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A
Primary Test for Business Elites
Virginia's
business leaders, advocates of big government in
Virginia, are pouring resources into protecting
their favorite incumbents against challenges by the
GOP rank and file.
With
every election comes further proof that the business
elites in the Commonwealth are out of step with the
prevailing values of ordinary Virginians.
There
was a time when the business leaders not only
reflected but fought to preserve the deeply held
beliefs of most Virginians. The Old Guard opposed
massive borrowing by government, expanding
government programs and higher taxes.
During
the past two decades, a new breed of business elites
has taken over. This new breed favors more
government, more regulation, higher taxes and
innovative techniques to commit future tax revenues
to repay state and local debt without first
obtaining voter approval.
Pronouncements
from this new breed sound like socialist rantings
from the 1930s. They call for heavy-handed state
planning, increased regulation, greater reliance on
debt and taxes and displacement of private
enterprise by government.
Adam
Smith warned that business leaders couldn’t be
counted on to safeguard the private enterprise
system. These leaders discover that government can
be used to further their interests at the expense of
the consumer and taxpayer.
The
business elites embrace the socialist premise that
government alone should educate students, train
workers, construct highways and provide those things
necessary for a society to prosper. These elites
aren’t Republicans any more than they are
conservatives. They don’t believe in
private, market-based solutions. They have
their own agenda.
What
these elites fear most is an independent voice in
the General Assembly. They prefer legislators who
will kowtow to them.
But
independent representatives are precisely what
Virginia needs right now. A clear majority of voters
in the Commonwealth have repeatedly rejected the
grandiose designs of the business elites to expand
the role of government and saddle taxpayers with
huge, new burdens.
It’s
instructive that the elites favor making failure to
strap on a seat belt a primary offense and criticize
those members of the General Assembly who opposed
that legislation. What does a seat belt law have to
do with a business agenda? On the other hand, these
elites took no position on repeal of the estate tax,
which has a lot to do with the well-being of
hundreds of small businesses and farm operations
across the state.
This
new breed of self-appointed spokesmen for Virginia
business has invested heavily in some Republican
legislators who are facing nomination challenges
within the party. The business elites have poured
huge sums into protecting these incumbents. At
the same time, they are supporting a primary
challenge to incumbent GOP Del. Thomas Gear,
R-Hampton, because he led the campaign against the
proposed sales tax in 2002.
Three
incumbent senators — Thomas Norment,
R-Williamsburg, John Chichester, R-Fredericksburg,
and Russell Potts, R-Winchester — face stiff
challenges from Paul Jost, Mike Rothfeld and Mark
Tate, respectively. Not only have the elites
dumped lots of money into the primary campaigns of
their favorites, but other allies in the General
Assembly have taken unprecedented steps to defeat
the kind of independent representative the GOP
rank-and-file wants.
Heavy
contributions from incumbent legislators who don’t
face a challenge have swelled the war chests of
Norment, Chichester and Potts. Elected party
officials who dared to support any of the
challengers have been threatened by allies of the
business types.
In
a particularly high-handed move, Norment’s ally,
Senator Walter Stosch, R-Henrico County, announced
unconvincingly that Norment’s opponent, Paul Jost,
wouldn’t be admitted into the Republican Caucus if
he were to win. This suggests a sense of panic.
On
June 10, grassroots voters — not the elites —
will decide who represents them.
June
9, 2003
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