Tim Kaine: Honeymoon is over

[Frodo]

I still don't see why we need yet another tax increase when we already have a $1Bill surplus.  *grumbles*

"Legislative Honeymoon Doesn't Last Long for Kaine"

So much for Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's legislative honeymoon.

The first six months of his four-year term, the Democrat governor was locked in a partisan turf fight with conservative Republicans who rule the House of Delegates.

Some of the results are unprecedented in Virginia:

- Profound disagreement over a new stream of money for road, rail and transit projects statewide created a budget impasse that came within two days of leaving government unfunded. It's the third time in five years the state missed its late-winter budget deadline, but never had the state been this tardy enacting a budget.

- For the first time, a gubernatorial appointee to a cabinet-level position failed to win legislative confirmation. Daniel G. LeBlanc's nomination as secretary of the commonwealth was defeated in the House because LeBlanc had headed the state AFL-CIO in right-to-work Virginia.

- The House unsuccessfully tried to strip Kaine of much of the governor's authority to appoint members of state boards and commissions, including the Commonwealth Transportation Board.

The $1 billion annual transportation funding imperative Kaine identified as his first-year priority has gone nowhere. Prospects that the House will end six months of unyielding opposition to new taxes as a special legislative session lingers into autumn are unlikely.

(Cont...)

Look, like I told everybody last year, Kaine is a liberal, as well as an accomplished liar.

Expect more nonsense from him.

Oh, BTW, notice how both Kaine and Corzine are pushing for tax increases.

Its really irritating the voters in New Jersey.

Kaine is a fine governor.  It's the idiotic anti-tax Republicans in the House of Delegates who are fouling things up.  They've killed nearly all of the governor's major plans to increase transportation funding towards new roads and new state-sponsored rail programs, as well as educational funding to our state universities.  They care more about giving the Democratic governor a black eye than in the needs of Virginians.  If this keeps up, expect the Democrats to run with it and receive major gains in the House of Delegates in 2007.

Look, lets deal with reality.
 
Did Kaine promise the voters that if elected he would increase taxes, or did he state that he proposed cutting taxes?

So Tim Kaine is a politician who makes promises to get himself elected...what else is new?  I don't quite understand your outrage -what exactly is so shocking about the fact that he went back on a promise when so many other politicians do the same damned thing when circumstances permit?  It doesn't change the fact that he, as with Mark Warner, are better by light years than Jim Gilmore (the deity of the tax-cuts-at-any-costs-for-any-reason crowd) when it comes to fiscal responsibility and keeping the triple-AAA rating of the state inviting investment and increased economic development.  Also, judging by his approval ratings which have remained more or less around 55% throughout this standoff with the House of Delegates, it doesn't seem as if Virginians seem too bothered by the fact that he had gone back on his promise not to raise taxes.   

[Frodo]

Well, I prefer candidates who tell the truth to candidates who lie.

As do I, but this is one broken promise I am not bothered by for obvious reasons.

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And I prefer that the people of Virginia determine how the money gets spent, which is precisely why we have a representative legislature and a popularly elected governor.  If the people of Virginia prefer that the money gets spent on needs they determine are essential, who are anti-tax zealots to disagree? 

[Frodo]

I prefer that people get to keep their money rather than the government take it from them for non-essential purposes.

And I prefer that the people of Virginia determine how the money gets spent, which is precisely why we have a representative legislature and a popularly elected governor.  If the people of Virginia prefer that the money gets spent on needs they determine are essential, who are anti-tax zealots to disagree? 

Well, if you really think that the people of Virgtinia really like higher taxes, why not make it a ballot proposal for them to vote on?

Then what is the point of having a representative legislature or a popularly elected governor?  Why have elected officials at all if they simply pass responsibility for tough decisions off to the citizens of Virginia?  They elected them to office and pay them their salaries for a reason. 

[Frodo]

Don't let them vote on th issue, as democracy is something which must be avoided at all costs in liberal dogma.

So you don't believe in representative democracy, then?  Thanks for clarifying.