Republicans attack Kaine's road plan, offer no substitute

Has anyone thought of contacting your elected official and tell them your idea's or thoughts on our transportation problems?

or your comment won't reach the page. I understand this is their website but why bother allowing posting comments if your goal is to slant in the first place?

I'll repeat myself. This article is biased garbage. Tabloid zines have more substance.

Politics as ususal, all around:

-Our elected officials would cut off their own limbs if it would make the other party look bad.

-The Pilot is not capable of printing a poltical piece that doesn't attempt to make republicans look bad.

-Responses on this thread are, for the most part, typical partisan responses.

I'm freakin' sick of it, honestly, which is why I refuse to claim membership in any party. Even when an idea is presented that I disagree with I'm still open minded enough to judge it on it's merits and not on the political party of it's originator. If we can't learn to work together and compromise we will continue to fail.

jmo

Amazing how the pilot can spin. I read the article and see there are alternatives stated. Ideas offered. But tax-and-spend timmy and the democrat way of thinking is not the answer. Cut the budget. I would bet a paycheck that there is more pork non-governmental funding in the state budget that if cut, and spent on roads, we would have no gridlock anywhere in the state.

No one in history has spent more than our current president and republican congress. Look at the mess this country is in, look at the billions spent on a war of lies, and look at the billions we will spend on that same country re-building it.

While most of us oppose any new taxes, we won't notice them and chunk them up to simple inflation costs. If there are any new taxes lets hope they are used the way they are intended to be. Now tolls on the other hand defeat the purpose as they add to the problem at hand: CONGESTION! No matter how they try to sell EZ pass or similar technologies, a toll booth will cause congestion as all cars will not utilize these technologies and will slow down those that do.

So what good is it to make a bad problem worse? I can live with tolls on new projects such as the 3rd crossing but not on existing roads. Plus this will give Hampton Roads a NYC feeling as we will all feel seperated and it will not promote interaction between the 7 cities.

Maybe if the politicians had to sit in the traffic jams around here the problems would be solved. We all hate taxes especially the way they have been mismanaged by VDOT in the past,,the Mercury BLVD exchange project for one. One tax increase on gas and diesel of 5 cents would provide money and cost $1 per 20 gallons of fuel. Just do it. We dont need a plan with 50 differnt taxes on a multiude of things, just on gas. Its easy get it done or quit your job in Richmond delays only cost more money
The users of the roads pay with the gas tax locals and tourists putting tolls on only creates more traffic

Many people including me have no use for politicians or either political party and hate taxes. The fairest and simplest way to fund roads would have been to raise the fuel tax a few cents a gallon years ago. Instead the two parties have been bickering for years and now the cost of building new roads will be even more expensive. Private funding usually
means foreign investors who will build toll roads and maintain them with the state having little control over the cost of tolls. Whatever they come up with we the taxpayers are always the losers.

The Tax and Spend democrats have the answers more goverment more taxes, more dependance on the goverment, more hand outs, more and more of your hard earned money Wasted. Wake up Kieth we do not want more waste fraud and abuse from the socialist I mean democrats. Quit overspending our tax dollars, cut unecessary spending such as prekindergarden schools being paid for by the goverment before you have the nerve to ask for 1 more dollar from the hard working class people out here.

and the unconstitutional Transportation Authority, which never accomplished a thing in their short lived existance (thank goodness) and amassed a whopping deficit of >$250,000.00, Fraim has already asked the Gov. to pay these bills. Some might say $250K ain't a drop in the bucket! Drop it in my bucket then. This is exactly why most people are against new taxes, or most any taxes actually. HRTA accomplished not a single thing but yet here we are accountable for a quarter of a million dollars for what? Dinners and Martini's at the taxpayer's expense. Think of how bad it could have been had HRTA not been declared unconstitutional. Cut the money somewhere else. I'll say it again...when I want something that I cannot afford, I cut expenses somewhere else and save my money until I can get what I want. For all you tax and spend liberals....just send your next paycheck to Gov. Kaine and let him decide how much you really need to exist and he will return the balance. Do this every payday until the roads are fixed!

Another report this morning about moving warships to FL sounds like an alternative plan to me. Transferring thousands of military personnel and their families to Mayport would reduce the congestion on the local roadways.

Gridlock, no new roads and NO NEW TAXES is MUCH preferable to anything that does include new taxes. Richmond has all the money it needs with plenty left over for significant tax breaks.

Still collecting a paycheck from the taxpayers for attendance with no actual work done.

Because the Tidewater Libertarian Party has offered an alternative approach, and the Pilot was provided a copy, but chose not to share it with the readers. See http://tinyurl.com/4kwcjh

We may not be a major party, but we are students of government and economics, and since we get no assistance or money from special interests, we offer the only approach that does not pander to the powerful.

The plan we offer should be allowed to stand on its merits. In truth, we have offered the only plan that is just, adequate to our needs and and can be implemented in a timely fashion. I suggest that Democrats and Republicans read it and then see if they can offer a better and more just alternative.

Reporting the news with a slant. Is this paper owned by FOX?

Republicans and Democrats are NO different. They play the same games and always point in the others direction. Neither parties has ever taken responsibility for their mismanagement or childish political tantrums. Instead they try to fool the public by changing the subject and go back to business as usual.

How many criminal convictions, indictments, federal investigations does it take for the public to recognize that our leadership is basically "government-gone-wild". There is no accountability and that goes double for our local government. Look now further than to Norfolk leadership for examples of ineptitude and blatant self gratification.

Obama and Clinton are running on campaigns that promise change. What a crock. IMO BOTH evolved from the same species of belly crawler. Their campaigns burn up record breaking amounts of campaign money. They stink of corruption and lie without blinking. Give me a break.

Thanks for the tabloid story PilotOnline. Great journalism.

I see 10 more years of back and forth debate, each person claming they are right and everyone else is wrong. The real problem is we have a serious transporation needs. Not everyone is going to be satisfied no matter what the outcome is.

coordinate this headline? I question your Journalistic reasoning process. The proof is in your story READ IT...

"Several GOP legislators described the plan as a tax-heavy package that fails to consider recent transportation investments."

Del. Clifford “Clay” Athey Jr., R-Warren, said legislators should determine the effectiveness of recent transportation reforms before raising taxes. “We’re mostly interested in implementing the reforms from last year,” he said. “This is not the time to be asking people to spend more money.”

Sounds to me you are trying to create and or sway the readers thoughts on part that he or she ONLY reads the title. Ever wonder why your Media outlets are not trusted. The HEADLINE is not being genuine, shame on you.

They rob the transportation trust fund for other pet projects and now they want more? Sure, we all believe that these new taxes will actually get spent on roads!

The Republicans are so hell bent on being right they will argue this point until another decade has passed with little to nothing being done about our transportation problems. For pete sakes give it a rest!