It is way, way too early for this. Patriot Super PAC wants to warn us about Governor Bob McDonnell (R-VA). McDonnell is term-limited and it is widely speculated that he will run for President. So this ad warns us that McDonnell “pushed the largest tax increase in Virginia history.”
The Sunlight Foundation reports that they have spent $4300 for this ad buy. Governor Bob McDonnell has raised the ire of conservatives for his transportation tax hike after running on a promise not to raise taxes. Some of those tax increases includes:
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Diesel tax hike from 17.5 cents per gallon to 6 percent tax on wholesale diesel, roughly a 5 cent per gallon increase
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Sales tax hike from 5 to 5.3 percent
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Additional sales tax hike of .7 percent in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia
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3 percent Northern Virginia hotel tax
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Car tax hike from 3 percent to 4 percent in 2013, 4.1 percent in 2014, 4.2 percent in 2015, and 4.3 percent in 2016
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If Congress rejects the federal internet tax scheme, the tax on wholesale gasoline in 2015 will increase from 3.5 percent to 5.1 percent, without a provision to revert back if the law were to pass after 2015.
PolitiFact Virginia says he’s done a full flip flop on not raising taxes.
This isn’t a good way to start out a 2016 campaign if he truly is interested. While yes he eliminated the gas tax in Virginia, for those who don’t use diesel anyway, the way it was done appears to be really regressive.
Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr (CC-By-SA 2.0)