Posted on 02/28/2013 11:01:10 AM PST by Gopher Broke
"Conservative" does not mean the same thing as "pro-business," as Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has demonstrated.
McDonnell -- whose three-year record is mostly characterized by conservative policies -- this week won the largest tax hike in state history and a package of new spending on transportation. Cheering him on was Virginia's business lobby.
The tax-hike-and-roads package fits well into a pattern of McDonnell veering from his conservative principles when the business lobby wants more government. McDonnell, for instance, has subsidized favored businesses and industries through tax credits and special incentives. Also, Virginia's dependence on the military-industrial complex and the "Beltway Bandit" federal contractors has made McDonnell a leading critic of the sequester, which would reduce the federal deficit through spending cuts.
The transportation bill McDonnell supports would hike sales taxes to 6 percent in Northern Virginia (up from 5 percent), rejigger the gas tax and index it to inflation and increase taxes on home sales. This tax revenue, along with more money from the general fund, will provide what the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce calls a "sustainable fund" for transportation, with the hope of alleviating traffic congestion.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
um... I got to side with the governor on this, infrastucture like roads are one of the few good things Government SHOULD be spending money on.
Not all government spending is bad, to suggest such makes us look silly. If a state or local government wants to spend money to improve it’s infrastructure... then I say... more power to them!
My local city has had several bond elections in the last few years for infrastructure related improvements, and nearly every one passed easily, and rightfully so.
They could have raised the gas tax or moved money from the NEA-controlled General Fund.
Raising sales taxes on all Virginians plus the car tax and others taxes is NOT the solution to fix Northern Virginia’s road problem.
The premise of this article is flawed.
Being Conservative doesn’t mean you are against sensible taxation and spending. We need good infrastucture, a strong military, etc.
What Conservatives are against is out of control government spending on so many wasteful programs and departments.
A Government BIG enough to give anything to anybody is a government big enough to take everything from everybody.
government at all levels wastes incalcuable amounts of money.
Raising taxes to pay for new spending (even needed spending) should always be the last choice. Unfortunately, it’s the easy choice because of the way our system is set up.
Everyone wants something for nothing.
example:
elected officials determine that __________ is REALLY and truely needed (and it really is)
they then hold an election taking the matter directly to the people with several possible choices.
1. A taxe hike of ______ to pay for it.
or
2. A cut in current spending to pay for it.
If they answer 2, then they should be given a list of different things that could be cut to choose from.
And then let the people truely decide what is the most important.
Agreed. It's the one-size-fits-all Federal Gov't which is the major problem.
States should be encouraged to govern as they see fit.
That being said, there are of course States which will also tend toward strangling individual freedoms. The citizens of the State itself will have to decide how much freedom they want.
Well, all the “PRINCIPLED” R’s can get back at him by voting in McAuliffe as the next Gov...
I was kind of ‘disgusted’ with ‘Bob’ when he openly backed Romney - of course he was probably angling for a VP slot - at the least...
But, yes get another Clinton D in charge and VA will be turning into another Chicago ... I didn’t really like the last D but he wasn’t McCauliffe either...
If you fellow Virginians ‘forget’ who Terry McAuliffe is, just remember he is the guy that was a Sr Clintoon advisor AND was financing his (Clinton’s) house...and Hillary’s campaign Mgr.
Another ‘carpet bagger’....born in NY, an alumnae of J Carter AND B Clinton also a LAWYER...
Yea, stay mad at Bob McDonell
That will show HIM and us Conservatives.
Some one should also ‘tell’ Bolling to SD&STFU lest we get royally screwed by the D machine...
Before siding with the governor, get better informed about what is happening here in VA. We were screwed as a number of RINOs sided with all the Democrats to screw us.
Do you think the "moderate" Reps will support Cuccinelli? I doubt it given this:
Ken Cuccinelli ripped by business leaders
McDonnell supported Bolling to replace him. Bolling withdrew and now is thinking about running as an independent. McDonnell hates Cuccinelli and conservatives. It will be interesting to see if McDonnell will sign or veto the voter ID bill on his desk. It will tell a lot about his future political ambitions.
