Don't Blame Bob Marshall; Va. Officials Were Warned About Passing the Buck on Road Taxes

The Washington Post ^ | March 4, 2008

[khnyny]

Virginia Del. Bob Marshall, the Republican from Prince William County who is one of the last great crusaders in the General Assembly, follows his conscience, no matter how unpopular or inconvenient the results. Whether he's seeking to restrict abortion in any possible way or trying to restrict development that might damage the environment, he's fine with ticking off left or right. In fact, he relishes the idea.

So it came as no surprise that it was Marshall who tossed a pipe bomb into the delicate structure that housed Virginia's multibillion-dollar transportation compromise. And when he won a total victory in the Virginia Supreme Court last week, his reaction was classic Marshall: "I told you so."

Where other politicians might try to calm their colleagues or craft a compromise, Marshall instead was gleeful over the unanimous declaration by the state's high court that last year's transportation plan, designed to raise $1.1 billion a year for roads and rails while allowing legislators to pretend that they hadn't raised taxes, was now "null and void."

The legislature and Gov. Tim Kaine had created regional transportation authorities and charged them with raising fees and taxes to generate money to ease congestion in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. Rather than taking the straightforward, honest path of raising either the gas tax or the sales tax, the politicians had come up with a crazy-quilt of borrowing, local levies and the ill-fated abuser fees, all of which Sen. Ken Stolle, a Virginia Beach Republican, came to call "too cute."

[khnyny]

Bob Marshall - a true conservative for Virginia.

[W04Man]

ping

[JSDude1]

www.bobmarshall2008.com If you like him in the Leg, you’ll really like him in the Senate!

[javachip]

There won't be a republican primary for the US Senate candidate, so any Virginians who want to get involved in the nomination process need to participate in mass meetings and the state convention http://bobmarshall2008.com/convention.html

Deadlines to sign up are coming up quickly for many counties.

[loungeSerf]

Great story. Sounds like an excellent representative. Go, Bob Marshall!

[Ben Ficklin]

What is Marshall’s plan for road improvements and funding?

[CharlesWayneCT]

He’s the man. He should be our Next Senator. I expect him to be much like Tom Coburn.