Friends,
We achieved a significant victory yesterday in the Senate Courts of Justice Committee. HB 1035 was amended with wording that now assures that in court cases involving eminent domain, the whole issue pertaining to access will be decided by a jury and that judges will not be able to exclude a jury from considering it. We have been fighting over this language for days. On a conference call yesterday morning, elected officials told us that the bill would be amended to offer the further protections for property owners that we had been fighting for from the beginning.
In my opinion this should not have required a fight. With a Republican Governor, a Republican Lt. Governor, a Republican Attorney General, a Republican Senate, and a Republican House of Delegates, HB 1035, and its companion bill SB 437, should have sailed through the legislature and been signed by the Governor. Unfortunately, there are those who pay lip service to property rights and the role private property plays in keeping us free, who immediately fall to the floor and assume the fetal position when challenged by an attorney/lobbyist for the condemnors. That white flag just can’t seem to go up fast enough!
To make matters worse, there are the nonprofit groupies who seem to exist for no other reason than to offer Republicans cover no matter what they are in the process of doing. At a critical moment when the debate could have gone either way, a “property rights stakeholders” meeting was held to build support for the legislation prior to it being amended. No one from the law firm of Waldo & Lyle was invited to participate; no one from Tertium Quids was invited to participate; no one from the Virginia Federation of Tea Party Patriots; no one from the Tuesday Morning Group coalition. Participation was limited to only those Republican Party toadies who are going to blindly support their heroes in the GOP no matter what the principle or issue being compromised away. Perhaps that is the limit of these folks’ capabilities. I assume it is. Unfortunately, when you have politicians motivated by the next election and/or higher office, and their groupies who seem to become near orgasmic at a brief moment of recognition, a handshake, a kiss on the cheek, a picture, or the opportunity to merely reach out to touch the coattail of a passing politician, our job becomes exponentially more difficult.
Which brings me to my whole point of writing this evening. I am so proud of those who stood firm. I am so proud of those folks who stood in the gap and refused to accept compromises. I am so proud of all the folks who have called their delegates and senators to tell them that we would not accept HB 1035 and SB 437 without the language being improved by amendment. There is no possibility that what happened yesterday in the Senate Courts of Justice Committee would have happened without you bringing the heat. The Tea Party folks, the individuals and organizations that compose the Tuesday Morning Group coalition, the fine folks at the law firm of Waldo & Lyle who will put themselves out of business if they continue to get legislation on the books that protects their property-owner clients without the need for going to court – I am happy and honored to call you friends.
The others can go to Hades.
Just kidding. (Sort of.)
I remain
Respectfully yours,
John
John Taylor
President
Tertium Quids
282 Bald Rock Road
540-245-1776
JTaylor@TertiumQuids.org
www.TertiumQuids.org
--
Please Note: If you hit "REPLY", your message will be sent to everyone on this mailing list (Peninsula-Patriots-list@meetup.com)
This message was sent by Dorothy Bayford (dorothy@waterproinc.com) from Peninsula Patriots.
To learn more about Dorothy Bayford , visit his/her member profile
Set my mailing list to email me As they are sent | In one daily email | Don't send me mailing list messages
Meetup, PO Box 4668 #37895 New York, New York 10163-4668 | support@meetup.com
No comments:
Post a Comment