Letter to the Editor: Why I'm voting for Tim Kaine

Editor:

Tim Kaine has my vote for the U. S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Jim Webb because Kaine has a proven bi-partisan record, and his deficit reduction plan makes sense.

When Tim was the governor of Virginia, he was able to work with both the Republicans and Democrats in the General Assembly to cut $5 billion out of the state budget, including reducing his own salary. Within those constraints, he was still able to help legislators figure out how to advance his education ideals and help build our state economy.

Regardless of who our president is, Kaine is eminently qualified to work with either party. He worked with the Bush administration in securing funding for the rail to Dulles project, and he's worked with the Obama administration to keep both naval carriers and their concurrent jobs in Norfolk.

Kaine's plan for deficit reduction makes sense to me. Instead of the usual partisan lines on whether to extend or sunset the Bush tax cuts, he has a middle ground solution. His idea is to extend the cuts for all incomes below $500,000. That would actually increase revenue by $500 billion, avoiding disastrous cuts in Medicare, defense and education budgets.

Kaine is a moderate Democrat, with a proven record of bi-partisan problem-solving ability. He certainly has my vote; shouldn't he have yours?