitously withdraw from Iraq.
- There are a number of pols who don't want to defend the USofA and don't want us to be able to defend ourselves in our homes. Of course they all have security.
- Global warming is a fraud to give Al Gore power and money from sales of carbon credits but the Dem/S won't blow the whistle on him and the Republicans are trying to use the issue to their advantage instead of calling bullshit.
So, what do I think? Well...
My friend John and I were talking yesterday. He is a veteran of Afghanistan. I've only served 4 years 9 months in the Republic of Korea, the closes I've been to a combat zone (folks who've been on the DMZ know what I'm talking about). We're about the same age and have about the same amount of time in service and we're both retired. We also both have some experience in the intelligence field and keep up through each other and our respective contacts. So, with that background do we have any thoughts on the cynicism of the "public"?
I would say that we think that there is a large percentage of the population, perhaps even a majority (more than 50% or one-half (½) for those of you in Rio Linda) who haven't the faintest idea of what is happening in politics at any level, local, state or federal much less at the international level. We also feel that these are the only folks who are so cocksure of themselves that they actually sit on the phone and answer the pollsters on these subjects. This is one reason that the politicians, extremely poll driven, don't know what people really think about the issues of the day. IOW, they are getting only the opinions of the ignorant.
Of those who actually follow the news at least somewhat through comedy and daytime TV talk shows, it seems that the majority think that the two parties are about on par so far as performance goes and that performance ain't good. Then you have the hard core news junkies like me. I even like reading about permutations in the railroading business. That's a news junkie. Anyway, those folks are just about fed up with all the tom-foolery going on at most levels of government by members of all the political parties. I've touched on only a few topics above others include,
- rampant uncontrolled development of rural properties
- using property assessments to create tax increases while appearing to hold the line on taxes by limiting the tax rate increase.
- fining traffic law violators with civil penalties above and beyond the fines in order to work around demands not to levy new taxes and then applying those civil penalties to Virginians only!
- creating a panel to review the Virginia Tech shooting with only one real goal, gun control.
- using emminent domain to seize private property for other private interests because those private interests will allegedly produce more tax revenue.
- bad mouthing everything in this country while at the same time assisting those illegally entering the country because it is so much better than anywhere else.
and it goes on and on. Are we actually surprised that the majority notice and give the Congress a 14% approval rating?
Let us face facts, failure in the middle east will result in a bloodbath in Iraq with Iran filling the power vacuum there. The Iranians with Iraqi oil will use that leverage to increase oil prices. They will likely be able to destabilize the Saudi government and control that oil. Spiking oil prices will result in economic disaster in many countries of the world. Even if we somehow manage to overcome our environmental extremists and drill for oil here to overcome those shortages (after several years), the destabilization of our trading partners including China will cause an economic paralysis here. Rapid deflation will result in impoverished citizens (remember the great depression) and a return to a barter economy. The problem is that about 50% of the population lives in the cities without recourse to self-supporting food sources (and having been dependent on the government for financial viability). What do you think will happen to those folks? Do you think they will quietly starve in their cities or will they spread out into the rural areas like locusts? If Iran/Hezbollah/Al Queda manage to set off a couple of dirty or nuclear devices in major ports or economic centers here in the US, what do you think that will do to the economy? And yet none of this matters to the politicians who are very busy doing whatever it takes to staying in power.
Folks, even the uninformed mostly know that this isn't going to work. So, while they may tell a pollster one thing in answering the slanted questions he asks over the phone, they aren't buying this themselves. And these are just the folks that agree with me. Those that are on the opposite side, the Neville Chamberlain supporters, they're angry too because they realize that all the machinations in Congress are merely ploys to placate them and divert their attention from what is really being done (or rather not being done).
After discussing all this, John and I came to the conclusion that we'd best be ready to face a future where bicycles are the preferred mode of travel and one barters one's way to a full stomach and being mostly warm during the winter.
Labels: AbuserFees, Culture, Politics
Virginia's New Traffic Fines, how about NON-residents?
Virginia to issue traffic fines as high as $3,000By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY
Virginia is for lovers, or so the state slogan has declared since 1969. Starting Sunday, Virginia also will be the home of the $3,000 traffic ticket.
In an effort to raise money for road projects, the state will start hitting residents who commit serious traffic offenses with huge civil penalties.
The new civil charges will range from $750 to $3,000 and be added to existing fines and court costs. The civil penalty for going 20 mph over the speed limit will be $1,050, plus $61 in court costs and a fine that is typically about $200.
Virginia's traffic law is one of several thousand new state laws that take effect Sunday. Jan. 1 and July 1 are the most popular dates for state laws to become official.
July 1 is especially popular for new taxes and fees because it's the start of the budget year in 46 states. For example, Arkansas will cut its sales tax on groceries from 6% to 3% Sunday.
Virginia's new traffic penalties are expected to raise $65 million a year and are part of an effort to improve the state's roads without raising taxes.
A first-time drunken driver will face a $2,250 civil penalty, plus fines and court costs that typically run about $500 or more. Driving without a license? That's a mandatory $900 civil penalty, in addition to the ordinary $100 for a fine and court costs.
"It's outrageous," says traffic court attorney Thaddeus Furlong of Springfield, Va. "When Mr. and Mrs. Middle Class find out what they have to pay, there's going to be a backlash like you've never seen."
Some other states impose extra civil penalties for traffic offenses, but the cost is usually $100 or $200, Furlong says. "What sets this apart is the Draconian size of the civil penalties," he says.
Another difference: The civil penalties apply only to Virginia residents, not out-of-state drivers. Virginians must pay in three installments over 26 months or lose their licenses. The state Legislature didn't think it could enforce the extra penalties in other states.
Motorist club AAA Mid-Atlantic supports the new penalties.
"These penalties are harsh, but normal fines haven't gotten people to drive sanely. Maybe this will," says Lon Anderson, spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic.
He says the new law will help reduce the nearly 1,000 traffic deaths the state records annually.
"We wish motorists didn't have to pay more, but the fact is Virginia's transportation trust fund is broke," Anderson says.
That is just plain bullshit. It is NOT equal protection under the law. It is not "fair". It is only about money these bozos can't manage and an attempt to raise money they couldn't tax out of us. Elitist asses!
That said you should know that your beloved correspondent has had one (1) speeding/traffic ticket in 36 years of driving. It was deserved. Late at night after working for over 19 hours I was tired and I missed a speed limit sign I knew was in the area and was 14 MPH (actually I think it was less) over the limit. The deputy was a decent fellow and I was anything but mistreated. You see my license had expired, too! $750 for pursuing my duties rather than worrying obsessively about the due date for my driver's license seems a bit much to me. After all, letting your license "lapse" isn't in and of itself likely to kill anyone. I can see how driving when your license has been revoked because you are a danger to others would be a bad thing. Anyhoo, I don't think this is right (I guess you could tell by my language). Except for the money they think they will raise they might as well make traffic offenses capital offenses. Virginia has an efficient death row and by cutting down on the number of drivers we can reduce the need for road repairs and expansion. *That's sarcasm folks.*
Now, who voted for this thing? Oh, Emmett... did you vote for this?
Labels: AbuserFees, Culture, Politics
