Albo v. Webb: Who's The Big Government Spender?

The Virginian Pilot, ran this editorial on November 26, 2007 regarding some of Del. Dave Albo's recent comments about criminal justice reforms:

Prison Spending Getting Out of Hand

Most people are willing to pay a lot to be safe. But how much are they prepared to shell out to give an ex-con his come-uppance when he flunks a drug test?

Virginia spends about $23,000 annually to house an inmate in a state prison. In the case of violent, repeat offenders, that's money well spent. But the benefits get shaky when cells are crammed full of petty offenders and parolees struggling to overcome their addictions.

Two new reports underscore the need for state and national leaders to find more economical ways to punish minor lawbreakers. A national study by eight university criminologists documented 2.2 million inmates being housed in federal and state prisons and local jails, an eight-fold increase since 1970. In Virginia, legislative analysts counted 1,185 people incarcerated in the state for technical parole violations, primarily failed drug and alcohol tests. To put that in perspective, lawmakers this year appropriated $100 million for a new 1,000-bed prison. It will cost more than $20 million annually to operate.

State budget analysts have offered two suggestions to free up 900 beds by easing time for minor parole violators. One reduces prison sentences for parole violators who agree to go through drug treatment. The other expands diversion programs, which allow inmates freedom during the day to work, with some of their earnings used to pay for their upkeep. Those ideas were met with skepticism from some legislators. Del. David Albo of Fairfax warned last week that reduced sentences would give the appearance that "we are soft on crime."

Perhaps, but state corrections officials estimate they'll need to build a new prison every year for the next six years if the inmate population continues to increase at the current rate. Financially, that can't be sustained. Virginians want tough-on-crime policies. But that doesn't mean they've handed the General Assembly a blank check for new prisons. Editorial, Prison Spending Getting Out of Hand, Virginian Pilot (Nov. 26, 2007).

Perhaps Del. Albo should listen to Virginia's U.S. Senator Jim Webb:

Over the course of the period from the mid-1970s until today, the United States has embarked on one of the largest public policy experiments in our history, yet this experiment remains shockingly absent from public debate: the United States now imprisons a higher percentage of its citizens than any other country in the world.

In the name of “getting tough on crime,” there are now 2.1 million Americans in federal, state, and local prisons and jails -- more people than the populations of New Mexico, West Virginia, or several other states. Compared to our democratic, advanced market economy counterparts, the United States has more people in prison by several orders of magnitude. Opening Statement of Senator Jim Webb to Joint Economic Committee Meeting (Oct. 4, 2007).

To read Sen. Webb's entire statement, click here.

So who is the "big government spender" here and who is the small government conservative? Who is being thoughtful and careful about public policy choices and who is trying to score cheap political points by appealing to base human instincts?

You decide.

42nd District Resident Nails It In The Post - Albo Blocks Redistricting Reform (Letters to the Editor #5)

We have frequently blogged on the subject of Del. Dave Albo's putting his own personal interests ahead of the interests of the residents of the 42nd House of Delegates District.

AMG, Albo and the 2006-2007 Alcobucks
AMG, Albo - "Nobody Expects Anything in Return"
AMG, Cash, Booze and the Albo Cycle
AMG, The Albo & Oblon PLLC Abuser Fee Plan II
AMG, Albo Hammers Renters Again
AMG, Albo Wants Kids Back on Welfare

Today, 42nd District resident Bob Pearson hits the nail on the head with this Letter to the Editor in the November 15, 2007 Washington Post highlighting Del. Dave Albo's role in blocking nonpartisan redistricting.

Blocking Election Reform in Virginia
Thursday, November 15, 2007; Page A24

I was pleased to see The Post address the issue of fairness in the redistricting process ["A Chance for Common Sense," editorial, Nov. 10].

Since the founding of the republic, it has been a ritual for the majority party to redraw political districts to serve its own interests rather than the interests of the voters it is supposed to represent.

Unfortunately, this problem has gotten much worse with the advent of powerful software tools that allow the drawing of district borders with unprecedented precision.

The solution for this problem is clearly a nonpartisan redistricting body. I am glad to hear that Del. Brian J. Moran (D-Alexandria) plans to introduce such legislation in the upcoming Virginia legislative session.

However, The Post failed to point out that last year, Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath) introduced such legislation and was able to get enough support from the moderate Republicans in the state Senate to pass it.

Unfortunately, that legislation failed to move forward in the House of Delegates because Del. David B. Albo (R-Fairfax) made a motion to kill the bill, before it was even debated by the House. While a narrower margin between Democrats and Republicans in the House makes the passage of nonpartisan redistricting more likely, it still won't happen until officials such as Mr. Albo begin to act as statesmen who put the public interest before their personal interest when representing their districts.

BOB PEARSON
Fairfax Station

Here is a video clip of Del. Albo killing the bill.



And always remember Del. Albo's motto:

Albo v. The Write Ins

Washington Post reporter, Anita Kumar, has a post up on the Washington Post political blog entitled, "Albo v. the Write-Ins." To read it:

CLICK HERE

Go post up a comment!

It has some choice quotes from our hero describing Tuesday's write-in campaign as being "an 8th Grade" write-in campaign by a group of "Republican haters." That was an interesting quote given that the bulk of Republican poll workers on Tuesday seemed to be high school students....

The write-in results ranged from 37% to 12% in precincts where the flyer was handed out and 4% to 7% in precincts where no one did anything.

Albo Must Go congratulates the Mt. Vernon District Democratic Committee which chose to do something to give voters a vehicle to express their frustration with Delegate Albo's political views.

More on the actual results later.