I can’t say I’ve ever felt foolish for asking a direct question that could be answered quantitatively.

I have, however, felt foolish in hindsight on a number of occasions for accepting qualitative answers to quantitative questions.

(Though I’m not sure either fact is relevant here given that your answer was neither qualitative nor quantitative; indeed, it wasn’t even an answer: it was an ad hominem swipe.)

Gilmore Estimates $1 Billion Shortfall;
Final Budget to Prepare for Deeper Recession
By R.H. Melton
Metro, Pg. B01

RICHMOND, DECEMBER 3— Virginia Gov. James S. Gilmore III (R) issued a more pessimistic fiscal forecast for state government today, estimating a $ 1 billion shortfall that he said could be an omen of a worse recession than he first feared.

Gilmore said he was relying on the “most conservative” numbers available to revise the forecast he made Nov. 15, when he announced that Virginia was in a full-fledged recession and faced an $ 890 million shortfall.

Gilmore said he had been persuaded by an advisory panel of business leaders to adopt essentially a worst-case scenario of a nearly year-long recession, which he plans to incorporate into the final state budget he presents to the General Assembly on Dec. 19.

The governor’s latest and gloomiest forecast of state revenue widened the projected budget hole by $112 million, probably setting the stage for a round of potentially deep cuts in state spending, which is now about $ 25 billion annually, Gilmore and lawmakers said.

Then, from a few weeks later in the Washington Times:

Gilmore to call for cuts in all state departments
By Daniel F. Drummond
Metro, Pg. B1

DECEMBER 19—Gov. James S. Gilmore III today will tell legislators during a formal presentation of his two-year, $51 billion budget that Virginia is expected to have a $2 billion revenue shortfall over the next two fiscal years.

Mr. Gilmore, a Republican, is expected to tell the House of Delegates and Senate budget committees that across-the-board spending cuts of 5 percent to 6 percent at all state agencies are needed, sources said. About $500 million of the nearly $1 billion “rainy day” fund also is expected to be tapped to fill the gap as part of Mr. Gilmore’s final budget.

In addition, Virginia’s economy is projected to recede by 1.4 percent through June 30, the end of the current fiscal year. The economic report comes on the heels of Gilmore administration announcements that the state faces a $1.3 billion revenue shortfall this fiscal year.

I’m not holding back any stories that claimed anything to the contrary. I read abstracts for ~100 stories between January 1, 2001 and January 1, 2002, the period in which the budget was being debated. The search terms were “warner gilmore budget,” with 660 results in all.

I’d love to see references for the budget-surplus number you cite.

(And not just partisan/blogger links–something like a non-partisan/independent fiscal analysis would be useful.)

Over the past several election cycles, however, the truth has come out regarding the Big Lie, and more and more voters now know that there never was any fiscal crisis, and Governor Warner pushed through the largest tax increase in the history of Virginia when he already had a $2 Billion (that’s billion, with a ‘B’) surplus.

And gee, who was in charge of the state immediately preceding Warner, thus responsible for creating that surplus? Allen, Gilmore, and a Republican controlled General Assembly…. hmmmmmmm.

Gilmore is way to the right fiscally, having left the state in a financial shambles at the end of his term as governor … citizens of Virginia well remember how badly Gilmore screwed up localities’ coffers

You seem to subscribe to the Big Lie Theory — that a lie, repeated often enough, becomes the truth. Warner’s office adopted that strategy from Day 1 regarding the state’s fiscal numbers, and they apparently did a damn fine job in making suckers believe their Big Lie.

Name them.

Is that anything like the pro black agenda? You know, the one a few decades back that resulted in some folks being unable to bolt from the scene because they were too busy hiding inside an earthen dam?