| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Politix |
| Citizen 1, Virginia Nothing... |
| 2007-01-17 |
| Full disclosure - I pretty much spent every summer growing up in VA, and spent 4 of the happiest years of my life stationed there at Langley AFB. Having said that, Virginia has one of the most obnoxious(not it's representatives and employees but its policies) and intrusive state governments in the Union. The vehicle stickers are a good example of that, and I'm glad this guy won a round. Sadly, the politicians aren't being made to pay back every dime they got through illegal means but are instead gearing up to close the loophole. From www.washingtonpost.com, H/T to www.reason.com . EFL'd, RTWT. A Ticket On a Taurus Grows Into Much More Legion of Citations In Va. May Be Void The Great Virginia Parking Ticket Battle began with a burst of expletives one Saturday morning in October 2000, when Woodbridge resident Robert W. Eberth, a retired Navy captain, found a $35 citation on the windshield of his 1990 Ford Taurus. NO VALID STATE INSPECTION, it said. Eberth had been ticketed under Prince William County Code 13-322, mandating up-to-date inspection stickers for vehicles parked on public roads. True, Eberth had allowed the Taurus's registration to lapse. But he was saving the car for his teenage son and had parked it in the private lot of his apartment complex. Eberth examined the ticket. He cursed a little more. Then he looked up 13-322 on the Internet. "Something is very wrong with this picture," he said to himself. He checked the box marked "contest." |
| Posted by:Mike Kozlowski |
| #12 See, if your state has voter referendums, you should start a tax that only affects elected officials in the legislature and the governor and lt. gov. 50% tax on all income and personal assets per year sound right to me. Bet you get about 500x the signatures you need;) Tax your local politicians. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2007-01-17 22:47 |
| #11 Even GA has a tax yearly on the value of our cars, and like SC4291 said, they usually value my car a LOT more than what I could really get for it. Our State Legislature is trying to drum up support to do away with it though. And, on that note, what's up with all the tax-and-spend Republicans lately? Our Gov., Sonny Purdue, just proposed a State budget that's 25% more than what it was in 2000! Taking notes from Dubya I guess. |
| Posted by: BA 2007-01-17 21:59 |
| #10 As someone in the state of CA who has had vehicles confiscated (by a landlord from a legally parked space, and from the state on at least 2-3 separate occasions) I welcome anything that blasts away at illegal seizure laws. The seizure laws were put in place to combat drug dealing. They were extended thereafter to encompass a whole host of minor "crimes" and misdemeanors to bolster state tax bases and to initimidate citizenry. THEY MUST BE REPEALED!/em> The common property of common citizens must not be subject to seizure by the government in any fashion. This is clearly unConstitutional. |
| Posted by: FOTSGreg 2007-01-17 19:45 |
| #9 I'm currently a citizen of the Old Dominion. It appears a majority of the voting population has proceeded to lose its collective mind, first voting in a tax-and-spend idiot in Kaine, then following that by voting out George Allen. I think it's something in the air drifting down from the People's Republic of Maryland but whatever the cause, I sure as Hell don't like it and if it continues, I'm outta VA. They can get their tax bucks from some other sucker. |
| Posted by: mac 2007-01-17 18:12 |
| #8 Still compared to the olde Florida Intangibles tax that's nothing. The Intangible Tax was a direct tax on assets. A penalty for saving, being lucky or having prudent parents. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-01-17 17:33 |
| #7 A heart-warming tale of righteous persistance. Almost as good as those homeowner-shoots-burglar stories. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2007-01-17 17:30 |
| #6 Kentucky hits you for a percentage of what they determine you car is worth. And it's usually worth a lot more than you'd think. They get you whether it's running or not, boat, rv's, airplanes, everything. |
| Posted by: Spairong Crolurt4291 2007-01-17 15:51 |
| #5 Look for the new law, if as described, to be ruled unconstitutional regarding covered or parked cars on private property. I think the US Constitution still applies to VA regarding due process. Do you really think Barney and his merry band of meter maids will be successful in getting a warrant for searching every garage or back yard for a possible expired sticker? VA still has its share of rednecks and I can see Billy-Bob surprising some wandering cop.... |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2007-01-17 15:41 |
| #4 I believe the VA car tax is still around. It's around $300 for my wife's car and $150 for my truck. Every freaking year, not like most states where you just pay a sales tax for the honor of purchasing one in their fair state. |
| Posted by: Steve 2007-01-17 15:21 |
| #3 I believe the VA car tax is still around. (And I thought my adopted state of Mar'lin' was bad...) |
| Posted by: eLarson 2007-01-17 14:11 |
| #2 Metastasis from Washington, D.C. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-01-17 13:01 |
| #1 And then there was the @#$%^&*() property tax on cars (is that still around?) I hated that shit with a passion. I love the Commonwealth, but you're right, Mike: The government is becoming more and more intolerable, at least according to my friends who still live there. |
| Posted by: Jonathan 2007-01-17 11:13 |