IT SEEMS that, for Virginia at least, it's time to amend the old adage about death and taxes. The only things certain anymore, it would appear, are taxes and virulent opposition to taxes.
In time for last month's primary, Americans for Tax Reform, a special interest group that advocates a flat tax, bought out advertising space in subways and newspaper to post their "Virginia's Least Wanted" list of the names and pictures of the 19 Republican delegates and 15 Republican senators in the statehouse who voted with the governor on desperately needed revenue increases this year. The Virginia chapter of the Club for Growth, a similar group although they don't explicitly advocate for a flat tax but lower taxes in general, also had pledged to work for the defeat of every one of these Republicans as well, calling for a massive "hunt of RINOs." RINO is their cute acronym for what they call "Republicans in Name Only," or conservatives with enough common sense to recognize that fiscal policy is not as simple as good guys vs. bad guys. The RINO-hunters only took down one of their targets in the primaries, the already otherwise struggling 67th district delegate Gary Reese, but their irresponsible effect on public discourse continues unabated.
Their "us vs. the pro-tax legislators" crusade would be laughable if it weren't so dangerous. You'd be hard pressed indeed to find a single legislator who supports taxation for taxation's sake, least of all Virginia's current millionaire entrepreneur governor. Politicians -- and the citizens who elect them -- levy taxes to pay for roads, public schooling and police forces, among other things. It is perfectly justifiable to take a stand against a particular taxpayer-funded government program or a particular example of government waste; in fact, society benefits from the accountability such scrutiny demands. But the anti-tax crowd's rhetoric suggests to Virginians and Americans that the lower, the better, and that they can enjoy all the goods and services they've come to expect from their government without paying for them.
The Commonwealth simply cannot sustain a budget that yo-yos in and out of crisis every few years, the natural result of the slash and burn tactics of the anti-taxers. A month after Gov. Warner took office, the preceding years of budget mismanagement and a year of plunging revenue levels had left the general Commonwealth's budget short by $5 billion. Jim Gilmore's car tax cut, a case study in fiscal recklessness, was supposed to cost $600 million, but had cost Virginia at least twice as much, and tax revenue that had been growing at double-digit rates now is showing negative growth. The General Assembly (RINOs and all) didn't form a bipartisan coalition around the governor's tax plan because they like taxing Virginians, but because the state was teetering on bankruptcy and utterly unable to fulfill its commitments to its schools and transportation systems. And now that the Commonwealth's finances are back in the black and its bond rating restored, the extremists are hollering that the tax increases were unnecessary. Meanwhile, gubernatorial candidate Jerry Kilgore, himself an avid anti-taxer, has come up with a couple dozen ways to spend the surplus generated by the tax plan he opposed every step of the way, including replenishing the rainy day fund, paying for new transportation projects and (déjà vu alert) phasing out the car tax.
While the siren song of fiscal irresponsibility has failed for now in Virginia -- 23 of the 24 "Least Wanted" Republicans will continue into the general election -- expect to see its far reaching effects well into the fall as the governor's race heats up. Virginians deserve an honest debate about where their tax dollars are going, the effectiveness of their government, and how the Commonwealth can balance a trim budget in order to maximize small business growth and employment. It's doubtful that they'll get it, of course, because it's becoming increasingly clear in Virginia that the only two things are for in an election year: taxes and a distorted dialogue about taxes.
Katie Cristol is a Cavalier Daily columnist. She can be reached at kacristol@cavalierdaily.com.
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