Game over on transportation

House Republican leaders laughed, joked and patted themselves on the back for their grand success Wednesday. Majority Leader Morgan Griffith bounced up and down in his seat and bragged about his clever parliamentary maneuvers that drove into the ditch every effort to pass a viable transportation plan this year.

He and his colleagues acted like boys in a locker room, snapping their towels, while Virginia's economy strangled on traffic congestion.

Instead of committing themselves to solving the most serious crisis facing the commonwealth, House Republicans played games. They declared themselves victors because they scored the most political points against Gov. Tim Kaine and Democratic lawmakers.

The behavior was not cute or funny, especially not to the commuters and businesses who have to live with a transportation system ruined by years of neglect in Richmond.

By any real-world standard, this week's special legislative session was a stunning failure in an unbroken string of failures. Lawmakers have tried to pass a meaningful funding plan for road and bridge needs in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, twice in 2006, 2007 and twice more this year. Their record is 0 for 9. So, why the victory lap on Wednesday?

In this most recent breakdown, legislators failed to pass a transportation plan or appoint judges, leaving three vacancies in Norfolk Circuit Court alone. They lingered at the state Capitol past 1:30 a.m., calling each other names and killing bills. They stoked partisan animosity to a white heat that makes consensus unlikely for the foreseeable future.

Every leader in Virginia bears a portion of the blame for this debacle, but House Speaker Bill Howell and his lieutenants are the principal architects of the political stalemate that leaves Virginia with little hope for progress.

When the giddiness subsides, House Republican leaders might want to check the scoreboard. Democrats have occupied the governor's mansion for seven years now, are odds-on favorites to hold both U.S. Senate seats after November, won control of the state Senate last fall, and have even cut the Republicans' lead in the House.

A small group of GOP lawmakers from Hampton Roads braved the inevitable backlash from their leaders this spring when they proposed a regional sales tax. But they were beaten down, one by one, and that plan fell apart. Its advocates sat stone-faced Wednesday while their colleagues cut capers and celebrated.

Throughout the embarrassing display, there was little thought given to the commuters stumbling to their cars each morning to sit in miles-long traffic backups. Not once did legislators pause to consider the business owners whose customers and suppliers can't reach them. Or the crippling effect all that has on the economies of Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.

Instead, they were too busy slapping themselves on the back to think about anyone beyond their Capitol playground. Now, after another transportation failure, we're all stuck in another legislative timeout Virginia can scarcely afford.

Perhaps House Republicans should use this breather to examine whether playing parliamentary games instead of solving problems is a winning strategy, either for their future, or for Virginia's.