Gerry Connolly's Verbal Fertilizer - Part II

Yesterday's Washington Post contained Gerry Connolly's lament that Fairfax County is the bank for Virginia and that he's outraged. He's right on the facts, but his outrage is selective. Where was Connolly when former Governor Mark Warner was crafting the largest tax increase in Virginia history that took even more money from Fairfax County and returned only pennies?

Gerry was cheering on the tax increase. He didn't care that it increased the role of Fairfax County as Virginia's piggy bank. No, Connolly was all for it. Mr. Say Anything, Do Anything.

According to the staff of the Senate Finance Committee, the impact of the Warner-Chichester phase-out/elimination of the senior citizen income tax credit cost Fairfax County residents $11.6 M in FY 2005 & $13.9 M in FY 2006. That's a full 26% of the entire statewide impact of the credit's elimination. Did Connolly care about his constituents? The total net increase to Fairfax County taxpayers for FY 2005 was more than $107 M and $209 M for FY 2006. Did Connolly care about his constituents? According to FCPS, our schools received slightly more than $13 M in new sales tax money. Fine with Connolly.

I'm not here to debate whether the Warner-Chichester tax increase was good or bad for Virginia, but it sure was a fiscal disaster for Fairfax County. Why did Gerry Connolly support the very concept, robbing Fairfax County to subsidize the rest of Virginia, that he now condemns? Gerry Connolly -- Mr. Say Anything, Do Anything.