Road plan called wrong GOP path (VA)

Washington Times ^ | 1-26-07 | Seth McLaughlin

[JZelle]

Some Virginia Republicans say the proposed transportation deal forces them to consider how far they will stray from their conservative roots in order to get a comprehensive package approved. "You can't call this a conservative bill with a straight face, but nobody is getting out there saying this is a conservative bill," Sen. Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II told The Washington Times. "Certainly I have been talking to party folks who share my concern for the demise of the Republican brand. We used to be the tax-cutting, or at least the hold-the-line party," the Fairfax County Republican said. "So what does this do to us as a party? I'm still digesting it all."

[JZelle]

Mr. Albo said the regional component is conservative because it swaps out a local option to raise income taxes, which has never been used, with the authority to raise "user fees" for roads and mass transit.

[iceskater]

Mr. Parmelee and Robin DeJarnette, executive director of the Virginia Conservative Action PAC, said the plan dismisses that voters in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads in 2002 overwhelmingly rejected a referendum to raise the state's sales tax for roads.
"If they are that confident that this is the best thing they can put together for Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia then they shouldn't have a problem sending it to a referendum again," Mrs. DeJarnette said.

I've been saying this for 2 years.

[Gabz]

I know you have.

I still scratch my head over the conversation I had with a NoVa resident over on Chincoteague. The gist was basically everyone should being paying to deal with their road problems, but only the Eastern Shore should being paying for a new Chincoteague Bridge. The person was not exactly thrilled when I suggested we would probably go along with it as long as it was a toll bridge for nonEastern Shore residents.

[Moose4]

If the people most affected by the problem aren't willing to pay for the road expansion (directly or indirectly), then obviously it's not enough of a problem to worry about, right? Don't start robbing downstate Virginia to pay for roads in Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William Counties.

That having been said, I still think VDOT needs to get its act together and be held more accountable for how it spends what money it does get. I've never been convinced that the money that is going to NoVa is getting spent wisely.

}:-)4

[iceskater]

VDOT isn't spending the money wisely anywhere. If the GA doesn't mandate massive changes to VDOT to make it more accountable and more responsible, then I will probably have a stroke because my blood pressure will go into the stratosphere.

[iceskater]

Musta been a lib....

[Gabz]

The Kerry and Kaine bumper stickers kind of proved it :)

[iceskater]

LOL, I can only imagine.....

[org.whodat]

VDOT isn't spending the money wisely anywhere.

Truer words have never been written. It is the most mismanaged transportation department in the whole USA.