Kaine Self-Defense on Apple Failure Indicts Democratic Ticket
- Gov. Cites Hilton Hotels, MeadWestvaco as Proof of Economic Stewardship -
- Dems Walked Hilton Picket Lines; MeadWestvaco at Risk from Dem Policies -
RICHMOND - Republican Party of Virginia Chairman Pat Mullins today drew attention to Governor Tim Kaine's publicly-stated self-defense of his inability to draw computer giant Apple to jobs-strapped Mecklenburg County for an investment that might have approached $3 billion and employed over 3,000 people. In response to criticism of his mishandling of the hi-tech jobs deal, Kaine cited his success in luring Hilton Hotels and MeadWestvaco to locate their headquarters in Virginia. The main flaws in that deflection include - but are not limited to - the facts that members of the Democratic statewide ticket joined big labor picketers against Hilton in Arlington earlier this year and have implicitly supported so-called "Cap and Trade" legislation that leaders of MeadWestvaco say will strangle the company and put 1,500 Bath County-area workers out of a job.
"I understand that Tim Kaine has his sights focused on Washington politics these days, given his role as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee," said Mullins. "There's not a doubt that he's taking his orders from somewhere that is a little bit north of Richmond. But you'd think he might consult with his people back home before he threw the entire Democrat ticket under the bus."
Earlier this month, Mullins and three Virginia legislators held a conference call for the news media to highlight the fact that Apple Computers had personally approached Tim Kaine and expressed their interest in building a data center that would have been an investment in Southside Virginia of at least $1 billion and perhaps as much as $3 billion. Word of the proposed development rapidly spread around communities and the promise of the 3,000 potential jobs was welcome news to an area of the state that is experiencing high double-digit unemployment rates in this difficult economy.
Unfortunately, Kaine fumbled the ball near the goal line and North Carolina picked it up and ran the length of the field for the winning score. A more full accounting of exactly what happened can be found here.
In response, Kaine's press office chirped that Kaine has indeed been at the helm on economic development issues, citing luring Hilton Hotels and MeadWestvaco to bring their brass to the Commonwealth. Raising those two entities immediately presented unusual and particular problems for the candidates who seek to follow in Kaine's footsteps and serve the people in Richmond.
Hilton Hypocrisy
In January, just a few weeks before Tim Kaine proudly announced the movement of Hilton executives to Fairfax County, two of the three Democratic statewide candidates took part in a big labor picket line at the Hilton Hotel in Crystal City in Arlington County. Democrats at the time were gleeful as "Creigh Deeds and Jody Wagner, handing out coffee and popcorn -- and being generally cheerful and supportive -- during a union-sponsored picket line" toed the big labor line against those employers who actually create jobs.
MeadWestvaco & Cap-and-Trade: Economic Disaster
None of the three Democrats for statewide office has been brave enough to buck Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid to come out against the known job-killing legislation deceptively called the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES Act, H.R. 2454), which proposes a "Cap and Trade" scheme in which entities that exceed a government-imposed emission limit would be forced to buy "credits" from entities which emit amounts under the limits. Many analysts and employers have concluded that the idea would increase costs to consumers and severely limit the ability of private companies to create jobs. The bill narrowly passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is now pending in the Senate.
No member of the Democratic statewide ticket has yet taken a position on it, which implies implicit support given their required obedience to national Democratic dogma. Each Republican statewide candidate - Bob McDonnell, Bill Bolling and Ken Cuccinelli - has expressed opposition to the legislation.
"If the ACES Act passes Congress, MeadWestvaco's Covington mill operations, which provide 1,500 jobs in the Alleghany Highlands, will definitely be one of the losers. The economic future for our area will be severely impacted," MeadWestvaco Covington Vice President Mark George wrote ("Kill the Climate Bill: Legislation Ignores Critical Factors...," Richmond Times-Dispatch, June 25, 2009).
"Isn't this rich?" said Chairman Mullins. "Here we have Tim Kaine attempting to defend his own dismal record of economic development by holding up Hilton and MeadWestvaco as mighty achievements for himself, but it takes only a bit of reflection to recall that his own acolytes are on the opposite side of these very employers."
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