McDonnell opposes Kaine’s cuts to education

Because Virginia faces a $1.35 billion budget shortfall in FY2010, which brings the total deficit to $7 billion over the course of the 2008-2010 biennium budget, the Kaine administration made several recommendations yesterday to bring the budget into balance.

As these are all adjustments to the General Fund, if you follow Creigh Deeds’ and the VEA’s twisted logic, Kaine makes cuts of nearly $1.35 billion from education.

Deeds continues to repeat his silly meme that “my opponent has said he would take $5.4 billion from our schools to pay for roads.”

Poppy-cock.

But I digress.

While that’s not the case, Kaine does target specifically higher education and public safety.

“Reductions of 13 or 15 percent to institutions of higher education” are included in the Kaine proposal. And, Kaine wants to close three prisons.

This has brought criticism from the Bob McDonnell, who will have to inherit Kaine’s budget mess first caused by former Secretary of Finance Jody Wagner’s rosy revenue projections:

“I do have great concerns with the specific cuts he has proposed for higher education and public safety,” said McDonnell. “Over the last decade per-pupil state funding for higher education has decreased by roughly 40%. At the same time, tuition and fees have doubled. Virginia’s parents and students are paying more while the Commonwealth contributes less. Students leave school with more debt to pay back. The Commonwealth invests less and less in an area of state government that is essential to future job creation and economic development. That is a trend that must be reversed. In tough economic times when there is a potential for an increase in crime, we should not enact any cuts to law enforcement.”

For Creigh Deeds part, he once again agreed with Bob McDonnell by recommending a statewide audit. And his “thoughts go out to the many hard-working state employees who have received furloughs or were laid off.”

I’m sure they’re grateful for your thoughts, Sen. Deeds.

They probably would be more grateful if you had a jobs plan for them, like McDonnell, as opposed to misguided and empty rhetoric.

In the “come again” category today, Democrat Jody Wagner, candidate for lieutenant governor, had this to say about the budget mess:

“[Today's announcement] should also be a reminder of how fortunate Virginia remains compared to most other states….”

While our unemployment number and budget deficit remains lower compared to other states, that’s really no reason to be “fortunate.”

Whether you drown in 100 feet of water or 10 feet of water, you still drown…I would hardly call those who lost their jobs yesterday “fortunate”.

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About the author

JR Hoeft

Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.