I was wondering if I was being too cynical Monday when I wrote that Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s recommendations for financing Virginia transportation improvements were likely to be “driven by politics” rather than sound economics. I secretly hoped that he would prove me wrong. But sadly, the governor has confirmed my worst fears.
On his monthly radio call-in show yesterday, Kaine said he expects to present to the General Assembly in an upcoming special session a financing scheme that will, in the words of Jim Nolan with the Times-Dispatch, “likely have several components and not rely on simply one element to raise funds.” Then the governor elaborated (my italics): “You’ve got to kind of spread the pain a little bit and not have it just be in one area.”
Ah, the ol’ spread-the-pain approach to transportation financing — exactly the philosophy I found so deficient in the Republicans’ plan last year. Break up the taxes into little pieces and spread them around in the hope that nobody really notices. Of course, when nobody notices the tax, and payment of the tax bears no visible connection to how much people drive, nobody changes the driving habits that have pushed Vehicle Miles Traveled higher year after year. Great thinking, guys: Keep on raising taxes so everyone can do the same thing, the same way, as they’ve been doing it the past 50 years.