Deeds Wrapped Around the Axle On Roads on WTOP

Seriously? 25 Days From the Election and This is Your Roads Answer?

Contact: Tim Murtaugh 804-780-0111

Audio of the transportation-related segments can be found here.

RICHMOND - Appearing Mark Plotkin's Politics Program on WTOP-AM in Washington, DC this morning, Creigh Deeds was involved in what can only be considered a transportation disaster as he attempted to muddle his way through a series of questions about his amorphous roads plan and intention to raise taxes. That a candidate for governor is unable - a mere 25 days before the election - to clearly articulate his ideas for easing congestion is a testament to a campaign wrapped around the proverbial axle.

The Associated Press took note of the vapid nature of the response:

"Democrat Creigh Deeds says in a radio interview that offering detailed positions on transportation funding would kill chances of passing it if he's elected governor.

"In an appearance Friday on WTOP's politics show, the state senator repeated his familiar mantra that ‘everything is on the table' for transportation funding, including new taxes."

"But when pressed by host Mark Plotkin, Deeds again refused to say what revenue sources he'd like to see in a bipartisan funding bill. He said that's the way former Gov. Gerald Baliles did it in 1986, and that's the only way it can succeed.

"A Washington Post poll Thursday showed Deeds trailing by 9 percentage points with McDonnell's lead more than doubling the past three weeks."

Audio of the transportation-related segments can be found here.

Begin Transcript

Mark Plotkin: Creigh Deeds, transportation is the number one issue in Northern Virginia. Both Governor Kaine and Governor Warner when they were candidates said they wouldn't raise taxes and they did raise taxes. Mark Warner had an 80-percent popularity rating after raising taxes. Why do you think you're getting so much trouble about this issue? And you're accused of being duplicitous, disingenuous, fuzzy. Why don't you clarify where you are on transportation taxes, and why don't you just come right out and say, "look, the revenue needs are so great, this is the only way it could be done?" Or, is it just because candidates for political office never say during a campaign they're gonna raise taxes?

Deeds: Well, first Mark, there's so many parts to that question, I don't know how I could address it all. But let me just say Mark Warner and I took office during very different times. Mark Warner took office under one set of beliefs and when he got into office, he found that the economic situation was so much worse than he believed. I'm gonna become governor at a time when we know that there are 4,000 bridges and tunnels in Virginia that are structurally deficient. In the two most prosperous regions of Virginia, Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia are locked in traffic. Traffic ... transportation right now is what separates us in Virginia from the economy we have and the economy we want. If we are to continue to grow prosperity where it exists, and if we're gonna grow prosperity where it doesn't exist across Virginia, we've got to address transportation, we've got to have an honest, open discussion about it. I had an op-ed in the Washington Post a couple of weeks ago that I think ... I tried to clarify my position with respect to transportation. The only approach that's worked on transportation in the last thirty years is the approach employed by Governor Baliles in 1986 and that's the approach I'm gonna take. Everything to fix transportation is on the table. And I want to bring everybody to the table to bring ... to create that solution. And I'm gonna do it next year. Everything's on the table that has a nexus to transportation, but I'm not going to take money from the general fund and I'm not going to take money from education. Now the guy running against me for governor acknowledges that we've got a transportation problem, but he proposes taking $5.4 billion out of the general fund over the next 10 years to fund transportation. He proposes a laundry list of other ideas that the Washington Post and other papers around the state have already acknowledged are phony baloney, it's not gonna work. It's dead on arrival. Democrats and Republicans have said they're not gonna go for it. I've got the only honest approach and the only approach that will work.

Plotkin: So, Bob McDonnell's plan is dishonest?

Deeds: Bob McDonnell's plan will not work. Bob McDonnell's plan is not going to pass. Democrats and Republicans aren't going to raid the general fund. They're not going to rob Peter to pay Paul.

Plotkin: So, if it won't work, Creigh Deeds, then what will he do if he was governor? And you're still in ... if people in the legislature, if it can't work, what will they do? They'll raise taxes, right?

Deeds: Well, you're asking me to speculate about something that's not going to happen. I'm going to be the next governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia and were going to have an open and honest discussion with Democrats and Republicans around the table and we're going to consider all the options because the bottom line is we cannot grow, we cannot prosper if we continue to sit in traffic. If the voters of Virginia want to continue to sit in traffic, then they'll vote for the other guy and that speculation that you suggest may come true. But I'm guessing that the people of Virginia want to move forward, they want to solve this problem and I've got the only real realistic solution to get it fixed and that's bringing everybody to the table, leaving everything on the table, except taking money away from education and having an honest discussion about transportation.

Mark Lewis: if I may interject for a second- the major business organizations in Virginia have given their support to your opponent- and they were specific in saying that they felt Bob McDonnell's more comprehensive approach was why they were leaning in that direction, so a couple of questions. One, why did it appear that you were so slow to come out - you mentioned your op-ed in the Washington post, why did it take so long to get to that point - that we got specific information about your transportation plan from your campaign?

Deeds: Well, I'm not going to claim to be perfect in all things but the op-ed didn't say anything differently really than what I've been telling people for three years' time. Now, Bob McDonnell laid out a 19-page, 20-page, very detailed plan that laid out a lot of projects that people like to read about-well, frankly we don't disagree about the projects that have to be built, we don't disagree on what we need to do to solve the problem, we just disagree about how we get there, we disagree on the approaches. His approach is to take money out of the general fund, out of education, public safety and public health, and this laundry list of ideas like selling the ABC stores, which would create another hole in the general fund- aren't going to raise the money he thinks they are-the offshore drilling, we ought to be open to looking for energy sources off the coast of Virginia but we don't have a revenue sharing legislation in place right now. Even if it were to occur today, it's a long way off - it's not going to occur when either one of us is governor. I mean his proposal, is based on things that have either been rejected or require somebody else to agree or taking money from the general fund and that's just a proposal, that's why the Washington Post said it's dead on arrival.

