21 July 2007

Ukase From Richmond


The Dog had his best walk of the week this morning, dragging me up George Mason Drive and all the way to the Lubber Run Park. It was further than he had walked all week, by seven times. He was very spry, considering his advancing years, and quite lively, sniffing every post and pole along the narrow busy road. It is named for the famed Virginia Patriot of Colonial times who was the spiritual inspiration for the Bill of Rights, which provided specific right for citizens against a rapacious state. Among other things.

The park was silent under the trees, and dim as the light came up over the crest of the hills that surround it. There was a large sign telling us the many things we could not do. The Dog could not be off the leash, among other things, though it would hardly have mattered at this hour. I dislike decrees and edicts as a matter of principle, since they are inherently undemocratic.

There appear to have a lot of them in the six years since the Islamic world declared war on us. The response has often appeared in the form that the old Czars of Russian would have recognized when they imposed their will on the peoples they ruled. Their decrees were called “Ukasy,” in the plural, and “Ukase,” if there was just one of them.

They appear in modern life as arbitrary and capricious decisions about the most ordinary and personal things. The ones we notice are at the airport, like the amount of shampoo you can carry in a handbag, or the forced removal of your shoes and belt. I marvel at the sheep-like acceptance of the herds at the airports, disrobing before the TSA functionaries, and accepting with faith that our phone calls and mail are only being opened for the best of all possible reasons.

But there are many more of the edicts we do not see and do not hear about until we run afoul of one. It seems that we have given away a lot in terms of our rights as Americans over the last six years in our response to the global struggle against the Islamist radicals.

I have been so focused on the international conflict that I have forgotten what is happening around me. Perhaps that is why I was suddenly so sensitive to the latest dictat from Richmond, the state capital, and briefly of a nation that refused to bow to Washington's edicts. Here in Virginia, for example, our elected lunatics have imposed a confiscatory new fine schedule for routine traffic violations. It is as capricious and arbitrary as any ukase from distant Moscow

This edict is also known as House Resolution 3202.

In the course of getting from one thing to another thing after our walk this morning I made the discovery that our local and state police have been transformed into armed tax collectors got my blood boiling. Traffic stops are always discretionary, but the prospect that they were about to become targeted for tax purposes made my blood begin to simmer with outrage.

The fines have been increased as much as seven times their previous levels, which is to say, under-inflated tires or failure to signal a lane-change could cost more than a thousand dollars.

If this was all about safety, it might be worth an earnest discussion. The madness on the highways and bi-ways of Northern Virginia is real enough, as it is on the great concrete slabs that lead away from it. Unfortunately, it is not about safety, though the sponsor of the bill, Rep. Dave Albo, R-Fairfax, is sanctimonious on that score, saying it will only affect the 2% of Virginia's drivers who are abusive.

If you look up his page on the web you will see Dave is a pretty sleek looking lawyer, and his specialty is representing drunk drivers. You would think that the conflict of interest would give one pause, since the practical effect of the legislation is to increase the pool of his potential clients. It is a bit breathtaking, even in the banal field of politics, but you would grow old waiting for him to be embarrassed about it.

In fact, he seems proud. The text of House Ukase 3202 is quite matter-of-fact about the real intent of the legislation, which is to raise the funds for infrastructure improvement through the imposition of radically inflated fines on just about everything including under-inflated tires.

When I first got a look at the legislation, I was stunned. As part of the total $1.5 billion dollar transportation package, the scheme is to raise $57 million dollars through the new fine structure- not an insubstantial amount to harvest from the "abusive two percent" of the motoring public.

If it was true, it might be bearable as a sort of "sin tax." But as a sinner in so many things, I am inherently suspicious.

The enforcement of the traffic rules around here are always arbitrary and counter-intuitive. At the worst of times, which is four hours in the morning and four hours in the afternoon, anything goes. The ability of the available police officers to see any particular act of vehicular mayhem in the collective lunacy is just about nil.

When traffic is light, the officers lie in wait. There was a speed trap on the way to church that was occupied regularly only on Sunday mornings, for example, and I expect that is when a lot of the new revenue is going to be raised. Not that I object to the devout paying their fair share, mind you.

Interestingly, the fines are so steep that the law provides for their payment over three years as a civil matter, which means it is unenforceable for out-of-state drivers. Considering how many confused Marylanders and District residents are tooling around this tri-jurisdictional area, its patently unfair.

My ire rising the more I learned about the Ukase, I went about the business of e-government, spending the morning e-mailing scathing protests to a list of public officials, starting with the Governor.

The real problem is the nature of democracy. The Old Dominion of Virginia cuts a wide swath from the Tidewater to the hills adjoining Tennessee. There is a county in this state that is actually west of Detroit, and I can tell you that the people there do not care one whit for the congestion around the Pentagon next to the placid Potomac.

Casting about for some means of raising revenues short of a state-wide tax increase, Rep. Albo managed to find a solution that seemed to be a winner, and only incidentally of profit himself and his legal practice. Everyone else bought into it, right up the line to the Governor, who is a pretty pious fellow himself. He opposes the death penalty on religious grounds, and is quite prim on a variety of social issues, apparently those outside the tax system.

They say this could have been avoided with a two-cent tax on gas, which given the wild variations in the price of fuel, would hardly be noticeable. That is regressive, too, no question, but at least places the burden on those who use the roads that must be fixed.

I was not surprised to find that the citizenry was up in arms about the whole thing. I was the 145,632nd person to sign the electronic petition to overturn the Ukase. There are seven and a half million Virginians, six of whom are old enough to vote. I don't know how many of these have a computer, or access to one, but considering that over two and a half percent have already signed it, it seems like a convincing demonstration of democracy.

We shall see if those who theoretically serve us will pay any attention. There is so much to distract them, after all.

Oh, Commonwealth residents can sign the petition to overturn the Ukase, if you feel like it, at:

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/petition-sign.cgi?va3202


Copyright 2007 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com

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