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Del.
Preston
Bryant, R-Lynchburg, who writes for the Roanoke
Times and will actually vote on the plan,
sketched the battle lines:
If
Warner is to succeed in selling his tax-reform plan,
he must show how his reforms are in keeping with
conservative economic principles that will foster an
expanding Virginia
economy. If
he can't do this, then it'll be trumpeted by his
critics that the $500 million his proposal transfers
annually from the private sector to the public
sector is just another Democratic grab for taxpayer
bucks to fund bigger government.
A.
Barton Hinkle of the Richmond
Times-Dispatch focused on Warner’s
“mantra-like insistence that ‘65 percent pay
less’” and found it questionable. While he disagreed with Republican Chairwoman
Kate Obenshain Griffin that “every Virginian will
pay more in taxes,” the governor’s sound byte
did not include the effect of reduced deductions for
senior citizens and the increase in cigarette taxes. Hinkle conceded that the plan included
“some good and necessary elements,” but “is
not the sweeping reform the public was led to expect
and the state badly needs.”
Hinkle’s
boss at the T-D, Ross
MacKenzie, elaborated on the missing reforms:
We
have heard of the need for "tax reform,"
for "tax fairness," for "tax
restructuring," for "code
simplification." Not much of any of that here -
and certainly not any vision. The Governor's plan
cinches a little here, lets out a little there, tugs
this upward, and pushes that down. No code
simplification, but modest restructuring, dubious
fairness, and utterly no wholesale reform. His plan
complexifies and raises revenue.
GLARINGLY,
THE PLAN leaves four realms untouched and one almost
so: (1) corporate taxes, (2) gasoline taxes, (3)
sales taxes on services, (4) business and
professional license (BPOL) taxes, and (5) the
estate tax.
MacKenzie
offered advice to the General Assembly, reminding
them of these “truths”:
No
Virginian complains that his taxes are too low,
every Virginian complains that the code is too
complex, and, at the end of the day, in the constant
effort to make life better, cutting taxes - as the
great Nobel economist Milton Friedman relentlessly
reminds - is never wrong.”
“More
reform,” especially when General Assembly
Republicans couldn’t agree on anything like it,
will likely not be the battle cry of tax plan
opponents. Look
for them to zero in on the 65 percent number and
relentlessly try to knock it down to below 50
percent.
Supporters
of the Warner plan were not out in force on the
op-ed pages. The
president of Roanoke
College, David
Gring, praised the governor’s plan for its
“fairness” in a Roanoke Times piece. Gring
was candid in identifying himself as a member of the
governor’s informal tax reform group.
He also noted that he will pay more taxes
under the plan and while he wasn’t “particularly
happy” about it, it would be worth it because of
those who have been paying an “unfair share.”
Special
Interest Pleading #1
It’s
already started. Retired auditor
Orban
Gregory of Wirtz became one of the first special
interests to address the Warner tax plan. In a Roanoke Times commentary, Gregory defended tax deductions for the
elderly, a target of the Warner plan.
Bad
Refrain of the Week
The
Potomac News’
James
Young criticized the lack of real reform in the
governor’s tax plan, but we could do without those
eight references to Mark Warner as the “Boyish
Governor.”
Graft
Needed to Fight Status Quo
The
big news from
Northern Virginia
was the Town of Herndon’s rejection of a tax plan to extend Metrorail
from Falls Church
to Dulles
Airport. Washington
Post columnist Marc
Fisher, noting that this follows on the heels of
the region rejecting a sales tax increase for
transportation, asked, “Isn't it clear by now that
however awful the road congestion is around here, a
lot of people don't especially mind it?” Steven
Pearlstein, also of the Post,
called the business leaders who have futilely
supported tax increases “paper tigers.” He bemoaned the fact that
Northern Virginia
doesn’t have the institutional structure for
“honest graft,” a means to “lubricate”
political machinery to do the will of business
moguls.
Can
You Hear Me Now?
The
Republican eavesdropping scandal refuses to go away. Now it’s Attorney General Jerry Kilgore who
is hearing a ringing in his ears.
Following up on dogged investigative
reporting by George Whitehurst of the Danville
Register & Bee, Bob
Gibson of the
Daily Press and Jeff
Schapiro of the Richmond
Times-Dispatch commented on phone records that
may cast doubt on parts of the Kilgore account.
“Unresolved questions remain that may detract from
the praise given Kilgore if they remain unanswered
and if the stated actions of key players remain in
conflict,” according to Gibson.
Schapiro was more direct: “A suspicion,
perhaps underscored by his awkward performance
before a roomful of reporters and editors, that he
knows a lot more than he lets on.”
A
Chink in the Armor
Gov.
Mark Warner has had a free ride from the press on
his image as a business executive who would bring
efficiency to state government. Jeff
Schapiro previewed a Joint Legislative and Audit
Review Commission (JLARC) report on the governor’s
signature efficiency issue, creation of VITA, the
Virginia Information and Technology Agency. The new organization still doesn’t have a
leader, has an uncertain timetable for the transfer
of employees, and the transition may cost more than
projected.
“What
Do We Do Now?”
That’s
a famous movie line spoken by Robert Redford in the
“The Candidate.” Thanks to
Hugh
Lessig and Terry Scanlon of the Daily
Press, we were reminded that Virginia’s newly elected freshman candidates have a lot to
learn starting the day after their victory
celebration. The
political duo reported on a “Freshman
Orientation” session held at the state capitol. Danita Wilson, legislative aide to Sen.
Thomas Norment, R-
Williamsburg, told the newcomers, “Every day is going to be a
zoo.”
The
Pundit Who Saved Christmas
What,
no Christmas tree, Charlie Brown? Dave
Addis of the Virginian-Pilot
lead an indignant public in criticizing the
Statewide Fire Code, effective in October, that
banned live Christmas trees in apartments and
condos. Addis
trotted out national statistics:
According
to the National Fire Prevention Association, there
were 368,000 residential fires in the United States
in 2000, the last year for which numbers are available. Of those, just
370 involved Christmas trees, living or plastic.
About 6,100 involved outdoor grills.
Compare
that to the other causes: Smoking, 140,800; indoor
cooking, 94,000; bad heating systems, 49,200;
electrical problems, 38,300; clothes dryers, 14,300;
and candles, 12,540.
One
day after Addis’ column appeared, the state fire
marshal relaxed
the rules in rural areas and left enforcement in
other areas to local discretion.
You’re
a good man, Dave Addis.
Happy holidays to all Virginia Pundit Watch
readers!
--
December 15, 2003
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