McDonnell Wins
As expected. He was cruising to victory this whole time and never really got pushed on the fact that his campaign agenda doesn’t really make sense. For example, here’s his “plan” to balance the state budget while cutting taxes and spending more on education and transportation:
It’s time to conduct a thorough audit of how your tax dollars are spent. The Virginia budget has doubled over the last 10 years, growing 30% faster than the rate of growth in population and inflation. We need select independent audits of major state agencies, and a greater level of budget transparency throughout state government. The state budget is nearly 80 billion dollars and you need to know exactly what you are getting for that. I will work to make life simpler for Virginians by making government more efficient and user-friendly.
Not just an audit, a thorough audit. And not just one! “Select independent audits of major state agencies.” Good luck with that.
43 Responses to “McDonnell Wins”
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November 3rd, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Every governor the state has elected in my recent political memory has pledged to perform some sort of audit or another on either individual state agencies or the state government as a whole. That must be why we’re already the most efficient state in the union.
The sad fact is you can’t turn chicken shit into chicken salad, and without an increase in revenue from somewhere (rather than decreasing revenue by cutting taxes and selling off the VABC) all we’re going to be left with is chicken shit to overcome a several billion dollar budget shortfall to rectify in the next session of the GA.
Oh well, on the plus side if they do privatize the ABC maybe I can get access to 24-hour liquor to drink myself blind during the next four years.
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:36 pm
This is the ninth time in a row that Virginia has elected a governor of the opposite party of the president.
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:40 pm
Sounds like he and Meg Whitman went to the same candidate summer camp.
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:45 pm
Yeah, his transportation plan sucks as well…not that Deeds had a clue either.
Having said that though I’d just like to once again point out that you guys really need to start listening to people like me in your little echo chamber. The country is clearly not left-minded, and it’s clear that rallying call (Bush) is fading away. Your health-care plan is in the tank, and the President is increasingly looking more like a Carter than a Clinton.
Don’t get me wrong, while I am very much against what the President is doing domestically, I cringe at the morons that could replace this administration on the Foreign Policy front. Thanks to you guys believing your own hype, you stand to put the neocons back in office. When you consider just how despised that group was in the previous administration, it is absolutely amazing that this administration might prompt people to change their minds.
No one is looking for Obama to become a Republican, but what they are looking for is for him to drop these crazy ideas and stop growing the size of government at the further expense of private sector job creation and money out of middle class pockets (yes, MIDDLE CLASS POCKETS…they don’t believe that either party gives a rat’s ass about them).
I’d really start to think about moderating if you guys want to preserve what’s left of your power. 2010 is still recoverable and 2012 is still a ways off. But if you continue at this trend, you’re going to be on your asses a hell of lot faster than these races.
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:51 pm
From TPM: ” But the big story of the night, thus far, especially in Virginia is Democrats and Obama voters just not showing up. ”
That doesn’t sound like a recipe for (even) more moderation to me.
Just think, it was one year ago that people became involved in the political process like never before, united in a common dream: that the American economy would be run for the benefit of investment banks. And, in our presence, that dream has come true.
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Well of course cutting revenues and increasing spending will balance the budget. It worked so great for Bush. Oh wait…
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:07 pm
I love the headlines on the Huffington Post, “Majority of votes in NJ, VA say Obama not a factor in vote.”
Exactly.
The President campaigns on behalf of these candidates after a landslide victory…and he’s not a factor in anyone’s vote. Only in the world of the Huffington Post is that seen as good news under the circumstances.
Is there anyone out there on the left that can remotely see this for what it is, a total disaster.
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:12 pm
People don’t show up just to show up. They show up to vote. They vote so their candidate will win. Criegh Deeds never did enough to look like he had any chance at all to win. I live in MD, and saw a lot of the campaign ads. I never saw Deeds give a single reason why someone should want him to be their governer.
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:14 pm
I watched the new V TV show tonight — about Earth being invaded by a malign group of aliens intent upon destroying us
while covering their conspiracy with a facade of peace-loving , progressive benevolence.
So how do they disarm us and gain our stupid Trust? By offering Universal Healthcare.
Hmmmm. The idea of Obama being a Reptile who secretly consumes human flesh does have a certain interest. And goes farther toward explaining that financial bailout than anything I’ve heard on the news.
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Ed, your concern is touching – disingenuous and completely off base, but touching.
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:16 pm
No, it’s gonna be great fostert…after we cut taxes and after we raid the pensions and after we leverage our AAA bond rating for all its worth and after we lay off workers and after we enter into an asinine amount of “public-private partnerships” in lieu of a one-cent raise in the sales tax and after we cut services and after we put a state mandated toll on federal highways…
Maybe then we can have a state as good as looking our for its citizens as well as Mississippi.
