McDonnell’s “Opportunity at Work” a Whisper Campaign

And it must be so as not to invite raucous laughter. Yesterday McDonnell signed three measures into law. Delegate Sal Iaquinto’s (R-Virginia Beach) presents an opportunity to provide relief; the other two are simply laughable. Good news! Revenue generated by human spaceflight and training in Virginia will be reinvested here.

…for fiscal years 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015, the portion of the net revenue generated by qualified corporations that is attributable to the sale of commercial human spaceflights or commercial spaceflight training, or is incidental to the sale of commercial human spaceflights, shall be transferred to the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority…SB1447

I know, I know, the tourism that is generated from the Governor’s junket to Asia and the revenues generated by Senator Norment’s tourism bill will result in a long line of potential clients bored with Busch Gardens who are staying in a hotel that could only be built at the beach in a publicly underwritten public/private partnership because no private sector investor would touch it. That will compel the rapid expansion of Wallops Island to accommodate renovated space shuttles for flights to…space. Think about it: Travel from Bejing to Virginia, sip our wine, eat our pork and soybeans, then take a trip to…space. Quite possibly these trips will feature a bird’s eye view of the oil rigs idling offshore exploring another empty promise. None of which can be accomplished by 2015.

Thank goodness the budget could be balanced by such effective revenue sources as state employee retirement funds and shell games with a bond authority. We are to believe that we are going to grow our way out of the deficit with human commercial space flight, tourism, pork, beans, and small business. The Iaquinto small business incentive may actually accomplish something. But don’t count on those flights to nowhere or hotels that will bleed revenue from private sector investors. That’s one of the problems with Bob’s Jobs campaign: it is less a campaign and more of a series of small skirmishes designed for self-promotion that leave the economic flanks unanchored.

Oh, and you can vote in that poll on Bob’s own tribute to narcissism website. Hurry before they take it down.