Albo: "Cleaning Up" South County

There is an interesting discussion going on over at Not Larry Sabato regarding a new bill championed by Del. Dave Albo that requires local sheriffs to run immigration background checks for every person who is foreign born (e.g. Alexander Hamilton (Virgin Islands), John McCain (Panama), Del. Dave Albo's grandparents (we think we read somewhere that he's third generation, etc.) if they happen to be arrested. Note that it's not limited to people who are actually suspected of being illegal or who can't produce papers - it is any person who is foreign born.

In his quote to the paper, Del. Dave Albo proudly claims:

With our new law, these people who are here illegally should be afraid of living anywhere in Virginia right now," said Del. Dave Albo (R-[Abuser Fees]), who helped write the law and chairs the state's crime commission. "If you're here illegally, it's not any scarier to live in Prince William than in any other county." Va. Jails to Report Foreign Inmates, Washington Post, A1 (July 28, 2008).

NLS makes the point that Del. Dave Albo is taking the classic Republican tack of ruling by fear. Lovely.

The rest of the article makes you wonder what in the world Del. Dave Albo was thinking. First, these "small government fiscally responsible conservatives" clearly thought that this expansion of government power would be cost effective right? All of the training, incarceration expenses, extra staff, computers, etc. was worth it, right?

Let's look at the stats in the article. In 2007, Virginia jurisdictions made 12,073 reports to ICE resulting in 694 detainers. That's a 5.7% hit rate. Now, Prince William County says they're spending $1.5M extra per year doing this and reported 800 of those 12,073. If Prince William's hit rate was 5.7% that equals 46 detainers (800x5.7%) or they are spending $32,617 per illegal immigrant actually detained ($1.5M/46) (note that says detained, not deported).

How many more non-illegal immigrant felons do you think $1.5M of new police officers could catch say EVERY WEEK?

Now here's the funny part - ICE can't even tell them what happened to the 694 people that got detained. We're not kidding here.

See - if ICE actually requests a detainer, all ICE does is take them (detain them), process them, and release them with a bond to appear for their hearing (it's in the Washington Post article if you read the whole thing). Why? ICE really isn't interested in investing a lot of resources in deporting a guy convicted of drunk in public. In other words, no one knows how many people were actually deported as a result of this program. The article talks about how the Prince William County Police Chief is very frustrated because no one can tell him this. Albo Must Go would wager that Del. Dave Albo could probably get more people to return to their country if they just handed them $50,000 and a plane ticket instead of all of this convoluted nonsense.

This law then clearly wasn't motivated by budget considerations. It wasn't designed as a means to actually deport people (if it was, then spending $1.5M to deport a couple dozen people per year is legislative malpractice). So then Albo Must Go asks Del. Dave Albo - what is all of the grandstanding about this new law that treats all foreign born people, legal or illegal, different from people like Long Island born Del. Dave Albo really all about?

Albo's comments about trying to "scare" people who "live" here make that clear - he doesn't want certain people to live here - those affected by his bill (foreign born people). There are other labels for that kind of attitude. Judge for yourself.

Albo Rejects Ronald Reagan

AMG did a double-take today. There are apparently some people left in the Republican Party who are actually still fiscal conservatives - that is, they believe that the government must actually pay its bills and that "starving the beast" is not a prudent fiscal policy.

It's strange because those who worship, like Del. Dave Albo, Ronald Reagan apparently don't remember him very well. The ideological aburdity of the current crop of Republicans is really starting to play itself out. Check out this statement from President Reagan in 1983:

"Today, as this bill becomes law, America ends a period of decline in her vast and world-famous transportation system. Because of the prompt and bipartisan action of Congress, we can now ensure for our children a special part of their heritage — a network of highways and mass transit that has enabled our commerce to thrive, our country to grow, and our people to roam freely and easily to every corner of our land. . . .

Woeful tales of highway disrepair have become part of the trucking lore. Bridges are crumbling from under us in many of our older cities while growth is being stifled in our newer ones, because the transportation system can’t cope with the expanding population.

