Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

One More Reason to Never Trust a Politician

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by

James A. Bacon
in

In 2003, the General Assembly added $1 to the annual charge for automobile registrations to raise money for Jamestown’s 400th anniversary celebration. Designed as a temporary measure, the surcharge was due to expire June 30, 2008.

Last week Sen. Thomas K. Norment, Jr., R-Williamsburg, suggested to the Williamsburg City Council that the fee could find new uses, such as funding tourism programs, now that the Jamestown events are over, reports Tom Holden with the Virginian-Pilot.

Yesterday, Attorney General Bob McDonnell called for eliminating the registration fee as scheduled. According to a statement released by his office, “McDonnell made it clear … that when a fee is passed for a specific purpose, and that purpose no longer exists, the fee must be removed.” Good for McDonnell!

I find it extraordinary that Norment would even consider retaining the tax. It’s not the size of the charge that infuriates me, it’s the principle. Voters have little enough faith in the promises made by politicians as it is, especially when invoking the promise, “I will not raise taxes.” Two governors have broken that oath this decade alone. If the General Assembly decides to keep the tax, the list of untrustworthies will expand to include legislators who swear that a tax increase “is just temporary.”

(Photo credit of Thomas “Would You Buy a Used Car from This Man?” Norment: Kaufman and Canoles.)

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10 responses to “One More Reason to Never Trust a Politician”

  1. Larry Gross Avatar
    Larry Gross

    you gotta admit.. if that were a picture of you.. you’d probably cringe….

    I’d rather be ugly that “shifty looking” .. and indeed that is the case.

  2. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    It sounds like Norment would feel right at home on Richmond City Council, where citizens have been told several times recently that higher consumption taxes and user fees were “temporary.” But somehow these taxes seem to last into perpetuity. How strange.

  3. Groveton Avatar
    Groveton

    He’d also be very comfortable in NoVA where the tolls charged on the Dulles Toll Rd were only going to be used to pay for that road. Only now they need to continue to to be charged in order to help pay for an invisible subway extension.

    Meanwhile, Jim Bacon continues to advocate for the use of congestion tolls to raise money for transportation. All you have to do is trust the politicians. “User pays” quickly becomes “user gets robbed”.

  4. Jim Bacon Avatar
    Jim Bacon

    Groveton, In an ideal world, perhaps the private sector would provide all transportation infrastructure free from the meddling of politicians. Unfortunately, we don’t live in that world, and we aren’t likely to in our lifetimes.

    Politicians *are* in control of the process. People *are* getting robbed right now as the politicians use their powers to reward favored constituencies.

    The thrust of my “user pays” proposals is to reduce the potential for political abuse. You’ve made it clear that you don’t like my proposals, but what do you offer as an alternative? Wait until Northern Virginia becomes so politically dominant that its politicians can plunder RoVa like RoVa politicians plundered NoVa in the past, so NoVa politicians can squander resources on projects that reward constituents and help them get re-elected just like the RoVa politicians do?

    Doesn’t sound like much of an answer to me.

  5. Groveton Avatar
    Groveton

    My proposal?

    An amendment to Virginia’s constitution that grants broad home rule to the regions of Virginia (like 45 other states have, in one form or another). Also, a constitutional cap on the percentage of total tax receipts that can be transferred from one region to others.

    This allows the regions to spend their money on their priorities. NoVA would spend more on transportation. Central Virginia might spend more on corporate development to attract more high technology companies to the area.

    Given that, the local politicians either address the region’s problems or they are gone. No more funger pointing between the local politicians and the state boys and girls.

    So, now that we have Virginia’s governance out of the 1700s – I’ll put forth my specific proposal for NoVA – which is newly autonomous (see above):

    1. Raise the gas tax substantially. Spend the extra proceeds on transportation – subsidize mass transit and build more roads.

    2. Make developers pay substantial proffers for any new development. Use the proceeds exclusively to improve access around the developments that paid the proffers.

    3. Freeze all zoning variances until a comprehensive plan that improves human settlement patterns is developed. Change all zoning to comply with the new plan.

    4. Reduce real estate taxes and personal property taxes – not as much as other taxes have been raised but enough to provide relief to people who can then elect to use less gasoline and work their way back to flat.

    Once local politicians have the money to fix local problems and the authority to do so – we’ll be headed in the right direction. Until then, we’ll all be paying for parties in Jamestown with money from auto registrations from all over the state.

    And the private sector providing all transportation infrastructure? It will never happen and should never happen. Private sector does not have (and should not have) eminent domain. It makes much more sense to turn over operation of public schools to private enterprise than it does to turn over transportation infrastructure to private enterprise.

