After enduring a brutal week of being bashed by critics for his ill worded funding proposals for transportation, Creigh Deeds put pen to paper, or rather fingers to keys, and wrote a Washington Post editorial clarifying his goals and the reality Virginia faces in funding those goals.

In the editorial, Deeds drives home the point that transportation problems cannot be solved without raising new revenue, and raising that revenue may very well include new taxes. He argues that Bob McDonnell, by pledging not to raise additional revenue, is playing “political shell games” with transportation funding and that McDonnell’s proposals will ultimately mean a cuts in education, health care, and public safety.

Critics often cite that Bob McDonnell’s transportation plan includes a number of [insert four letter word here] proposals to raise funds for transportation and that Deeds’ plan in lacking in those specifics. Deeds counters this claim by writing that McDonnell’s proposals are based “dishonest” revenue projections and that without more secure methods of raising revenue, McDonnell’s transportation plan would decrease what’s available in the general fund used for education, health care, and public safety. Deeds also explains the reason why his funding proposals aren’t more specific beyond raising revenue is that he is seeking to find a bipartisan transportation solution in the General Assembly, one that is based on the “compromise”  when you are “open to all ideas and get everyone involved.” Deeds fully believes, as the Washington Post published during the Democratic primary, that he is in the “unique position to persuade rural legislators to support a transportation funding proposal.” Gaining that support will be critical, especially when transportation solutions specific to Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads will require new taxes to raise revenue.

Read the editorial here.

Related posts:

1. Washington Post: Endorsement of Creigh Deeds comes down to transportation, again
2. Why I’m Walking Away from the Deeds Campaign
3. Bob McDonnell forgets about transportation
4. It’s Jeff McWaters vs. ???
5. Finally, a plan to make public education relevant