Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Lies, Damn Lies and Bigger Damn Lies

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by

James A. Bacon
in

Bacon’s Rebellion

slammed the Republican Party of Virginia for a recent video ad that twisted the facts in the transportation debate. (See “RPV Propaganda.”) Not to be outdone, Del. Brian Moran, D-Alexandria, has launched a website that treats the truth with even more contempt.

“Protecting Virginia’s Future Starts With You!” proclaims noraid.net. “Stop the Raid on Our Future!” Reports Michael Hardy with the Times-Dispatch:

“We can’t solve our transportation problem by holding more classes in trailers, having fewer nursing-home beds for our elderly and failing to provide equipment to our first-responders,” Moran said in a statement unveiling his Web site yesterday.

The Republicans, you see, “want to pull $200 million away from … important programs [in order] to build roads.” The Republican raid on the General Assembly would “turn investments into debts,” including: “Cuts as much as the entire budget for Norfolk State, Longwood University, JMU, Mary Washington, UVA-Wise and the Roanoke Higher Education Center & new College Institute – combined!”

Cuts? What cuts? There are no cuts –only reductions in funds that might otherwise have gone to these institutions over and above existing budgets, which have increased 22 percent from the previous biennium to the current one.

And what’s this about cuts “as much as the entire budgets” for the seven institutions? The “entire budgets” amount to 687.2 million in Fiscal 2oo7. (See higher ed budget.) Wow, that’s a lot of wampum. Only trouble is, the statement is totally inaccurate. State support for the seven institutions amounts to $198.6 million. Not quite the same thing. Somehow, Hardy didn’t seem to think the distortion worth noting or correcting in his brief article.

This is scare-mongering of the most disgraceful sort. Moran has managed to do something quite remarkable: Make previous Republican distortions look mild If so, politics in Virginia is sliding downhill fast.

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7 responses to “Lies, Damn Lies and Bigger Damn Lies”

  1. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    The all controlling teachers unions.

    Truth is irrelevant.

    Give us more money.

  2. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    That site is hilarious except it was not intended to be a parody.

    I just love how clowns like Brian Moran can put nonsense up like that and expect to be taken seriously. He just comes off as looking like a silly hand-wringing alarmist who is just not even willing to be honest.

    And the worst thing is that he does not even need to do this to skewer the bill. It has so many flaws without the need to exaggerate that he looks like a big fool for even putting up the nonsense on that sight.

  3. Larry Gross Avatar
    Larry Gross

    lemme see… we’re into the kettle/black phase here – right?

    🙂

    Which is a worse lie?

    The Republican lie or the Dem lie?

    ooooohhhhhh tough choice….

    I choose… the R’s lie as the worst because I expected better from them whereas we all know what to expect from the Dems.

    The R’s USED to hold the high ground on principle integrity and adherence to fiscal discipline…

    Heck… it’s why the folks that used to be Dems.. changed parties… and became R’s…

    right?

    so the real choice is…

    who is wearing MORE sheeps clothing?

    and the winner is…. not the Dems

  4. rodger provo Avatar
    rodger provo

    The majority of Virginians now have
    no indentification with a political
    party, thus they are independents.

    The games “political types” play
    have little to do with solving our
    problems and improving our lives.

  5. Pat Avatar
    Pat

    It was the ‘independents’ who threw the Democrats out and put the Republicans into power. Not the Chamber of Commerce hacks, and definitely not the Republican Party Sheeple! The Virginia Conservatives out number both Democrats and Republicans.

    Yet, the Republicans have turned their backs on the Conservatives, and have become, worse that anything he Democrats had ever been.

    111% increase in the state budget.
    Biggest Tax increases in the history of the Commonwealth. Even worse than the Brits imposed. Looks like “taxation with representation” isn’t as bad as “without” representation. Now with this nasty “transportation” package (HB3202) they are trying to impose regional authorities that will be run by highly paid bureaucrats, who are not answerable to the taxpayers, voters or anyone and can “borrow” as much money as they want and then spend it on “recreational and cultural events” according to the wording of the bill.

    Is the Democrats website worse than what the Republicans have done? Larry Gross nailed it. We expect that from Democrats.

    What we expected from Republicans was to keep their promise of “less taxes”, “smaller and efficient government” and “abolish the car tax”. They’ve done none of it.

    Anonymous Republicans need to stop crying about trivial nonsense like Morans website and focus on the the anger, the disgust and what is becoming a hatred for their elected officials over abandoning their principals, ethics and becoming a worse monster than the Democrats ever hoped to be.

    THIS ISN’T ABOUT PARTY POLITICS ANYMORE.

    Its about how the Republicans have lied, cheated and abondoned everything they said they stood for.

    I honestly can’t wait for the November elections, so I can give back to the Republicans, what they’ve given to me.

  6. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    “The all controlling teachers unions.”

    Are you serious? In Virginia?

    Unions in Virginia have less power than a wet noodle. As it should be in my opinion, but really – does anybody believe that pap about unions in Virginia. If you do, you are the sheepole posterchild.

    The union boogeyman in Virginia is nothing more than a republican scare tactic.

  7. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    “The union boogeyman in Virginia is nothing more than a republican scare tactic”

    When you’ve abandoned your principals, you ethics, your morals, all you have left is “scare tactics”. HB3202 was the last nail in the Republican coffin for observant Virginia Conservatives. The only thing they have left is to scare people, hyperbolize issues and demagougery!

    How sad to see a political party that was held in such high esteem, fall to such depths!

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