“Overall, we have 4,000 miles of Interstate Highway that needs resurfacing and 23,000 bridges that need replacement or repair. Our cities need new buses, new or rebuilt railcars, and track improvements that will cost $50 billion during the next 10 years. Common sense tells us that it will cost a lot less to keep the system we have in good repair than to let it disintegrate and have to start over from scratch. Clearly this program is an investment in tomorrow that we must make today. It will allow us to complete the interstate system, make most — the interstate repairs and strengthen and improve our bridges, make all of us safer, and help our cities meet their public transit needs. . . .

“When we first built our highways, we paid for them with a gas tax, a highway user fee that charged those of us who benefited most from the system. It was a fair concept then, and it is today. But that levy has not been increased in more than 23 years. And it no longer covers expenses. The money for today’s improvements will come from increasing the gas tax, or the highway user fee, by the equivalent of a nickel a gallon — about $30 a year for most motorists.

"That’s why I’m pleased today to sign House resolution 6211, the Surface Transportation Assistance Act for 1982. It will help America enter a brighter and a more prosperous decade ahead. And so saying, and before the bridges fall down, I’ll get this bill signed.”

- President Ronald Reagan, January 6, 1983.

(too bad they didn't act before a bridge fell down this time......) In today's Richmond Times Dispatch, the Editorial Board took it to Del. Dave Albo and the GOP by pointing out that there are some bills to pay and that taxes have to actually increase to pay them.

More Money
Numerous Republicans in the General Assembly concede Virginia must spend more on transportation. GOP legislators embraced the abusive driver fees; they supported a package with regional taxing authorities. This year they have promoted an Offshore Energy Revenue Fund, which would direct royalties from natural gas extracted off Virginia's shores to transportation (and to the cleanup of the Chesapeake, and to programs related to energy). The offshore fund is not a bad idea, although it would not generate significant sums for several years. Senate Democrats played partisan games in summarily dismissing it.

But the larger point is the implicit consensus that transportation revenue must increase beyond the growth built into the existing system. We agree.

And that is why we support hiking the gasoline tax, at the pump. We also say the increase should be offset by reductions in taxes not directly tied to transportation. The next e-mail probably will denounce us as secret Islamofascist terrorists, just like Sen. Barack Obama. Oh, well. That the State Senate approved a plan incorporating many of the proposals we prefer raises the ideological temperatures.

The House of Delegates gutted the Senate bill, and killed Gov. Tim Kaine's proposals.

A case can be made that Virginia should not spend one penny more on transportation than the revenue the structure produces.

A case can be made that demands for maintenance, new construction, and mass transit compel higher taxes related to transporation, such as, principally, the gasoline tax. Such is the position we prefer.

Conservatism properly understood does not rely on gimmicks. Editorial, More Money, Richmond Times Dispatch (July 12, 2008).

So there you have it. AMG and the Richmond Times Dispatch stand arm in arm and AMG has cited President Ronald Reagan in support of an argument. We bring you this picture from down below today.

Albo Puts Grover Norquist Ahead of His People

After yesterday's General Assembly session, we heard that Del. Dave Albo's band, Albopalooza, is adding this Nine-Inch-Nails song to their repertoire:

bow down before the one you serve.
you're going to get what you deserve.
god money i'll do anything for you.
god money just tell me what you want me to.
god money nail me up against the wall.
god money don't want everything he wants it all....
Head Like a Hole by Nine Inch Nails

Why do we say this? Well, for weeks Del. Dave Albo has been telling the press every chance he gets that he wants to vote for a transportation funding bill and that everyone's being unreasonable except him.

• He introduced legislation to try to bridge the gap; and
  
• He stated on the record during the session that he supported a grantor's tax to pay for transportation improvements that would actually be imposed by the General Assembly and not one that required a vote by local governments

So what happens when it's time to vote on a bill with a grantor's tax increase and no gas tax increase?

