Nobody reading this hasn't heard the anti-tax sonata from rally-the-idiot-base Republican failures like Scott Sayre, who make promises they know they can't keep about "no new taxes" in order to get votes. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.
Rest assured, though, they'll find ways to raise revenues, and they'll generally find ways to take it right from YOU.
Not from the corporations who donate to their PACs and campaign coffers.....but from YOU.
And, when they can, they'll fatten their own pockets in the process.
Like Del. Dave Albo (R-Fairfax) who co-authored the bill that will soak Virginia drivers for huge additional civil fees for a speeding ticket involving more than 20 mph over the limit.
Note that "Virginia drivers." Out-of-staters can relax: Albo's new fees apply only to Virginia residents.
But wait! There's more! What's Albo's day job?
We'll talk about that - and we'll talk about something else, too.
Remember the recent incident on Route 11 in Harrisonburg involving a motor cop dumping his bike and being lifeflighted to UVA with a broken hand?
I'll give you a little inside information on that matter that the MSM didn't give you.
Below the fold.
WaPo:
Say you are driving 78 mph on the Capital Beltway and a state trooper tickets you for "reckless driving -- speeding 20 mph over." You will probably be fined $200 by the judge. But then you will receive a new, additional $1,050 fine from the Old Dominion, payable in three convenient installments. So convenient that you must pay the first one immediately, at the courthouse.
First-time drunk driver? A $300 fine from the judge and a $2,250 fee from the Commonwealth.
Wow. Looks like the lawyers are gonna love this one.....
"For someone who's living near the poverty line, or even making $30,000," said Fairfax public defender Todd G. Petit, fees of $1,000 or more might have "a significant impact," and failure to pay them might lead to losing a license, a job and income. "These appear to be punitive measures that are being hidden in civil fees. If we gave the judges discretion to do what is necessary and proportionate, then we can raise the money without disproportionately affecting the poor."Lawyers said that more defendants will hire lawyers than before, that the lawyers will charge more money because the stakes are higher and that more cases will be appealed to circuit courts.
Lawyers like.....guess who?
You got it.
Go to the head of the class.
Dave Albo.
From Albo Must Go:
* When Judges cut traffic fines in lieu of the abuser fees, it'll cut into General Fund reimbursements to counties.
* It's potentially unconstitutional.
* There will be a potential "huge increase in trials" for people looking to avoid the fees.
* Losing a license might leave to more people losing their job and their income.
* It's basically the "Lawyer Full Employment Act."So what did the Post miss?
* Um.... HOW ABOUT DAVE ALBO IS A TRAFFIC LAWYER!?!? HELLO?????
No shame. I swear, this man has NO SHAME.
Albo Must Go has everything you never wanted to hear about this highway robbery. Go there and read.
I do want to offer one more point of order from thenewspaper.com:
Driving as little as 15 MPH over the limit on an interstate highway now brings six license demerit points, a fine of up to $2500, up to one year in jail, and a new mandatory $1050 tax. The law also imposes an additional annual fee of up to $100 if a prior conviction leaves the motorist with a balance of eight demerit points, plus $75 for each additional point (up to $700 a year). The conviction in this example remains on the record for five years.Other six-point convictions include "failing to give a proper signal," "passing a school bus" or "driving with an obstructed view." The same $1050 assessment applies, but the conviction remains on the record for eleven years.
Although the amount of the tax can add up quickly, the law forbids judges from reducing or suspending it in any way. The tax applies only to Virginia residents, so that out-of-state motorists only need to pay the regular ticket amount.
From the Staunton News-Leader:
Staunton Circuit Court Clerk Thomas Roberts said the fees will be paid in three yearly installments. The first payment will go to the court, but the next two payments will go to the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles."I anticipate this is going to be confusing for people," Roberts said.
The long-term effect of the stiffer civil fees, Roberts said, is that "it's going to be harder for people to keep their license."
Staunton resident Sarah Read said the additional fees seem a bit stiff, especially the provision in the bill that calls for those convicted of reckless driving to fork over $1,050.
"I know I've done it before," Read said, "and I don't have that type of money to throw away."
Who does?
Certainly not, for example, a 73-year-old woman on a fixed income.
Who was stopped in a turn lane when a Harrisonburg PD motor cop came zooming up recklessly at 80mph plus, with no emergency lights on, no siren, no emergency conditions existing that anyone had any means to be aware of, and nearly rammed into the passenger side (nota bene) of that stopped vehicle, and dumped his bike.
That police officer - MASTER police officer, and Rotary Police Officer Of The Year for 2006, was driving recklessly, at a high rate of speed, and for no good reason.
Yet the Harrisonburg Police Department has seen fit to charge this elderly driver, who, again, was STOPPED IN A TURN LANE, with reckless driving.
Because, as we all know, it's always easier for the Police Department to charge the citizen rather than suffer the embarrassment of having to admit one of their own was at fault.
Especially since, that same day, the headline in the Daily News-Record described ANOTHER motor vehicle accident, this one with SERIOUS personal injury, involving a member of the Harrisonburg Police Department.
This elderly woman has retained private representation, which ain't cheap, and goes to trial August 10th - after traffic attorney Albo's new fees go into effect -and, should she be found guilty, she will be subjected to these new, draconian fees, despite a lifetime of infraction free driving.
Now, you are undoubtedly wondering how this kestrel knows all this, when it was not on television, not on the radio, not in the newspapers.
How, you ask?
How, I will tell you.
Because, you see, the passenger in the elderly driver's vehicle was a 31-year-old woman whom I know quite well, in fact.
You see......
she is my wife.
That cop damn near killed my woman, the mother of my children and my life partner for the last eleven years, and yet HPD has the gall to charge the driver of a legally stopped, stationary vehicle, with reckless driving.
But back to Dave Albo.
Republicans will screw you at any opportunity.
November is coming.
Vote. Them. OUT.