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Richmond
Times-Dispatch
columnist A.
Barton Hinkle (now opining twice a week), almost
audibly sighing, noted that we’ve been down the
tax code reform road before. He plucked a 1992 quote
from the head of the Northern Virginia Roundtable,
who said, “’The system is broken and needs to be
fixed.’” Hinkle reviewed the most recent
efforts:
Governor
Mark Warner and the Republican majority in the
General Assembly have decided to play the world's
longest game of "Statue." A legislative
panel noodled over the idea for two years and came
to the conclusion it couldn't come to any
conclusions. So lawmakers created another panel. A
few days ago Warner, frustrated by all the
dithering, took the decisive step of . . .
appointing yet another panel. Or, rather, announcing
his intention to appoint another panel. It will get
together sometime after the June primaries and
before Doomsday.
The
man at the helm of that “broken system” in 1992,
former Gov.
L. Douglas Wilder, also writing in the Times-Dispatch,
cut to the chase.
After adding up the billions in promises
already made, he asked:
I
am saying only that there is already a structural
imbalance that looms before we talk of any further
relief. Which brings us to the real question of
whether tax reform means tax cuts or more taxes. If
the former, what further relief is contemplated, and
if the latter, who should pay more taxes?
But
a more fundamental question would be: For what would
the new tax dollars be used?
Perhaps
the tough questions Wilder asked explain the
dithering that Hinkle described.
The
money race for the 2005 gubernatorial election
preoccupied two of Virginia’s
premier political columnists. R.
H. Melton, in the Washington
Post, focused on Republican frontrunner Jerry
Kilgore and his efforts widen his appeal beyond the
conservative Republican base. Jeff
Schapiro, in the Times-Dispatch,
approached it from Democratic frontrunner Tim
Kaine’s efforts to broaden his base, while tossing
this zinger: “Both candidates are suppressing
their instincts, if only to raise enough money to
expose each other for what they really are -
whatever that is.” Melton gives the edge to
Kilgore thus far in courting moderates, while
observing that neither Kilgore nor Kaine has the
“cross cultural appeal” that Gov. Mark R. Warner
demonstrated during his campaign.
The
Environmental Beat
The
Nature Conservancy has come under fire for
sweetheart land deals that benefited well-heeled
donors. In the Daily
Press, Michael
Lipford, Virginia Executive Director of The
Nature Conservancy, defended the organization’s
programs in the Old Dominion. Nonetheless,
To
ensure that our practices, policies and procedures
reflect our organizational value of integrity beyond
reproach, the conservancy has suspended several
activities pending a review in June by our Board of
Governors. We will enact permanent and substantive
changes, if necessary, to strengthen our
organization.
On
the always contentious issue of out-of-state trash, Patricia
Jackson, Executive Director of the James River
Association, trashed draft regulations on garbage
barges in a Times-Dispatch op-ed:
It
seems ironic that the Commonwealth would spend
millions of dollars to promote the 400th anniversary
of the settlement of Jamestown
in 2007, only to have visitors greeted by garbage barges traveling
along its shores. The state should do everything
possible to prevent waste from spoiling the historic
events surrounding
Jamestown and the rest of Virginia
that will be
welcoming the world to visit. The best way to do
this is strictly to regulate garbage containers and
to charge a fee that truly will protect the river.
Hokie
Hysteria
If
one wants to take the pulse of die-hard Virginia
Tech alumni over the ACC-Big East brouhaha, Carol
Hart of the Roanoke
Times is nursing at Ground Zero:
For
the past month, Hokie fans have been pummeled by
emotional turbulence. When they get together, VT’s
uncertain athletic future dominates conversation.
One fan told me that her job performance appraisal
turned into an exhaustive discussion about the
Hokies’ unbelievable predicament.
They’re
not talking only in the boss’s office though. The
greatest numbers are talking on Internet message
boards where conversation is available 24 hours a
day. Many post messages, passing along their fears,
hopes, speculations, inside tips, and links that
feed the thirst for news, any news, good or bad.
A
Pundit Watch Apology
Speaking
of the Hokies, last week’s Pundit
Watch was skeptical of a Virginia Tech professor
who argued in the Roanoke
Times that defections from the Big East would
hurt women’s athletics. It turns out that Professor
Karen Thole was leading interference for nine U.S.
Senators, including
Virginia’s
George Allen and John Warner. These senators wrote
to the Big East schools planning to defect to the
ACC:
"Instead
of working toward the goal of greater equity between
men's and women's athletics, the departure of your
institutions will have the effect of stifling years
of progress."
Of
course, the departures of Miami,
Syracuse,
and Boston
College
are all about continuing years of progress toward
making big-time football even more profitable.
Let
the Band Play On
Lest
anyone accuse this column of being Hokiecentric, let
it be noted that David
Black, former student director of the
controversial
University
of Virginia
Pep Band,
made a plea in the Washington
Post for rescinding the ban on allowing the
raucous group to perform
at athletic events.
High
on Farm Policy
Bob
Gibson of the Daily
Progress reported that allowing Virginia
farmers to grow medicinal marijuana is an issue in
the Republican primary in the 30th
District, an area encompassing Culpeper,
Madison,
and parts of Orange
counties.
SOLs
Defended
Mark
Christie, President of the Virginia Board of
Education, declares Virginia’s
Standards of Learning a success in a Washington
Post piece:
Despite
controversy and criticism in the early years, the
SOL program has worked as intended to raise student
achievement across all demographic groups. Since the
first year of testing, Virginia
students have raised
their achievement levels on every SOL test in every
academic subject and in every grade in which tests
are given.
Parting
Shot
The
pundit who shook his head at tax reform pretenses in
Virginia, A.
Barton Hinkle, related a story that neatly
describes a strain of thinking in
Virginia:
Not
long ago a local official related some advice she
had received shortly after taking office. Don't be
surprised if things don't move as fast as you'd
like, she was told: Remember that this is Virginia.
Back in 1865, Robert E. Lee told the people of
Richmond
he was going up the
road to make a deal, and not to do anything until he
got back. A lot of folks are still waiting.
Heck,
a lot of them have yet to concede he's really gone.
--
May 26, 2003
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