The
Passion of the Stalemate
As
Bob Dole might ask, “Where’s the passion?”
As
the General Assembly passed the 100-day mark without a
budget, there was notable lack of passion from the top
Virginia pundits. Pro-tax
forces seemed resigned to an eventual Pyrrhic victory of
modest increases. No
one except Stephanie
Heinatz of the Daily
Press seemed especially worried about the
possibility of the stalemate eventually causing a
government shutdown.
Anti-tax
forces dominated the op-ed pages, but their pleadings
seemed more fealty to a “lost cause” than “fire
and brimstone” persuasion.
Del. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Prince William,
writing in the Richmond
Times-Dispatch, was an example, blandly
calling for a focus on the “main thing,” which
appeared to be avoiding a “Bidding war with Senators
who think they can spend your money better than you
can.”
Melanie
Scarborough was
an exception to the passionless voices, but her Washington
Post commentary explored an aspect of the budget
debate that anti-taxers avoid discussing:
Proponents
of tax increases in Virginia are trying to shore up
support for their cause by claiming that "core
services" will go unfunded unless billions more are
raised.
That's
bunk. Even Virginians inside the system acknowledge
money wasted on idle employees, ineffective programs and
unnecessary projects. It isn't core services but core
assumptions that fuel the demand for more money.
As
Scarborough does with each column, she bravely
identified specific spending that deserves scrutiny.
Of
course, if one wanted to find spirited debate away from
the major Virginia pundits, the Virginia section of Political
State Report offered plenty of fireworks in the
comment section. Republican
contributor and Democratic contributor Robert
Griendling generated plenty of passion in the wake
of their dueling posts on the budget situation.
The
best analysis of the political situation surrounding the
budget debate came from Jeff Shapiro of the Richmond
Times-Dispatch. He
examined Attorney General Jerry Kilgore’s prospects
as Republicans prepared to go along with higher taxes,
concluding that while he still has a lot going for him,
his party may have given his likely gubernatorial
opponent, Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine, an opening.
Shapiro also reviewed the circumstances
and strategy that have allowed Gov. Mark R. Warner
to “peddle the looming assault on your purse not as a
giant tax increase, but rather as a desperately needed
investment in public programs - schools, public safety
and health care - that require strengthening for the
long haul.”
Don’t
Spoil Our Fun
Margaret
Edds of the Virginian-Pilot
threw cold water on parlor game speculation that
Virginia’s own Gov. Warner was under serious
consideration as John Kerry’s running mate.
She implied that UVA Professor Larry Sabato’s
comment, “He’s on the list,” was just so much
flattery from the “guru” who had just hosted the
Governor at an introductory politics class. “This
year, more than ever, Americans need and want leaders
with global portfolios,” she sniffed.
The
Larry Shad Show
Speaking
of Larry Sabato, he was the story at Wakefield’s
annual Shad Planking. With
most elected officials locked into pro
forma sessions at the Capitol, the Wahoo pundit was
the political ritual’s featured attraction.
As recounted by Bob
Gibson in the Daily
Press, Sabato blamed Virginia’s partisan
redistricting process for budget gridlock.
He called for the Old Dominion to join Iowa and
Arizona in establishing a non-partisan re-districting
process.
Earth
Day—Pay Up!
Earth
Day, April 21st, passed without much notice
in Virginia. In
the Roanoke Times, Alwyn
Moss, founder of the Toms Creek Basin Vision Group,
marked the day with an op-ed claiming that Virginia
ranked 50th among states in funding “state and
regional agencies responsible for protection of many
aspects of our environment.” Naturally, he called for
“more money” to “give our secretary of natural
resources the freedom that is lacking to do what
Virginians want him to do, according to many polls -
enforce existing protections and create new ones where
necessary before it is too late.”
Renewing
a Vow
In
a Richmond
Times-Dispatch commentary, Deborah
Jewell-Sherman considered the legacy of Brown v.
Board of Education on its 50th anniversary.
The Superintendent of Richmond shared the lessons
she drew from the 1954 Supreme Court decision.
She eschewed the debate over whether “America's
glass of social change is half-full or half-empty,”
writing,
While
facing the irrefutable fact that we still have a great
deal to accomplish before we approximate the vision of
Brown, I choose to salute the courage of those who
fought 50 years ago to change America for the better and
to join the many who will use this occasion to renew
efforts to make the public schools of America far better
than we found them.
Healthy
Economics
Many
pooh-poohed claims that growth in Virginia’s economy
might allow the General Assembly to avoid raising taxes.
As economic development announcements pour out of the governor’s
office, two respected voices sounded an upbeat outlook
for Virginia in separate Washington
Post on-line chats.
Bob
Grow of the Greater Washington Board of Trade,
answering a question about where
Northern Virginia
ranked nationally, answered that it was “One of the
top "hot spots" given the strength of our
economy. You don't have robust growth unless you have a
robust economy.”
George
Mason
University
economist Stephen
Fuller told readers, “The economy will be
accelerating through the year.”
Convenience
Store Tax Policy
Gordon
Morse examined
the role of “sin taxes” in his Daily
Press column and made a questionable observation:
Who
among us has not stood in line behind an obviously
destitute person at the 7-Eleven and watched them throw
away money on lottery tickets? And who among us hasn't
thought, "Well, better that than another property
tax increase?"
Virginia
Pundit Watch suspects that those “among us” in line
at a 7-11 are more likely to look at their watch and
roll their eyes than speculate on the relationship
between lottery ticket purchases and property taxes.
--
April 26, 2004
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