Today (Friday September 28th) I received a postcard. It was large, full color, similar to several other political postcards I've receive recently. I thought it was from Connie Brennan, running for Delegate from Virginia's 59th District. It had photos of her, two of them, the same photos as she had used on her earlier mailing.

I glanced at the headline: "Connie Brennan voted for a 400% tax increase on small business."


               HUH?

That can't be right! I run a small business in Nelson County, and I know my taxes haven't gone up "400%"! So, as the postcard itself says, THAT'S WRONG!

So, what are the facts? Yes, in 2005 some County taxes on phone bills and electric bills did go up...
Yes, by "four hundred percent" ............     From $2.00 to $10.00!

From TWO dollars to TEN dollars!

That is it! Other than a lodging tax targeting tourists and a few service fees, NO major tax in Nelson County has gone up during Connie Brennan's seven years in office.
      Not the Real Estate Tax,
      Not the Meals Tax, and
      Not the Property Tax.
If you want to look at the details, click here.

Over all, during Connie Brennan's time in office, my local taxes, both personal and business, have gone up almost not at all. Certainly not the 400% screamed out by this deceptive headline!



Has Spending Increased?

Yes, as the postcard says, spending has increased in Nelson County. But as Watkins well knows, very little local spending is discretionary. Both Federal and State governments impose huge mandates on localities, and it is a tribute to our Board of Supervisors that they have been able to find ways to pay for those increases without raising taxes any more than they have!

This is the lesson that Connie Brennan will take with her to Richmond: That the State must not impose mandates on local governments that local governments cannot pay for!

And let's not forget: The Federal and State governments that have been shifting financial burdons onto local governments have, during Connie Brennan's time in office, been largely controlled by Republicans! At the State level, that control has been maintained with the help of Mr. Abbitt.

Oh yes, Watkins Abbitt does call himself an "Independant", but that's only "truthy". It's not really the truth. His votes largely follow and support the Republican leadership.




So Let's Take a Closer Look at this Postcard ...

Click above to see larger images

  • Not having anything real to say, Waktins Abbitt created this postcard to intentionally lie using true facts and outrageous conclusions! It does this by giving you only partial information. It yells out about a 400% increase without telling you, 400% of what. It never mentions "400% of two dollars"!


  • It gushes that "Ms. Brennan voted for over $8 million more in government spending" without mentioning how much of that increase was required by mandates from the State and Federal levels of government.


  • Nowadays, this is called truthiness.


  • Front to back, there is nothing here but deceptive slams against Connie Brennan. This is a 100% negative ad.


  • AND there is not a single mention of anything that Watkins Abbitt has done for our District. Is there nothing that he can be proud of?


  • In fact there is not a single photo of Watkins, nor a single mention even of his name other than the legally required "Authorized by ...", tucked unobtrusively away as the card's "return address".


  • Is Watkins Abbitt too embarrassed to put his name on this card any more than he has to? If not, he certainly should be!



And Finally, Even the Clip Art is Phoney!


Does anyone in this district know where this store is? Well, just by looking at the picture, I can tell you, not only is this store nowhere to be found in the 59th, it is nowhere in the entire state of Virginia! How can you tell? Virginia does not have "Liquor stores"! It has ABC Stores, not Liquor Stores.

01OCT07 Update: Someone posted on Raising Kaine and on Democratic Central the original clip art. It turns out that this is a store located in Alaska! That's about as far away from Virginia as you can get (and still be in America).


So who did Watkins hire to make this ad? Well, I don't know the answer to that, but I can tell you, whoever did put this trash together did not know much about Virginia. And not much about Virginia voters either!



Connie Brennan Needs Your Help!

Connie has been running a positive, issues oriented campaign in which she has hilighted real and honest differences between herself and Mr. Abbitt. All her mailings and all her appearances have been all about what she has done in Government Service and and the changes she will work to bring about going forward. Below is a typical mailer of hers.

Click above to see larger images


But now Watkins Abbitt has gone negative, and it will only get worse! And fighting those kinds of tactics is very expensive.

Don't let negative tactics work! Go to Connie's website and contribute money so that she can answer the unfair attacks. Volunteer your time to help her win!

Connie's web site is www.conniebrennan.com.