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If there’s one thing I look for in a politician, it’s credibility – or more bluntly, honesty. This is the only way we can have a serious debate of ideas in our democracy.
That’s why, this past week, I’ve become cautiously optimistic with Tim Kaine’s ability to be candid with Virginians, because, I think, Kaine expressed what he truly believes: that everyone should pay a minimum income tax and that the idea of a tax increase should be considered.
Yet, back in 2005, during the gubernatorial campaign with Jerry Kilgore, there was this exchange with Kaine where Kilgore said he’d hold the line on taxes and Kaine said Kilgore was “just making stuff up.”
We’ve since learned that this was a bold-faced lie by Kaine.
Not only did he try to raise taxes by $1 billion immediately upon entering office, but he also attempted a $2 billion tax increase that would affect those earning as little as $17,000 on his way out of office. In total, Kaine tried to raise taxes by $4 billion when he was governor.
And, as a defender of the president and ObamaCare, we know that Kaine supports an average tax increase of $1200 on millions of middle class Americans, yet he won’t admit that.
But, now, just last week at the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce debate, Kaine responded honestly – what’s truly in his heart – to a question on whether he’d support a minimum level of income tax on everyone. He said
“I would be open to a proposal that would have some minimum tax level for everyone.”
In the aftermath of that statement, Kaine said that what he meant was that he wants to be open with his colleagues, both Republican and Democrat. He says, “If you want them to consider your ideas, you have to be willing to be open to hearing theirs.”
So, I’m impressed that Kaine has finally come clean. At least now he is being honest with himself and Virginians about his desire to raise taxes. So, now we can have an open and honest debate about taxes, where we aren’t guessing if Kaine and his campaign are lying.
