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2007 General Assembly Election Interview Questionnaire
HearSay with Cathy Lewis ~ WHRV 89.5FM
14th District
W. Donald Tabor, Jr. (L)
http://taborvasenate.com
- Why do you want to be a member of the Virginia General Assembly?
I have two grand children, and I want a good life for them, and that requires good government. For years, Virginia’s General assembly has been grid-locked in partisan power struggles. Policies are proposed and opposed based not on their merits but which party gets credit or can be saddled with blame. As a Libertarian, I am outside this partisan dynamic and have the credibility as an advocate for good government and sound economics that the leaders of the major parties have squandered with their petty bickering. Because I can stand apart as a representative of the people’s desire for principled government, I can call on legislators of good will from both parties to join me on issues of sound governance that they would not otherwise cooperate to accomplish.
- What is the most pressing issue facing Virginians today? Facing the region?
Loss of personal choice.
In my lifetime, the percentage of the Gross National Product consumed by combined Federal State and local taxes has increased from less than 20% to as much as 52%. Much of this burden is concealed in the prices of goods and services through taxes on business, but it is there whether we pay it directly to the government as taxes or indirectly as higher prices.
As more and more of our income is diverted from the private to the public sector, our choices in life diminish with it. My grandmother, mother and wife had the choice to remain home, if they chose, to raise their children, but it has become increasingly difficult for families to get by on a single income and my grandchildren are in daycare as my daughter in law must work to get by. Likewise, we have lost the choices of how to prepare for retirement, how to educate our children, where we will live, and soon, we will lose our choices in healthcare as well to government.
If we are to regain control of our lives, we must regain control of our earnings through lowered taxes and reduced government spending.
- The recently enacted Abusive Driver Fees have generated intense criticism from citizens and lawmakers alike. Where do you stand on the laws and, if you oppose them, how would you replace the transportation funds they were designed to generate?
It is simply bad policy to use the courts as tax collectors as it makes the government dependent on a predictable level of lawbreaking for its sustenance. This gives the government incentive to make laws which are unreasonable and difficult to obey. These fees should be scrapped and roads financed by eliminating lower priority items from the Transportation Trust Fund, like ending the subsidy for the Port of Virginia, which should be self supporting by now, and for failed transit systems and light rail projects which will never be economically viable. There is plenty of funding for necessary transportation projects from fuel taxes if it is not wasted on things other than roads.
- What is your view on The Hampton Roads Transportation Authority formed earlier this year?
I am satisfied with neither the funding nor the package of projects intended. Any funding method should be visible and understandable so the people can readily see the price they are paying; this plan dishonestly relies on concealing the costs to sneak them past the voters. More than half the cost of the projects goes to what is little more than a driveway for the Port of Virginia and should be paid for by the trucking interests that will use it rather than the taxpayers of Hampton Roads, who derive no more benefit from the 3rd Crossing than taxpayers in Richmond or Roanoke. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, which was built with NO tax money, using private sector bonds retired by tolls paid by the users of the connector, should serve as a model.
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