  6. Larry Gross Avatar
    Larry Gross

    I think Groveton proposal is thoughtful and well-conceived but I’d have a few thoughts and questions.

    Name the most important authority that NoVa does not have under the Dillon Rule that they would have under Home Rule and what advantages would that bring to NoVa?

    If the 600lb gorilla in the region is transportation – won’t the Transportation Authority actually give NoVa the powers that they need to determine their own fate?

    Would you support HOT lanes if owned and operated by VDOT? In other words – do you support the HOT lane concept?

    Do you believe that it is a State responsibility to ensure that every child in Virginia no matter their circumstance and geography is entitled to an equitable education opportunity? (or rephrase this the way you see it).

    do you support VDOT being in charge of the Interstates and Primary roads and NoVa in charge of the Region and local roads?

  7. Groveton Avatar
    Groveton

    Larry:

    “Name the most important authority that NoVa does not have under the Dillon Rule that they would have under Home Rule and what advantages would that bring to NoVa?”.

    The right to raise and lower taxes on the residents of NoVA, dedicate the taxes for specific purposes (and only those purposes) and the right to put referenda on local ballots to gain voter acceptance or rejection of local taxes tied to specific uses.

    “If the 600lb gorilla in the region is transportation – won’t the Transportation Authority actually give NoVa the powers that they need to determine their own fate?”.

    Partially. The almost informal (and limited) delegation of authority from the state to the regional transportation boards is a step in the right direction. However, it has several flaws. Fist among those flaws is the fact that the regional transportation boards are not elected by the citizens of the regions they serve. They should be elected which would require a sort of regional constitution to define the rights between the local governments and the regional transportation authority.

    “Would you support HOT lanes if owned and operated by VDOT? In other words – do you support the HOT lane concept?”.

    Only under a local governance structure whereby the money from the HOT lanes would be dedicated to transportation and transportation only. In addition, the tolls contracts would be subject to renewal which would be governed by ballot referenda.

    “Do you believe that it is a State responsibility to ensure that every child in Virginia no matter their circumstance and geography is entitled to an equitable education opportunity? (or rephrase this the way you see it).”.

    No. The right to a quality education should apply equally to all children of all states. Therefore, it should be a federal matter with the federal government setting standards to be met by local governments. The state should have no role in the provision of a quality public education to American children. As a matter of observable fact, the state of Virginia has failed and failed miserably to provide an equal educational opportunity to the children of Virginia.

    “do you support VDOT being in charge of the Interstates and Primary roads and NoVa in charge of the Region and local roads?”.

    No. Counties should take control of local roads – as Arlington and Henrico have dome for years. The regional transportation authority should take control of regional roads and the Federal Highway Administration should manage the interstates.

  8. Larry Gross Avatar
    Larry Gross

    Groveton – Kudos!

    the only surprise is your attitude about education which is counter to most conservatives who think the Feds should be out of it (unless of course it has to do with “values” (sic)!

    I can’t tell if you are kidding or not!

    Are you favoring a national curricula and national testing?

  9. Groveton Avatar
    Groveton

    I see very little benefit from the state level of government. If all American children are entitled to a quality, free education – why would this be a state issue?

    I favor a national curriculum and national testing.

    Most of all, I favor the state government being drastically down-sized in Virginia.

  10. Larry Gross Avatar
    Larry Gross

    re: National

    I agree.

    If we want to make sure that kid in Martinsville, his teachers, his local property tax payers, his school administrators

    “get’s it”

    in the form of an education that will allow him to compete on a level playing field for a job – even if he has to leave Martinsville to do it..

    then it aint going to happen by giving the locals the ability to develop a ‘creative” curriculum…

    who are we trying to fool anyhow by claiming that having the Feds “dictate” a curriculm takes away from the locals ability to know best what their local needs are and how to deal with them anyhow.

    When it comes to educating kids.. that local “ability” defaults to whatever the local “commitment” is and we already know that there are many “local” places that will keep their taxes low even if it results in crappy educations for the local kids…

    I’m in favor of ALL K-12 schools – public or private or charter or whatever having to meet the same exact standards whether it’s Podunk, Miss or Outer Kookamonga, Montana…

    We ARE .. a mobile society.. a lot of kids leave their economically depressed areas in pursuit of good paying jobs – ONLY if they have the education to compete.

    The SOLs are a start – sort of – but their big flaw is that they can still leave 60% of the kids “behind” as compared to kids in other jurisdictions with higher standards.

    I get my 60% by looking at NAEP scores for “proficiency” as compared to SOL standards.

    Massachutes is one of very few states who meet and exceed the NAEP standards.

    I think for myself .. I’d be prouder of Massachuttes accomplishment than Virginia’s AAA bond rating…

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