Virginia will pass a budget that is SMALLER than 2006 – actually shrinking its spending:
But many Republicans believe that the budget crisis offers the long-awaited opportunity to pare down spending in a state that has taken on too much.
"There’s no question this is scaling back," said Del. M. Kirkland Cox (R-Colonial Heights). "I think some of it is structural and won’t come back."
Naturally the Washington Post and the Democrats whine that children will die:
Many Democrats believe that the state’s new spending priorities abandon its most vulnerable residents citizens, and will have an impact that could extend well beyond the current two-year budget cycle.
What they should have written was that “Democrats had unspoken fears about how many votes they would be able to buy in coming election cycles”.
I predict Virginia will do just fine and nobody will die. In fact, I suspect they could go to 2000 budget levels with nil effect on day to day life.
Good on you VA – Bob McConnell and Chris Christie might make a great 2012 ticket!
March 10th, 2010 at 8:30 pm
Jack Evans, our Ward 2 rep on City Council, tonight noted in a discussion about Metro finance: “Virginia would close the state before it raised a tax.”
March 10th, 2010 at 9:47 pm
Sounds like my kind of state.
March 10th, 2010 at 10:08 pm
If only Evans were right.
March 11th, 2010 at 7:53 am
The country paid union wages and contractor robbers to build it, most taxpayers near it use it, let the riders pay to operate it. Don’t give Metro managers that 5% pay raise while workers being killed drain the system reserves.