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Njorl,
I’m not being disingenuous at all…I’m just pointing out what I’ve been saying since I predicted that McCain would get his ass handed to him by Obama (Thank God).
I do see that I’m not getting much flack on the whole left/right thing anymore. Perhaps that’s because it’s become so difficult to defend that pipe dream.
You guys need to start acting more like Clinton and less like Carter. Your strategy is not working and the consequences of it are on display this evening.
I know that you’d like to believe otherwise, but it’s really difficult to argue with the fact that you’ve lost a swing state and may lost a democratic stronghold.
Wake up. I really don’t want the next President to start another war in the Middle East or, God forbid, with Russia.
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:28 pm
I know that you’d like to believe otherwise, but it’s really difficult to argue with the fact that you’ve lost a swing state and may lost a democratic stronghold.
The Democrats have lost a gubernatorial election in Virginia, which, as has been pointed out, has gone against the president in the last 9 elections, and may lose a gubernatorial election in new jersey, fielding a profoundly unpopular candidate that was an executive on wall street in an atmosphere where wall street executives are as popular as cold sores.
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Oh yes — I forgot. In order to make the human population psychologically willing to accept a Foreign Savior, the aliens covertly sabotage the economy and launch terrorist strikes in order to create a climate of fear and desire for security within the mass of humanity.
What an outlandish concept. I wonder where Hollywood writers come up with these fictional ideas.
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:34 pm
You guys need to start acting more like Clinton and less like Carter. Your strategy is not working and the consequences of it are on display this evening.
Ed: The Democrats are campaigning amidst the ruinous economic conditions left to them by Bush. In other words, it’s tough being an incumbent in recessionary times. Full Stop.
All the major trends point to the continued erosion of the GOP’s long term strength.
Next year’s midterms will take place nearly 18 months after the economy started growing again. People will feel a lot better about their prospects, and Democrats will benefit.
If the GOP could have moved the midterms up a year early, they’d be back in business. Fortunately for America and humanity, they can’t.
Oh, and by the way, Carter and Clinton weren’t that dissimilar, from the perspective of policy. The former simply had the bad luck to take office during a time of economic weakness and high inflation. The latter took office toward the beginning of a very long boom. Anything’s possible, I suppose, but based on past business cycles, it sure looks like Obama’s timing is a lot more like Clinton’s.
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:53 pm
I have not deciphered the Yglesias rules on when government is efficient and when it is inefficient. He often takes both sides simultaneously.
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:55 pm
The Democrats have lost a gubernatorial election in Virginia, which, as has been pointed out, has gone against the president in the last 9 elections, and may lose a gubernatorial election in new jersey, fielding a profoundly unpopular candidate that was an executive on wall street in an atmosphere where wall street executives are as popular as cold sores.
=========================================
Repeat, repeat, repeat:
It don’t mean a THING, it don’t mean a THING, it don’t mean a THING
Feel better?
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Ed is completely right. The Democrats won big in Kentucky and South Dakota in the special elections of 2004, and of course John Kerry won in 2004 along with a Democratic sweep.
Honestly, I am a progressive Democrat who has had his hopes foolishly raised many times, and it is adorable to watch conservatives go through the same process (with the major difference being that the mainstream media mostly agrees with conservatives). Honestly, the amount of attention paid to a handful of “tea partiers” coming to rallies. If that indicated electoral strength, the left would have dominated politics for the last 40 years. If a handful of special elections in an off-year meant things, then we would have had very different results in 2004.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:20 pm
I suppose, but based on past business cycles, it sure looks like Obama’s timing is a lot more like Clinton’s.
I hope your right.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:26 pm
Matt, one takeaway from this race is that graphic design didn’t make a difference. Deeds’s signs looked a lot like Obama’s (font, graphics).
I did appreciate the low-tech anti-swine flu efforts at my local polling station. Wooden sticks were provided so voters didn’t have to use their fingers on the touch screens.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:38 pm
Well, the rationalization continues as you guys just lost New Jersey. Yeah, it’s all because Corzine ran Goldman Sachs…I didn’t realize that NJ democrats just suddenly woke up to the fact that some really rich dude was running for governor. Wall Street…do you really believe that crock of shit?
Believe what you want, the facts are proving you wrong time and time again. As for my glee, sorry, I’m not gleeful today for the Republicans. What you guys fail to listen to in each of my posts is that I think that the Republicans that run this party are morons. They don’t have principles (in any sense of the term) and they certainly don’t have brains. McDonnell is a nut and Christie is just another RINO. I’m sorry that the fact that I’m not just some cheerleader isn’t going to make your rationalizations any easier.
