IT'S FUN to watch Democrats play make-believe. With the end of the 2004 election, many people had been suffering withdrawal from regular doses of liberal duplicity. At least until Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine, the Democratic candidate for governor, appeared on Grounds Monday.
Kaine, talking to Politics Prof. Larry Sabato's class and later at a rally, offered four talking points, the first of which was tax relief for homeowners. Like most of what Kaine says, this sounds really good, until you compare what he says to his actual record. For one, Kaine was a rabid supporter of the largest tax increase in Virginia's history (or "budget reform" in Kaine's Democratic doublespeak). Also, Kaine brags about cutting the property tax rate when he was mayor of Richmond, forgetting to mention that he allowed assessments to far outpace any percentage cuts, meaning actual property tax bills in Richmond skyrocketed on his watch.
But one doesn't even need to look at Kaine's record to tell that his support for tax cuts is disingenuous. Kaine's program for tax relief doesn't actually cut anyone's taxes, rather it "allows" localities to cut their property taxes. The thing is, localities already have the power to cut property taxes, and Kaine's plan would merely allow them to tax businesses and homes differently.
Therefore, Kaine isn't cutting state taxes, rather he is outsourcing the dirty work while taking credit for it himself. He claims that after "fully funding" K-12 education, localities will cut property taxes on their own. However, after a 74 percent increase in funding for education, most Virginians have seen their tax bill go anywhere but down. So Kaine is implying that after a $1.5 billion tax increase, K-12 education is still not fully funded. What, then, would he consider full funding, and how does he plan to reach that level without another increase in state taxes?
Former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, the Republican candidate for governor, wants a constitutional amendment before state taxes are increased in the future. If Kaine and Warner's claims are true -- that a majority of Virginian's support the tax increases -- they would have no reason to oppose this proposal. However, Kaine mocks it as a "gimmick," despite Gov. Mark Warner's support for such referenda in the past.
After disguising himself as a tax-cutter, Kaine tried to match his opponent's rhetoric on faith and values by pretending to be a pro-lifer, claiming his Catholic sense of morality means he is opposed to abortion and the death penalty.
So what does his opposition to abortion and the death penalty actually mean? According to Kaine, it means he will not "tinker" with the state's established position on them because death penalty and abortion are "the law," which he has sworn to uphold.
Ironically, Kaine told the audience that his biggest role model is his father-in-law, former Republican Gov. Linwood Holton, who fought against segregated schools in Virginia because he thought segregation was wrong. Holton didn't simply sit on his hands and allow segregation because segregation was the law and his job was to "uphold the law." He fought for his convictions. It's hard to believe that if Tim Kaine honestly thinks the death penalty and abortion are morally wrong, as Holton thought segregation was wrong, that he could in good conscience be a tacit supporter of both.
This is a consistent trick of Democrats who want to have it both ways. Sen. John Kerry often mentioned that he was personally opposed to abortion and that "life begins at conception" before turning around to say that abortion should be financed by the government. Kaine claims to be a supporter of a ban on partial birth abortion, however only with a dubious clause for the "life of the mother," even though, according to the American Medical Association, that particuar procedure is never medically necessary. This puts Kaine in line with nearly every other pro-abortion liberal in the country.
Adding to the already suffocating irony in the room, Kaine brought up the fact that Gov. Holton never again held elected office in Virginia because he put his moral convictions above getting elected. Kaine, on the other hand, seems to put getting elected above his moral beliefs on abortion and the death penalty.
But for all his anti-abortion, pro-business, pro-tax cut rhetoric, one woman at the end asked, "What makes you different from a Republican?"
Kaine couldn't give a straight answer, saying only that when he goes to meet with Democrats, he knows "I'm gonna find someone like me." A hypocrite, perhaps?
Herb Ladley is a Cavalier Daily associate editor. He can be reached at hladley@cavalierdaily.com.
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