Rendell: Tell Norquist ‘to pound sand’
Ed Rendell, the former Pennsylvania governor and co-chairman of Building America’s Future, offered a few choice words for anti-tax activist Grover Norquist as states try to defend themselves against cuts to infrastructure spending.
“Nobody ever voted for Grover Norquist,” Rendell said during a transportation policy luncheon hosted by POLITICO. “He is in my judgment the Wizard of Oz and it’s about time we told him to pound sand.”
But based on comments at the luncheon by Virginia Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton, Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell isn’t ready to write off Norquist.
McDonnell has said he’d like to boost yearly transportation spending by $500 million — though he hasn’t specified from what source. On Monday, Norquist wrote to Virginia legislators that one possible revenue source — indexing the gasoline tax to inflation — would violate the anti-tax pledge that many lawmakers have signed.
McDonnell “is out there meeting with all the stakeholders, including Mr. Norquist and others,” Connaughton said Wednesday. But he added that the governor will make the final decision.
Connaughton noted that the gas tax hasn’t been raised in Virginia since 1986.
This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 1:14 p.m. on December 12, 2012.