Maybe Gov. McDonnell Can Help In Washington

Congress just passed another "continuing resolution", kicking the can of writing a federal budget down the road another three weeks.

Meanwhile, here in Virginia, we are doing just fine, thank you, thanks to Republican Governor Bob McDonnell and the Republicans in the state legislature.

In January of 2010, Bob McDonnell was sworn in as Governor of Virginia.He inherited a multi-billion dollar budget shortfall from his predecessor Democrat Governor Tim Kaine. One of the first things McDonnell did was announce that he would veto any budget sent to him that included any new taxes. With Republicans having an override-proof number of seats in the state legislature, that option was "off the table", as they say. The legislature then got to work and had an adult conversation on how to cut spending in order to balance the state budget. A balanced budget is required by the Virginia Constitution. The cuts were made, and yes, some wee painful, but the legislature did its job by producing a balanced budget with no new taxes.

It all took only six months.

Today our economy in Virginia is rebounding, unemployment is heading down, we remain fiscally solvent, and VIrginians are not saddled with higher taxes.

Because Virginia is governed in a fiscally responsible way and keeps taxes low, companies want to come here. NorthropGrumman, for example, relocated its corporate headquarters from Los Angeles to Richmond a few months ago and brought about 300 new jobs to the state in the process. On a smaller scale, in my own community, VIrginia Casting Industries relocated here from out of state and brought 20 jobs.

Maybe we should send Gov. McDonnell to Washington to help them with their budget problem that they don't seem to be able to solve.