Yesterday, according to the Free Lance-Star, George Allen "staged a last-minute press conference in House Speaker Bill Howell's backyard" in "an effort to change the focus in the U.S. Senate race." According to the Free Lance-Star:
The event was the kick-off of Allen's new strategy--an "Issues, Ideas and a Proven Record" tour, designed to shift the focus off the accusations of racial slurs and insensitivity that have dominated media coverage of Allen's campaign against Democrat Jim Webb.
George Allen and Bill Howell: the dynamic duo! On the one hand, we have George Allen, who has a distinguished record voting with George W. Bush 97% of the time and, as a consequence, bringing us record deficits, a disastrous strategic quagmire in Iraq, one of the most corrupt and money-dominated Congreses in American history, a great American city (New Orleans) in ruins, out-of-control global warming, a nuclear North Korea (and soon-to-be nuclear Iran), crumbling infrastructure, and a widening income disparity that harkens back to the days of "robber baron capitalism" 100 years ago. Heckuva job, George, that's a wonderful "proven record" you've got there. A "proven record" of utter, abject failure, that is!
On the other hand, we've got Del. Bill Howell, who is arguably more responsible than any other single human being for transportation gridlock in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. Here's the Washington Post on Bill Howell, in its April 2006 editorial, "Mr. Howell's Cold Shoulder: Long commute this morning? Virginia's House speaker doesn't care."
For this state of affairs, one can thank the Republican majority in the House of Delegates and in particular its leader, Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford). Mr. Howell and his caucus have decided that no statewide taxes will be raised for transportation improvements. Never mind that Virginia has not raised a new dime for transportation in 20 years (while population and traffic have boomed), or that within five years every dollar the state collects for transportation will be sponged up by maintenance, leaving nothing to build new roads, widen existing ones or extend mass transit....A handful of anxious Republicans from Northern Virginia, who acknowledge that the House plan is laughably inadequate, have pleaded with Mr. Howell to at least allow the state's most heavily populated regions, Northern Virginia and Tidewater, to help themselves with local revenue-producing schemes. But to all appearances, Mr. Howell cares not a whit for Northern Virginia's transportation nightmare.
...In short, when Northern Virginia commuters, lawmakers and business leaders speak of a transportation crisis, their pleas fall on Mr. Howell's deaf ears.
Politically, there is little mystery about the likely effects of Mr. Howell's recalcitrance. Northern Virginia's incumbent Republican delegates, several of whom barely squeaked by against so-so challengers in last fall's elections, won't easily survive the ballot in 2007 if there is no sensible compromise on transportation funding. They'll have Mr. Howell and, in some cases, their own pigheadedness to thank.
So, there you have it. Bill Howell is the leader of the traffic gridlock Republicans in the House of Delegates, opposed by Governor Kaine, General Assembly Democrats, and even Senate Republicans! In fact, it was just about a week ago that the Virginia General Assembly ended a special session in utter, abject failure, with compromise transportation legislation "overwhelmingly rejected by a House committee." Thanks to Bill Howell and his Flat-Earth House Republicans, we will likely have no transportation improvements for years, while we sit steaming in traffic jams, while Metro deteriorates, and while transportation infrastructure crumbles.
By the way, the Howell approach is all about racking up huge debt and shifting crucial funds from education, health care, and other inmportant needs (e.g., Chesapeake Bay cleanup) to transportation. Does this type of incompetent government - huge debt, irresponsible spending - sound familiar? If not, I present to you as "Exhibit A" the Republican-controlled Congress of George Allen and Company.
Yeah, George Allen and Bill Howell are perfect together. But they - and their "proven record" of disaster - certainly are NOT perfect for Virginia!
P.S. Last time I checked, when Mark Warner took over running Virginia from the Allen and Gilmore years, the state's finances had been driven into a ditch, with Virginia on the verge of losing its coveted AAA bond rating. Thank goodness that Mark Warner and Tim Kaine saved us from the wild irresponsibility of Allen and Gilmore. Let's not let that ever happen again!
Lowell Feld is Netroots Coordinator for the Jim Webb for US Senate Campaign. The ideas expressed here belong to Lowell Feld alone, and do not represent those of Jim Webb, his advisors, staff, or supporters.