Charge the Windmills!
Tomorrow, November 2nd, registered voters in the Commonwealth of Virginia will elect the next governor of our state. If recent experience is any clue, less than half of those registered will vote. I’m going out on the proverbial limb here to relate my choices—and my reasons for them—for the state-wide offices here in Virginia.
Simply put, I will vote for:
- Creigh Deeds (Governor)
- Jody Wagner (Lieutenant Governor)
- Steve Shannon (Attorney General)
I use, to illustrate my choices, a digital image of a woodcut depicting Don Quixote because, well, it seems—from recent polls—that my choices are quixotic. I don’t know why, but it seems the Democrats have waged a particularly and peculiarly ineffective campaign.
No, I am not a registered Democrat. I have voted for Republicans, but I can’t find a reason to do so this time around. I’ll explain why…
Attorney General
The current Attorney General and Republican candidate for Governor, Bob McDonnell, established a non-discriminatory policy regarding gays and lesbians. His purported successor, Ken Cuccinelli, declines to endorse that policy. Cuccinelli recently said this about gays and lesbians:
“My view is that homosexual acts, not homosexuality, but homosexual acts are wrong. They’re intrinsically wrong. And I think in a natural law based country it’s appropriate to have policies that reflect that. …They don’t comport with natural law. I happen to think that it represents (to put it politely; I need my thesaurus to be polite) behavior that is not healthy to an individual and in aggregate is not healthy to society.”
Virginian Pilot
How could I vote for a bigot? I can’t. By the way, Cuccinelli has also advocated for:
- An amendment to the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution that would revoke the citizenship of children born in the United States to parents who are illegal immigrants
- Allowing businesses to sue competitors who hire, even unknowingly, illegal aliens
- Disqualifying persons who do not speak English from unemployment compensation, despite their immigration status
- Allowing those who possess a permit to carry a concealed weapon to carry such concealed weapon into a restaurant or club
Lieutenant Governor
The Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor, Bill Bolling, is an honorable person. The problem, for me and for others (I suspect) is his inconsistency. Ms. Wagner’s campaign Website quotes an endorsement by the The Washington Post that described Mr. Bolling as:
“A conservative lawmaker before he was elected lieutenant governor four years ago, Mr. Bolling voted for some of the more ambitious spending packages in the state’s history, particularly ones proposed by Republican governors during the dotcom boom. Now he attacks Virginia’s outlays as having been profligate. He opposed Mr. Warner’s tax increase in 2004, a large chunk of which went to boost public schools. Now he talks about the vital importance of an enormous increase in teacher salaries.”
That’s interesting. Either you’re for something or you’re against it. My vote goes to another Windmill, Jody Wagner.
Virginia Governor
Well, now about the contest for the office of the Governor…
The Republican candidate, Bob McDonnell, apparently has at least an 11-point lead over his Democrat rival, Creigh Deeds, according to the latest poll. But, how do their major program policies compare?
Employment—A Wash
Neither candidate advances methods to pay for the additional funding their programs will require. They give lip service to the need for more funds, but that’s it. The fact is, that for all the political hyperbole between McDonnell and Deeds, their proposals for employment are remarkably similar. And useless. Companies are dying or have died; the inability to obtain financing, coupled with dramatic drops in sales of goods and services, have accomplished that and none of the programs offered by the Democrats and Republicans will overcome the economic realities. The federal Recovery Act was passed to be a bridge between what has become known as The Great Recession and the end of the recession. If our economy is really emerging from the recession, employment is not increasing.
| Deeds | McDonnell |
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Transportation—Why Deeds?
To me, this is more or less the tie-breaker between the two candidates. Why? Deeds’s approach to transportation projects and funding is at least more honest, for one. McDonnell claims that his plans for transportation will avoid new or increased taxes on Virginians and he charges, over and over again, that Deeds intends to raise our taxes to fund transportation.
Increased Taxes
However, McDonnell promises to raise taxes and fees on all Virginians through new tolls on Interstates 95 and 85 and by increasing public-private partnerships for new transportation projects. (If you’ve ever travelled on Virginia Route 895, the Pocahontas Parkway, you know what a public-private partnership means to your wallet.)
