AbleDanger Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 Just let it go man, talk about the roads and whether the taxes are the best way to go about his plan. I've already formed an opinion on that. More funding should go to pulbic transportation than to expanding roads. You charge the public for public transportation, so there is some kind of return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsHokieFan Posted March 20, 2006 Author Share Posted March 20, 2006 I've already formed an opinion on that. More funding should go to pulbic transportation than to expanding roads. You charge the public for public transportation, so there is some kind of return. Agreed. This is one area where I admire Europeans, how efficient their public transportation system is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winslowalrob Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 Agreed. This is one area where I admire Europeans, how efficient their public transportation system is I admire their tendency not to wear shirts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinfan133 Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 Are you guys out of your minds. The entire state of Virginia practically begged Warner to raised taxes after Gilmore bankrupted the state. Warner was elected to make decisions that had to be made, as was Kaine. And what is this crap about gang activity. I live in VA. What the devil are you talking about. Republicans and Dems in this state know we've got to fix finances and the roads. Warner's being pushed for the Presidency for the great job he's done--by Virginians red and blue. Kaine's continuing Warner's policies, doing exactly what he's pledged to do. Why don't you guys take your spin somewhere else? but then again kaine is not warner, i didnt like warner that much for a while, warmed up to him once his policies started working in some areas, but ive been watching kaine; if you think hes going to be like warner your wrong, he wont have the same impact nor carry himself the same and kaines policies are going to eventually do more harm than good, his policies are a little diffrent from warners. hey i live in virginia too, and where i live gangs are a problem, i had some guy who lives down the street from me get his hands hacked of with a machete in a public park, dont tell me they're not a problem, if they arent where you live, just tell me where and ill move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyhorse1 Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 I live in Virginia Beach, have lived in Richmond, Winchester, Portsmouth, Norfolk, Newport News. I've never lived in D.C. There must be some gang violence there. Never heard of gang stuff in other areas or seen any. There are drug gangs, I suppose. Mafia? Street gangs? Maybe so...but their profile is so low I've never seen a sign of it. There used to be a group of guys in Norfolk that called itself a gang. Sort of a joke. Their big activity was to field athletic teams in the community leagues. I know of an old person's motorcycle gang. Does that count? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsHokieFan Posted March 20, 2006 Author Share Posted March 20, 2006 I live in Virginia Beach, have lived in Richmond, Winchester, Portsmouth, Norfolk, Newport News. I've never lived in D.C. There must be some gang violence there. Never heard of gang stuff in other areas or seen any. There are drug gangs, I suppose. Mafia? Street gangs? Maybe so...but their profile is so low I've never seen a sign of it. There used to be a group of guys in Norfolk that called itself a gang. Sort of a joke. Their big activity was to field athletic teams in the community leagues. I know of an old person's motorcycle gang. Does that count? MS-13 is a big thorn in the side for us up here. Nothing like the bloods and crips, yet, but they have cut people's hands off via machiete's at a movie theater 3 minutes from my house And I don't exactly live in the ghetto here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gichin13 Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 Actually, MS-13 is recruiting out where I live as well. They travel from Virginia on the weekends. Sussex County, Delaware is a rapidly expanding area (which requires lots of labor) with beach resorts that attract a lot of tourists in the summer. The small communities in this area are not used to it, and our resources to deal with it are not yet sufficient. FYI: we have a Democratic governer as well who gave herself a pay raise in her second term despite a collosal deficiet for such a small state and lack of funding to our correctional system. Are you really going to blame MS-13 on Gov Warner? Actually, I recently heard a presentation on gang activity in Arlington -- apparently, the gentrification and loss of affordable housing units is having the unexpected benefit of pushing gang activity out of the county. Ultimately, these gangs come with the territory of uncontrolled federal immigration policies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gichin13 Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 Ok back on topic folksI didn't start this thread to talk about gang activity and god knows what other tangents it went on I wanted to talk about Kaine raising taxes. That simple JP put it pretty good, if it goes to roads I can to a degree agree with it. However I still will not forget the sudden surplus that appeared a few days after the last tax increase was passed Lets use what we can out of the surplus to start funding things. HOT lanes and tolls, user fees, before raising taxes on everyone I love the plan to pay for expanding 495. Hot lanes, beautiful Now how about using some of that billion the state has sitting around to fund what Kaine wants to do before raising the sales tax a cent. There are other ways to do it besides blanketly stating " I am raising taxes" But it looks like unibrow aint gonna hide his liberal leanings The toll lane concept is likely to be totally private -- I think they already accepted some feasibility study bids on it. Ultimately, that does little to help. The abuser fees are included in both the house and senate plans. The house plan funds around $500 million per year. That is way short. The question is where to find the other half that you need. Just by way of explanation... the cost of simply maintaining existing asphalt, bridges, et c goes up each year as the original road gets older. Almost all the existing interstates were originally built in the 1950s under Eisenhower. It translates to roughly $1.5 billion annual just to maintain existing roads, let alone expand. Factor in that land costs are rising dramatically, and even using eminent domain to take land for roads is getting cost prohibitive. The improvement to the Route 29 interchange on 66 (near Nissan Pavilion) went up literally $25-35 million in one year for just the improved cloverleaf ... why? Land costs skyrocketed, and that is just for a single interchange. As far as the "billion" that is "just sitting around" ... read the facts man. The link I posted above from February of 2005 indicated there was agreement to use the old surplus primarily on transportation. That money is gone. And it does nothing to solve the problem of finding a dedicated permanent funding source for transportation as opposed to a one time pop of funds for one year that the surplus funding represented. