I just received an email from Bill Bolling's campaign making the following audacious claim:On Tuesday, I joined with Bob McDonnell in introducing the most comprehensive statewide transportation plan to ever be considered in Virginia. Our End Gridlock, Create Jobs, Get Traffic Moving Again program will help relieve congestion in in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, and address transportation challenges in other parts of our state. We have offered a series of funding proposals that will generate $1.4B per year in new money for transportation, without raising taxes.Raise $1.4 billion per year without raising taxes? Is this magic, wishful thinking, an outright lie, stupidity (or assuming stupidity on the part of voters) or what? Let's look at the details of this "plan".
Essentially, from what I can tell, this "plan" is based on smoke, mirrors, and worse than "smoke and mirrors": 1) issue $4 billion worth of bonds, which simply puts off the revenue needs to the future while increasing Virginia's indebtedness; 2) siphon off large sums of money from the budget into transportation, which means away from everything else (schools, health care, public safety, Chesapeake Bay cleanup, you name it); 3) privatize the ABC system and use those paltry, one-time revenues to maybe build one interchange or something; 4) apparently, try once again on the already-declared-unconstitutional regional taxation authorities for NOVA and Hampton Roads, except this time call them "regional accounts"; 5) use hypothetical revenues from drilling for all the oil that supposedly exists off Virginia's coasts to fund more roads so that we can burn more oil so that we can "drill baby drill" our way out of our oil addiction so that...oh, forget it; 6) tolls and
On that latter point, I'd love to hear McDonnell and Bolling explain how money isn't fungible and how this isn't any more than diverting money away from education, health care, public safety, etc. All in all, this "plan" is pathetic, although exactly what I'd expect from right-wing ideological hacks like McDonnell and Bolling. Pathetic.
Now, what will they do with all the money they've (not) "raised" through the sleights of hands, gimmicks, and Bush-o-nomics listed above? Oh boy, do they have plans! Once they've destroyed education, health care, public safety, etc. in Virginia, they'll take the money they haven't raised and...uh, uh, uh, let's see. Well, they'll "support" - not "fund" mind you! - "rail from Norfolk to Virginia Beach." Unfortunately, "support" from Bob McDonnell and Bill Bolling plus a couple of bucks will get us a donut and coffee at 7-11, but whatever. Other than that, they'll...uh, uh, uh..."complete" things that are already under way, largely with the federal money they both reject on the basis of "state sovereignty" and their "conservative principles." Ha. Oh, and they'll "[b]uild high speed passenger rail from Washington to Richmond and Hampton Roads," again apparently using those evil federal stimulus dollars they both reject.
Last but not least, just to add insult for everyone stuck in gridlock as a result of Republican flat-earthers' refusal over many years to appropriate adequate money towards Virginia's transportation infrastructure, they're going to "[i]ncrease the speed limit on Virginia’s Interstate highways to 70 miles per hour." So, enjoy traveling 70 miles an hour IN YOUR DREAMS as you slog through stop-and-go traffic hell in Springfield, Tysons Corner, around Hampton Roads, etc. And as you sit there steaming, you'll know exactly who to blame for your predicament: Bob McDonnell, Bill Bolling, and their brilliant "plan."
