Kaine swings and misses — 98 times

Jeff Frederick
Published: July 20, 2008

Before he called a special session on transportation, Gov. Tim Kaine told everyone within earshot that he had “the votes” to pass the package of tax hikes and increased fees he planned to push on the people of Virginia.

Not only was he incorrect about having “the votes” — Governor Kaine would have been incorrect if he had said that he had “a vote” for his legislation, as he did not receive even one single vote in either
chamber of the General Assembly for his transportation “solution.”

You heard right. After a dozen town hall meetings (between his trips across the country campaigning for Barack Obama) and weeks to prepare for the special session, Tim Kaine received a grand total of
zero votes when the chips were down. The Virginia Senate — now controlled by the Governor’s party — thought so little of Kaine’s bill they did not even bring it to a vote.

When Kaine’s bill was brought to the floor of the House for an up-or-down vote. That’s not just bad, that’s Jesse Jackson whispering into a microphone bad.

So please remember that when Kaine and the Democrats try to blame Republicans for the failed special session, that even if the session were filled only with Democrats, no solutions would have been
reached. Senate Democrats passed a gas tax increase their colleagues in the House could not support, and the Democrat governor had a bill that left Richmond without a single vote cast in favor of it.

It is a shame that while Republicans crafted a package of innovative solutions to the transportation problems we now have in the Commonwealth (but did not involve a single new dollar in tax increases),
Democrats postured, posed, and in the end were caught playing politics.

This is just another reason to remind Virginians of the key differences between the two parties, and why they need to vote Republican if they want real solutions.

Del. Jeff Frederick

Eastern Prince William County

Chairman of the Virginia     Republican Party of Virginia