While the 2009 Session of the Virginia legislature has just begun, the House Republicans have already shown that they are more concerned with holding on to power than they are with doing what is best for Virginians.

Monday morning, a House sub-committee voted along party lines to “table” a bill that would have extended in-person absentee voting.  WAPO  Making voting more convenient for Virginians should be a “no-brainer” and many states already allow it.  Yet the Republicans refused to even allow the bill to reach the full committee or the floor of the House.

Why are the Republicans so opposed to this Bill?  Simple, because absentee votes go more strongly for Democrats than Republicans.  It is because many low income voters have difficulty getting time off to vote, yet do not qualify for an absentee ballot.  Yet, the fact that voters may not vote for you or your party is a terrible reason to deny them a vote.  It is the justification of a dictatorship, not a democracy.

And while the House Republicans (including Republican Party Chair Jeff Fredericks) are obstructing efforts to help voters, where is Tim Hugo?  Once again Tim is missing in action.  Once again Tim is not looking out for the interests of the 40^th District.

With Virginia facing a near $3 billion budget shortfall and the country still in the grips of economic crisis, Gov. Tim Kaine presented a difficult, ambitious budget plan to the General Assembly’s money committees yesterday. 

But Tim Hugo, who “represents” the 40th district in Fairfax and Centerville and sits on the House Finance committee, was nowhere to be found. You could search all of Richmond but Del. Hugo was not there. 

Why? 

It turns out that Tim is more interested in his own campaign finance crisis than in the Commonwealth’s. 

Hugo was 100 miles away, hosting a “Business Leaders Breakfast” fundraiser at the exclusive Tower Club up in Tysons Corner.

It must be nice to mingle with all the wealthy contributors to your campaign instead of actually doing your job.  Sometimes being a delegate that means a little sacrifice, like skipping the fancy breakfast to actually do some work. 

Instead of joining his colleagues in Richmond to deal with our unprecedented economic crisis, Tim Hugo decided to hobnob with donors and fill his campaign coffers,” said Fairfax Democratic Committee Chairman Scott Surovell. “The governor’s budget presentation has been scheduled for weeks, but Hugo chose to fiddle while Virginia burned. Come November, Fairfax residents will remember that he put his own cash above the Commonwealth’s needs.”

We should remember that Tim is our employee, that he is supposed to be in Richmond working for us.  Where I work, employees who skip important meetings get fired. 

GT

Welcome back everyone.  While we have been quiet for a bit longer than I expected, NoMoHugo is back and we will be posting here regularly.

On January 14, Tim Hugo will head to Richmond to “represent” the 40^th District for a short, 45-day session.  But will he represent our District?  Or will he continue to ignore the needs and concerns of his constituents?

It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see that the Commonwealth is facing a huge money problem.  Due to the national economic crisis, Virginia is expected to have a budget deficit next year that will be at least $3 billion.  The collapse of the real estate market has left local jurisdictions short of money as well.  The situation cries out for cooperation between the legislature and Governor Kaine and for leadership from our delegates.

But if his record is any indication of what he will do this year, leadership is not what we will see from Tim.  Because Tim does not lead, he follows behind other Republicans who are more interested in blocking funding for transportation in Northern Virginia than in problem solving.

There is a small rodent that lives in Norway that is known for traveling in large packs.  On occasion, large groups of migrating lemmings will reach a cliff.  As the lemmings crowd onto the cliff, the rodents in the back push forward, forcing those in the front over the cliff. 

So the question is: Will Tim finally act as a leader or he will he continue to be a lemming?

I hope some of you have enjoyed the first few posts of our new blog.  I will be off line for a few days, but the posts will return shortly.

GT

Delegate Dave Marsden published a very good piece in the Fairfax Connection this week.  In his Op-Ed piece, Delegate Marsden says that Virginia House Republicans are stuck in reverse because (I will paraphrase) they fail to recognize the difference between needed investment and wasteful spending.  And since they don’t see the difference between waste and investment, they treat all state spending as if it were wasteful or optional.

