Virginia Democrats, on the defensive over both their weakness on addressing illegal immigration and their votes against applying the abuser fees to everyone but for only applying them to Virginia residents, have decided to try and tie these two albatrosses together in order to take flight.
Democrats have adopted the laughable tactic of claiming that Republicans exempted illegal aliens from paying the abuser fees. Kevin Hall, spokesman for Gov. Timmy!, said, “Trying to link the two issues is absolutely silly.”
Even the WashPo gets its facts straight:
According to the legislation, the fees are assessed on motorists who have Virginia licenses and on “persons operating motor vehicles without licenses or whose license has been revoked or suspended.”
Illegal immigrants have been barred since 2004 from obtaining driver’s licenses in Virginia.
. . .
The [Democratic press] release did not mention Kaine’s role in amending the bill to exempt out-of-state drivers.
It gets better, though. The Democrats in their desperation may have also alienated one of their key constituency groups with this silliness.
“The Democrats do not know what they are talking about, and it is unfortunate they seek to inflame the issue by using a bogus argument,” said Claire Gastanaga, a former chief deputy attorney general who is a lobbyist for the Virginia Coalition for Latino Organizations. Gastanaga said she is “deeply disappointed the Democrats would pile on the immigrants and think it would get them somewhere.”
Filed under: 2007 Elections, Democrats, Virginia Politics
I think it’s a stretch to call Democrats “desperate” when they’re widely predicted to win the Senate and possibly the House. And tie in the fact that it was a Republican house that passed the idiotic fees with a largely party-line split in the committees as you can plainly see here. http://colganforsenate.org/?m=200708
It was obviously the Republicans’ baby (Albo, Howell, etc.), and that’s pretty clear to everyone except for the real blatant partisan hacks. Everyone else realizes it; why don’t you come join us in reality?
Oh, and your assertion that illegal immigrants are apparently a key VOTING demographic is so outrageous, it barely warrants comment, except laughter.
First, Brad, this is only “widely predicted” in Democrat fantasy land.
Second, the GOP passed the fees to apply to EVERYONE. Gov. Timmy! amended the legislation to exempt out of state abusive drivers.
Third, Colgan has ZERO credibility on this as he voted AGAINST the fees when they would apply to EVERYONE, but FOR the fees when they ONLY applied to Virginians. http://virginiavirtucon.wordpress.com/2007/07/16/virginias-dems-standing-up-for-out-of-state-drivers-behaving-badly/
Finally, if you had any reading comprehension skills, you would have noted that neither I nor the WashPo said illegal immigrants were a key voting constituency of the Dems, rather legal immigrants who are apparently taking offense to the Dems’ recent, suspect conversion on the issue of immigration.