Comment on FOIA

This speech was given during the public comment portion of the Stafford County Board of Supervisors.

Mr. Chairman and the Board of Supervisors,

I am representing Virginia Progress.

I was looking at your published legislative agenda, that is, what will be provided to our General Assembly representatives for consideration for submission as legislation next November. Most of the proposals are reasonable, and many have been submitted in various forms over the previous few years to meet tha challenges of rapid growth in the county. Usually three or four proposals are submitted for our General Assembly representatives to concentrate on and a few subsidiary proposals of less importance or less possibility of being achieved are included.

I was appalled to see listed as the Number One proposal, Proposed Amendments to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). I was surprised to see it at all, but thought it was audacious and arrogant to be presented in such a position of prominence.

I do know why it was included though; recently there was a lawsuit that used FOIA to discover that illegal meetings were held by some members of the School Board, and this sims to prevent more embarrassment, or more lawsuits of the same nature.

It is as if someone had gotten in trouble for robbing banks and then called there supervisor to complain that it was inconvenient to have a stringent law on robbing namks, and he promised to make the laws more friendly.

I use the analogy of robbing, because that is just what these amendments are designed for, to steal the ability of their citizens to watch over and control their government.

The great Republican and American, Abraham Lincoln, encapsulated the spirity of Democracy by describing it as "Government of, by, and for the people." FOIA is a tool designed to prevent government from becoming of, by and for the politicians. It is to make sure the citizens are being represented fairly and honestly.

FOIA insures our government is open and information is assessible. It makes sure that the people's representatives are advocating actions to advance the people's goals, not the politicians private agenda; that they are fulfilling their campaign promises and not participating in skulguggery and chicanery to hide activities and distort truth.


In the United States, Virginia, and Stafford, ours has been a constant struggle for open government. These resolutions seek to close the door that we must peer through to see the workings of our government and to insure that backroom deals are not being made that mortgage our future. It is unworthy of Stafford and Virginia.

I would like to thank those on this Board, Republicans, Independents and Democrats, who have campaigned for a more open government, or have worked to be open and assessibleon this Board.

Mr Gibbons, Mr. Cavalier, Mr. Brito, Mr. Schwartz, and Mr. Fields, I thank you for your efforts. You can see now that the battle is a constant one. Restore the needs of our citizens to the top of your proposal list, Remove NUmber One, FOIA ammendments, which only serves the selfish interests of politicians.

General Assembly Transportation Talks?

Now that a budget is passed (albeit without additional needed road funding), we will have to wait and see if the Delegates come back for a full dicussion of transportation needs, or if they will give the State Senate the silent treatment. Nero may have fiddled while Rome burned, but at least he was doing something.

Virginia Budget talks

The Virginia Senate has stepped back from their reasonable attempt to get dedicated transportation funding in response to the Delegates refusal to talk about transportation until the budget is passed. Not that the Senate doesn't trust the Delegates, but they put in a measure that would force the Delegates to come to the table for a full blown discussion and, hopefully, work towards a transportation solution. We'll see if the Delegates are serious about fixing problems.

Transportation Debate Analysis from Four Delegates

Let’s take a look at four Virginia Lawmakers on the Traffic debate in Richmond and see if their statements hold up or not. Comments are taken from the Washington Post Sunday, March 26, page C-4

Dave Albo: “What I want to do is impossible, which is reallocate funds,” Albo says. That leaves him open to the idea of new taxes. But he has “one non-negotiable” caveat, he “will not raise new revenue and send it to Richmond.” He also believes that, “A statewide tax increase will never, ever, ever, pass the House. Ever.”
Analysis: At least Albo thinks the status quo isn’t working. Perhaps there can be found a way to keep the revenue where it is raised and needed, but it seems there is little consensus for setting up regional traffic authorities. They are probably afraid that Richmond would wash their hands of Traffic problems because the “That’s what the regional authorities are for,” and go back to ignoring a statewide problem.

