According to the Washington Post's Tim Craig, in an article entitled Democrats on Road Not Taken by Kaine, the "abuser fees" controversy has stirred up "one of the highest-profile intraparty disagreements in years." Essentially, according to Craig, it's Gov. Tim Kaine (D) and Speaker Bill Howell (R) on the one side vs. House Democratic leaders Brian Moran and Ward Armstrong on the other. According to Craig:
Kaine's decision to stand with Howell shocked many Democratic legislators and activists. The popular Raising Kaine blog, which was created to help Kaine get elected in 2005, was briefly called "Razing Kaine" because so many Democrats were posting comments critical of the governor....Since Kaine signed the transportation plan -- which few Democrats liked, despite their votes in support of it -- Democrats have been looking for an election issue they could use against the Republican majority this fall.
Abuser fees appeared to be that issue because voters can easily understand it: Republican legislators wouldn't raise taxes to pay for roads so they decided to charge steep fees on bad drivers, who, by the way, could include many voters' children.
But, Craig asks, doesn't Gov. Kaine standing up there with Bill Howell undercut the effectiveness of the "abuser fees" issue for Democrats? Well, Craig writes, "Moran and Armstrong, as well as Senate Minority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax), vowed they would continue to speak out against the abuser fees, despite Kaine's public pronouncement that he supports them. Moran told Democratic candidates to keep using the fees as an issue."
In other words, this issue is not going to die anytime soon, regardless of whether Kaine and Howell want it to do so. The complicating factor is that Gov. Kaine's "Moving Virginia Forward" PAC has at least $1.3 million to spend on behalf of Democratic candidates this fall; how will THAT work out given Democratic candidates' almost universal opposition to Kaine on this hot issue? According to Craig, "It could make for interesting political theater."
Meanwhile, I'm just enjoying watching Republicans flip-flop frantically on this issue, one day saying they'll support abuser fees to their dying breath, the next day asking "what WAS I thinking?!?" Ah, profiles in courage...ain't they grand?
Just what was Delay's most useful tool. He pulled support for their re-election (Money)and when many of those who did not follow Delay's advice, LOST, others got the message and fell in line.
"PAC" money is Kaine's "Hammer" and he will use it as he sees fit. Since he appeared with Howell on this, Do not be surprised if some of that money goes to help Republicans win re-election.
The old saying "If you can't beat them, then join them" may just be Kaine's direction.
Has the abuser fees become Kaine's war, as the War in Iraq is George Bush's.
Do we have a King Kaine in Virginia?
Keep up the good work Moran and Armstrong
Where was there transporation plan
Oh yeah thats right they DIDN'T HAVE ONE
Any idiot can look back on an issue it takes LEADERSHIP to actually do somethnig at the time
As long as I am posting it looks like a two person race between Hillary and Obama
Think about this same concept with regards to the Iraq Conflict
Good luck, you'll need lots of it, with the "Blame the Dems" strategy - you may win over a few hard core Republicans, but you had them anyway. Anyone with half a brain is going to see this for what it is: a catastrophic failure on many levels by House Republicans (plus Gov Kaine and a small number of clueless Dems).
My only point was/is where was the outrage from these two "gentleman" before all the polls came out and where was their plan. Kaine was the ONLY DEMOCRAT who had a plan.
It's truely pathetic to see you abandon Kaine when you smell blood in the water. It truely is all about partisanship with you guys.
You are so partisan you can't even see a compliment in front of your face
The second part was in support of OBAMA and against HILLARY and has nothing to do with Bush or Republicans
Not even close. Most of us never supported the transportation monstrosity. Go back and review our comments/posts for the past half a year. We've been consistently against this crap from the beginning.
We had been unhappy with Kaine's support of the bill, but gave him the benefit of the doubt because we knew a transportation bill was his highest priority and he had to compromise with the flat earth Republicans in the House in order to get something done. Personally, I would have preferred no plan to this one, but I'm not governor so I don't get a say.
But our support waned significantly following Kaine's press conference last week. He had a golden opportunity to slam the Republicans (something they begged for by forcing this crap on everyone) yet he stood with them. That is not "blood in the water", that is him taking a stand against what we believe in. That's why we, and many other Democrats, are not too happy with the Governor - and so we've spoken up about it.
In other words, its more important to increase democratic totals than to actually do something about transporation
I can't keep up with you all day this is my last post on the topic
*First and foremost, we need a dedicated, sustainable, reliable and adequate source of revenues to fully cover Virginia's transportation needs in the long run. We're talking tens of billions of dollars in coming decades.
*Raising the gas tax by 10 cents per gallon would get us about $500 million per year. That's a start.
*I'd focus the resources heavily on transit as opposed to roads. I would not build ANY project if it encouraged sprawl.
*I would NOT raid the general fund to pay for transportation investments. Education, law enforcement, health care, the environment are all important and should not have their resources siphoned off for transportation.
*There should be a close tie between transportation and land use planning in any serious transportation bill.
*This should be a statewide solution, not a balkanized one, that treats all regions fairly.
*The bill should not include exorbitant fees or fines that would bankrupt poor people or cause undue hardship. I have no problem with fines specifically aimed at curbing drunk driving and the like.
*The environmental impact should be taken into account with every transportation project.
That's an outline of what I'd look for in a decent transportation plan. What else?
That is an area where I believe the money should go toward education to inform drivers about drinking and driving.
Education after each offence tends to lead to an Awakening of ones mind to their abusive behavior.
Who has to attend school? Drunk drivers, Driving with out a license, 15 or 20 miles over the speed limit and other abusive drivers. Embarassment tends to also make an impression on some people.
But I am naive.