Do you think the “moderate” Reps will support Cuccinelli? I doubt it given this
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My usage of ‘Principled’ R’s was meant to be facetious.
I am talking the ‘R’ that sat out Romney because they didn’t like the way his hair was combed, or Bain Capital, or he didn’t kiss everyones patootie... I didn’t ‘like’ him either but at least I can look myself in the eye and say “I did absolutely NOTHING to help BO get reelected”.
When you figure obozo ‘ONLY’ got about 51%, including the double voters, the dead voters, the (reported) non registered voters etc, if the R’s that decided to ‘stay home’ had voted we may be in just as bad shape BUT we wouldn’t be looking at this particular ‘poseur’.
I am convinced that Media Blitz that started in early OCT and snowballed by election day that the R’s had a HUGE lead, along with joebama and his idiocy, people that MAY have went out figured they weren’t needed..... Just MNSHO
VA is turning purple and eventually blue because of changing demographics. 30% of the population of Fairfax County are foreign born. The Dems have been piling up huge margins in NoVA and in the major urban areas. These are also the fastesr growing areas of the state. Demography is destiny.
“um... I got to side with the governor on this, infrastucture like roads are one of the few good things Government SHOULD be spending money on.”
“roads” is the new “It’s for the Children”, and is the excuse raise taxes to raise taxes and use some money to build roads that we’ll be taxed to drive on.
If a locality (that isn’t mine) wants to raise taxes, I have no opinion.
If you actually read what he is doing, you’d not be so quick to side with our tax and spend governor.
Romney didn’t lose VA because Reps stayed home
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I don’t know how you arrived at that conclusion.
With Romney, I am referring to National.
I pointed that out as to what could happen.
We definitely don’t want or need McAuliffe as governor.
Just seems that as a rule the voter is DUMBER than before.
People in Tidewater KNEW what was going to happen - ‘they’ had threatened massive layoffs and cutbacks for the Navy in that area.
Must not have phased a lot of people because BO won and we ended up with Kaine in the Senate - Even though Allen was ‘forced’ upon us the primaries really weren’t close...
Couple years back BO and Murtha told the people in W PA that ‘they’ were going after coal mining and the coal industry.
Both won in a walk....Maybe there is something to people NOT wanting to work and just sit home and let ‘someone else’ take care of them...
Sure is mysterious.
I have the data to prove it. And I am involved in FCRC activities including being a poll worker and getting out the vote. The reality is that the Dems are becoming the permanent majority party in VA and the US.
The writing was on the wall when Kerry won Fairfax County in 2004. The numbers just keep getting worse as the Dems pile up 100,000 plus margins in Fairfax County. Reps are aging and dying out. They are being replaced by Dem voters every time a cohort turns 18. By 2019 half of the children age 18 and under will be minorities as defined by the USG. They vote two to one for the Dems.
With Romney, I am referring to National We definitely don’t want or need McAuliffe as governor.
What we want and what we get are two different matters. The odds are that McAuliffe will win. It will be an uphill battle for Ken. If the Dems get any kind of turnout, they will win.
Just seems that as a rule the voter is DUMBER than before. People in Tidewater KNEW what was going to happen - ‘they’ had threatened massive layoffs and cutbacks for the Navy in that area. Must not have phased a lot of people because BO won and we ended up with Kaine in the Senate - Even though Allen was ‘forced’ upon us the primaries really weren’t close...
The voter is not dumber, we just have more dumb voters as the Dems continue to increase their numbers. The electorate is changing. It is becoming more immigrant and more minority.
Sure is mysterious
Nothing mysterious about it. When you change the electorate thru immigration and birthrates, you change the balance of political power. We bring in every year 1.2 million legal immigrants. 87% of them are minorities as defined by the USG. Two thirds of them will vote Dem. And so will their children and grandchildren. In the decade ending in 2010, we brought in 13.9 million legal immigrants--the highest number in our history and this despite the fact that we had a net loss of 400,000 jobs during that same period.
California is the canary in the coal mine. The current demographics in CA will be those of the US in 2050. In the meantime, you will see state after state turn purple and then blue. VA is on that path along with NV, CO, AZ, FL, and NC. Once TX goes, it is all over.
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