CARRY ME BACK TO OLD VIRGINNY, AND MAKE IT FAST – AT 8:02 A.M. ET:  I'll be you haven't read this story anywhere, but it's important and instructive.  There are political leaders who actually succeed.  From the Washington Examiner:

Virginia will end up in the black for fiscal 2010 after reporting surprisingly robust revenue from tax receipts and cutting government spending, Gov. Bob McDonnell said Wednesday.

McDonnell estimated that the surplus for the fiscal year that ended June 30 will be at least $220 million after miscellaneous interest payments are made. The final figure will be made official in August after year-end adjustments.

"We didn't overbudget; we didn't overspend," McDonnell said at a news conference Wednesday.
In January, the commonwealth had been facing a $1.8 billion budget shortfall for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ended June 30.

"It's certainly good news," said Del. Kirk Cox, R-Chesterfield, vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. "We tried to be very prudent."

About $82 million of the surplus will go toward a one-time, 3 percent bonus for state employees, who haven't received a raise in nearly four years. Ten percent will be set aside for Virginia's Water Quality Fund, about $19 million will go toward K-12 education, and two-thirds of the undesignated balance will go toward transportation, McDonnell said.

COMMENT:  Now let us consider the questions the liberal media will ask of the governor:  1)  How many people did you kill to make this possible?  2) Isn't this so-called "success" all due to your bringing back slavery?  3)  Is it true that you hate children?  4)  How can you live with yourself?

You know, considering the state of the press, those questions aren't so farfetched.

But Virginia is making it, under solid conservative leadership.  Indiana, under Republican Governor Mitch Daniels, is also making it.  New Jersey, under its new, incredibly dynamic Republican Governor Chris Christie, is starting to come back from laughing-stock status. 

And my state, New York?  With liberals firmly in charge, New York has become the largest out-migration state in the nation.  In other words, more people leave New York every year than leave any other state. 

Do you see a lesson here?

July 16,  2010