Mark Herring: “ Herring called the House plan a “Band-Aid solution” that takes general fund money that could be used for education, health care or public safety for “pay-as-you-go-capital projects,” but the Senate plan dedicates new revenue from additional taxes to transportation for the long term.”
Analysis: Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Scott Ligamfelter: Ligamfelter says that when he got back from Richmond two weeks ago, he was met by many constituents who were furious about rising property taxes. He says that he will not “sock” it to hard-working moms and dads with more taxes – not with a transfer tax on their property or another tax on their new car, or a gas tax.
Analysis. There are so many things wrong with Ligamfelter’s statements on so many levels, I doubt if I will be able to write about them all. HELLOOO – Property taxes are going up because the STATE (that especially includes Ligamfelter and the far right Republican crowd) have ignored the commonwealth’s infrastructure problems and service needs for so long and have cut the taxes that would have paid for it, that the Property taxes go up because the localities have to provide services and infrastructure. The ‘taxes he mentions are either fees that could equate with transportation user fees ( tax on new car, gas tax) or are taxes that do not effect the long term resident (transfer tax on property), which would be rolled into the mortgage and would raise revenue without having to go to the regressive property tax. Further rebuttal on the gas tax comes from his fellow delegate Dick Saslow, below.

Dick Saslow: Increasing taxes on Gas at the wholesale level will not change the price at the pump long-term. Dick shows a comparison of prices at the pump in Charlotte and Rickhmond that are nearly identical (9/10ths of a penny) and North Carolina has a gas tax 12.4 cents higher than Virginia’s gas tax. Saaslow concedes that prices would rise on the day that the tax increase took effect, but he says the market would reestablish himself in a couple of weeks.
Analysis: Dick has got me convinced. As a gas station owner, he should know.

The only question is whether ideology will get in the way of working to solve the transportation crises. Since the Republican’s control the House, I’m guessing it will.

James Webb in Fredericksburg Parade

I had the pleasure of participating in the Fredericksburg St. Patricks Day parade as a marcher behind James Webb, who was the Grand Marshall of the parade. Along the route there were several groups holding George Allen signs, obviously staged groups. At the very beginning there was a man who asked what jim's position was on Pro-life or Pro-Choice. Jim answered Pro-Choice and the man yelled back, "What are you doing in Fredericksburg?". He was obviously unaware of the large Democratic strength in the city. This same person stood behind the stage and booed Jim when he was announced to speak. We can expect to have alot of the agressive Republican tactics in this campaign, but we can be sure that it is small potatos compared to what Jim went through in Vietnam (where he became the most highly decorated Marine Officer).
But the good thing from the parade, and what I want to point out, is the good reception Jim got from veterans along the way shouting 'Semper Fi' or 'Alright Jim'. When it came time to gather signatures, one gentleman who was just back from Iraq, signed a petition and got a petition to gather signatures on.
The following day, one of my coworkers (a retired marine) who had voted for George Allen 6 years ago, said that he was sorry he missed the parade. He wanted to go see Jim and would be voting for him in the fall, if he was on the ballot.
There are die hard Republicans in Virginia, and there are those who will change and vote for the better person. These are the ones in our neck of the woods that will help provide the margin of victory for Jim Webb come November.

Power Politics Played Right

I was shocked, SHOCKED, to discover that there were politics at play in Richmond! The Republican's were shocked that the Governors Chief of Staff hinted that there may be retribution if house members do not come up with an acceptable plan. This, of course, was right after the House Republicans initiated hearings on the new Governor's appointees to his cabinet and said that they were doubtful of confirming his nominee to the Secretary of the Commonwealth position. Apparently they want to throw their weight around and to have the Governor buckle and come to them on bended knee.
NO WAY. If power politics are to be played, then throw the elbow. Whether it is fact or a slip of the tongue, it is not a bad thing to remind the Republicans that the game will be played as rough as necessary. I am sure they are upset that Governor Kaine has the audacity to take the transportation issue to the people, using planned radio and television ads and circulars. Apparently they would rather claim to speak for the people, without hearing what they really want.

James Webb enters Race for Senate

The Democratic Primary for the U.S. Senate has just gotten alot more interesting. James Webb has thrown his hat into the ring. Combat veteran, novelist, former Secretary of the Navy under Ronald Reagan, he has much experience to bring to the table. His ethics are uncompromising. When Reagan decided to cut back from the 600 ship Navy, Secretary Webb resigned because he thought it was wrong. He defended John Kerry from the Sleazy Swiftboat attacks.
The website for his campaign is www.webbforsenate.com.
You can see some of his speeches at www.jameswebb.com.