VIRGINIA, HOPE YOU ARE HAPPY, YOU GET WHAT YOU VOTE FOR !!!!
Politicians lie, and the Virginia Democrats are proving it in real time. Spanberger sold herself as the no-tax-hike moderate, the ex-spook who gets affordability, but the machine she fronts in Richmond is cranking out tax grabs like it's Black Friday at the revenue trough. The supermajority isn't even pretending anymore—it's a buffet of hikes on income, services, deliveries, guns, businesses, you name it. She's not authoring every bill, but she's the enabler, greenlighting the agenda while her "Affordable Virginia" rhetoric rings hollow. This is what one-party dominance looks like: campaign on restraint, govern on expansion. The raw incentives are clear. Virginia's got a fat surplus from the Youngkin years—strong growth, reserves at the cap—but Dems see it as fuel for their wishlist: schools, transit, "equity" programs, green energy mandates. Instead of trimming fat, they're padding it with new revenue streams. The pattern holds: target the productive (high earners, small biz, consumers) to fund the dependent class and cronies. No broad "tax the rich" confession, just death-by-a-thousand-cuts on everyday life, disguised as "investments."Here's the updated tally of the big ones bubbling through the sausage factory this session—mostly Dem-authored, many advancing despite the surplus: Income and Wealth Hits
New high-earner brackets: 8% on $600K–$1M, 10% over $1M. Creeps the top rate up, brackets not inflation-proof, so bracket creep for the upper middle too.
Net investment tax: 3.8% on gains, dividends, rentals—nails investors, retirees, pass-through owners. Pairs with the brackets for a potential 13.8% effective on some income.
Sales and Everyday Consumption
Services sales tax expansion: Gyms, repairs, landscaping, deliveries, events, digital goods, dog walking—basically tax the middle-class conveniences.
Local sales tax options: Referendums for counties/cities on hikes for schools, roads. Spanberger's given the nod; it's "local" until the state takes the credit.
Delivery/shipping fees: Hits Amazon, Door Dash, UPS—taxes the gig economy and suburban shoppers.
Targeted Squeeze Plays
Gun and ammo excise: 11% on manufacturers, plus suppressor taxes—punitive on rights.
Big employer payroll tax: On large corps, passed to workers via wages or prices.
Equipment property tax: Electric tools, leaf blowers—petty green virtue signaling.
Hotel, tourism, fantasy sports bumps: Niche but additive in tourist areas.
Energy/carbon via RGGI: Utilities foot the bill, ratepayers pay at the plug—her quiet favorite.
Total proposals: Still north of 50, with fiscal notes showing billions in potential new revenue if even half stick (one services bill alone eyes $1B+). Most get watered down in committees, but the survivors compound: higher brackets for the top 1-5%, broader base for everyone else. Virginia's no longer the low-tax Southern outlier; it's morphing into a Northeast-style grinder. This isn't governance; it's predation dressed as progress. Voters handed Dems the keys, so they drive the bus off the cliff of affordability. The "no new taxes" pledge was always a Trojan horse for bigger government.