Americans for Tax Reform’s president, Grover Norquist, wrote in an open letter to Virginia lawmakers who sign the organization’s no-tax-increase pledge that voting for Hamilton’s bill would be breach their commitment. “That’s going to make it very tough to keep my own people behind it,” [Del. Dave Albo's law partner Del. Morgan] Griffith said. Futile Finale Awaits Another VA Roads Session, AP (July 8, 2008).

So first we have Del. Albo's own law partner telling the paper that "his people" (maybe like his business partners) aren't going to be able to get behind transportation legislation.

Next, Grover Norquist twists the screws and the faithful capitulate. Del. Dave Albo has signed the tax pledge for nearly a decade running now and we've covered Del. Albo's affinity for Jack Ambramoff pal Grover Norquist's anti-tax pablum before:

2008 - Albo Listed as One of Only 22 Va. HOD Taxpayer Protection Pledge Signers
2007 - ATR Signers of Taxpayer Protection Pledge (Albo 1 of 28 on p.10)
2006 - ATR Signers of Taxpayer Protection Pledge (Albo 1 of 28 on p.10)
2005 - ATR Pledge Signer's Update (Albo 1 of 32 on p.10)
2004 - ATR Pledge Signer's Update (Albo 1 of 33 in VA on p.10)
2003 - ATR Press Release - Albo Pledges to Oppose Tax Increases
2002 - ATR - Pledge Signers Update (Albo Listed on P. 10)
2001 - ATR, The Tax Reformer (Albo Listed as 2001 Pledge Signer on P. 17

Don't forget these:
2004 - Voting NO on Governor Warner's Investments in NoVa's schools
2003 - Voting for the Local transportation referendum bill but refusing to campaign for its passage (See, AMG - Albo Flips Flops on Transportation & Taxes)
2001 - Voting against the 2001 Local transportation referendum bill

or this:
AMG, Stuck in Traffic? Call Dave Albo (May 13, 2008)
AMG, Albo, Tax Cuts & Mass Murders (June 16, 2007)

So what happens when it's time to put up or shut up for the People of the 42nd District?

It's depicted here below.

and here:

Letters to the Editor #6: Albo Out of Touch

In today's Washington Post, Barbara Paciejewski, reiterates what we've been saying over here about Del. Dave Albo (R - Abuser Fees):

The Out-of-Touch Mr. Albo

Friday, July 4, 2008; Page A16
According to the Virginia Board of Elections, Tim Kaine won 60.15 percent of the vote in Fairfax County in 2005, and Jim Webb won 58.9 percent in 2006. Although some point to these figures as evidence of a changing electorate, Del. David B. Albo (R-[Abuser Fees]) has come up with his own reasoning, namely that it is not the highly educated who have turned Fairfax blue but rather "those who are on food stamps and government services" ["A New Political Geography," front page, June 29].

Just how many Fairfax voters does Mr. Albo think rely on food stamps and other such programs? How can a politician be this out of touch with his constituents?

BARBARA PACIEJEWSKI
Woodbridge

Well, Ms. Paciejewski, we thought we'd take you up on your hypothetical question. According to the 2000 United States Census, 5.3% of people in Fairfax County live below the poverty level - of course many of these are children and not all of these are registered to vote. Getting more specific, how many of Fairfax County's 363,328 households are on food stamps and how many are received public assistance in 2000?

Food Stamps - 5,999
Public Assistance - 2,743
SSI Recipients - 6,286
Source: 2000 United States Census

Now, taking this one further step, what about the 42nd District? How many 42nd District households lived below the poverty level in 2000?

Public Assistance - 268
SSI Recipients - 362
Source: 2000 United States Census

So what's happened since 2000? About 30,000 people have moved into NEW houses and condos in the 42nd. We found this picture of some of the housing going in at South County which must be what Del. Albo is talking about. The Board of Supervisors should be ashamed.


So how out of touch is Del. Dave Albo?

How much time do you have to talk?