Virginia Del. Bob Marshall is slamming Virginia's state budget in the Daily Press, warning folks that the surplus is manufactured and that state lawmakers are putting off important and expensive bills.
Marshall is one of the General Assembly's most conservative voices - especially on abortion rights - and he's been the set up man for Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli this year asking the Republican top lawyer legal questions - and basically serving up on conservative causes. Marshall has been after Gov. Bob McDonnell for calling it a "surplus" because of all the financial shuffling.
Now Marshall is sounding off on how state lawmakers filled in some final budget holes but ending tax credits, raising court and traffic fees and putting off payments into the retirement pool.
Richmond's financial "newspeak" now calls debt "thrift" and claims we have a $400 million "budget surplus."
But wait! The General Assembly "borrowed" $620 million from the state employees' retirement systems, omitted a $200 million payment in a self-funded insurance program, put 13 months of sales tax revenue into a 12-month budget, and reduced local government contributions to state retirement for teachers by $182 million! How is there a "surplus" if bills remain unpaid?
A number of "yes" votes on the budget came from lawmakers who had signed "no new tax" pledges. Richmond should not imitate Washington's secretive and deceitful debt and deficit spending practices, which have placed America on the road to financial Hell.
George Orwell (1950) wrote that, "Political language ... is designed to make lies sound truthful." Candor must replace the monetary charade in Richmond and Washington.
Read Marshall's full critique of Richmond and the state budget here.
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