Fact Checker

In a campaign that has shifted the debate to taxes, State Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, the Democratic candidate for governor, accuses Republican candidate Robert F. McDonnell of exaggerating the potential cost of Deeds's proposals to Virginia's families.

Leaving aside the GOP's questionable claim recently that Deeds's total tax tab would amount to about $7,800 per family, let's focus here on the bill for handling transportation.

Deeds says Virginia needs at least $1 billion in new revenue every year to fix its transportation woes.

He does not specify where that would come from, other than to say that he will not deplete funding for schools. He tells a scrum of reporters he will not raise any taxes that go to the general fund, such as sales and income taxes. But he promises in writing that as governor, he would enact a bipartisan, comprehensive transportation plan, "even if" it includes new taxes, to fix "a multibillion-dollar backlog."

Yet when McDonnell accused him of supporting a "billion-dollar tax increase," Deeds and fellow Democrats say McDonnell is lying.

In news releases and other venues, the GOP has gone further, accusing Deeds of wanting to double the state's gas tax. Deeds has never said he would raise the $1 billion by doubling the gas tax.

But it's also disingenuous for Deeds to call his opponent a liar for following the only available breadcrumbs on his plan to their logical conclusion.

After all, if Deeds is serious about finding $1 billion a year, or anything close to it, Virginians would ultimately pay, whether through higher fuel taxes, fees, tolls, debt, other taxes or some combination.