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“To
be sure of hitting the target, shoot first, and
call whatever you hit the target” -- Ashleigh
Brilliant (English Author and Cartoonist, b.1933)
The
spectacle in Richmond involving the Republican
factions in the House of Delegates and the state
Senate is turning into a Shakespearean comedy. It
is a testament that the GOP's political
leadership, a conclave of petty minds more
concerned with protecting their turf than doing
the business of the people, is bankrupt of new
ideas.
Although
Republicans clearly cannot lead their way out of a
paper bag, they are not the only ones at fault.
The Democrats, following the dismal leadership of
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, deserve their share of
blame.
As
you may recall, Kaine, like his Democrat
predecessor Mark Warner, campaigned on a pledge of
no new taxes. Although it took Warner three years
to enact a tax increase, Kaine has been hotly
pursuing new taxes within weeks of being elected
-- even before being sworn into office. Since
then, Kaine has taken a back seat in the
transportation debate, presumably satisfied to let
the two GOP factions duke it out.
But
Kaine's duplicity is exceeded by that of Senate
Republicans who campaigned in 2003 as fiscal
conservatives then, promptly after getting
re-elected, reversed course and pushed for new
taxes. Even while proclaiming transportation a
priority, they have held it hostage.
Is
that how you fund priorities in your family
budgets? Can you imaging telling your sons and
daughters that funding their college education is
a family priority, then, after having paid for
just about every non-essential and frivolous
purchase you can think of over two decades, tell
them, "Sorry, but there's no money left to
pay for your education?”
The
politics of lies — where politicians say
whatever they think will get them elected only to
go back on their word once they get in office —
must not be allowed to continue. Otherwise, we are
doomed to endless cycles of spending growing out
of control with no one being held accountable for
the fraud, waste and abuse that
inevitably ensues.
We
now read that Senate Minority Leader Dick Saslaw,
D–Fairfax, is determined to see to it that no
GOP compromise is enacted into law. The good
Senator is not concerned with the welfare of
Virginians. He is betting that thwarting a GOP
compromise will enhance his chances for becoming
the next Senate majority leader because voters
will blame the Republicans for the continuing
gridlock.
The
GOP compromise plan promoted by House Speaker
William J. Howell, R-Fredericksburg, like all such
compromises, sacrifices principle in order to give
the perception that the GOP is doing something
about the transportation problem. The fact that
the plan consists of a hodge-podge of new taxes,
penalties and fees does not seem to bother the
gentleman from Fredericksburg, who has repeatedly
told us that he will hold the line against taxes
and government growth.
Neither
does the fact that Virginia is flushed with new
revenues from the largest tax increase enacted
into law in 2004 seems to carry weight with anyone
in Richmond. Although the so-called “compromise
bill” purports to spend more on transportation
from the General Fund, it also contains a number
of new revenue sources intended to fill
Richmond’s coffers.
What
is particularly bothersome about the compromise
bill is that some of the penalties and fees it
calls for are clearly unconstitutional. For
example, one provision intended to raise
retroactive fees and penalties from bad drivers is
clearly prohibited by the constitutional ban on ex
post facto laws. It also violates the notice
requirement under the 14th Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution. (For additional details on this
bill, please see the following two columns
previously published in Bacon’s Rebellion: “Taxing
Drivers,” April 3, 2006, and “Why
Not A Ticket for Tax Abuse,” January 4,
2005.)
Equally
amazing, apparently blinded by his single- minded
pursuit of the Governorship in 2009, Attorney
General Bob McDonnell is reportedly behind these
sorts of ill-conceived legislative proposals.
Having learned nothing from Jerry Kilgore’s
ill-fated 2005 run for governor, McDonnell is
making the sort of compromises that doomed
Kilgore’s candidacy.
On
the other side of the political spectrum stands
State Senate Finance Committee Chairman, John H.
Chichester, R-Fredericksburg, and his political
sidekick, the independent Republican, Russell
Potts, R-Winchester. Potts' appetite for big
spending programs is well established (see “The
$9.5 Billion Man,” October 3, 2005).
Incredibly, Potts
was allowed to caucus with the Republican majority
even after he ran for Governor in 2005 as an
independent -- Senate rules to the contrary.
But
Potts serves a useful purpose for the Senate RINOs:
He carries their dirty laundry. In this regard, he
introduced the Senate Transportation Future Fund
bill, which calls for a myriad of fee and tax
increases, including an increase on the sales and
use tax and higher gasoline taxes.
Potts'
bill got out of the Senate Finance committee on a
nine to six vote — the first known instance when
the Senate RINO leadership split on the issue of
new taxes. Some of the senators voting against the
bill had worked with the others in the GOP to
draft the House “compromise bill.” Even though
the compromise had the blessing of several of
Chichester’s lieutenants, it was not pure enough
for Sir John, who hasn’t seen a tax he did not
like. Chichester would rather tax his own mother
than allow monies from the General fund to be
spent on transportation.
As
a result, it appears that both Houses will
continue on separate courses, meaning that the
political — and traffic — gridlock will
continue. Just like the gang that couldn’t shoot
straight, the Republican majorities in both
Chambers of the General Assembly seem determined
to miss targeting the solutions that could get our
vehicular traffic moving again.
Do
not believe for a moment that the struggle in
Richmond is about doing what is best for
transportation. It is a struggle for power: The
new taxing authorities and the taxes they raise
translate into political power. In the meantime,
Virginians are stuck in gridlock, caught between
warring factions of the political establishment.
--
February 5, 2007
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