While running to once more be the governor of Virginia, Democrat Terry McAuliffe has been citing what he claims are "independent studies" and "independent reports" as he did during the first debate earlier this month, to make claims about his Republican opponent, Glenn Youngkin.
Those studies and reports come from the Virginia Education Association (VEA), the Center for American Progress Action Fund, and Virginia Excels, three liberal organizations.
VEA donated $15,250 to Democratic candidates, including $10,000 to McAuliffe and $500 to Hala Ayala for lieutenant governor. No donations have gone to Republican candidates. The president of the VEA, Dr. James J. Fedderman has also been a supporter of all virtual learning, saying "learning losses will be made up." Unfortunately, as Jessica Nocera reported for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Virginia students' performance on Standards of Learning tests plummeted during pandemic."
VEA President James J. Fedderman on why public schools should go ALL-VIRTUAL until at least mid-January. “Learning losses will be made up, but loss of life cannot be.” #COVID19 #VEAStrong https://t.co/ubm3LCpH4C
— Virginia Education Association (@VEA4Kids) December 10, 2020
The CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Fund is Patrick Gaspard, who was previously the president of liberal billionaire George Soros' Open Society Foundation. His resignation from the latter group prompted speculation that he was going for a position in the Biden administration. He also served in the Obama administration and in the White House
Virginia Excels' current executive director is Taikein Cooper, who was selected to be a delegate for now President Biden. He's also the chair of the Prince Edward County Democrats and has donated to the Democratic Party of Virginia, to McAuliffe, and other Democratic candidates.
In a fact-check analysis of the first debate, Warren Fiske for PolitiFact acknowledges that the above organizations are indeed liberal, and also points out that such claims about Youngkin are based on the presumption that the Republican would eliminate the income tax.
As Fiske mentioned:
McAuliffe: Youngkin’s budget plan "would take $10 billion out of education...These aren’t my words.Three independent reports have just come out."
McAuliffe is referring to studies by three liberal groups: the Virginia Education Association; Center for American Progress Action Fund; and Virginia Excels. Youngkin said in April that he was working on a plan to eliminate the state income tax. All of the studies are based on the assumption that he would repeal the tax, which provides about 70% of the state’s funding to public schools, public safety and health programs..
The problem is that Youngkin is no longer calling for the end of the income tax. In August, he settled on a more modest plan that would double the standard deduction for individuals to claim on their state income tax returns. We’ve not seen an independent estimate on the cost of raising the deductions but given that Virginia must keep a balanced budget, all tax cuts must be accompanied by either cuts in spending or increased revenue from a different source.
From Fiske's fact-check last month, which he gave Youngkin "a half flip" for:
Youngkin’s tone has recently changed. "I don’t believe we can eliminate Virginia’s state income tax," he told WMAL radio in Washington on Aug. 4.
Youngkin said he is still committed to cutting the income tax and that, while he had set a goal of ending it, he never promised to do so.
"What I said was we, in fact, need to reduce our state income tax," Youngkin said. "It would be aspirational to get rid of it, but it’s very hard to get rid of it and therefore we need to bring it down to make it more competitive."
Youngkin made similar remarks during an Aug.10 interview with WLNI in Lynchburg.
"In Virginia, we can’t get rid of income tax but we sure can try to bring it down,'' he said. "It’s an important part of funding our government. It can’t go down to zero like Tennessee and Florida, but we can certainly bring it down and that’s one of the things I’m really focused on when I go to work for all Virginians as the next governor."
...
Four months later, Youngkin says he still wants to cut the income tax but has determined it’s infeasible to eliminate it. That’s a significant change in position, but he left himself some leeway.
The second debate between McAuliffe and Youngkin will be held on Tuesday, September 28.
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