But our need for improved transportation is not wasteful.  It is real, it is vital to the Commonwealth, and it is the duty of responsible government to see that this need is met.  Unfortunately, while Governor Kaine and Democratic members of the General Assembly have tried to find realistic answers, the Republicans have offered nothing but delays and offers to transfer funds already designated for education, public safety and health care.  A totally irresponsible approach.

No House Republican is a better example of this problem then Tim Hugo.  Unlike some of the House Republicans who live downstate, Hugo lives in Fairfax and, if he is even mildly observant, will see our traffic problems on a daily basis.  But what has he done to help solve the transportation issues?  NOTHING.  He did not introduce or co-sponsor a single bill that would ease the traffic congestion in NOVA.  And remember, Hugo is supposed to be an expert on transportation issues.

Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, and other areas of the Commonwealth are in desperate need of improved roads and bridges, but with our current budget there is no way the Commonwealth will be able to pay for them.  It is the responsibility of the legislators, like Tim Hugo, to find a way to finance this need.  No legislator likes to raise taxes.  But being responsible means that sometimes you do what is right, not what is easy.

When I was a kid I loved to read science fiction and one of my favorite authors was Robert Heinlein.  Heinlein had a favorite phrase he used in many of his books, TANSTAAFL – “There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.”  Well there ain’t no such thing as a free road either.  And if Tim Hugo won’t do his job and help find a way to pay for better transportation, we should find someone who will.

As the Delegate from Virginia’s 40^th District, Tim Hugo has one primary responsibility; that is to fight for the best interests of the residents of the 40^th District in the General Assembly.  That idea should be obvious, yet Hugo (along with fellow Republican Dave Albo) seems to think he is in Richmond to represent downstate interests not those of us in his district.

Hugo’s lack of devotion to his own district was on display last week during the Special Session called by Governor Kaine to address the Commonwealth’s transportation problems.  During this session, Hugo did NOTHING to alleviate the traffic problem here in Northern Virginia.  Zip, Zero, Nada.  For the entire Special Session, Hugo’s vocabulary was reduced to one word, “no.”  “No” to the proposal from Governor Kaine, “no” to the Democratic proposal that passed the Senate.  And “NO” to even attempting to reach a consensus with other lawmakers.

While Hugo is only one of 100 delegates, he deserves special condemnation for the current situation.  Not only is he a member of the Transportation Committee, but Hugo claims special expertise in transportation.  Hugo cites his experience working for the Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in his official biography.  He brags about having been a member of The Commission on the Future of Transportation in Virginia.  With all that experience, he should be leading the efforts to improve our roads.  Instead, he is sitting in his seat with that one word answer to other proposals, “no.”

So its time for us to contact Tim and tell him that its time to remember why he was elected.  Its time for him to live up to his obligation to his constituents, and to work for OUR interests, not the downstate interests. 

Hello fellow Virginians and welcome to NoMoHugo, the blog dedicated to the acts and omissions of the delegate from Virginia’s 40^th Delegate District, Republican Timothy D. Hugo.

Now before we get into some of the important matters, I have to tell you that writing a blog about Tim Hugo is not an easy task.  The problem is that Tim doesn’t really do much, so there is not much to write about.  Tim is so dull, that even his own web site has a hard time finding anything to write about.  Just this morning I looked and the most recent news item on his website was from 3 months ago!

Now it would be great if Hugo was getting his job done while not attracting media attention, but if you have commuted anywhere from the 40^th district recently, you know that he has not gotten it done.  If he had, we would have funding for new roads in Northern Virginia.  If he had, we would have closed the gun show loophole.  If he had, we would have a Delegate who is more concerned with the needs of his District then with voting in lockstep with the dictates of the downstate Republican leadership.

So welcome to NoMoHugo.  You are welcome to post (please do so respectfully) and join in the conversation.  And please check back often for the latest posts.