Wow, this is not the kind of Washington Post editorial you want if you're Brian Moran, just 72 hours before polls open here in Virginia. According to the Washington Post editorial board, Brian Moran:*Has been "demagoguing on the gas tax" and "is irresponsibly hampering his ability to piece together a transportation package if he becomes governor."
*Has been "seemingly hypocritical" and has not been "a profile in political courage" on this issue.
So true. By the way, the Post's editorial comes in response to Brian Moran's "negative" attacks on Creigh Deeds for voting in 2008 to raise Virginia's gas tax. This is one area where I actually agree with the Post's editorial board (and with Creigh Deeds' vote in 2008). Here is how my friend - and the candidate I've endorsed in the 47th House of Delegates district - Miles Grant has explained it:
Politicians love to talk about energy independence, but generally refuse to do the things that would actually encourage us to consume less oil. And if, heaven forbid, someone does take a stand, there's always some pandering political opportunist or talking head ready to slam them for it.Exactly right. So why did Brian Moran, who likes to tout his (supposed) environmentalist cred, vote against a (miniscule) gas tax increase here in Virginia in July 2008 (see Tim Craig's article about how Moran "voted to strip the gas tax from Saslaw's bill when it got to the House floor" and bragged that he had "never voted for a gas tax increase," while previously arguing that a gas tax increase was "reasonable and prudent" - and on and on and on it goes)?
If you want people to use less of something, the simplest, most direct, most efficient way to do it is to make that something more expensive. In this case, by raising the price of gas to encourage people to use less, we could simultaneously raise funds to invest in ways to lower our energy bills in the long-term and make us even more energy independent -- and by the way, start solving our worsening climate crisis. (One final note - the gas tax isn't nearly as regressive as most people seem to think.)
It's just like with coal, where Brian Moran says he's against the proposed Surry County plant but when it came time to vote, he went with Dominion Power and the coal companies time and time again (e.g, voting FOR the Wise County coal-fired plant, voting to "facilitate the construction of clean coal projects in the Commonwealth," voting for a definition of "clean coal" that specifically did NOT include carbon capture or sequestration capabilities, voting to "giv[e] priority to processing permit applications for clean coal projects," etc., etc.).
As the Washington Post argues (correctly), none of this is indicative of a politician taking "a profile in political courage." And that's just one of many reasons I'll be voting for Terry McAuliffe, who says we need to have an honest conversation about raising revenue for transportation.
By the way, after all this you might be asking, "so why aren't you supporting Creigh Deeds then?" Three responses. First, I'm not a single-issue voter, although energy and environmental issues are my top priority. To me, Brian Moran's vote against raising the gas tax is a matter of hypocrisy and lack of backbone on an important issue, and I really don't think we want a governor like that.
Second, as I've explained in detail, I'm not supporting Creigh Deeds for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination because I strongly disagree with him on a number of issues (e.g., his numerous votes in support of dirty energy sources, his support for the Marshall-Newman anti-gay-marriage "hate amendment" to our constitution, his support for teaching abstinence in schools as "moral obligations and not matters of...personal choice").
Last but not least, I am not supporting Creigh Deeds for governor because I believe there's a better, more progressive choice available: Terry McAuliffe, a man who has fought for Democrats his entire life and can take it right to Bob McDonnell starting this coming Tuesday night, the minute he is declared the Democratic nominee for governor. I can't wait!
