Lobbying for both sides

11 thoughts on “Lobbying for both sides”

1. Thank you Vivian…..it’s amazing how the corporate elite are trying to turn this economic calamity into another opportunity for the corporate elites to make more money and stick it to the American citizen.

   They are also wanting to buy the Midtown tunnel.

   However, this is happening around the world and I’d love to see the example where the citizens were happy with the corporate takeover of a public asset at the end of ten years. All I’ve come across are examples of higher costs, lesser quality, and citizens getting “screwed.” Kind of like our current situation in health care.

   Hopefully the folks in Hampton Roads and VA will stop the corporate takeover or our local and state assets.

   Hopefully we will get some solid folks in office who will be brave enough to create necessary taxes and tolls that will get the job done without adding on an additional huge profit margin that takes precedence over public safety and quality.

   1. I wish people did care about this. But the Public-Private Transportation Act is something VDOT touts as a success story. We have been unwilling to finance transportation with taxes. The best we have done is to make up money for basic maintenance and so we don’t lose our federal highway money. But improvements have gotten lost in that equation. What is filling the gap is PPTA projects.

      The reason these are popular is because it takes absolutely no courage on the part of politicians to support these. The corporate partners involved take over the maintenance and improvement of the transportation asset. And unlike politicians, corporations don’t have to worry as much about public sentiment when they raise tolls to cover higher operating costs. What’s truly sad is that Democrats and Republicans took away SCC oversight over rate setting for these companies. They have monopoly rights, but they are not regulated like your electric or gas investor-owned utility. They don’t have to file a tariff that requires approval by the SCC.

      I wouldn’t hold my breath on any politician finding the courage to stand up to PPTA. Most voters don’t know what it is. And by the time they find out about projects, the deal has already been done and public input is just formality. The 80-year lease that Transurban will have on the Capital Beltway HOT lanes is a done deal. The second 60-year lease on the 395 HOT lanes is close to a done deal. And the major innovation there, inside the belt, is paint. They are reducing the shoulder width in order to add a lane. All I know about in Hampton Roads is the tunnel and the third crossing. I can’t say that I have a lot of detail their, but hopefully you get more than a paint job.

      Just in case you didn’t know, the bill was SB 856 all the way back in the 1995 session. Only our friends Deeds and McDonnell were in the HOD at the time. And the bill passed unanimously in the Senate and 98-1 in the HOD.

2. I guess we as citizens will have to watch very carefully which of our state delegates are influenced by Kemper Consultants, be it by donations or anything else.

3. Interesting choice you made for a Bible passage. It does seem a little ironic a choice though, especially given that you appeared to be very pleased with the choice of Governor Kaine as head of the DNC a year before his term ends. So which master does he despise more? The DNC or Virginia voters?

   1. A bit of a strawman argument there, don’t you think? (Besides, except for congratulating Kaine on his position, I haven’t expressed any pleasure or displeasure about him doing both.)

      1. Perhaps I am reading too much into what you wrote, but are you arguing that you congratulate people for things you find displeasing or are indifferent towards?

         1. It’s common courtesy to congratulate someone when they take a new job, get a promotion, or win an award. It is not an endorsement. You don’t have to think they are deserving in order to be decent.

            I don’t want to speak for Vivian. But I couldn’t help myself. =)

            1. Thanks! That’s exactly my thoughts.

            2. I’ve always seen congratulations as a personal thing, even when taking common courtesy into account, which goes back to the point I made earlier. Going back to what I said earlier, if Vivian did not like Tim Kaine or what he did, or was indifferent towards him and his actions, I doubt she would congratulate him in a blog that he may or may not read.

               tx2vadem, if you knew someone was doing something you knew was wrong, would you just congratulate them? Or might you offer up some advice about the better way to handle something?

4. Also of note, Kemper handles (or has in the past) HRT. This bunch has their claws into a lot of public agencies. Kay Kemper was the Executive Secty for Jim Koch when he ran ODU. She was the push/shove in that operation.

   The Public/Private Partnerships was pushed by the Republicans as a way to divert responsibility from them, for our transporation mess. It didn’t work. If memory serves me(and it may not)this Public Private mess was the brain child of George(hey Macaca)Allen! Like most republican idea’s, they only serve the very rich, very connected and most importantly, the very republican. Hopefully, with republicans losing the House of Delegates, we’ll see a change in the approach to our transportation woe’s as the Senate is controlled by the Democrats and Bob McDonnell has as much chance of being Governor as I do!

5. I’m missing something. Why does the City of Norfolk need a consulting firm to represent them anyway? What does the consulting firm do for the city?

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