Tim Kaine left office on Saturday to assume a full-time position as DNC Chair.
Prior to leaving town, he presented the General Assembly with a budget recommendation that called for an income tax increase to help reduce the state shortfall.
Most observers felt that it was a purely political manuever.
If Governor Kaine had felt very strongly about this, he could have proposed an income tax increase at any time during his term, not when he was departing and wouldn’t be around to defend it.
By building the tax increase into the budget, Kaine’s compelled Bob McDonnell to come up with an extra billion of spending cuts on his own since he had made it clear in the campaign that he wouldn’t be raising taxes.
Some Democrats thought it was clever.
They’d have the opportunity to start criticizing McDonnell’s priorities immediately.
But it’s quickly become too clever by half.
Speaker Bill Howell has decided to place the income tax increase up for a vote in the House, seeing how many Democrats want to go on record in behalf of a tax increase that has no chance of passing.
Do the “Yes” votes break out of single digits?
More importantly, Howell be taking a vote on a plan to raise taxes initiated by the Chair of the Democratic National Committee.
In today’s environment, it won’t take long for connections to be made (or invented if they have to be).
The word association game is simple.
Tax Increases.
Chair of the Democratic National Committee.
Democratic candidates in 2010.
How long will it take the GOP to find someone who’ll be assuming Bill Howell’s role on the national stage?
The Democrats in Virginia’s General Assembly are dropping Kaine like a very bad habit. The Democratic GA members in NoVa are publicly lambasting Kaine’s attempt to delay the educational funding formula by a year. Democrats everywhere in the state are running away from his attempt to have a man convicted of a double murder in Virginia returned to Germany so he can get out of jail a lot sooner than his American accomplice. And they will sprint away from his attempt to hike the state income tax. Even Creigh Deeds figured out that claiming that he’d govern in the Warner - Kaine tradition was a losing hand. By the end of the campaign he seemed to have forgotten the Kaine part of the Warner - Kaine tradition.
I’ve heard that people are selling tee shirts with Kaine’s picture and “I was governor for 4 years and all I got was this lousy smoking ban.”. Anybody know where I can buy one?
That’s all well and good. My delegate, Mr. Howell, has been greatly responsible for keeping the traffic mess here in eastern Virginia. Cheer him if you will.
Virginians astound me. They whine constantly about 2/3 hour commutes, and yet continue to vote for the people who allow them to spend so much time on scenic I-95. Go figure!
Jim Gilmore served as governor of Virginia from 1998-2002, and was chair of the RNC from 2001-2002. Sounds like a Virginia tradition — of which there are SOOOO many.