Gilmore right on economy
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By The Daily Progress
Published: October 30, 2008
Virginia’s U.S. Senate race between two former governors presents marked contrasts between the men in style and substance.
Even those who prefer Republican Jim Gilmore’s platform say they like Democrat Mark Warner’s persona. We agree.
How, then, to choose? Here’s one way:
This year’s top voter concern, no surprise, is the economy. And on that measure, Mr. Gilmore’s principles and, yes, even his well-known stubbornness will better serve Virginia in the U.S. Senate.
Mr. Gilmore’s principles are strongly aligned with foundational American freedoms — free enterprise, free markets, freedom to work and the right to vote freely in labor elections without intimidation.
Average working men and women must have the liberty to work as they choose and invest as they choose; this is the tried-and-true means of wealth creation. And having earned their money through effort, persistence and intelligence, they should be able to keep it — or the large majority of it — rather than have it confiscated by government for ineffectual programs.
Mr. Gilmore says he would have voted against the ill-conceived bailout plan that penalized hardworking taxpayers by making them pay for others’ greed and incompetence.
Meanwhile, if the White House goes Democratic, as some expect, a loyal opposition on Capitol Hill will be required to provide the checks and balances needed to ask questions, raise concerns and oppose the majority party. Other-wise, legislation or presidential initiatives risk being rubber-stamped, without proper vetting.
We like and respect Mark Warner, and have agreed with him on many occasions. But for this job and this crucial moment in time, The Daily Progress endorses Jim Gilmore.
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Posted by ( JamesHuron ) on November 08, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Endorsements like this one for Gilmore, the one for McCain, and the one for Perriello—all for losers, all for candidates completely out of touch with the majority of the electorate—it’s things like this that make this paper known as
THE DAILY REGRESS
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Posted by ( BigAl ) on November 04, 2008 at 9:05 am
“Is it possible for the Washington Post to publish a balanced, objective, fair report on any subject?“
You just wrote that in response to a Daily Progress editorial endorsing the worst governor in recent Virginia history - the same person who took our state economy and budget to the brink of bankruptcy until it was rescued by the former governor the Progress isn’t endorsing? And you have the nerve to slam the Washington Post?
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Posted by ( Zino Davidoff ) on November 04, 2008 at 8:52 am
“Is it possible for the Washington Post to publish a balanced, objective, fair report on any subject?“
It’s a simple quote of a close former-supporter of Gilmore. The only thing unbalanced is Gilmore himself.
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Posted by ( Dennis Casteen ) on November 04, 2008 at 12:59 am
Is it possible for the Washington Post to publish a balanced, objective, fair report on any subject?
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Posted by ( Zino Davidoff ) on November 03, 2008 at 6:14 pm
One more great quote, as reported in the Washington Post:
RICHMOND, June 8—Fairfax County Republican Vincent F. Callahan Jr., former chairman of the Virginia House Appropriations Committee and onetime ally of James S. Gilmore III, said he would announce Monday that he is supporting Democrat Mark R. Warner in the state’s U.S. Senate race.
“Callahan said Gilmore, Warner’s GOP opponent, misled legislators and the public about the state’s finances and the cost of his signature effort to eliminate the car tax when he was governor from 1998 to 2002.
“The figures Gilmore used were so utterly erroneous and far-fetched that they were mind-boggling,“ said Callahan, who helped Gilmore push his car tax proposal through the House of Delegates in the late 1990s.“
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Posted by ( Zino Davidoff ) on November 03, 2008 at 6:09 pm
So the Progress has completed a Republican sweep by endorsing Mr. Gilmore and siding with his nearly catastrophic talent for mismanagement.
We can all thank Gilmore for our preposterously high property taxes. I drive a 24-year-old car and owe no car tax on it, but my home is now taxed much higher than before thanks to his gimmicky tax-shifting policy. He starved the counties, who had no choice but to raise property taxes.It also left the state deeply in debt.
Your own sister newspaper, the Times Dispatch, had this 2001 comment on Gilmore’s tax policy:
“Counties and cities with lots of expensive cars and high tax rates are reaping multimillion-dollar benefits from Gilmore’s car-tax relief, while the mostly rural localities with low personal property tax rates are getting relatively little of the state’s largesse, according to data released by the Department of Motor Vehicles last week. Since the state is reimbursing localities for taxes previously paid by local residents, the local governments aren’t any better or worse off than they were before. But with the state using car-tax relief to distribute a budget surplus, officials in rural localities argue they are effectively being penalized for having low car-tax rates. Moreover, they say, the economic prosperity that fostered the budget surpluses missed many of the rural localities.“
Luckily for all of us, Mr. Gilmore will lose. And the Daily Progress once again cements its reputation in the community.
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Posted by ( Dennis Casteen ) on November 01, 2008 at 9:53 am
Bravo! Your endorsement of Jim Gilmore reflects a true understanding of free enterprise, discernment, and courage! I would subscribe today, but I live in Chesapeake, VA.
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Posted by ( JJ Towler ) on October 31, 2008 at 6:29 pm
The Daily Progress was obviously out to lunch, maybe even off the planet, in its endorsement of Jim Gilmore, rather than Mark Warner, for Senator. It is even more ludicrous that this decision was primarily based on economic concerns. It would seem that those making this ill-founded endorsement do not remember that it was Mark Warner who, as governor, rescued and restored Virginia’s economy which had suffered greatly under the previous governor – Jim Gilmore!
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Posted by ( David Wagoner ) on October 31, 2008 at 8:23 am
Incredible. If I hadn’t already canceled my DP subscription, I’d do so.
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