Sorry Virginia, Abigail Spanberger is Already Demonstrating that She is No Moderate

If Our New Governor, Abigail Spanberger, Gets Her Way Virginia Will Become Much Less Affordable.

Well, it didn’t take Abigail Spanberger long to demonstrate that while she campaigned as a moderate Democrat, and while she ran on the issue of affordability, she is no moderate and her actions as Governor will make Virginia more unaffordable.

The first thing she did as Governor, just hours after she was sworn in, was to repeal Governor Youngkin’s executive order requiring Virginia police to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regarding criminal illegal aliens. Spanberger’s lame excuse was that she didn’t want Virginia police to, “divert limited time and resources” to help ICE. Really? It takes too much time to pick up the phone and inform ICE about a suspect? Nonsense. She is a far-left open borders Democrat who doesn’t want to see anyone deported. She, like nearly all in her Party, wants to keep every criminal illegal alien in the United States.

Sure, during the campaign she ran as a law-and-order moderate Democrat. For example, I remember in her one (only one) statewide gubernatorial debate she offered a scenario where, as governor, she would demand that Virginia police cooperate with ICE. Why did she point out such a hypothetical scenario if she were planning to block cooperation with ICE once elected? Well, she wanted to separate herself from her Party’s left flank.

But now she is in office. She can’t run again, so she can now be herself, and ditch the mask of a moderate. So, she repealed the Youngkin executive order on ICE cooperation. This is known in marketing as a “bait and switch.” Spanberger implied that she’d work with ICE for the swing voters, but once in office she moves to block ICE from getting help from the Virginia police.

Her main issue on the campaign trail was affordability. Which is ironic, because as a member of Congress she voted for all of the Biden spending, which gave us the high inflation. But never mind that, she wanted to be Governor of Virginia, so she left Congress and decided to run on affordability. The consultants probably told her that affordability was the latest buzzword.

Well, Spanberger, in office for less than a week now, has already put Virginia on course to pay more for energy. She is reversing Youngkin’s decision to remove Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).

This is a compact between several states in the northeast. It requires energy producers to pay into a fund that the states then use to fight climate change. That’s right .

It should be noted that Pennsylvania, with a Democratic governor, pulled out of the compact citing high energy cost for consumers. If the cost was too high for Pennsylvanians why does Spanberger believe it will be affordable for Virginians. The fact is that this compact results in more money for green energy projects and higher bills for energy consumers. Not a good deal.

In 2022 Youngkin pulled the state out of the RGGI compact citing higher energy costs, and the lack of environmental benefits. Why would Spanberger, who campaigned on the issue of affordability, and the idea of reducing the cost of living for Virginians, push the state back into such a costly boondoggle? Well, her Party wants “green energy” which is expensive. She is choosing what the Party wants over affordability.

Spanberger’s predecessor, Glenn Youngkin, left office with a budget surplus. You’d think that money could be used to help make life here in Virginia more affordable. Perhaps a tax cut. No, Democrats have plans to spend that money and more.

Democrats are in charge of both Houses of the General Assembly, and they have started filing their Bills. And most of these Bills will make it to Spanberger’s desk. No surprise there are lots of Bills to raise taxes. The Democrat majority wants to create two new income tax brackets, with the goal of raising taxes on the wealthiest Virginians from 5.75 percent to 13.8 percent. If passed and signed into law by Spanberger, Virginia will surpass California for the highest top tax rate. Now you may say well I’m not rich, so it won’t affect me. Well, if that rich person employs you, it might. If that rich person gives to an organization, that you work for it might as well.

Democrats want to add new taxes on landscaping, vehicle repairs, home repairs, guns and ammo sales. They also want to add hotel taxes. They may argue that this will fall on out of state tourists, but many Virginians travel the state and stay in hotels. For example, think of parents who visit their kids at a Virginia college. They may stay at a hotel, and they will pay the tax. And think of all those people from Northern Virginia who like to spend some time in the summer in Virginia Beach. They will pay the tax. Or maybe they will avoid it and go to Ocean City or Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. Sorry Virginia no hotel tax for you.

Democrats also want new taxes on food deliveries. Will that make your life more affordable? No. Your meal delivered by Uber will cost you more. Virginia Democrats also want speed cameras on the highways. Will that make your life more affordable? Imagine going to Virginia Beach for a weekend. You will pay the new hotel tax and imagine when you get home finding a speeding ticket in the mail. That trip will become quite expensive. You will have Abigail and the Democrats to thank for that.

Will Spanberger sign these new taxes into law. My guess is that she will sign most of them, which will make Virginia less affordable. It will also make a fool of anyone who voted for her on the belief that she would make Virginia more affordable.

David is the author of two books: Elections Have Consequences, A Cautionary Tale.

Norton’s Choice: An Inside Politics Exposé: Shephard, David: 9781892538802: Amazon.com: Books