Posted on 03/18/2004 8:06:29 AM PST by cogitator
Edited on 07/20/2004 11:51:20 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
The Virginia Senate returned yesterday to work on a state budget, proposing a compromise with a dramatically reduced price tag. The House of Delegates ground to a halt - but not before insisting its members be paid $115 per day for working overtime.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesdispatch.com ...
New Start Brings No Deal on Budget
Senate Committee Votes To Give Up Gas Tax Increase
Excerpt:
"And while the Senate abandoned its push for $1.6 billion in new transportation money, it joined Warner in continuing to insist on the need for higher broad-based taxes to increase government spending on such programs as schools, colleges, public safety and health care." ...
"Senators said their move refocuses the debate: Now, the big difference between the two chambers is almost exclusively the amount each would put into public education.
"What's at stake here in public education is the incredible strides Virginia has made in the last few years," said Sen. H. Russell Potts (R-Winchester). "We simply can't throw away those strides."
Said Sen. R. Edward Houck (D-Spotsylvania): "I'll reluctantly sacrifice the transportation money, but I will not sacrifice public education."
They should be docked $1000 a day.
Oh, the public will get an education alright if this mess goes through. The RINOs are the ones who need to be taught a lesson.
"We still find the greedy hand of government thrusting itself into every corner and crevice of industry, and grasping at the spoil of the multitude. Invention is continually exercised to furnish new pretenses for revenue and taxation. It watches prosperity as its prey and permits none to escape without a tribute."
-- Thomas Paine
He also said:
"... Moody's seems satisfied that Warner and the legislature are promptly replenishing a "rainy day fund" that was tapped to balance recent budgets, but that alone is not enough to preserve the AAA rating. He said Moody's is looking for actions that will ensure that revenues are enough to cover projected expenses, not only in the next budget but in future spending plans as well.
Asked whether Virginia could achieve structural balance with spending cuts, Kantor said "it depends on what you cut." Eliminating recurring expenses would be more effective than one-time reductions, he said.
But any solution, Kantor said, will have to include "investing in the infrastructure."
I hope all the Republicans in Virginia fighting the good fight against tax increases and excess government spending will continue to stay the course. Good luck, guys: there's a lot of pressure being exerted to make the House capitulate to the "greater wisdom" of the governor, the Senate, and outside financial sources and the Wall Street bond agencies.
Referendums are cover for gun-shy legislators
Neither Virginia Gov. Mark Warner nor Virginia Senate Leader John H. Chichester wants to "turn Virginia into California." That statement is a reference to the suggestion that raising state taxes be put to a statewide referendum because stubborn state legislators can't or won't do their jobs.
For the hot and hopelessly gridlocked Old Dominion legislators, I offer this California New Age-style prayer: "For I now open my mind to possibilities I have not dreamed of, to forces of life I have not allowed in, and to realms of joy I have hardly imagined."
The General Assembly extended its session by three days so budget battlers in the Republican-led Senate and the House could reach a compromise. Today is their deadline. The General Assembly had better come up with a reasonable budget — spreading the tax pain and gain evenly by the drop-dead date of June 30 because a government shutdown is totally unacceptable.
The conservative commonwealth's legislature found the time to pass a duplicative measure reaffirming its opposition to same-sex "marriage," but not to figure out how to pay the state's basic bills. Now House Speaker William J. Howell, Fredericksburg Republican, wants to pass the buck to voters who are generally more emotional than educated about operating a multibillion-dollar government.
Earlier this month, Mr. Howell issued an ultimatum calling for a referendum or an impasse. His antitax advocates refuse to consider higher taxes because they are politically opposed to them. The Senate proposed tax increases even greater than the Democratic governor's.
Why should Virginia voters decide while the politicians, who want to protect their jobs at all costs, comfortably run for cover? Referendums were not so great for Californians.
"Bawk, bawk, bawk, bawk," sounds like Southern fried chicken. Or, as Mr. Warner said, that's a clear "abdication of responsibility." So he rightly threatened to veto the tax referendum that would be held in June.
We are not helped in our taxing and spending confusion by ideological politicians grandstanding with gestures and slogans. Waving "Trust the voters, Mark," stickers and donning seersucker suits to signal their willingness to force the budget impasse through summer, is silly and nonproductive.
Mr. Warner is, as usual, standing in the middle of the muddle. He must come off the chicken-wire fence, too, and be more informative and forceful with legislators and taxpayers. He must explain why tax increases are necessary for which critical state services.
U.S. Sen. John W. Warner, Virginia Republican, warned that Virginia could lose its federal cash cow, the huge Norfolk Naval Base, if state finances are further weakened. He was joined by conservative former U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd Jr. All are concerned about the state's formerly stellar bond rating slowly slipping downward.
Adding to the confusion, former Democratic Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, who was appointed by Mr. Warner to head a tax reform commission, came out against the Senate tax proposals.
Joining the antitax chorus are the Republican voices of former governors George Allen, now a senator, and James S. Gilmore III. Both should remain silent, given that they contributed to the current state deficit — Mr. Allen through the most costly prison buildup in history, Mr. Gilmore to the costly car-tax repeal.
Are John and Jane Q. Public supposed to read the Commission on Efficiency and Effectiveness tax reform report? Can ordinary taxpayers miraculously gather more inside budget data than these learned gentlemen who've had the benefit of experience and inside expertise?
Mr. Chichester, Fredericksburg Republican, said, "We were elected to discharge the obligations before us." I heard that. "To put it off on someone else to do our work for us is probably not in the best interest of the citizens of the commonwealth." You've got that right.
Who votes to raise their own taxes? Look what happened with the transportation-tax referendum. Dead on arrival. Everybody wants more roads to alleviate gridlock, but no one wants to pay for them.
The problem with most Americans is we truly believe we can have it all, all the time. We don't want to make choices. Too many try to live a California-caviar-and-champagne lifestyle on a Virginia ham-sandwich-and-beer budget.
Mr. Howell says the intelligence of Virginia voters should not be underestimated. No, we're not so stupid that we can't see that the gridlocked legislators we hired to represent us now want us to do their jobs.
Mr. Howell said, "Virginians are eager to have their say," in this budget bust. Yes, with letters, e-mail and phone calls to our representatives. And, we can vote to get rid of those who don't respond accordingly.
Referendums are reactionary. They are the lazy way for representatives and citizens to govern.
It is the citizens' job to make informed choices about who best will represent their political and practical philosophies before, not after, elections.
It's those representatives' duty to do their homework, get some backbone and make the difficult decisions.
After all, they asked for the job. So just "open my mind to possibilities I have not dreamed of," and do your duty.
It's hard to believe this piece appeared in the Washington Times and not in the Washington Post.
Well, it does seem that the "good guys" are holding fast. It's the RINO's and other bad guys that are exasperating this unbelievable mess.
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