Senator Warner Encouraging Tax Hike while there is a $1.4 Billion Surplus?

As we all recall U.S. Senator John Warner backed Governor Warner’s unprecedented 2004 tax hike that was presented under the false pretense of a budget crisis (with a huge surplus announced only days after the tax hike was passed). Now it appears, via this Washington Post article, that Senator Warner is again supporting a liberal Governor’s tax hike proposal.

Warner, the state's senior Republican senator, praised Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine for proposing a $1 billion tax increase and challenged members of his party in the legislature to reach a compromise that allows Virginia to receive the maximum amount in federal matching funds.

"It is really up to our distinguished speaker of the House and the majority leader in the Senate and others to sit down and show a measure of political courage to resolve it," Warner told reporters after a meeting with Kaine and other members of Virginia's congressional delegation. "The people of Virginia deserve no less."

Does “political courage” equal yet again unnecessarily raising taxes on Virginia’s families when there is already a huge pot of money in the government’s coffers? I think not. While it is meritorious to urge Virginia to maximize federal assistance, both the tax hike plan and the fiscally conservative House plan would invest significantly more dollars into transportation to secure the federal money.

I love House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith’s analogy when discussing the liberal Senate’s budget strategy:

Griffith likened the Senate's strategy to that of hostage-takers. He said senators are using the state budget as leverage to get higher taxes approved in the House.

"Until the Senate recognizes that the building is surrounded," the stalemate will not be resolved, Griffith said. "Negotiations are not going to continue until the hostages are freed. Then we can talk."

Virginia traditionally passes a budget based on existing revenue streams and considers tax hikes as a separate issue. It looks like the House finally has the “political courage” to stand up for Virginia’s families.