The Democratic committee has listed 28 different taxes and fees that it says Hurt supported in addition to the 2004 tax increase. All told, the Democrats say, the tax and fee increases total upwards of $2 billion.
“The truth is that Hurt can’t be trusted to keep his pledge not to raise taxes or his word on anything else,” committee spokesman Jesse Ferguson said in a statement. “Rather than run from his record, Hurt should start standing up and explaining his record of support for tax increases on everything from driving a car to filling up a gas tank to going hunting with your kids. Hurt might have signed a pledge to not raise taxes but his record makes it clear that the pledge isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.”
Ferguson pointed out that Hurt voted in favor of Virginia’s 2003 budget that included items such as a 5 percent increase on the sale price of liquor, a $5 additional fee for driver’s licenses, a mandatory $1 fee on license plates to pay for the Jamestown quadricentennial celebration in 2007 and a $4 additional fee for traffic offenses.
Robert Hurt has also voted to raise diesel fuel and vehicle registration as part of the unconstitutional 2007 transportation package. So now we're starting to get a clear record of Hurt's stance on taxes. Hurt has voted to raise (some) taxes. Hurt has voted against raising (some) taxes. Hurt has voted in support of cutting (some) taxes.
State Senator Robert Hurt is just your run of the mill Republican.
This Democrat attack is just removing the curtain that shields most Republicans who claim to have a consistent ideological opposition to any and all new taxes. The truth is that they don't.
Sometimes, Hurt and other Republicans support raising taxes to fund things they like. Sometimes they oppose taxes because they don't like what is being funded.
The same is true of Tom Perriello.
Perriello has voted to raise (some) taxes. Perriello has voted against raising (some) taxes. Perriello has voted in support of cutting (some) taxes.
Perriello and Hurt are both situationally pro-government.
The difference?
Hurt likes spending money on things Republicans like. Perriello likes spending money on things Democrats like.
I'm the same way! I like a strong military. I like investing in nuclear energy. I don't like funding ACORN and the SEIU. I don't like funding abortions.
Unless you are an ANARCHIST, you like some government programs.
Don't believe me. Let Hurt speak for himself.
Del. Robert Hurt, R-Chatham, also voted for the tax increase in 2004.
“At the end of the day, I felt it was important to support a compromise that kept the state funded,” Hurt said, adding that in 2004 he was afraid of a possible government shutdown and that Virginia would lose its coveted AAA bond rating.
“I just don’t see the need to do that in 2006,” he said, pointing to the state’s $1.4 billion surplus this year. “People in Southside Virginia are adamantly opposed to raising the gas tax.”
In other words, Hurt believed we needed higher taxes to pay for stuff he liked in 2004. He didn't feel the same way in 2006.
That's just reality. This is not meant to be an attack on Robert Hurt.
My problem with Hurt is that he's now trying to be something he's not, a strict ideological conservative who opposes any and all tax increases. Please. Just be authentic. Be like Tom Perriello, who at least is honest and where he stands. The only people who believe Hurt are die-hard Republicans who are fiercely loyal to the party and to Hurt. His promises of being a ideological conservative ring hollow to independent conservatives who take consistent principled stances on the issues, not party.
Hurt is a career politician. Let's not hold him to the standard of being a political philosopher. He is what he is.
Hurt has two options should he make it to the general. One is to try to campaign as someone he is not, the second coming of Ron Paul. The other is to be honest about himself and focus on issues where he can have credibility, such as cracking down on illegal immigration and defending America from the liberal pro-UN agenda pushed by Perriello and his puppetmaster George Soros.
George W. Bush was President under a Republican Congress and a reckless increase of government spending. It's an embarrassment. But he crushed John Kerry in 2004 with almost no defections from conservatives. Why? Because he campaigned as the real deal, not a phony. He focused on keeping America safe. A lot of conservatives, myself included, weren't happy with his record on spending. But we voted for him because he was honest about where he stood and focused on conservative issues that I agreed with him on.
That's something Hurt can learn from.
no, Sen Hurt can't run as a Ron/Rand Paul because he isn't a libertarian. However, he does have some Patrick-Henry-fire-in-his-belly that I hope we will see more of. Because there is emotion in this race & he needs to capture it.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Robert Hurt is Patrick Henry either. He just doesn't come off as someone who has fire in his belly.
ReplyDeleteI heard him one night sound like a modern day Patrick Henry. Its there. He needs to cultivate it. and he needs to "do it like Patrick" more often.
ReplyDeleteStrong Agree.
ReplyDeleteHurt should come right out and say "Sure, I raised the rates on non-resident hunting permits because I don't think residents should have to foot the bill."
That, or be very honest and say "What dumbass really thinks that raising non-resident hunting license prices qualifies as a tax increase?" But that will never happen.
NAS, good post overall! On election eve, I just wanted to say "thank you" for providing me and the other commenters here an opportunity to say a few good words about our own favorite candidate and hopefully fewer less negative words about our perceived competitors!
ReplyDeleteYour analysis of the race has been great throughout; although, as a Hurt supporter, I have had to take issue with them at times. Now is the time for us all to come together and vote for our man/woman, and then earnestlt support thr winner 100% through the general election. See you through there!