Comments on: Jody’s in!

By: The Squeaky Wheel

The Squeaky Wheel — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:53:45 +0000

She is painful to watch read a prompter. have nothing of substance to say, just find her voice annoying

By: LittleDavid

LittleDavid — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 16:53:19 +0000

VJP,

Thanks for correcting me. After rereading silences comments I understand that he was saying about the same thing as I did.

By: fp

fp — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 04:47:41 +0000

If the Republicans are going to harp on bad financial projections, they had better pause and take a look at the economic reality. Every state government, Wall St bank, and the Fed itself (let’s not forget that Bush appointed the Chairman of the Fed) got their projections wrong.
The real *success* for Wagner is that her staff was less wrong than pretty much everyone else. That’s why Virginia is one of three states left with a AAA bond rating (a really big deal in the finance world) and also CQ’s “best managed state” accolade.
Besides, if she had come out with negative growth projections, the Republicans in the legislature would have eaten her alive for “lowballing” her forecasts to prevent the Rs from implementing irresponsible tax cuts.
But I guess it’s a good sign that the R’s are jumping all over Wagner already – shows that they’re scared that Bolling (who has pretty much been a politician his whole life) is being challenged by someone with so much private sector and public sector experience.

By: spotter

spotter — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:18:54 +0000

If this is going to be the Republican meme on Jody Wagner, Democrats just need to find a quote from Bolling praising Gilmore. I’m sure it’s out there. Republicans pushing these two have a lot of nerve to talk about unbalanced anything.

By: vjp

vjp — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:07:30 +0000

LD – I think you are mis-reading silence’s comment.

Robyn – that ain’t proof.

By: LittleDavid

LittleDavid — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 17:03:00 +0000

silence dogood,

If you do not realize that Mark Warner faced a revenue shortfall after he took office due to the economic downturn I am not going to be the one to educate you. There is no hope for you.

Gilmore cut taxes during the good years and Mark Warner was left to pick up the pieces when the economy soured.

By: silence dogood

silence dogood — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:22:57 +0000

I would be concerned except y’all keep telling me there wasn’t actually a revenue shortfall when Gilmore left office and Mark Warner took over, and you’ve yet to be able to produce even a shred of proof about that.

By: Anon E. Mouse

Anon E. Mouse — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 12:29:36 +0000

There’s a very simple fix to that problem — require that spending for the next biennium be no more than the state’s take for the last two years for which we have data, not estimates for the current year or projections for future years. That should result in a nice surplus most years, which can be used to cover any shortfall in bad years.

Think we can put together a bipartisan, grass-roots effort to get that into the Constitution?

By: Robyn

Robyn — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 05:05:01 +0000

I’m sure we can get his high school calculus teacher to chime in, if that would help, vjp.

In the meantime – here’s a refresher. This is when I first took note of Bolling. I think he hit the nail on the head. (edited for length).

Kaine’s Budget: A Forumula for Disaster

Richmond Times-Dispatch Op-Ed Page
by Bill Bolling, Guest Columnist

January 06, 2008 – News Article

“Gov. Tim Kaine recently introduced his proposed amendments to the state budget for the current fiscal year, along with budget recommendations for the 2008-10 biennium.

So, the question is, how does the governor propose to pay for these new programs? Based on his budget, the answer is twofold: by overly optimistic revenue projections and by significant amounts of new state debt.

In the first year of the 2008-10 biennium Gov. Kaine has projected economic growth of 3.3 percent. That is realistic based on current economic conditions. However, in the second year of the budget he has projected economic growth of 6.6 percent.

While I hope that economic conditions improve and our economy will grow at a rate of 6.6 percent in the 2010 fiscal year, we cannot be certain of that, and we should not base our budget on such an overly optimistic revenue forecast.

IF THE GOVERNOR’S revenue projections do not materialize we will be unable to afford the new programs he has proposed, and we will face massive budget shortfalls in the second year of the biennium. A wiser course is to wait and see how economic growth improves before embarking on so many costly new spending initiatives.

Budgets are about priorities, and in challenging economic times we must determine what our most pressing needs are and focus our resources toward those needs. We must make certain that our budget actions are cautious, prudent, and reflective of the economic uncertainties we currently face.

However, we cannot build our budget on a foundation that includes excessive spending, and seeks to pay for it by raiding the state’s savings account and transportation funds, overly optimistic revenue projections, and the excessive use of debt. That is a formula for disaster.”

By: vjp

vjp — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:35:20 +0000

Got proof that he can add?

By: Brian Kirwin

Brian Kirwin — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:29:17 +0000

Fear? you must be kidding.

Why is Bill Bolling better? He can add.

By: vjp

vjp — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:02:52 +0000

Ah, the smell of fear

By: Mark Brooks

Mark Brooks — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:44:30 +0000

I see I am just in time for the anti-Jody chorus.

Maybe you folks would like to tell us why Bill Bolling is so much better, instead of trashing Jody right out of the gate.

By: Brian Kirwin

Brian Kirwin — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:24:12 +0000

“Growth in revenue from state income tax withholdings on paychecks have grown just 1.6 percent since last year, while sales tax collections are only up 0.8 percent, said Brown.

“Those numbers are well below the 5.2 percent income tax, and 1.6 percent sales tax, growth estimates on which the two-year state budget is built.”

Great job, Jody!

By: HMR

HMR — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:05:25 +0000

When her figures in this Budget are exposed as frauds by January, her LG chances will be gone with them.

By: Ian Jordan

Ian Jordan — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 23:02:37 +0000

Go Jody!

By: Clear Thinker

Clear Thinker — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 20:03:03 +0000

Is the Commonwealth of Virginia allowed to run a deficit?

By: The Lorax

The Lorax — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:31:22 +0000

Yay Jody!!!! Finally a candidate with experience!