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“Don't
interfere with anything in the Constitution. That
must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard
of our liberties.” -- Abraham Lincoln
It
is indeed unfortunate that our Governor as well as
the majority in the Virginia State Senate are hell
bent on trampling over the Constitution of our
great Commonwealth. As in days past when the
scarlet letter “A” was branded on adulterers,
President Lincoln’s quote above should be
branded upon them.
The
"one object rule" called for in the
Virginia Constitution requires legislation to have
only one purpose. The Senate ploy of incorporating
tax increases into the state budget is simply
unconstitutional: It bases spending upon new tax
revenues which have not yet been enacted into law.
That
“technicality” does not seem to bother some of
our politicians, who are resolute in enacting
another tax increase. They will not be constrained
by silly rules — after all, they know what is
best for us and are determined to get their way,
existing constitutional constraints
notwithstanding.
In
the 2004 session of the General Assembly, the
House Rules Committee passed a resolution asking
former Gov. Mark Warner (D) to resubmit his
budget. The resolution was based on what its
sponsor, Del. Bob Marshall, R-Manassas, called an
unconstitutional submission of the budget. Warner
ignored the cries for upholding the constitution.
And a subsequent lawsuit was dismissed by the
courts as not being “ripe.”
“Ripeness”
is a concept in constitutional law, meaning that
all other avenues for determining the case have
not been exhausted. Apparently, the court held
that because the constitution had not yet been
violated, there was no legal standing to hear the
case.
Courts
have been using the “ripeness” argument a lot
recently, particularly when the lawsuit in
question deals with a political hot potato. A
federal district court judge similarly dismissed
another lawsuit questioning the constitutionality
of Virginia's practice of holding open primary
elections. (The decision is currently on appeal.)
The
courts seem to be saying that no one should be
held accountable for a possible violation of
constitutional prohibitions until after the actual
violation has occurred. This absurd legal thinking
is akin to saying that the police cannot arrest a
person who attempts to murder his victim -- until after the murder has been committed.
In
the end, Gov. Warner got away with violating the
one object rule, which translated into the
subsequent enactment of the largest tax increase
in the history of Virginia.
The
same maneuver is being repeated this year. The
budget that was voted out of the state Senate
includes proposed tax increases in projected
spending — again in direct violation of the one
object rule. The tax-and-spend state Senators are
hoping that this ploy will force the House of
Delegates to agree to some tax increases to avoid
closing down the government when the current
budget expires in June.
This
time, however, the House has stood firm against
the tax-raising onslaught. Perhaps their backbone
has been fortified by the ballooning surpluses. Or
perhaps by the fact that the House budget already
calls for a 17 percent increase in spending. Or
maybe even the memory that several of the House
Republicans who voted for the 2004 tax increase
met stiff primary election challenges in 2006,
which reminded them that politicians sometimes can
be held accountable by the electorate back home.
Whatever
the reason, this time around the Senate has been
unable to peel off any Republican weaklings in the
House. Accordingly, the budget impasse continues.
Undeterred, the out-of-control Senate continues to
push for higher taxes. The latest attempt was
Senate Bill 5016, voted out of the Senate April
27, which provides transportation funding for
Northern Virginia by imposing new taxes and fees.
The
patron of this bill, Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites-
Davis, R-Vienna, teamed up with the most rabid Democrat tax
spenders in calling for new vehicle registration
fees, another 10 percent hike to the sales-tax,
higher real estate recordation fees, just to name
a few. That is indeed a strange bill coming from
Sen. Devolites- Davis, who proudly
proclaims on her website that she is committed
“…to restructure a tax system that is fair and
responsible and is not a burden on hard working
families…” Apparently, she defines
“restructuring” as piling new taxes on top of
existing taxes.
In
the meantime, William J. Howell, R-Fredericksburg,
the Speaker of the House of Delegates, has been
unequivocal in his opposition to raising taxes. He
is also vociferous in his defense of the Virginia
Constitution and the one object rule. The
speaker’s efforts should indeed be commended —
it is exactly the lack of this sort of
determination that led to the enactment of the
2004 tax increase.
--
May 1, 2006
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