Plotkin: The Post, in an endorsement of you for the primary, said that you have the guts and courage to say that you wanted to raise the state gas tax, you are for raising the state gas tax, but people say, look, cars are more fuel efficient, people are using cars less and that it really won't raise that much money and it's kinda symbolic - if you are for raising the state gas tax, how much do you want to raise it?

Deeds: Mark, I said that everything is on the table when it comes ... that has a nexus to transportation. We've got a significant problem, we have to raise something in excess of a billion dollars.

Plotkin: But you're on record for raising the gas tax.

Deeds: I'm on gas ... I'm on record as having voted for the gas tax in the past.

Plotkin: By how much? I heard 1 penny

Deeds: By 1 penny a year for 5 years, 1 penny a year for 6 years- I voted for a 5-cent increase over 5 years, I voted for a 6-cent increase over 10 years. Those are the votes that I've been ... I was attacked in the primary on - those are the votes that Bob McDonnell is running ads attacking me on right now. But, the bottom line is that the gas tax is not a long term solution for transportation...

Plotkin: But what about raising the sales tax? That'll raise a lot of money...

Deeds: Mark, I have said that everything that has a nexus to transportation is on the table. If you look at the different approaches that have been taken by governors since Baliles to address transportation - they've all failed, and part of the reason they've failed is because they've identified, they started out with something very specific that has become polarizing. You know, I've found in my 18-years in the legislature, I've been successful whether I've been in the minority or majority, and part of that reason is I've looked for a compromise, I've looked for ways to create win-win situations. I think if we leave as much on the table as possible, that we bring as many people to the table as possible, we have more areas we can agree on. This is such an urgent issue that has to be addressed I think sooner rather than later - it has to be addressed next year, my first year as governor. I want the best chance for success and I think that leaving more things on the table will give us that opportunity.

Plotkin: We're gonna break, but I just want to say ... will Bob McDonnell win this election because he said "I won't raise your taxes." And then gets elected governor and then raises taxes just like Kaine and Warner did.

Deeds: Bob McDonnell will not be elected governor.

Plotkin: Let's break on that and move to some other issues and take some calls.

[BREAK]

CALLER: (Steve in Fairfax): Hi Mr. Deeds, Right now I haven't made up my mind yet, as to who I'm going to vote for, but I do drive the 95 corridor every day in the gridlock and every time I hear you asked a question about what you're going to do about the transportation problem, there's nothing specific. Basically, what I'm getting from that is you're going to make it up as you go along and I just don't understand how you expect people to vote for you if you can't give them at least a general direction you're going to go in.

Deeds: Well, thanks Steve. I'm not going to make it up as I go along. I've got the only approach to transportation that's worked in the last 30 years. A lot of times over the last number of years, governors have made very specific proposals, and they've been shot down. Now the other guy's proposal, he goes through a lot of projects that he and I agree on, they have to be done, we have to make improvements to the 95-corridor, we have to make improvements to the 66-corridor, we have to make improvements to the Fairfax County Parkway, we have to make improvements related to the BRAC process, we have to incorporate ideas like high speed rail and light rail and bus rapid transit frankly, into our system. We agree on lot of the specific proposals that have to go forward with. But, the issue comes down to one of how you get it done? How you going to pay for it? What he's proposed is taking money out of the general fund that pays for education, public safety and public health. The General Assembly is not going to agree to that. Papers around the state have said it's dead on arrival. The approach I'm taking is the only that's worked in the last 30-years. When Governor Baliles was in office, he brought together a bi-partisan commission that developed support for funding for transportation, they got it passed in 1986 and that was the last year it got done. And to get that accomplished, you have to leave everything on the table. And I've said that everything- every funding source that has a nexus to transportation is on the table. Everything frankly, is on the table, except taking money from education. I will not rob Peter to pay Paul. I will not cut education in order to fund transportation.

Plotkin: We're gonna take another call, but he says he has 22 different funding mechanisms that he can have. Are any of them valid? What about tolls on 95 - a you for tolls on 95?

Deeds: You know, that's an idea, everything has to be considered, you know I'm not saying that they are all invalid-there are some ideas there that have to be considered, but let me tell you, what he proposes specifically tolling on 85 and 95, as you leave North Carolina. Now that's an idea that was proposed by Gov. Warner - were still waiting to get a response from the federal government because the feds have to approve that. My only complaint there is that his proposals, his laundry list of proposals, have either been rejected by general assemblies in the past or they require someone else to approve them.

Plotkin: And the sale of liquor Stores? $500 million- do you quarrel with that figure and why wouldn't you do it?

Deeds: Well, the sale of liquor stores is something we ought to consider. The sale of alcohol is not a core service of government. Privatization is something we ought to take a look at - it's been considered by the general assembly a bunch in the past and been rejected. But sure, I'm for taking a look at privatization of liquor stores. But $500 million is unrealistic, there's no evidence to suggest we can get that kind of money from the sale of liquor stores. Ohio has more population, they have more liquor stores, they recently privatized, they didn't get anywhere close to 500 milion, but here's the other side of that thought, the ABC stores put over $100 million a year into the general fund, $65 million of that goes directly to mental health services. You create a hole in the general fund when you take the liquor stores and privatize them and put the money into transportation. Now to complete the thought you've got to come up with the money to replace the money that goes into the general fund.

End Transcript

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