Letter to the editor

Several weeks ago, former College Republican President Lee Vogler and I contributed position papers to a piece about the upcoming gubernatorial elections in the commonwealth of Virginia. Before I wrote my piece, I was informed to keep it positive not attacking the other candidates and constructive in that the content I attributed to the candidate should pertain to the subject of how Sen. Creigh Deeds’ higher education related to the students here at VCU. Keeping these points in mind, I thought the other contributing writer would respect and abide by the same formalities. This was not the case as Mr. Vogler wrote an eight-page tirade bashing Deeds on every other issue besides higher education. Therefore, I conclude that I should address Vogler’s attacks on our Democratic nominee and correct him on several accusations he directed to the Democratic Party of Virginia. Though my response to this tirade will be in no way near the eight pages of baseless claims Vogler presented, I hope to correct him on the facts that surround the seriousness of his statements and allow you to decide who was more sincere in the initial attempt to frame the best picture of the candidates running this year for governor.

First, Vogler attacks Deeds about having “little in the way of legislative achievements.” The fact of the matter is that Deeds has long served the great citizens of the commonwealth and will continue to do so as governor. The state senator has sponsored and successfully passed a multitude of laws that have helped Virginia in numerous ways. In 1998, then Delegate Deeds, proposed “Megan’s Law” (House Bill 570) and in 2003, subsequently co-patroned (Senate Bill 1204) the bill that created the Amber Alert System in Virginia. Together, these pieces of legislation have provided ample tools for law enforcement and members of communities across the commonwealth to combat those who prey on and sexually abuse children. Next, Deeds has been at the forefront of the fight for economic opportunity and prosperity in Virginia. Long before Vogler and I were able to comprehend what it was, in 1996 Deeds sponsored legislation in the House of Delegates that created the “Governor’s Development Opportunity Fund” (HB 306). This established an asset for the development of state infrastructure to facilitate the development of many of the high-tech parks that would otherwise exist in many of the less-developed parts of the commonwealth. This fund makes certain that the governor is provided the necessary tools to lure and attract businesses and economic opportunity to Virginia and fosters the development of jobs for Virginians. Twice in 2002 and again in 2004, then Delegate Bob McDonnell voted to cut millions of dollars from this important fund (Amendment 548 #3h to HB 29 in 2002; Amendment 512 #8h to HB 30 in 2002; Amendment 506 #2h to HB 30 in 2004).

Continuing with the history of Deeds’ legislative achievements, we must also examine his work on bipartisan redistricting reform. Although this has not been passed in any previous General Assembly session, it is still a piece of breakthrough legislation. Virginia’s politicians have long followed the national model of reenacting the redistricting and apportionment battle every 10 years after the census. In the last decade, Deeds has introduced legislation that would resolve this vicious battle and allow for more citizen participation in the process. By not brawling over the contiguity of districting and dealing with the messy task of gerrymandering districts of the House of Delegates, Senate of Virginia, and Virginia’s congressional delegation, we would guarantee that elections become fairer and more transparent. Virginia Republicans in the last decade are the product of their own redistricting masterpiece in 2001. Every year since the Republican legislature implemented that plan, Virginia Democrats have made consistent gains in what used to be Republican-safe districts. Instead of advocating for the same unfair process for elections and representation in the commonwealth, Virginia Democrats, led by Deeds, have argued for complete bipartisan redistricting. Already this bipartisan coalition has been steadily gaining Republican support and will become reality if Deeds is elected governor.

Republicans take this same partisan approach when they bicker about Deeds’ transportation plan: another criticism Mr. Vogler issues against the senator. Vogler leads you to believe that the price of gas would rise 20 cents upon Deeds’ election. This simply is not true and is just as baseless as his claim that the senator does not have a transportation plan. Of course Deeds has a transportation plan! Instead of making lofty promises such as privatizing the commonwealth’s Alcoholic Beverage Control stores (which produce over $100 million in revenue every year) for a one-time $500 million privatization, Deeds offers to create a bi-partisan, multi-regional transportation commission that would address the growing needs of our entire 21st century population. While Vogler appeals just to the needs of Northern Virginia with regards to roads, he fails to mention how increased mass transportation should be a part of our commonwealth’s transportation portfolio. High-speed rail and the expansion of existing metro systems would be able to accommodate not only congested Northern Virginia but Richmond and Hampton-Rhoads as well. In addition to expanded highway corridors, all of these considerations would be reviewed for efficacy by this bipartisan panel that Deeds proposes. Instead of proposing progressive solutions, McDonnell proposes destroying our beautiful coastline with offshore refineries and making a one-time sale of our liquor stores (a dependable source of state income) to solve our transportation woes. That does not sound like a solution that will work for our complex transportation needs here in the commonwealth.

Finally, Mr. Vogler attacks the achievements of former governor Warner and Gov. Tim Kaine’s administrations, berating them for our current economic situation. I may need to remind Mr. Vogler about the campaign promises that were implemented during the tenure of the last Republican Governor of Virginia, Jim Gilmore. By promising voters that he would “cut the car tax” during his campaign in 1997, he set our state up for an enormous $6 billion budget deficit by the end of his term! What he forgot to inform voters about was the fact that this “non-general fund” tax went back to help localities with their own revenue (this is in addition to the fact that more than 50 percent of “general fund” monies come back to the localities in some form of state-to-local aid). By stripping our state government of a reliable source of income (that was going to help citizens in their own localities anyway) Jim Gilmore left our state budget in near shambles. His successor, Gov. Mark Warner, was given a kitchen full of empty pantries and was told to prepare dinner for over 7 million citizens when he took office. By proposing an aggressive tax reform package, Gov. Warner, with the help of Democrats and Republicans, helped to solve our state budget crisis and generate a healthy surplus. With that surplus, our leaders invested heavily in K-12 and higher education to help our public institutions thrive throughout most of the decade. Kaine did not cause the current economic situation. The current recession is a national dilemma that is complex and affects every state in this country with both Democratic and Republican governors. Furthermore, I would suggest that we have fared better with the executive management skills of Kaine than we would have with those fiscally irresponsible policy promises that Republican gubernatorial candidate Jerry Kilgore proposed in 2005. The issue Vogler seems to have is that it just so happened to be a Democrat in office when the recession occurred.

This brings me to my last reflection about Mr. Vogler’s part of the opinion piece. While Vogler did not stick to the parameters of our contributing columns and did a great job attacking Deeds in every aspect other than education, I still respect him and appreciate his enthusiasm as a young person engaged in our electoral and political processes. It is a laborious task to juggle academic responsibility and maintain a high level of civic participation at the same time. Again, I sincerely hope that those students here at VCU who are registered to vote do so on Nov. 3. Although I believe that Deeds’ comprehensive platform would be best for our great commonwealth and would continue down the progressive path of good government, I hope that you compare both candidates’ stances on issues that are important to you. You can read more about Deeds’ and McDonnell’s plans by visiting their plans at deedsforvirginia.com and bobmcdonnell.com.