Obama campaigned for these two bozos and it didn’t amount to a hill of beans. This was a guy that on election day last year could walk on water. Where is he today? A non-factor on these races and a bunch of signature legislation.
As for the economy, do me a favor and start taking some responsibility. The whole Bush angle isn’t working anymore (not that he is without guilt). You guys passed a massive “stimulus” and nearly everyone realizes that it hasn’t done shit. While most of the folks that told you it wouldn’t do shit were ideologues, there were some of us that looked at it analytically. Pretend all you want, but the American people don’t appear to buy your excuses. You promised recovery and things are marginally better in some areas, and far worse in others.
I’ll say it again, health care is going to kill you guys because people don’t want the government to fuck things up, no matter how bad the current system is. If I were you I’d cut your losses on a range of issues. If you don’t you’re going to get trounced in 2010 by the likes of John Bohener and Eric Cantor…two of the dumbest human beings on the planet.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:48 pm
Jasper,
“Anything’s possible, I suppose, but based on past business cycles, it sure looks like Obama’s timing is a lot more like Clinton’s.”
The “business cycle” is not like sun spots or el nino. It doesn’t just cyclically get better on its own…especially when you’ve got 10% unemployment and the government looking to raise taxes and punish private businesses. If you haven’t noticed, since the President took office things have gotten worse in many respects. Now, I don’t completely blame that on the President, but when you’re passing a stimulus plan that did next to nothing…your not exactly a part of the solution either.
Things are going to continue to be rough for a while. Unemployment is going to linger. Growth is going to be stunted. The best that the administration has come up with is, “get used to it.” Surprise…no one is prepared to, “get used to it.” That’s why you’re seeing democrats lose today.
Let me add one more thing for the record. While the nuts on the “right” are going to look at this and tell us all that the American people are demonstrating how enamored they are with the right…there are some of us that will point out that the situation Republicans find themselves in tonight is not terribly different from the situation you guys found yourselves in nearly 12 months prior. Parts of the country want a change because the guys in power fucked this up. You guys are in power, therefore you lose. This is not about signing up to conservatism (although I continue to believe that the country leans right), this is simply about the reality that you guys aren’t getting it done.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:19 pm
Does McDonnell even know what an audit is?
As an auditor, I’m guessing that he hasn’t the foggiest idea, but he thinks it does something that media thinks an audit does and that’s good enough for him.
So, yay for thoroughly assessing the accuracy of select state agency’s financial statements and gaining thorough confidence that they are free of material misstatement!
How that will save the COmmonwealth of Virginia any money whatsoever, I have now idea. Especially since I’d imagine Virginia is like every other State in America, and requires audits on a routine basis of each of its’ Departments, agencies, divisions, whatever.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Ed
1. You do realize that the GOP’s health care “plan” is to simply replicate the deregulation of the credit card industry for health insurance. Tell us, did credit card rates go up or down when they were allowed to “sell across state lines”?
2. I’d like the Democrats to start pressing the Republicans to explain just what they would cut from the Federal Budget on top of tax cuts that would result in a balanced budget.
3. The easiest way to get the Republicans to stop starting distraction wars would be to pass a law requiring elective wars not formally authorized with a Congressional Declaration of War to be revenue neutral. You want to attack Iran, GOP? You have to get a formal Declaration of War. If not, you have to raise taxes to pay for it.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Not just an audit, a thorough audit
For some reason that reminds me of the scene from A Few Good Men:
Sam Weinberg: “I strenuously object?” Is that how it’s done? Hm? “Objection, your Honor!” “Overruled.” “No, no. I STRENUOUSLY object.” “Oh! You strenuously object. Then I’ll take some time and reconsider.”
November 4th, 2009 at 2:22 am
Hmmmmmm, what else has doubled its cost in the last 10 years? Maybe something for which states spend a huge portion of their budget on providing subsidies to their citizens, because there is no federal program to provide universal access and that unsustainable rate of growth has made it impossible for most employers to provide the benefit?
I’m not saying health care is exclusively responsible for the budget explosion in VA or elsewhere, but it would be complete folly to blame “spending” without looking at that driver.
November 4th, 2009 at 3:49 am
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November 4th, 2009 at 6:46 am
I’m more interested in seeing how Ken “I am the law” Cuccinelli, works out as attorney general in Virginia. Show me a person who goes into hysterics about other folks sexuality and I tend to expect them to have their own kinks exposed in a very embarrassing fashion.
November 4th, 2009 at 7:09 am
Deeds better hope he stays above 40.91% or he will have the lowest percentage for a major party gubernatorial candidate in the last 30 years.
