Caputo Hammers Hugo

Via Virginia Progressive, I see Chuck Caputo has a new letter to the editor in the newspaper.  Whoever is writing it was apparently short of words on what Caputo is doing, so they turned to attacking Tim Hugo.

"I am also baffled by the reluctance of Northern Virginia House Republicans to support legislation for Northern Virginia to help raise funds for transportation — self help as it might be called. As a member of the House Finance Committee, I witnessed the killing of a bill which would have permitted Fairfax County, Arlington County and the adjourning cities to raise the local sales tax by 1/4 percent to produce $50 million a year, an amount that would be matched by the Federal Government each year for 10 years for METRO (primarily for capacity expansion). In essence, they voted to turn down a half billion dollars of federal aid. Three Finance Committee members from Prince William County coupled with other Republican members voted against the legislation. One Fairfax Republican delegate stayed away from the meeting and, sometime after the meeting was adjourned, notified the committee clerk that he wanted a “yes’ vote recorded. Why couldn’t that delegate have contributed to the live debate in that meeting to convince his colleagues to vote for self help for Northern Virginia?"

Chuck is a great guy, and one of my personal favorite Delegates in Richmond.  But whoever is advising him to attack neighboring Delegates does not have his best interest at heart.  In 2005, Chuck got a great election year to run in, but his district went for George W. Bush by over 2,000 votes in 2004.  Does anyone really believe that those conservative voters disappeared over one year, or is it more likely that many were unimpressed by Kilgore/Craddock and chose not to show up?

In short, Delegate Caputo should focus on his own district instead of throwing darts at the other Delegates.

Comments

[Not Jack Herrity]

Ben, I generally agree with you, it's gutsy to attack the guy in the district next to you, even if he is a member of the other party. But I think Hugo had it coming to him. He deliberately ducked that meeting and people ought to hold him accountable for that. Hugo has become very well-known for avoiding the hard votes.

I just want to know what an "adjourning city" is. :)

NJH

If I was going to GUESS, I'd say McNabb was responsible for this. Nice woman, but is always pushing her own agenda. She lives in Hugo's district and might be pushing Chuck to attack in order to increase her future viability.

Hugo had a conflicting transportation subcommittee meeting that was also taking up legislation that needed his vote more than this. Tim isnt dumb, he could count the votes on Finance before and know its outcome if he was there or not.

[Not Larry Sabato]

This is beneath Chuck. I hope this crap stops.

[Not Jack Herrity]

I agree about LuAnn and her agendas, but Hugo should have been at that Finance meeting. Period.

NJH

[Rtwng Extrmst]

Bottom line, Hugo and Caputo both should have voted against the bill. If the federal government matches a tax increase in order to build a bridge to nowhere, would that make sense? Putting more money ito Metro is a losing proposition for NOVA transportation woes and the money can be used on much better solutions.

[Rtwng Extrmst]

BTW, this is just a continuation of the Caputo campaign style from last fall.

[James E. Martin]

Mind you that the Virginia Progressive was not criticizing Delegate Caputo, instead we were praising him as an impressive Democratic Freshman (both he and Marsden got very good committee assignments and are acting like seasoned veterans in Richmond)!

Another Chuck (and LuAnn) supporter here.

I think it's great that Caputo spoke out. It shows guts and leadership as opposed to the usual wishy-washy, play-safe statements that most politicians make.

Caputo's comments about Hugo will not hurt him. I bet three independent-minded voters in Captuto's district know who Hugo is.

Nice work Del. Caputo. The only way transportation is going to be addressed in a serious manner is when people who vote against real solutions are held accountable.

[ZB]

Rightwing Extremist---if this is a "a continuation of the Caputo campaign style from last fall" it's a good sign that Delegate Hugo better enjoy his final term in the House of Delegates. The campaign style garnered Caputo (despite the prognostications of "A Voter") a 15 point win in a "Republican" district.

[Jack Rowe]

I am always amused when one goes on a partisan attack and then tries to "achieve a bipartisan solution".

it's physically impossible to raise yourself up by pulling someone else down.

The hard vote on this bill was in subcommittee where Hugo voted for it. But, because he was the ONLY republican that voted for it, the bill was ultimately dead. However, Chairman Parrish went against the subcommittee vote and brought it before the full committee. Hugo was in a Transportation Subcommittee meeting where the teen driving bill was being debated as was the Chairman of that subcommittee (Welch)who would have voted NO on the bill if they had made it to the finance committee. If Hugo and Welch had come to the meeting the votes would have been the same except you would have had 1 more for it and 1 more against it. Same outcome. This vote was missed because of the system in Richmond not because he was ducking the vote. The members are expected to be in 2 sometimes 3 and 4 places at once. This happens all the time, and I'm sure Delegate Caputo will miss a vote or two and when he does I wonder if notjackherrity will write the letter attacking Caputo?

[Stupefyin Jones]

Does anyone believe those conservative voters disappeared? Yep. The GOP faux-conservative movement is being exposed every day. By 2007 there will be even more indictments, sex scandals, etc., for voters to chew on. Iraq will still be a mess. Anecdotal evidence -- my brother, who has never voted Democratic, is now sending me anti-GOP stuff via e-mail. And Chuck wasn't just lucky -- he ran a brilliant campaign, exposing his foe's weaknesses bit by bit, a continuing crescendo until election day.

[A Voter]

ZB & Stupefyin,

You kids keep forgetting that Kaine (and Kilgore) contributed significantly to the Democratic wins in NOVA, last November. We need at least one of two more years before we can actually identify this as a 'trend' of any sort.

Anon 8:09,

Caputo will never allow the facts of a situation to obstruct him from making baseless attacks. However, I hope that he keeps it up!

Every time he votes, it causes me to smile. Despite the false claims of many democratic bloggers, Caputo is a 'LIBERAL'. He voted against allowing his constituents vote on the gay marriage amendment, and he's doing everything in his power to raise taxes on all of us. -$9.5 Billion, here we come! HAHAHAHA!!!!

[Not King Carter]

I certainly hope that all of the good little Republicans out in Prince William and Loudoun and Fairfax Station and other distant suburbs come to the realization that, even though you've fled your old communities in search of whiter pastures in which to drive your Expeditions and expensive import cars, you need to leave your manor estates and drive back to your old communities to work. So a lot of the roads being built are for you, not for us who live in the older communities. You can't have it both ways, you want all-white sheltered communities 50 miles out in the middle of nowhere, yet you expect new roads to drive on and new schools to send your spawn to, and oh yeah, you want it to be free. Just take the money from those lazy fucks in the old communities, all of those brown and black and yellow and pinko-commie white people who should be honored to put up with your traffic and your bellyaching. Because, you know, you really do run the universe, and we're just morons in your way.

[A Voter]

So ‘raising taxes’ and ‘transportation funding’ are race issues now!?!?

LOL!!! This is great, you wacky liberals never cease to entertain!

FYI- This blog comment has been made in order to further oppress you, as a cog in the machine of racial tyranny designed by THE MAN... run with it!

[Chris]

A Voter,

Caputo is a "Liberal" because he voted not to shred George Mason's document? I guess that is the definition of a liberal. The Republican's of today hate freedom and the constitution.

Hugo is a slimy charactor. Ducking meetings is mild for this guy. After all, this is the candidate that had paid staffers on his campaign whose sole job it was to go rove the streets late at night to (illegally) tear down his opponent's signs. They were paid well too.

[A Voter]

Hmmm, I don't recall Mason ever being against constitutional amendments. I also don't recall Mason saying that he didn't want the voters of Virginia to have a say in state-wide issues. Can you clarify your point for the rest of the class, Chris?