Commuter Tax
Finally, McDonnell proposes the passage and implementation of “congestion pricing” on a state-wide basis. This is nothing more than a commuter tax, and he knows it. If you work in the Washington, D.C. or Tidewater regions and have to commute to and from work, you’ll pay for the privilege. Not at the pump, though; the gasoline tax is bad for business. So much for “no new taxes.”
VDoT Funding
Although Deeds looks for a bipartisan bill from the legislature that includes a “dedicated funding mechanism” (tax or taxes) for the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDoT), McDonnell proposes the use of bonds and more bonds—that’s debt, shipmates. More debt.
Both candidates offer proposals that they cannot deliver without outside approval or intervention, chiefly by new legislation for funding. So, particularly in these days, such programs are worth the paper on which they are not printed. McDonnell goes a bit further, though:
Privatize the Alcohol Beverage Control system
Selling off the ABC stores and eliminating that state monopoly is a good idea. It’s been proposed before and rejected each time, however, and prospects for it don’t look any more promising. One factor is the fear by some that Virginia would be flooded by Demon Liquour if such a thing happens.
Northern Virginia Sales Tax Retention
McDonnell proposes that 30% of state sales taxes generated in Northern Virginia counties be retained by those counties specifically for transportation projects. What, however, happens to the programs that are currently supported by these receipts? Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not always a great idea.
Off-Shore Drilling Revenue
McDonnell admits that it will be “years” before funds are generated from the lease of off-shore drilling projects. For one thing, the federal government controls such projects. The simple fact is, that there is no off-shore drilling anywhere near Virginia today. Additionally, there are policy and environmental issues that adversely affect the prospect of drilling for oil and natural gas on the Atlantic shelf off of Virginia.
VDoT Modernization
McDonnell claims that Virginia may be able to achieve savings of up to $50,000,000 by modernizing VDoT. He bases this on a study done of the Washington State Department of Transportation:
“In 2007 and 2008, the Washington State Auditor’s Office independently audited four facets of the Washington State Department of Transportation, uncovering over $110 million in potential cost savings over 5 years. The Auditor also estimated that re-orienting the department's priorities and focusing heavily on reducing traffic congestion would produce $3 billion in economic benefits over 5 years. In large part, these economic benefits follow from the estimated 15 percent to 20 percent reduction in traffic congestion.”
Audits are done routinely on VDoT and its operations. Perhaps there may be significant savings to be realized within an agency that had to close down half or more of the rest areas along Interstates 64, 66, 81, 85, and 95. Perhaps.
Assumption of Federal Environmental Review Processes
Now, here’s a viable proposal, yes? Imagine the Congress and the President devolving to a state the Constitutionally-mandated federal responsibilities of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Highway Administration. Just imagine that happening in our lifetime.
Anyway, here are the bullet points from each candidate’s official Web site:
| Deeds | McDonnell |
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Education—Another Wash
Both Deeds and McDonnell offer several good ideas regarding education in Virginia. The problem with both lies in the funding: How Will They Be Funded? Neither candidate can answer that, because neither candidate knows how the state will be able to accomplish it.
From my perspective, this is another wash:
| Deeds | McDonnell |
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Who Wants It?
Virginia is not bankrupt. We just have a lot less money than we need. That’s because receipts are drastically lower today than before. And, that results from The Great Recession. The problem for the Republican and Democratic candidates, particularly for Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell, is that there are no funds to fund the programs they propose. Not without raising taxes and fees, which both candidates promise to do even if they, individually or collectively, excoriate the other for planning to raise taxes and fees. The Washington Post pointed this out:
“But no matter the contest’s outcome, there’s little chance the winner will be able to launch expanded spending anytime soon as Virginia continues to cope with a severe budget crisis that has already led to unpopular measures.”
Rosalind S. Helderman, The Washington Post (November 1, 2009)
The fact is, that Governor Kaine and the legislature received even more depressing news during this campaign, in that there is another shortfall of over $6 billion due to the recession. As many point out, it’s difficult, if not impossible, to raise taxes and fees to cover these declining revenues in the midst of the recession. The only option left is to cut expenditures, something Republicans ostensibly want.
However, candidates for major office do not get elected by promising to cut services. Taxpayers want their candidates to promise lower taxes, but they don’t want less public safety (police & fire fighters), poorer education for their children, or to be on a bridge that collapses.