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This
General Assembly session was quiet compared to
last year's. That doesn’t mean it was better
for The People’s business.
The politicians in the House of
Delegates face the voters this year in
primaries (June) and general elections
(November). They
don’t want to make waves.
Oops, except for that so-silly bill on
droopy pants (a Democrat bill that Republicans
supported). The
politicians in the Senate are waiting to
introduce more taxes next year after the
state-wide gubernatorial race.
Speaking
of which, Jerry Kilgore quit his Attorney
General’s job to get a few more weeks in
raising money. He
picked up former Governor Jim Gilmore’s
endorsement, so he has the open support of
every Republican in the Commonwealth, except
the Mayor of Warrenton – who will challenge
him for some reason. Yet, the unanimous
support for Jerry Kilgore by all the
Republicans doesn’t translate to winning in
November. Not by a long shot. The People need
a reason more than “It’s my turn”.
When
the big-government, tax-and-spend Republicans
(RINOs) and the Conservative Republicans
support the same candidate, what do they agree
on? Taxes? Spending?
Social agenda? The point of having
political parties is to have partisanship.
I know that word does poorly in focus
groups, but prejudice, always born in
ignorance, doesn’t diminish the truth. If
the Party doesn’t stand for something, then
it stands for nothing – except power. Yet,
the Republican Party of Virginia has a creed
on its website:
Who
We Are
Virginia Republican Creed
We
Believe . . .
·
That
the free enterprise system is the most
productive supplier of human needs and
economic justice
·
That
all individuals are entitled to equal rights,
justice, and opportunities and should assume
their responsibilities as citizens in a free
society
·
That
fiscal responsibility and budgetary restraints
must be exercised at all levels of
government
·
That
the Federal Government must preserve
individual liberty by observing constitutional
limitations
·
That
peace is best preserved through a strong
national defense
·
That
faith in God, as recognized by our Founding
Fathers, is essential to the moral fibre of
the Nation
So,
who are we Virginia Republicans, really? A
Republican politician who works for the
Democrats to place a $1 billion dollar burden
on Virginians in increased taxes is either a
fiscally “responsible” Republican or a tax
traitor to the Party. Choose.
I’m
so grateful we have a Two Party system. It’s
unlikely that the Republicans can clean our
own house by ourselves. It will take more
losses, like the special election for Thelma
Drake’s old seat in
Norfolk,
before the Patrons of Power, 16 Republican
Senators and 17 Republican Delegates lose
their seats. The Democrats can help
substantially.
Lt.
Gov. Timothy Kaine, a man reported to have a
Clintonesque respect for the truth, can win
against a unified Republican Party that says,
simply, “We like Jerry”. We do, but it
won’t work for Jerry, like it did for Ike,
because Jerry is no Ike. Nice guy, but not an
Eisenhower stature. Kaine can run, honestly,
on the slogan “We won’t raise your taxes
as much as the Republicans”. The
Democrats’ proposal was $1.5 billion less
than His Lordship John Chichester’s Senate
“Republican” demand.
Meanwhile,
the House of Delegates goes through a “clean
your skirts” vote to repeal the sales tax
increase, or was it the food tax, knowing that
the Republican Lords of the Senate will kill
it. The vote was cynicism crystallized. What a
sham.
It’s
up to the Republicans to challenge Tax
Traitors in primaries. It’s really hard to
find candidates with a fire in gut to go up
against the money, the media, and the Party
sycophants. But, then we had no one, no
champion, to go against the Transportation Tax
Scam in ‘02 until after Labor Day. Finally,
Roger Pogge agreed to
coordinate our
grassroots effort ($40k vs. their $2.2m on The
Peninsula). Armed with the truth, and
eventually with Del. Tom Gear and a few others
speaking out publicly, we, The People, won
big. We only have three months to find
candidates to challenge the Tidewater Taxmen -
Oder,
Morgan, Tata and Jones – where I live.
Do
you know a Virginian, who lives in a RINO
district, with the courage to risk losing
while fighting for what is right? Someone, who
stands for principles, against power serving
the powerful, and for the good people of Virginia?
If Republicans can’t find such men and
women, we Republicans deserve to lose.
--
February
28, 2005
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