Yeah!! Northern Virginia tax referendum was shot down - no sales tax increase!

[T2T III]

What were the Liberals thinking? That we'd accept an additional sales tax increase - and they'd tell us it was going to be used for building more roads ... only to be completely disappointed a few years later because the money would eventually be rolled into the general fund -- like all of our other special "earmarked" funds. This initiative was shot down: 55% to 45%.

If government wants to do things for people such as improvements, then they need to get more efficient. The 1/2 percent increase that was being proposed could easily be saved by the state government through efficiency improvements - and the taxpayers wouldn't have to pay another dime.

I'm sure glad the Liberals were not outside of the voting area for me yesterday. For the past x years, the Liberals have tried to "brainwash" the Conservative and Independent voters by handing out a paper with a "suggested" ballot showing all of their choices checked. Then again, this is just a case of a Liberal doing what they do best - lying to the public.

At this point, I'm going to stop typing - and hope that Tominator makes an appearance for my defense - while I run for cover.

[Edit:] Changed the title to a more appropriate subject - not politically sided.

 

[Linflas]

Actually the road tax issue cut across the traditional "liberal-conservative" line. Consider that the proponents were developers and members from both major parties including the current Democratic governor against a coalition of anti-tax conservatives, anti sprawl groups, and environmentalists. The true beauty of the defeat lies in the fact that it was a grass roots defeat. The proponents backed by a huge war chest had blanketed Northern Virginia with "Vote Yes" signs and did major media buys on all the local radio and TV stations traffic segments.

The anti tax forces really had little money for anything other than the smattering of signs they put out yet they won a decisive victory both here in Northern Virginia and in the Virginia Beach-Hampton Roads area as well. It seems many more people than I suspected recalled that we had already had 3 previous tax increases including an identical 1/2 cent increase in the sales tax passed in 1986 that was promised to be used for transportation infrastructure improvements.

Here we are 16 years later with the problems worse than ever with the state government putting their collective heads in the sand like frightened ostriches and the traffic problems worse than ever. Until it is realized that the transportation problems in any particular region of the state affect the entire state nothing will be fixed. Fortunately it is a problem that will eventually solve itself at the expense of the economic health of the state as business and people leave for localities that deal with these issues in a more rational manner.

 

[Tominator]

I think the defeat of tax increases for state infrastructure inprovements is a Democrat v. Republican issue. Most of the larger companies that would benefit are in Democrat districts and unions vote a majority of the time for Democrats.

Most of the money is spent in Democrat districts. The public is srtarting to wise up and become educated on where their tax dollars go and how much of a benefit they will see. Missouri defeated a rise in taxes in the election before this. The Missouri DOT is crying the blues but they are moving forward with projects but at a slower pace.

Now, if the tax money were going to Washington DC first and then used for social engineering as is the norm, THEN it would be Liberal v. Conservative.

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: Tominator
I think the defeat of tax increases for state infrastructure inprovements is a Democrat v. Republican issue. Most of the larger companies that would benefit are in Democrat districts and unions vote a majority of the time for Democrats.

Most of the money is spent in Democrat districts. The public is srtarting to wise up and become educated on where their tax dollars go and how much of a benefit they will see. Missouri defeated a rise in taxes in the election before this. The Missouri DOT is crying the blues but they are moving forward with projects but at a slower pace.

Now, if the tax money were going to Washington DC first and then used for social engineering as is the norm, THEN it would be Liberal v. Conservative.

The issue we had here was pretty unique to this area in that it was not a statewide tax and would only apply to the specific localities voting on the referendum. Virginia, like most southern states, is a right to work state so union politics don't really apply here the way they do in other sections of the country.

The problem we have is that the Northern Virginia representatives have little clout at the state level since they are divided between Republicans representing the middle and outer surburban areas and Democrats that represent the more urban areas hard against DC. Northern Virginia has not come close to receiving anywhere near the amount of money spent on road planning and construction that other parts of the state have especially when you factor in the amount of money poured into state coffers from Northern Virginia.

I don't necessarily think that this is entirely a bad thing up to a point since we are all Virginians and the state as a whole deserves to benefit from tax dollars. The problem is that if the issues here are not looked at with a fresh eye towards solving some of the problems the economic consequences will be severe. Voters were not saying that these problems were not severe but rather that we should not be taxed and treated differently than any other part of Virginia.

One of the major problems is that most planners view the issue as one of how to move people from the suburbs into Washington DC when at best that affects less than 25% of total trips made in the area. The overwhelming majority of commutes are made from one suburban jurisdiction to another suburban jurisdiction which really leaves traditional mass transit solutions out in the cold. Even worse is the NIMBY factor which is probably the single biggest obstacle to solving traffic problems here and anywhere in the country.

 

[nord1899]

Whew, was afraid there that Boucher might have gotten voted out. He is a Democrat but he is also one of the very very few people in Congress that understands technology and is not in the media conglomerates pocket *cough*Fritz Hollings*cough*.

 

[Mursilis]

Originally posted by: Linflas
Actually the road tax issue cut across the traditional "liberal-conservative" line. Consider that the proponents were developers and members from both major parties including the current Democratic governor against a coalition of anti-tax conservatives, anti sprawl groups, and environmentalists. The true beauty of the defeat lies in the fact that it was a grass roots defeat. The proponents backed by a huge war chest had blanketed Northern Virginia with "Vote Yes" signs and did major media buys on all the local radio and TV stations traffic segments.

The anti tax forces really had little money for anything other than the smattering of signs they put out yet they won a decisive victory both here in Northern Virginia and in the Virginia Beach-Hampton Roads area as well. It seems many more people than I suspected recalled that we had already had 3 previous tax increases including an identical 1/2 cent increase in the sales tax passed in 1986 that was promised to be used for transportation infrastructure improvements.

Here we are 16 years later with the problems worse than ever with the state government putting their collective heads in the sand like frightened ostriches and the traffic problems worse than ever. Until it is realized that the transportation problems in any particular region of the state affect the entire state nothing will be fixed. Fortunately it is a problem that will eventually solve itself at the expense of the economic health of the state as business and people leave for localities that deal with these issues in a more rational manner.

That's what is so amazing about this result - that despite the odds, the 'no' side won. The pro-tax side had the money and the support of the established powers (major figures from both parties endorsed the proposal), yet still lost. Even more significant, the issue (transportation) is more-or-less bi-partisan, since practically everyone agreed traffic was a problem in No.Va. It's never easy to argue for a tax increase, but the pro-tax side did it pretty well by emphasizing the relatively small burden and the popular payback (slogan: "Only 1/2 cent to get traffic moving!!"), yet they still lost. This says something significant about the so-called influence of money on politics.

 

[T2T III]

I was talking with a friend yesterday who was handing out anti-tax literature at one of the voting locations. One gentleman took the brochure on his way in. When he finished voting, he came out and verbally attacked my friend and told him he was the reason for the gentleman having to sit through several cycles of traffic lights. The guy went psycho on my friend. Finally, my friend had taken enough verbal abuse and told the individual to go F!#@ himself. Problem solved!

 

[SuperTool]

I live in CA, and we are pretty much screwed
This liberals are ruining this state. I am a democrat, and even I can see that.