Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past decade or two, and/or are a U.S. political journalist, it should be glaringly obvious that, under the toxic/corrupt/anti-democracy/science-denying/etc. “leadership” of Donald Trump, today’s Republican Party has completely given up being a party of conservative ideas, as it once was, and has instead morphed into the fascistic freak show we’ve got today.
That goes not just for the national party, of course, but also to the state-level parties, including here in Virginia, where it appears that about the only things the Republican Party cares about are “owning the libs,” knee-jerk opposing anything that could possibly be viewed as progressive or pro-environment, lots of fear mongering about the bogeyman of the day, giving more money to the wealthiest, rigging elections in their favor, taking women’s bodily autonomy away from them, making sure people don’t get high-quality health care, making sure that there’s no obstacle to anyone owning any type of firearm and carrying it anywhere they want, etc, etc.
A classic case? See below for the VA GOP’s latest idiocy and ignorance, as well as some actual facts.
- So, acccording to Bill Woolf, the right-wing-Republican nominee for State Senate District 30, his Democratic opponent, the superb Danica Roem, supposedly (note: THIS IS ALL COMPLETE BULLSHIT) “is responsible for bringing CA’s ban on gas-powered cars to VA” and “will ban you from driving a gasoline vehicle.” Again, THIS IS ALL COMPLETE BULLSHIT.
- How so? Let’s start with what Sen. Scott Surovell – who actually knows what he’s talking about and is reality/fact-based, unlike the VA GOP – this is “false fearmongering,” as the rule that Woolf is ranting about doesn’t fully kick in until 2035 and “only applies to new cars.” For instance, “The first checkpoint along that timeline is 35% of all new cars and trucks sold in Virginia with a 2026 model year must be electric.” Again, the key words here are “new cars and trucks” and “35%” – there’s no “ban” on owning or driving your gasoline-powered vehicle, and of course through 2035 you can still buy a new gasoline-powered vehicle…if you want to (but by that point, as you can see below, the vast majority of new vehicles sold in the U.S. will be EVs for a bunch of reasons – technological advantages, economic advantages, environmental advantages, etc.).
- As for it supposedly costing “$60,000 for a new electric vehicle,” that’s wildly misleading. For starters, according to Kelley Blue Book, “the average transaction price for electric cars was $53,469 in July 2023, vs. gas-powered vehicles at $48,334.” So…less than $60,000, but more to the point, only $5,000 more than a gas-powered vehicle. Of course, that’s just looking at the purchase price; in fact, according to Consumer Reports, “EVs cut repair and maintenance costs by 50 percent over similar gas cars”; “The cost of the electricity to charge an EV is almost always hundreds of dollars less per year than the fuel expense for a similar gas-powered vehicle”; and “In addition to federal tax credits, EV buyers can potentially save thousands thanks to state tax breaks for car buyers, lower electric rates for EV owners to charge at home at certain times, or discounts on installing an at-home charger.” So Virginia Republicans like Bill Woolf are being VERY misleading with their fear mongering about EVs.
- Meanwhile, a recent analysis by Goldman Sachs forecasts that by 2035, a whopping 70% (!) of U.S. vehicle sales will be electric, increasing to 85% (!!) by 2040. So obviously, this is the wave of the future, just like when horses were rapidly phased out for transportation in favor of automobiles back in the early 20th century. But, as Sen. Surovell notes, “we’d still ride horses if GOP had its way.
So, again, the VA GOP is doing what it does on everything – fear mongering, lying, standing in the way of progress and environmental protection, etc, etc. And again, they do this on EVERYTHING, which really raises the question why anyone would take them seriously or listen to their arguments, let alone vote for them. Better idea: don’t do any of those things – and vote Democratic (including, of course, Danica Roem for State Senate) instead!
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
