Bolling Refutes Wagner's Latest Dishonest Attack

Wagner's dishonest, personal attack attempts to hide her record of higher taxes, fiscal mismanagement and shoddy meeting attendance

RICHMOND - The Bolling campaign today responded to the latest dishonest, personal attack from Jody Wagner.  Wagner's new television commercial dishonestly attacks Bolling for not attending meetings of the Governor's Advisory Council on Revenue Estimates (GACRE), even though Bolling is not a member of GACRE.

"Behind in the polls, void of ideas and unable to defend her own record of fiscal mismanagement and support for billions of dollars in job-killing tax increases, Jody Wagner has resorted to patently false, hypocritical personal attacks on Bill Bolling," said Matt Wells, Bolling's Campaign Manager.  "Lieutenant Governor Bolling has a distinguished record of service on behalf of the people of Virginia, and we will not stand idly by and allow Ms. Wagner to impugn his record," Wells continued.

Wagner's attack on Lieutenant Governor Bolling is dishonest..... Lieutenant Governor Bolling's practice of attending board and commission meetings is the same as other Lieutenant Governor's, statewide officials and cabinet secretaries.  Lieutenant Governor Bolling has attended those meetings that personally required his attendance.  Other meetings have been covered by a member of the Lieutenant Governor's staff.  The Lieutenant Governor has been briefed on these meetings, he has reviewed minutes from these meetings and he is familiar with the issues these boards and commissions are considering.  This is the same practice that has been followed by other Lieutenant Governors, statewide officials and cabinet secretaries, including Jody Wagner.

Wagner's attack on Lieutenant Governor Bolling is hypocritical.....  As Secretary of Finance, Jody Wagner also served on several state boards and commissions.  According to available records, Ms. Wagner missed 50% of the meetings of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, she missed 75% of the meetings of the Virginia Tourism Corporation, and she missed 100% of the meetings of the Transportation Accountability Commission.  It is terribly hypocritical of Ms. Wagner to criticize Lieutenant Governor Bolling for failing to attend board and commission meetings when she failed to attend her own board and commission meetings.

Wagner's attack on Lieutenant Governor Bolling is factually inaccurate..... Ms. Wagner's attack on Lieutenant Governor Bolling includes several factual inaccuracies.  For example, Wagner criticizes Bolling for failing to attend meetings of the Governor's Advisory Council on Revenue Estimates (GACRE).  However, and as Ms. Wagner well knows, the Lieutenant Governor is not even a member of GACRE.  In addition, Ms. Wagner refers to Lieutenant Governor Bolling as a "health insurance executive."  Lieutenant Governor Bolling is not a "health insurance executive."  In fact, he is not even licensed to sell health insurance.

"Jody Wagner should be ashamed of launching such a personal, dishonest and factually inaccurate attack on the reputation of good public servant.  Bill Bolling has served the people of Virginia with distinction for 18 years and he is proud of his record," said Matt Wells, Bolling's Campaign Manager.  "Unfortunately, Ms. Wagner cannot defend her own record and she has offered no positive ideas for the future of Virginia.  All she can do is attack Bill Bolling and she can't even do that fairly.  The people of Virginia deserve better than this from someone who wants to be their Lieutenant Governor."

Additional background on Wagner's dishonest, hypocritical attack

 

• The Lieutenant Governor's primary Constitutional duty is to serve as President of the State Senate, a responsibility that Bill Bolling has fulfilled with distinction.  Bolling has presided over all 182 regular sessions of the State Senate during his term as Lieutenant Governor, and the fair, impartial and effective manner in which he has presided over the Senate has earned praise from Republicans and Democrats alike.

• Wagner fails to mention that Bolling co-chaired the Attorney General's Government and Regulatory Reform Task Force and he chaired the Working Group on Infrastructure which recommended the elimination of hundreds of redundant and burdensome regulations.

• As far as the selective meetings referenced by Wagner, Bolling attended those meetings that required his personal attendance, while other meetings were covered by a member of the Lieutenant Governor's staff.  This is the same practice that has been followed by other Lieutenant Governors, statewide officials and cabinet secretaries - including Jody Wagner.

• In addition, Wagner's new ad accuses Bolling of failing to attend meetings of GACRE, which he does not even serve on!  Wagner has resulted to outright lies.  A listing of GACRE members can be found here.  The Washington Post reported that "For the record, Bolling is not a member of the Governor's Advisory Council on Revenue Estimates". (Washington Post, Virginia Politics Blog, 8.10.09)

• As it turns out, Ms. Wagner has a record of failing to attend meetings of the Boards and Commissions she served on as Secretary of Finance, the very thing she has attacked Bill Bolling for.  

According to available minutes, Jody Wagner missed 50% of the meetings of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, 75% of the meetings of the Virginia Tourism Corporation Board and 100% of the meetings of the Transportation Accountability Commission.  Talk about a hypocrite!  

So let's get this straight - Jody Wagner criticizes Bill Bolling for missing meetings when she has failed to attend her own meetings.  This is truly unbelievable and the worst form of political hypocrisy.

Bill Bolling is proud of his record as Lieutenant Governor.  Lieutenant Governor Bolling has fulfilled his duties as President of the Senate of Virginia with distinction.  He has sponsored an aggressive legislative agenda each year that he has been Lieutenant Governor and several of the issues he has advanced are now law in Virginia.  He has used his office as a bully pulpit to support causes he believes in, such as his 100 Ideas For The Future Of Virginia Initiative and the various health care initiatives he has sponsored as Lieutenant Governor.  His service has earned the confidence and respect of his peers from across the nation, who recently selected him to serve as Chairman of the National Lieutenant Governor's Association.

It is absurd for Jody Wagner to criticize anyone's commitment to their job when she was a "quit and run" Secretary of Finance.

• Just three weeks after Wagner helped craft a budget that resulted in $7B in budget shortfalls, which necessitated significant cuts to funding for education, health care and public safety and will result in the loss of hundreds of state jobs, Wagner quit her post as Secretary of Finance to run for Lieutenant Governor.

• On the way out the door, Wagner warned that "significant downward adjustments to the revenue forecasts" were on the way (RT, 8/2/08) and "she never intended" to fulfill her term as Secretary of Finance. (AP, 8/1/08)

• In fact, Wagner admitted that "her original plan was to enter the (Lieutenant Governors) race in December, after the budget was taken care of", but the early campaigning of her primary opponent forced her to abandon her position as Secretary of Finance sooner than planned.  Sure shows where Jody Wagner's priorities are.

• When the results of her fiscal mismanagement and the depth of the budgetary challenges she helped create became apparent, Wagner quit, deciding that addressing these budget problems would be inconvenient to her personal political ambition. This is not the type of leadership Virginians expect.

• While being Secretary of Finance may have just been a stepping stone for Ms. Wagner, the position carried with it real responsibilities entrusted to her by the people of Virginia, responsibilities that she failed to fulfill.

It is apparent that Jody Wagner's leadership motto is "when the going gets tough, quit and run for higher office".  

It's not surprising that Jody Wagner wants to cover up her dismal record and lack of real ideas.  Unfortunately for her, this is just one more time when she just can't get it right.