Further adventures in the pathetic saga of the Virginia Republican Party:

RICHMOND, April 25 — Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) rejected an increase in gas taxes to pay for transportation improvements, prompting a leading Republican ally in the Senate to accuse the governor Tuesday of pandering to national anxiety about rising fuel prices.
On Washington Post Radio’s “Ask the Governor” program, Kaine said “the right way to solve this problem is to do it without a gas tax.”
Senate Transportation Chairman Martin E. Williams (R-Newport News) said he was “sickened” by Kaine’s comments. They were “a wimp-out,” he said, which would undermine the Senate’s support for a tax of 6 cents a gallon on terminal operators and would give comfort to Republicans in the House of Delegates, who have refused to accept tax increases to pay for transportation improvements.
“You talk about an absolute no-leadership comment,” Williams said. “Where’s the leadership in that? . . . He’s leaving us all out to dry. Truly, with those comments, he showed he is not one ounce of the solution. There’s not one ounce of risk there.”