Spank That Donkey

 Wow, you don't know where our elected officials are going to come down on the issues until you have a 'crisis'. Bill Bolling ran his campaign for Lt. Gov. on the firm belief that the VA economy is in fine shape, and will produce the surplus funds needed to meet the needs such as Transportation with out raising taxes. He was right then, and now is still 'sticking to his guns', an excerpt from his General Assembly Begins Report:

Transportation

While we agree that we must secure additional money for the Transportation Trust Fund to assist with the timely completion of critical highway construction projects, we disagree with the Governor’s proposal to increase taxes to accomplish this goal. With Virginia’s economy continue to grow at a rapid rate, we do not feel that tax increases are necessary or appropriate.

Rather, we believe that we should secure additional funding for transportation by using existing revenue sources to dedicate more money to highway construction. We also support the responsible use of bonds to help advance funding for critical transportation projects in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.

Attorney General Bob McDonnell also ran on holding the line on taxes, but according to a few newspaper reports his is willing to bend on taxes at a time of budget surplus in the Commonwealth.  Note this WaPo article:

Top Republicans in Virginia, including the state's attorney general and the party's former national chairman, have been holding secret meetings for weeks in the hopes of finding an end to the war among their party's lawmakers and reaching a compromise on funding for transportation, several participants said.

 More from the article:

McDonnell, who is widely believed to be preparing for a 2009 run for governor, would not confirm Thursday that any meetings took place. But he said he is determined to help his party retain control of the legislature.

Uggg,  It seems to me that Virginia's voters are going to see less and less of a difference in the parties, if Republicans are just going to do just like the Democrats and raise taxes in times of surplus!  Seriously, what is the point in voting for a Republican if that becomes the case?

Here is an editorial from the Washington Times, an excerpt:

 As the General Assembly began its session, some Republicans -- with the backing of Attorney General Robert McDonnell, House Speaker William Howell and Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Chichester -- have been meeting to discuss a transportation "compromise" that could include tax increases. "It's vitally important that the issue of transportation be addressed this session," Mr. McDonnell, who is hosting the talks, told The Washington Post. "I know there are people of goodwill in both houses that understand that. In an election year, you don't get points for trying. You get points for results."

The Republican Senators that AG McDonnell is working with are the same ones who just last session set aside $339 million for transportation, but did not pass that funding along to VDOT to begin the most urgent transportation projects!  If this were not all politics, and we really had a 'crisis' on our hands shouldn't that funding have been sent to VDOT immediately?

More from the WaPo, another excerpt:

The division could have huge implications for the primary and general election this year. Kaine and Democratic leaders have warned that they will try to unseat Republican lawmakers in traffic-clogged Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads who oppose tax increases for transportation.

And This:

"If Republicans raise taxes, we will put ourselves at greatest peril of losing our majorities. That is the worst we can do." said Sen. Ken Cuccinelli II (R-Fairfax).

That is exactly the point, if the "Gang of Five" in the Senate, and the Governor do not get their tax increases they will simply say, we tried, and the Republican majority in the House of Delegates is the problem.  Instant campaign theme.

On the other hand if they can get the Pubs to 'cave', and raise taxes then the Virginia voters, and especially the Conservative voters  will see no reason to come out and vote Republican...  I don't see where AG McDonnell is helping, because obviously he is putting pressure on the House side to give in...

I guess his strategy if he gets the House members to cave is to say that he is the 'true Leader' among the Pubs for the 09' fight for the Governors nomination, but in essence he is also weakening the Conservative's hand in Pub politics, and going to give our 'faithful' a reason to stay home.

Raising taxes also threatens to retard the VA economy when the Federal Reserve is trying to reel in inflation, and may just be getting ready to increase interest rates again.  That will really put pressure on the economy.  Meanwhile the Governor is trying to use land use issues against the VA Housing Industry which is already reeling from higher interest rates, which has driven up the cost of housing.  By retarding the housing supply it will only hurt affordability that much more!

This doesn't look good....  The Pubs rallying cry should be "It's The Surplus Stupid"!