November 4th, 2009 at 7:58 am
Pete,
1. I’m not here to endorse or defend the Republicans health care plan. Frankly, I don’t really know much about it. What I do know is that the reason why the President’s health care policies keep slipping is because folks in this country don’t want to take a chance on it. The reason for that (rightly in my opinion) is that they think the government will make things worse. You guys can pretend that everyone agrees with you, but reality tells a far different story.
2. I agree with you. And if was a Legislator, the first thing that I would demand is an independent audit of DoD, Congress, and the Supreme Court. Not that those three add up to massive savings, but they’re a good start.
3. While I’m completely for a total revision on the ability of the Executive to start a war (think Gulf of Tonkin), I don’t know if I’d necessarily go that far. I agree with you 100% that a formal declaration of war should be absolutely necessary, but how would you define war? That would need to really be thought out, because a tax increase of that size could potentially damage your economy during a time of a necessary conflict/war…which isn’t good for our national security.
November 4th, 2009 at 8:08 am
So if the Dems losing a swing state governorship is a sign that the party is in terribly deep peril, then what is the takeaway from the GOP losing a House seat that hadn’t gone Democratic in a century?
November 4th, 2009 at 8:12 am
The seeds of the Democratic defeat in Virginia were planted last spring when fucktard Terry McAuliffe entered the Democratic primary. Up to that time, former delegate Brian Moran, brother to Congresscritter James Moran, had been the favorite to be the Democratic candidate. Although, it is likely that, had Moran been the candidate, he would have lost too, he would have put up a stronger showing then Deeds did and the race would have been much closer.
More disturbing is the victory of fascist goat fucker Ken Cuccinelli for attorney general. Cuccinelli is a certified kook who rivals Michelle Bachmann as a whackjob of monumental proportions. Cuccinelli makes Sarah Palin look almost like people.
November 4th, 2009 at 8:32 am
Creigh Deeds ran your typical Blue Dog campaign from the outset: namely, “don’t offend anyone. Don’t make any waves. Suck up to conservative ideas as a means of proving your moderation.” Strangely this actually worked in the Democratic primary because, for some reason, voters looked at the McAulliffe/Moran infighting and thought to themselves, “I don’t like those guys. They’re mean to each other,” and voted for the guy who sat back and didn’t do much of anything. Then Deeds, which should have surprised no one, ran the same kind of campaign in the general election.
Had I lived in VA, I’d have voted for him, but he’s not exactly what you call a “fightin’ Dem.”
November 4th, 2009 at 8:35 am
Well, Ed, you don’t like the radical right cultural Republicans or the neocons. If you’re a Republican despite this, that leaves the laissez-faire pro business Republicans. You know, the ones that essentially brought about our current financial disaster.
Your ridiculous fake concern is pointless. Even if we thought these “big government” policies would bring about electoral defeat, most of us would support them anyway. Our country needs these policies. If we need to sacrifice short term electoral success for long term good governance, so be it. What you think of as bad politics is the entire point of winning elections.
November 4th, 2009 at 9:09 am
1. How is it that EVERY OTHER INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRY in the world has universal health care, and their economies have not collapsed. In fact, American real wages have dropped in the last 30 years compared to countries with universal health care. As for the GOP plan, it pointedly doesn’t prohibit the insurance companies from denying policies for those with “pre-existing conditions”, meaning that the GOP is perfectly fine with millions of people being denied health care insurance even with the ability to pay for it.
2. Please, an audit? Everyone and their brother knows that if the GOP had its way, ALL social safety net programs and education funding would be completely eliminated. They don’t say it out loud, but that’s what they would prefer. Of course, if you eliminated all welfare, social security, and medicare spending, you’d still run a deficit without tax increases or military cuts.
3. How do you define “war”? Please. How about defining war as initiating an open ended military combat mission that may or may not involve occupying another country. Don’t give me this “national security” bullshit, either. Bush was literally the first President in modern history to finance a war with a credit card. If we’re going to spend money that we don’t necessarily have invading Iran for instance, then the American people should have to directly pay taxes to fund it. Trying to pretend that Americans shouldn’t really have to sacrifice anything in the name of war is foolish.
November 4th, 2009 at 10:08 am
[...] Matt notes, he’s basically walking into the situation with no plan. He wants to cut taxes in a low-tax [...]
November 4th, 2009 at 10:30 am
“But if you continue at this trend, ” you will occupy every seat in the House of Representatives.