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fergasun Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 Are you really going to blame MS-13 on Gov Warner? Actually, I recently heard a presentation on gang activity in Arlington -- apparently, the gentrification and loss of affordable housing units is having the unexpected benefit of pushing gang activity out of the county. Ultimately, these gangs come with the territory of uncontrolled federal immigration policies. I'm surprised none of the open borders folks here hasn't jumped all over this thread. Don't you guys know that the New York Times did a study that showed more (illegal) immigraiton doesn't lead to more crime? I'll add, MS-13 has been operation in Northern Virginia for year. Don't you think the feds should be able to shut down gangs like these using the National Guard when they return from Iraq? That would be my plan... if I'm gonna be president and engage in allegedly illegal operations, might as well be something that reasonable people can see is a benefit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight Judges Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 I grew up in the DC area. I lived in Montgomery Country (from 1978-1998) and lived in Alexandria for 7 years (from 1998-2005). Gangs have been in this area for a very long time. Gangs are also getting worse. MS-13 is the fastest growing gang in America and they are more sophisticated than anything we've delt with before because they are spawned from a South American guerilla army. When I was driving home from work last summer I heard a VA government offical interviewed on the air saying gang violence was the "greatest civil threat to Northern Virginia." Here's an article to support the fact...http://www.ifa-usapray.org/ScienceArtCulture/Machete%20Attack%20On%20Teen%20Tied%20to%20Virginia%20Gang%20Rivalry%20-%20May%2012,%202004.html If you're trying to deny that MS-13 and other gang-related violence is a problem (more so in VA right now than many other places), then you're wrong. Greatest civil threat to NOVA? That's not saying much because this is one of the lowest crimes rated ares in the entire country when you take into account the large population. I voted for Kaine and I fully expected him to raise taxes and put some serious mullah into our roads and transportation in NOVA and that is precisely what he is going to do. -That's IF the Republicans in the VA house will let him raise the $$$ to pay for it. If they don't, our future traffic problems will be their fault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbleDanger Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 Are you really going to blame MS-13 on Gov Warner? I blame MS-13's rapid growth and level of activity in Virginia in part on the Warner administration. Actually, I recently heard a presentation on gang activity in Arlington -- apparently, the gentrification and loss of affordable housing units is having the unexpected benefit of pushing gang activity out of the county. No, they are still present and gaining in strength. There is always low income housing, and they are willing to pack in to make the rent more affordable. Besides, dealing drugs and collecting protection money can be very lucrative. Ultimately, these gangs come with the territory of uncontrolled federal immigration policies. That is a big factor as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbleDanger Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 Greatest civil threat to NOVA? That's not saying much because this is one of the lowest crimes rated ares in the entire country when you take into account the large population. Oh really? Well I hope no one chops your hand off with a machete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight Judges Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 Oh really? Well I hope no one chops your hand off with a machete. When was that, three years ago? :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsHokieFan Posted March 24, 2006 Author Share Posted March 24, 2006 When was that, three years ago? :laugh: Actually last year up at the movie theater right by my house And I live in a pretty damn prosperous area Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbleDanger Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 When was that, three years ago? :laugh: Here you go, guy... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/10/AR2006031001985.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48421-2005Jan4.html http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7244879/site/newsweek/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gichin13 Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 I blame MS-13's rapid growth and level of activity in Virginia in part on the Warner administration. How? Localities prosecute. State has heavily funded taskforces and the like. Seems like a national immigration or local prosecution issue to me, and it has been pursued extensively. No, they are still present and gaining in strength. There is always low income housing, and they are willing to pack in to make the rent more affordable. Besides, dealing drugs and collecting protection money can be very lucrative.That is a big factor as well. I was at a presentation last month in Arlington by the one of the chief deputies of police, the chief deputy prosecutor, and the guy who heads the gang unit last week. They were consistently quoting extensive tiers of stats on arrests, criminal violations, prosecutions et c. In every event, gang related activity is sigificantly down in Arlington over the last 2-3 years. This is also directly concurrent with Arlington losing literally tens of thousands of affordable housing units over the last few years. You draw the connection. The police and prosecutors certainly are. I will not deny gangs are a problem. I will also not deny that those folks have likely drifted to other localities (first bet is Prince William County which has incidently seen a large spike in gang related crimes). Despite that, crime statistics in Northern Virginia are remarkably low compared nationally or even state wide. That is an indication of our relative affluence and luck to be here. You act like gangs are a threat to topple civil society and try to derail a conversation regarding transportation funding with a red herring about gangs. Let's talk about the transportation funding proposals and start another thread about gangs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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