Tim Kaine: Why Is He Popular?

The answer is, of course, "Mark Warner," because Kaine has done nothing outside of Virginia Tech to show any kind of legislative leadership and has mainly relied on squabbling Republicans to get what little he has passed through.  And, you know you've done something terrible when you get D.J. McGuire and Ben Tribbett to agree - in principle - that your budget is terrible. 

Sadly, this is the norm for Virginia now.  There is no forward thinking in government, nobody attempting to formulate a plan that fixes problems for good, not just until the next election.  I would be inclined to swallow some tax hikes if you could convince me that all the money we give for transportation, we get back.  Thats why I supported HB3202 despite everything wrong with it.  Tim Kaine can raise every tax from Fairfax to Franklin and it won't matter.  We'll come back two years later with another short fall and more transportation problems because the money meant for us and HR won't get here.  Part of me can't help but think its some kind of conspiracy, because its so simple I can't believe its not fixed yet.  Its like we keep raising taxes just to keep up with the money that isn't going to us from the previous hike.  Despite everything else, at its heart HB3202 was about keeping money where it belonged.

Tim Kaine is "next election" kind of politician, and his budget shows no vision and offers no long term solutions.  Its simply a bandage on a gunshot wound.  As Ben points out, many of the taxes looking to be raised will really hurt lower income folks who with rising gas prices simply cannot afford a tax hike , much less one on sales.

Comments

I usually have strong feelings about Governors. Tim Kaine, like Mark Warner, always just a got a shrug response from me. The gas tax kind of gets a shrug from me, too.

In Northern Virginia, a lot of our woes is because many, many construction projects were sold to us as smart growth by false environmentalists (or since environmentalist who were totally duped or just plain foolish) when all these projects did was pad developers' and politicians' pockets as well. We were the ones stuck with the misery and with the bill.