So Delegate Dave Albo is at it again. After recklessly proposing a bizarre bill that would
lower the penalty for molesting your own child last session, Albo went back to what he does best:
Using his position in the Virginia legislature to line his own pockets.
STUPIDITY TRUMPS ROADS
Staunton News Leader Editorial
Chicanery, gimmicks and political spinelessness have doomed any sort of coherent attempt to address Virginia's transportation problems for the foreseeable future.
Way back before this session of the General Assembly ever got started, we talked about how two Republican members of the House of Delegates, Thomas Rust and David Albo, sought to institute what they called "abuser fees" on motorists convicted of drunk driving, reckless driving, or driving with a suspended license. These fees would amount to hundreds of dollars on top of the fines and court fees - and possible jail time - already in place for these offenses.
So how does Albo line his pockets?
Interestingly,
Albo, who works as a traffic ticket attorney when he's not trying to get bad laws passed, would have stood to gain from his own bill. As the National Motorists Association said, "If this measure passes, it will certainly be a win-win for him. When it comes time for re-election, he can claim that he stood up for safety, and helped to raise more money for the state. At the same time, motorists will increasingly be forced to hire him to fight their tickets because they can't afford the new fine structure he helped put in place."
Well, cancel that notion, self-interest or not. The Senate struck down the idea of using "abuser fees" as a means to raise money to fix the state's roads, noting correctly that it would not pass muster as well as a "clean" method, like raising the gasoline tax - a measure that hasn't been undertaken since Chuck Robb was governor, more than 20 years ago.
So Albo wants to:
- Use state troopers as tax collectors. He wants to send state troopers, who risk their lives every day to keep us safe, out onto the roads looking for tax revenue. Furthermore, this is a backdoor tax increase...a "sneaky tax increase", if you will.
- Bring more business into his lawfirm. Indeed, Albo is partner at the traffic defense firm, Albo and Olblon. Most people don't contest tickets, because they're not worth the trouble. If Albo's bill passed, it would mean thousands of Virginians seeking the services of lawyers to avoid expensive tickets. And it would crowd our court system with traffic cases.
This is the height of corruption. Albo shouldn't be allowed to vote on bills like this, let alone
propose them!!! And Albo has a history of this type of behavior. He's been writing loopholes into the DUI laws for over a decade now, then exploiting them in his law practice.
Anyone else have any examples of small time crook legislators using their positions to line their pockets?