As you are well aware by now, the commonwealth is some $2-3 billion in the hole because Jody Wagner, former Secretary of Finance and Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, forgot to carry “the one”. Regardless of how we got here though, now is time for state “leaders” to demonstrate what they’re made of.

You can get no clearer picture on how government should respond than by looking at the leadership of Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling and Attorney General Bob McDonnell.

Both the AG and LG have slashed their budgets: The AG by 9.1% over the biennium and the LG by 7.5% next year.

“These are difficult times. This economic downturn, and sustained uncertainty, is forcing Virginia families and businesses to make hard decisions, and Virginia’s government must do likewise,” said Attorney General Bob McDonnell, candidate for governor in 2009. “As the Governor determines what budget cuts to order by executive action I have taken this proactive step. Our office has cut our general fund budget by 9.1%, totaling nearly $3.8 million, and increasing our total budget cuts over the past two years to 14.1%. Also, I have returned my official state car, and reduced my salary by 2%.”

Bolling said that while his budget cut won’t significantly impact reducing the shortfall, actions speak louder than words.

“As Lieutenant Governor, I have been a consistent advocate for controlled state spending and keeping government focused on its core responsibilities,” Lieutenant Governor Bolling said. “Certainly tough decisions lie ahead. However, these challenges also present us with an opportunity to look for further efficiencies in state government and implement other strategies to assure that we are spending the taxpayers’ money more effectively.”

Now that the AG and LG have demonstrated their leadership, will Sen. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath) be able to convince Majority Leader Saslaw to spend the taxpayers’ money more wisely? Or how about Del. Brian Moran (D-Alexandria)? Will he be able to lead his party to work with House Republicans at coming up with a balanced budget? Will these two Democrats, who want to be your next governor, be able to match the will of McDonnell and Bolling?

Of course, we need not worry about what Jody Wagner would do: She obviously would just round down. And as for the governor, since he has all sorts of free time on his hands now that he wasn’t selected for VP by Sen. Barack Obama, maybe he’ll actually take a look at the budget this time.

Courtesy of Red State. Somebody’s paying attention. This is too funny.

Congratulations, seriously, to Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling who was elected this weekend to be the Vice Chairman of the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA). He previously served as Treasurer of the NLGA and also serves on the Association’s Executive Committee.

However, doesn’t it kind of have the connotation of “best blogger”…or something like that.

Of course, this could be a very short-lived term at the NLGA for him!

It’s not the most glamorous group in the world, but it is one which might save you a buck or two.

According to a Bolling/McDonnell press release, “The [Infrastructure in Virginia] Working Group will review governmental rules and regulations regarding education and transportation construction infrastructure in order to increase efficiencies, reduce bureaucracy and mitigate adverse impacts on Virginia businesses and individuals.”

Meaning: save you money.

Anita Kumar of the WaPo’s “Virginia Politics” blogs yesterday that Virginia’s Secretary of Finance, and Virginia Beach resident, Jody Wagner, will resign later this month to begin her campaign for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.

Wagner, who was the Democrats last real chance in the 2nd congressional district when she opposed former Rep. Ed Schrock (R) for the then open seat to replace former Rep. Owen Pickett (D), will challenge John Bowerbank, who got a clear head-start at the state Democratic convention.

Lt. Gov. Bill Bollling, a Republican, is seeking re-election and has already amassed over $660K for his campaign.

The most recent campaign finance reports filed show that Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling raised $443K the first half of 2008 from 657 donors (408 of which were less than $100 from commonwealth citizens) and has $664K on hand for his re-election bid. According to a Bolling release, he says most of the cash was raised in the past quarter, as the GA was in session from Jan.-Mar. when fund raising is prohibited.

“I am very pleased by the fund raising success we enjoyed during the first half of 2008,” Bolling said. “I am honored that so many people have agreed to invest in my re-election campaign this early in the process. It takes a great deal of money to run a modern political campaign, and based on the strong support we have developed thus far, I am more confident than ever that we will be able to run a successful re-election campaign next year.”

Indeed.

While Democrats Del. Brian Moran and Sen. Creigh Deeds voted in favor of massive tax increases to fund transportation and Gov. Tim Kaine’s transportation bill failed to muster even a single vote, it would appear that Republicans have solid ground in 2009 to demonstrate why they are the party of ideas and Democrats are mired in the same tired, old, tax-and-spend stereotype.

You would think, then, Republicans would be looking forward to setting the conditions in 2009.

From today’s Virginian-Pilot:

“I don’t see anything positive in the plan that could make it something that could be considered,” said House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem. “It’s all tax, tax, tax.”

Full text of Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling’s statement on Gov. Kaine’s proposal:

The Republican Party of Virginia (RPV), Attorney General Bob McDonnell, and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling have come up with a great idea to motivate local city and county GOP committees at taking a proactive approach to party growth and outreach — give them more money for achieving outreach goals.

This morning, a letter was released from every Republican member of Congress from Virginia, every Republican District Chair in Virginia, the entire General Assembly GOP leadership team, the leadership of the State Central Committee, and a host of other prominent and involved Republican leaders voicing their strong support of Bob McDonnell for Governor, and Bill Bolling for Lieutenant Governor in 2009.

Bearing Drift is please to be joined by Attorney General McDonnell to discuss this letter and what it means for party unity and the campaign ahead in this exclusive podcast.

 

 AG Bob McDonnell - Apr. 30, 2008 [9:57m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1101)

After learning this weekend that Sen. Yvonne Miller has hijacked the judicial appointment process in Norfolk and Virginia Beach and Sen. Creigh Deeds accepted campaign money from an appointee’s law firm (where she is one of two partners) before he strongly advocated for her selection, we asked Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, the presiding officer of the Senate, his thoughts on how these Senators were behaving.

Today, Sen. Ken Cuccinelli will be making an announcement on the 2009 state elections. It is widely expected that he will be declaring his candidacy for Virginia Attorney General. We will be joined by him for a podcast later this evening to get the straight scoop.

Also, current attorney general, Bob McDonnell, who is the odds-on favorite to be the GOP nominee for governor now that Lt. Governor Bill Bolling decided to run for re-election, will join us this afternoon to discuss the GOP ticket and the 2008 session of the General Assembly.

Check back here throughout the day for updates on the Cuccinelli announcement and the afternoon for the McDonnell podcast. Our podcasts are always available using this feed.

Today’s Pilot editorial makes all the right observations when it comes to Lt. Gov. Bolling’s decision to seek re-election as lieutenant governor in 2009, paving the way for Attorney General McDonnell’s nomination by the GOP for the governor’s race.

The Pilot correctly observes that:

It should come as no particular surprise that this week’s “winner” is Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling.