In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Sen. Creigh Deeds made no attempt to hide his desire to raise to taxes if elected. This afforded the Republican Party of Virginia ample fodder for humor ads. The Virginia electorate, however, found Sen. Deeds’ fixation with tax increases less humorous as he was crushed in the general election by the tax-cutting Bob McDonnell. The 21st Senate District might have its own version of Creigh Deeds in the person of Sen. John Edwards.
As the distinguished Sen. Mark Obenshain writes in the most recent issue of Bearing Drift magazine, Sen. John Edwards “pushes a gas tax increase year after year.” Like Creigh Deeds, Sen. Edwards sees no reason to hide his record from the voting public.
In an interview with the Roanoke Free Press, Sen. Edwards accused Gov. McDonnell of attempting to fix the Commonwealth’s transportation system with federal “bandaids” and “smoke and mirrors” audits and bonds. What is really needed, he insists, is one billion dollars per year in new revenue and argues that the best way to raise that revenue is to increase the gas tax.
A gas tax is a user fee and out-of-state drivers pay 36 percent of that. “They should have the privilege of helping maintain our roads,” he [Sen. John Edwards] said. A gas tax is the best way to build and maintain roads thought Edwards. Tolls do not provide enough revenue and are expensive to operate.
Furthermore, he argues, business people love the idea of higher gas taxes! Do you know of a business-owner (Warren Buffett, excluded) who wants to pay higher taxes–especially in this economy? Granted, the average price of gas in Virginia is down from its high earlier this year (as of this writing, the average price for a gallon of gas in Roanoke–the largest city in Edwards’ 21st Senate District–is approximately $3.14). Virginia families are, no doubt, glad to see that gas is cheaper as the holiday traveling season approaches, but I highly doubt anyone thinks the prices are yet low enough to merit an increase in the amount we send to Richmond, or Washington, for that matter, every time we fill up.
Sens. Deeds and Edwards might disagree with the way Gov. McDonnell has decided to finance upgrades to Virginia’s highway infrastructure, but at least he isn’t falling for the same old liberal line that tax increases are the answer to every problem that arises. In this sluggish economy, as Virginia’s families are trying to make their hard-earned dollars go farther, we’re glad he isn’t, too.
