Guy Benson: Virginia Democrats push ‘dizzying’ tax hikes
An item from the Washington Examiner reports that Virginia Democrats, fresh from winning the governorship and flipping 13 House seats in the 2025 elections, are pushing an expansive package of new proposals and rules for the upcoming legislative session. They have introduced more than 50 measures, including taxes on dog walking and gym memberships, signaling a shift toward widespread tax increases alongside culture-war issues—criticism against which argues it diverges from what they campaigned on. guy Benson,the paper’s senior columnist,contends that Democrats have moved from affordability and democracy talking points to a dizzying array of tax hikes and controversial policy ideas,raising questions about which proposals will pass or be vetoed by the governor. He contrasts this approach with developments in New York City and cites comments about Mayor Zohran Mamdani to illustrate the broader political dynamics. The piece situates thes moves within the 2025 election context and notes accompanying elements like recommended stories and a paywalled video.
Virginia Democrats introducing ‘dizzying array’ of tax increases: Guy Benson
Washington Examiner senior columnist Guy Benson said Democrats have been focusing on issues they didn’t campaign on since winning the Virginia elections in their “little blue wave.”
“The democrats mouth these platitudes of affordability and democracy. That’s how they got elected,” Benson said Wednesday on Fox Business’s Bottom Line. “As soon as they seized control of everything with their little blue wave in Virginia, it has been this dizzying array of increased tax proposals from every direction.”
In the 2025 elections, Democrats took control of the Virginia governorship and flipped 13 House delegate seats.
Virginia Democrats have introduced more than 50 new proposals and new rules for the new legislative session, including taxes on dog walking and gym memberships.
Benson said in addition to raising taxes, Virginia Democrats have been focusing on “culture war” issues and “gerrymandering.”
“That has been their priority — it is not at all what they campaigned on,” he said.
In comparison, Benson said the tax increases in New York City aren’t a surprise because Mayor Zohran Mamdani is a “communist.”
“In New York, you can at least say, listen, he’s a communist, you knew what you were going to get,” Benson said. “He could put on a nice grin and a nice smile and say nice words, but he was an unrepentant communist.”
“So, this was going to come [in New York City], this was not the sell job in Virginia, and yet the outcomes are looking quite familiar, isn’t that interesting,” he added.
MAMDANI PROPOSES 9.5% PROPERTY TAX HIKE IN NYC AS PART OF NEW BUDGET
Benson said Virginia Democrats’ new tax proposals are “crazy.”
“It’s crazy, like if it moves or doesn’t move, tax it,” he said. “We’ll see how much of this actually gets passed, we’ll see if the governor decides to veto some of these things to try to cling to some veneer of moderation.”
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