Kaine Ditches Virginia for his True Love?!

As much of the media is making clear, it seems there’s a good chance that Obama will choose VA Gov. Tim Kaine as his running mate. The national media are under the impression that Kaine is popular in our state and would help Obama in Virginia. We in Virginia know better.

On July 29, The Washington Post stated “Kaine remains popular in Virginia, but he has had trouble dealing with Republicans”. Let’s break this down. Gov. Kaine’s approval rating has been hovering below fifty percent, so I don’t think “popular” is the right word. And while Kaine may have trouble dealing with Republicans, he hasn’t had much more luck with his own party. Let’s not forget that Kaine’s transportation bill failed to win even one vote (Republican or Democrat) in the House of Delegates and it was so bad that not one Democratic Senator would even introduce it in the Senate.

The out-of-state media may claim to know our governor, but Virginians know the real Tim Kaine.

Transportation Session Wrap-Up

THIS WAS MORE THAN A TRAIN WRECK .... MORE LIKE A KAINE WRECK!!!

It all began a few weeks ago when Governor Kaine notified the General Assembly and the citizens of Virginia that he would be calling a Special Session to address the crisis that is our transportation system. Days later Governor Kaine unveils his plan to the media and does numerous town hall meetings around the Commonwealth touting this plan and searching for backing.

Flash Forward to the Special Session ... not only was Kaine unable to find support for his bill but he couldn't even find a SINGLE Senator to introduce his bill in the Senate. Seems hard to believe but the Governor had managed to make it all the way to the Special Session without a consensus from his OWN party. He even had fellow Democrats so ashamed of his bill that they would not even sign their name to it.

All in all the House Republicans did everything they could to get something done in Richmond. The House advanced several transportation funding ideas and even passed a funding mechanism that relied on existing revenues (I.E. NO NEW TAXES) to combat the problem. They put the Governor's bill on the floor TWO TIMES for a vote and not one single member of the House Democratic Caucus would even cast a vote in favor of it. The only thing the Democrats could muster support for was a MASSIVE TAX INCREASE... their bill even contained taxes that THEY did not even know existed. The bill was so over the top that several members of their own caucus dissented and voted NO.

So last night at 1:40am when both the Democratic controlled Senate and Republican controlled House adjourned "sine die" from the Governor's Special Session on Transportation it was clearly evident that the whole thing was a complete debacle and a huge waste of taxpayers money!!

Kaine and Democrat False claims
about House Republicans

On Thursday, July 10, Governor Kaine is holding a media availability where it is expected he will make many spurious charges about House Republicans and their “obstructionist” ways. As he makes these claims, everyone should keep in mind these many fallacies listed below that were claimed by the Governor's office and other Democratic Leaders regarding this Special Transportation Session.

CLAIM: The Governor originally said that he would not call a Special Session until there was a consensus on a transportation plan that would pass.

TRUTH: The Governor reversed himself and called a Special Session with no consensus. In fact, he failed to get agreement among even Democrat legislators .... let alone a single colleague on the other side of the aisle.

CLAIM: When he called the Special Session, the Governor and General Assembly Democrats claimed that House Republicans simply would send the Governor’s bill to House Finance, where it would not get a fair hearing.

TRUTH: House Republicans sent it to House Rules, where it got a full, fair and lengthy hearing. And, the patron, when asked if he wanted to amend it in committee, said he did not.

CLAIM: They claimed that House Republicans would not allow them to amend or debate their bills.

TRUTH: House Republicans allowed Democrats to offer amendments on every bill throughout the entire Session. And, on SB 6009, not only were they allowed to amend it, but every Republican voted with their sole amendment to the bill (removing gas tax hike).

CLAIM: The Governor claimed that House Republicans would bottle up in committee and not put his bill on the House Floor because they were afraid it would pass.

TRUTH: Not only did House Republican put his bill on the House Floor, but it was the Democrats who refused to give the bill a full and fair hearing by refusing to waive readings. And, when the Governor’s bill was offered as an Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute, every Democrat voted as a block to kill the Governor’s bill to avoid revealing the proposal’s meager support.


CLAIM: The Governor said that he planned on having discussions with Republican leaders during the 12-day recess around the 4th of July.

TRUTH: Neither the Governor nor any representative of his Administration contacted any member of the House Republican Leadership to suggest or schedule a meeting to discuss transportation.

KAINE WRECK

Yesterday, I believe the blog Not Larry Sabato said it best: A Kaine Wreck

House to Vote on Governor's Bill!!!

The House Rules Committee has just resurrected the Governor's Transportation Bill (HB 6026) from the dead and now the bill is being sent to the House Floor for a full vote....

Keep in mind that this is the same bill that Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw and numerous other Northern Virginia Leaders called horrible for Northern Virginia.

This bill continutes to perpetuate the unfair treatment of Northern Virginia which has been the state's economic engine for YEARS!! Once again, Northern Virginians will be asked to send their hard-earned dollars to Richmond, and be pleased if 50 cents on the dollar is returned to them.

It will be very interesting to see how the Northern Virginia Democrats vote on this bill ....

AFP Rips Dems for Wanting Gas Tax Increase

As the transportation debate continues to escalate in Richmond and many different funding options are being debated ... Americans for Prosperity (AFP) have a new radio ad running in Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, Southside, and other targeted areas of Virginia.

The ad goes after the General Assembly Democrats for wanting to raise gas taxes when are already at crippling, record high levels and the economy is very uncertain. The 60-second script and audio link are below.

Americans for Prosperity-Virginia Radio Ad

SPEAKER 1: Kids calm down while I pump the gas.

SPEAKER 2: Driving the kids around must keep you busy.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah this is my second fill up this week and these gas prices are killing our family budget.

SPEAKER 2: Four dollar fifty cent gas hurts our family. Our gas budget was fifty dollars a week.

Now its nearly a hundred twenty five dollars for one car.

SPEAKER 1: And politicians in Richmond are making it worse!

SPEAKER 1: The Democrats in the state senate on a straight party line vote voted to increase the gas tax over thirty-three percent.

SPEAKER 2: The Virginia Democrats in the senate voted to raise gas taxes now? What are they thinking?

SPEAKER 1: Yeah. And Governor Tim Kaine wants higher taxes too. And now the democrats in the senate are really sticking it to consumers with an over thirty-three percent gas tax hike.

SPEAKER 2: You know. Consumers need to tell governor Kaine and the democrat leadership that their gas tax increase agenda will really hurt working families.

SPEAKER 1: And kill jobs.

Narrator: Angered by State Senate Democrats and Tim Kaine’s high tax agenda?

Call Governor Kaine at (804) 786-2211. Tell him to stop trying to raise taxes on working families. Paid for and authorized by Americans for Prosperity. On the web at http://www.americansforprosperity.org/