We gave em enough rope

Every once in a while or rather quite often really, that old saying of "give 'em enough rope and they will hang themselves," is correct. Voters of both the Democrat and Republican parties are set in their ways.

Two recent issues prove that old saying is dead on the money. The first occurred in Virginia when our General Assembly last met and passed legislation that became law effective July 1. And the second occurred during a U.S. Senate session on June 26, in Washington, D.C.

The results of the new laws passed by the 2007 General Assembly have taken effect and the Republican controlled House of the Virginia General Assembly should be proud. I wonder though if their supporters are. Those supporters now realize just how their representatives fixed Virginia's ever-rising transportation improvement costs.

About three or four weeks ago, local and statewide newspapers began publishing some of the new laws, including exorbitant "fees" for speeding violations. It was then that the average Virginian noticed how transportation needs would be paid for.

How did this happen-

To avoid a standoff with the General Assembly's Republican Delegates, similar to last year's, Gov. Timothy Kaine, the Assembly's Democrats and a number of the more reasonable Republican Senators, compromised. Instead of raising taxes to pay for transportation needs, the compromising representatives and Kaine agreed to accept higher fees (and mandatory sentencing) for breaking certain traffic laws.

Why "fees" instead of fines- Fees may be designated to transportation costs whereas fines are turned over to localities where the violations happened. Additionally, similar to the infamous three-strike laws, judges aren't allowed discretion where sentencing of the guilty is concerned.

In Washington and across America, Republican support for the war in Iraq has held fast. While Republican support has been slowly dropping, on June 25 a major change occurred.

Republican Senator Richard Lugar speaking on the Senate floor opined that it's time to bring the troops in Iraq home.
Virginia's U.S. Sen. John Warner, another of the Senate's most powerful, influential and respected leaders, suggested that the July 4 recess will cause more Republican supporters to scale-back their support for the War.

After regaining control of Congress in the 2006 midterm elections, the Democrats, should have immediately forced Bush to get American troops out of Iraq by cutting off funding. Instead, they agreed to an increase (surge) in troop levels until September.

Democrats ignored the desires of last year's voters and yielded to pressure applied by Republican hawks and conservative commentators in all of the media. They didn't want to appear soft on security.

Avoiding an earlier showdown with Bush however might prove costly. The latest national polls show Congress - both parties - have a lower approval rating than Bush.
In each case cited above Democrats compromised (some would say, caved in), and allowed the Republicans to have their way.

The problem is Democrats gave the Republicans too much rope, and in the process are hanging us all.

Nelson Graves writes a weekly column for The News Virginian. He is Western Virginia director of the Virginia Minority Supplier Development Council. E-mail him at .