Virigina Gets Pwned

There is a fascinating story of fraud and government that has a local Alexandria, VA connection.  It appears that the perpetrator of an identity fraud took on the identity of “Bobby Thompson,” the director of the U.S. Navy Veterans Association, then started doling out campaign contributions (including to the attorney general of the state, a tool for whom a screw has not yet been invented that is large enough).    An arrest warrant  for him (under his assumed name) was issued on August 5, 2010.

What I find fascinating isn’t that a fraud or crook managed to make campaign contributions to a bunch of people running for office.  That seems to happen to both parties all the time, and no amount of campaign finance reform is ever going to create a situation where bad people won’t give you money.

No, what is fascinating is that the fraudster collaborated on getting legislation passed in Virginia in collaboration with a local Alexandria representative to make “charitable donations” less transparent.  From the Roanoke Times, the story of how Patsy Ticer (D-Alexandria — and how good a name is Patsy for this story?) worked with a lobbyist to pass a bill for a fraudster, realize she got conned, ask the governor to veto the bill she got passed, only for the governor to sign the bill anyway:

“I had never met this man [Wright] before,” Ticer recalled. She recalls he wanted to raise money for his veterans group without going through the hassle of state registration.

“This little man seemed totally harmless,” she said. “I didn’t make any connection at all, with this particular group and that donation.”

At Wright’s request, she agreed to sponsor legislation that would exempt 501(c)19 veterans groups, such as the U.S. Navy Vets, from having to register to solicit in Virginia.

“It’s kind of like the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars,” Ticer said. “You know, they’re pretty darn harmless. And it never occurred to me that they [the U.S. Navy Vets] wouldn’t be pretty darn harmless.”

She introduced the bill Jan. 13. Klinge testified on its behalf before the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee, and the House General Laws Committee, Ticer said. It won unanimous approval in both.

It passed the full Senate 40-0 on Feb. 2 and the full House 100-0 on March 4.

The Roanoke Times believes that the lesson to this story is that it was too easy for a fraud to be perpetrated on the Virginia assembly:

So a man who allegedly stole his identity was able to secure a change to Virginia law that would make it easier to solicit money for a charity that, at this point, appears to have been a complete scam.

All it took was less than $75,000 in campaign donations and a slick D.C. lobbyist.

Members of the General Assembly should give that fact a lot of sober reflection.

Perhaps.  But if we believe in dealing in treating root causes, isn’t the real lesson here a more fundamental one.  Assemblies, Senates, Houses, and Legislatures of all jurisdictions pass rules and regulations all the times, then carve out exceptions that may or may not be warranted, then build and subtract on the margins in a constant session busy work.  The problem isn’t that a huckster conned the Virginia pols, it is that the political work passes so many rules and regulations that this kind of con is even possible.  Sure, we could shut out the identity fraudster, but that still won’t matter when it is the legitimate evangelical, or trade union, or birther, or whatever.  Government simply spends too much time making government, allowing for unanimous votes on all sorts of stupidity.

The lesson here isn’t that someone abused the system.  The lesson is that the system is almost begging for this kind of abuse.

UPDATE: Along similar lines, the ____ Act of ______

Your Government Approved Art Update

This article seems ready made to push a few buttons given the headline “Artists fear takeover at Torpedo Factory,” but as far as I can tell, no actual artists are quoted as saying anything of the sort.  Instead, there is a former Alexandria resident who advises art foundations, and the Old Town Civic Association, whose purpose according to their web page is “to preserve the historical and residential character of Old Town, Alexandria.”

So no actual artists, and an advocacy group that’s inherent charter is conservative (by which I mean, resistant to change) in nature, and that’s supposed to get me mad about the actions of the Alexandria City Council?

When the actual artists start protesting… well, then things become interesting, given that the Torpedo Factory is, by nature, a government building (even if it is one operated by a non-profit on behalf of the government).