Jerry Kilgore for Virginia Governor
Posted on 06/27/2005 11:05:03 AM PDT by Gopher Broke
Edited on 06/27/2005 5:12:26 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
It's become clear that Virginia's gubernatorial election between former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore and Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine will not be the only state race between a conservative Republican and a liberal Democrat this year.
Virginia Republicans should be delighted by the news that Leslie Byrne, a liberal politician who previously served in the House of Delegates, the state Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor this month with approximately 35 percent of the vote.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Good post, thanks.
I've been to Kaines blog and it reflects the true scum of the Democrat party. Foul language and few facts are the rule-of-the-day.
Didn't Kilgore say, "CHARLIE DON'T REDISTRICT!"?
I'm a native Virginian and resident of over 40 years. While not a Mark Warner fan, it must be said that Jim Gilmore ran this state's finances right into the ground. Be careful what you ask for.
Just because the car tax is bad public policy does not mean that Mark Warner's legacy of an unnecessary $1.4BILLION tax increase was needed. Long term, Mark Warner is an economic disaster for Virginia.
Not exactly. I've made no secret on these threads that I thought the "No Car Tax" scheme was good policy and lousy politics. But Gilmore did not run the state's finances into the ground.
The fact is that there was a downturn in the economy in Gilmore's last year and we were hit with 9/11.
But the state budget NEVER decreased. And, contrary to what Mark Warner wanted us all to believe, there was NEVER a funding deficit. The only thing that happened was that spending increasd at a slower pace. But it DID increase.
Thus leading to Mark Warner's campaign lie where he said "I will not raise taxes." A promise he broke when he FIRST proposed raising taxes 40 days into office.
He finally got his tax increase, and low and behold to "everyone's" surprise, this years' budget surplus equals EXACTLY the amount of the tax increase.
Governor Kilgore ping.
Horse manure. Jim Gilmore gave us our own money back, as promised. 9/11 and the recession took out this state's finances, not Jim Gilmore.
And you have hit on precisely why Warner is a dirty word around here. Simply put, he lied. I will, however take issue with your opinion that the "No Car Tax" mantra was good policy but lousy politics. It was GREAT politics, and the only reason that Jim Gilmore was elected. I am, in all probability, part of a small minority here who believe that taxes are not the root of all evil. I live in Northern Virginia and 75% of my tax dollars go downstate. That's what I object to. If those tax dollars stayed here, I wouldn't sit in traffic for 1-2 hours per day. Another reason I reject the lockstep anti-tax chorus is that since the diminution of the car tax; other local taxes, fees, licensures, etc, have gone up precipitously. Perhaps its just me, but I preferred to write one check per year as opposed to being nickeled and dimed on a daily basis.
AAACK!!! My bad. I'm a bit dislexic this afternoon. It was excellent politics, and you're right, it got him elected. Unfortunately, there was no real plan on how to implement it.
BUT, your car tax never came to Richmond. That's a local tax.
And the reason it was bad policy is because it was never really eliminated. Your car tax reduction became a new budget item.
In other words, with a car tax reduction of 70%, you pay 30% to the locality and the Commonwealth of Virginia pays the balance to the locality.
It wasn't really cutting the car tax. It was adding state spending.
Oh please. I lived in NoVa. They could pave over every square inch of land and there'd still be traffic headaches. That argument just doesn't wash.
You're right, you are in a minority. And Dr. Walter Williams (econ prof at GMU) would beg to differ. All those fees ARE taxes. Just because they call them fees doesn't change what they are - they are TAXES!
Taxes, by definition, take money that would have been put to productive use in society and gives it to the government. It's legalized theft from productive (in the economic sense) segments of society and gives it to unproductive segments. Government has no profit motive and therefore, by definition, is NOT a good steward.
Couple that with the recent decision by the Supreme Court that has, in essence, just outlawed private property, and we are now officially a socialist country.
I notice you LIVED in Northern Virginia. I live here now. With the exception of two years in the Army and 4 years in college, I have lived here since 1960. In that time I have watched traffic congestion explode. If you don't think that argument "washes", I would wager that you haven't lived here for a while. In any case, you have no idea what is currently important to Northern VA voters.
Here's where you and I differ. I voted with my feet. If traffic congestion really bothered you that much, you'd leave. For the moment, you are free to do that. I do get tired of people whining about the traffic. If it really were that important to you, you'd move.
I still have family there and I get up there fairly regularly. Yes, it has gotten worse. Yes, I understand that people in nova are frustrated with the traffic. But, like I said, you could pave over every single, solitary square inch of land from Fredericksburg to Baltimore and there'd still be gridlock.
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