Tim Kaine: "Virginians will know that they've got to get different legislators"

The funding impasse stems from stark, philosophical rifts between the House and Senate, between Republicans and Democrats and within chambers and parties. The issue also divides regions.

Del. Dave Albo "call[s] the chance of reaching an agreement 'extraordinarily bleak.'"  Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw says, "There's a long, long way to go." Even the eternally, almost preternaturally optimistic Tim Kaine says, "I don't know whether we will get a solution or not."

In the end, if the transportation special session ends in failure, what will be the impact?  For starters, and this almost goes without saying, Virginians will remain stuck in gridlock.  Second, no new money for transportation means that existing infrastructure will continue to deteriorate, leading to inconvenience at the minimum and disaster at the worst.  Third, it appears that both sides will try to gain partisan, political advantage from the stalemate, with Tim Kaine vowing to "tell voters House Republicans stood in the way" ("Virginians will know that they've got to get different legislators," according to Gov. Kaine) and House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith accusing Kaine of "playing games" and "think[ing] he can make it look like our fault."

Meanwhile, Albo Must Go comments sarcastically on the (in)actions of Republican delegates like Dave Albo, Joe May and Thomas Davis Rust on this issue:

See - we can't do something as simple as increasing the gas tax say a nickel. We need to revisit Albo & Rust's (1) hotel tax, (2) car repair tax, (3) driver's license fee, (4) home selling ("grantor's") tax, (5) any others? - that makes much more sense than asking out-of-state drivers to pay for our roads, right (30% of gas taxes are paid for by non-residents)?

Albo Must Go concludes with a classic graphic, reprinted above.  It's hard to top that, so I won't even try. Let's just say, we're all going to be screaming real loud if something doesn't get done on transportation real soon.

Comments

AG Bob too (elevandoski - 6/2/2008 8:24:29 AM)

Saturday's Virginian-Pilot (Idling on transportation: McDonnell too silent on highway remedy) nails AG Bob for the total non-leader that he is and always will be.  

"McDonnell's eight-paragraph statement doesn't contain a single word about his own ideas. His objections, which make it harder for GOP lawmakers to compromise with Kaine, increase chances next month's special session will fail.

No serious candidate for governor would trash someone else's proposal for fixing the state's most pressing need unless he had a better idea in mind.

McDonnell insists he has no plan, but that's unlike him. In 2002, he helped draft legislation for a referendum on a regional sales tax to pay for Hampton Roads projects. He organized legislative talks that led to the bipartisan transportation compromise adopted last year.

The referendum lost in a rout, and most of last year's plan has been dismantled or declared unconstitutional. Maybe that's why McDonnell fails to mention his past support for those initiatives when he criticizes Kaine's plan, which borrows heavily from both.

Much as he might like, McDonnell can't stand idly on the roadside as the work starts on a new transportation compromise."

Ouch!