According to Jerry Kilgore, Republican candidate for Governor of Virginia, ?when Virginians see the real Tim Kaine? they won?t like what they see.?Well, Jerry, more than fifty Virginians saw the real Tim Kaine speak for himself yesterday evening at Bull Run Regional Library (Prince William County), and I have bad news for you. They liked the real Tim Kaine. Even more, they respected him.
I myself attended the meeting because, as a former (moderate) Republican, I wanted to see how Mr. Kaine stacked up against Mr. Kilgore, the self-proclaimed champion of all those well-publicized and much-touted Republican ?values.? Truthfully, it was no contest: Tim Kaine is a straight talker, unlike Jerry Kilgore. Which is why I can happily report that Mr. Kaine did not use even one of those tired old cliches that pass for deep thought with Mr. Kilgore.
The Bull Run Town Hall Meeting was billed as a discussion of homeowner real estate taxes, and Kaine gave us a briefing on his ?Five Steps to Homeowner Tax Reform.? What a relief to hear a political candidate who treats voters like adults! We had a diverse group of citizens of all ages, and we all easily grasped Tim?s plan for homestead exemptions as a local option, appreciated his promise to veto any unfunded mandates imposed on localities, and ? an important concern of most of those present? were delighted by his guarantee to fully fund the state?s commitment to public education.
In other words, if the state would carry its end of the log, Tim would enable local government to fine tune their residential taxes to meet local conditions. Imagine this: Tim wants the state to act as if the elected local governments have the smarts to know what?s need locally, down where the rubber meets the road. No Big Daddy in Richmond running things.
Jerry, you might want to know that your proposed across-the-board, 5% cap on local real estate tax assessments was NOT popular in Prince William County. In fact, one citizen brought it up only to point out that your idea was nothing more than California?s disastrous Proposition 13, which had pretty much destroyed that state?s previously excellent school system by starving it of funding Needless to say, this reference touched a sensitive nerve among those present.
This is not to say that the voters did not vent plenty of concern about how tough it would be to pay the higher taxes which were going to result once the new assessments kicked in, even if the tax rate was lowered. Someone thereupon pointed out that Kilgore?s 5% cap did nothing to prevent an increase in tax rates, so what good would the cap be?
You know, this may come as a shock to the national Republican handlers running Jerry Kilgore?s campaign, but the average citizen "gets it." Both young people starting their careers as well as retired folks on a fixed income understand perfectly well that to get quality government, like quality anything, you actually have to PAY for it. This is not very complicated: the best things in life are not free.
On Thursday night at Bull Run Regional Library, people made it perfectly clear what they want: top-drawer education for every child in the Commonwealth, decent infrastructure including transportation, quality public services... and fair taxes fairly levied and fairly collected. No gimmicks, no special favors for any class of people or business, and no griping.
Good grief: Virginia's citizens get it, but Jerry Kilgore, a man who wants to lead Virginia, doesn?t! Perhaps if Jerry Kilgore had spent some of his precious time with us at the Bull Run library -- or ANY library for that matter -- he might have learned a few things. More likely, he's huddled with his chief media advisor, Scott Howell, figuring out the next sneaky, below-the-belt way to smear Tim Kaine with lies and innuendoes, while of course avoiding Mr. Kaine in person.
Speaking of which, when is Jerry Kilgore coming out of protective custody to debate Tim Kaine face to face? Personally, I can't wait to see this!