In an editorial advising Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to stay focused on transportation issues, the Virginian-Pilot couldn’t resist taking this swipe at the GOP-dominated House of Delegates:

A new Mason-Dixon poll delivered fresh political cover to Republicans who want to do nothing about the fact that there are too many cars and too few roads. Kaine’s ill-timed discussion of spending more on education delivers yet another excuse to Republicans in the House of Delegates who’d like to do nothing. You can just hear Republicans thinking, “Why should we consider a compromise on increasing taxes for transportation when Kaine is just going to turn around and ask us for another round of spending increases?”

So, Republicans “want to do nothing“? The V-P editorial writers need to get out of their little bubble in downtown Norfolk. I would suggest they start by reading Garren Shipley’s piece in the Northern Virginia Daily, which we highlighted yesterday on this blog. (See “Coming Up: An Extreme Makeover for Transportation.”)

The Pilot pundits don’t have to agree with the paradigm-shifting proposals under discussion, but they should at least acknowledge the fact that they exist. I can guarantee you, the transportation debate will take a very different tone when the General Assembly reconvenes in September. While House Republicans are talking about totally restructuring the way transportation is funded and administered, the Pilot is stuck in yesterday’s debate defining the problem as a simple lack of tax revenues.

And that’s a shame. The million-or-so residents of the Virginian-Pilot’s circulation area in south Hampton Roads, as well as their elected representatives, need to know the outlines of the debate that’s taking shape, not the debate that the Pilot fought — and lost — two months ago.