November 4th, 2009 at 11:37 am
The “business cycle” is not like sun spots or el nino. It doesn’t just cyclically get better on its own…especially when you’ve got 10% unemployment and the government looking to raise taxes and punish private businesse
Ed: The “business cycle” most certainly does get better on its own. Capitalism is a self-correcting economic system. Even the long downturn of the 1880s/90s came to an end, eventually.
The point is we don’t allow things to self-correct at a snail’s pace anymore. Even the US employs counter-cyclical mechanisms that speed recovery. And this time, of course, the US also passed a massive stimulus bill.
What I’m saying is that it’s very unlikely given the large Keynesian stimulus sloshing around that the economy doesn’t continue to grow between now and next November, never mind November of 2012.
The last time a president faced double digit employment in his first term — it was a Republican as it happens — he was loudly criticized for running huge deficits. Happily for him, he got the Keynesian effects he needed by the time he faced the voters again.
November 4th, 2009 at 11:44 am
This is not about signing up to conservatism (although I continue to believe that the country leans right), this is simply about the reality that you guys aren’t getting it done.
Well, I think the answer to that question is whether or not healthcare is passed. The Obama team quite smartly realized from the get-go that the excruciating difficulty of getting a bill to his desk would suck up all the oxygen, and not much else would get done. But that’s okay, because everything (politically speaking) really does depend on getting healthcare passed.
Beyond passing larger stimulus bill last winter — or a supplemental one now — there really isn’t much more that can be done to speed recovery. The White House doesn’t possess magical powers. But the point is the economy is now growing again, and while the labor market is always a lagging indicator, it, too, will improve. A stronger economy next year + the passage of national healthcare in my view guarantees a much stronger performance by the Democrats in November 2010.
November 4th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Ed, I’ll take your concern at face value and respond thusly. A move to the right would be the worst possible thing for Obama at the moment. Moving to the right would entail doubling down on Afghanistan, abandoning health care reform (or gutting it) and cutting state aid spending.
But that’s exactly the wrong thing to do. We should be cutting funding for programs that don’t do us any good (DoD), get out of Afghanistan, pass health care reform and continue spending money on programs that put money in the pockets of Americans who spend it, which includes the poor and real middle class (not the jackasses making 100K+ and bitching about the threat of 3% inflation).
I know you already agree on DoD, which is why it’s amusing to see you advocating for a move to the right. Real progressives are not interested in DoD spending, I assure you. On the other issues, the Dems will not be tested on the popularity of their policies know but whether they work. Health care reform will bring affordable health care to those who need it and once people see that, they will love the program for providing them with real health care security, which not a single American with less than a few million dollars in wealth possesses today. On the economy, just understand that we’re progressives because we don’t believe Republican economic policies work. Full stop. You can be concerned all you want, but your ideas are wrong and implementing them will only lead to worse economic results. So why would any progressive want to do that? The center, at the moment, is a steaming pile of shitty policies and while they might play well for a few media cycles, economic performance over the next 18 months will be what counts and the economy doesn’t care about policies play in the media. So I’ll go with the stuff I believe in, thank you very much.
November 4th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
[...] want to take responsibility for specific cuts. That’s why Bob McDonnell made sure to stay nice and vague about what he’ll actually do once he takes over in [...]
November 4th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
Pete
If I recall correctly, FDR and LBJ both ran wars on credit cards, LBJ’s credit card war led to the inflation and stagflation of the ’70s.
When quoting your stats on US wages, did you include the income that Americans received in the form of health care from their employers? I thought not. The fact is Americans have a better standard of living than just about anyone in the world. If somewhere is better, I suggest you moving there.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Mike,
FDR actually sold war bonds and put in things like resource rationing in order to fully fund and equip our troops fighting. Bush neither raised revenue nor put in austerity measures. In fact, he tried to pretend that the war wasn’t actually costing us anything by keeping it off the books when he submitted budgets.
As for LBJ (and I would assume Nixon as well), that might be true, but you are proving my point about fighting wars without funding them beforehand. Something to keep in mind when the GOP begins openly agitating for a shooting war with Iran.
Now, as for the “standard of living”. What do you say when confronted with the fact that people living in countries with universal health care have exactly ZERO bankruptcies due to medical bills (as opposed to the 4 million annual bankruptcies in the US because of said bills). What do you say about the US standard of living when we have one of the highest murder rates per capita in the industrialized world? We have THE highest percentage of our population in prison in the industrialized world. We have no manufacturing base anymore. We have a shrinking middle class. We have consistently poorer levels of education, and even dropping literacy rates. Is that the better standard of living you’re referring to?
As for your “love it or leave it” blast, my gut reaction would be to tell you to fuck yourself. However, it’s apparent that little conservative losers like yourself will pretend that there is literally nothing wrong and chant USA USA USA as a substitute for actual policy.