In an e-mail to me today, Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) has called upon the state of Virginia to buy a private toll road in Loudoun County, the Dulles Greenway:

I want to share with you my testimony I submitted for the record at the Greenway hearing in Purcellville on April 9.  I could not testify in person because the House was in session.

As you will see, I opened by asking why the hearing was held in western Loudoun, where commissioners and staff from outside the region were able to use alternate roads, like Route 28 and Route 7, to get there. The hearing should have been held at the county’s School Board offices or at a school just off the Greenway so those attending would have had no choice but to use the Greenway.  If commissioners and staff were forced to pay the Greenway toll rate, then they may have a better understanding of what Loudoun residents endure.

I also renewed my criticism of TRIP II and its parent company Macquarie. The Greenway’s owners have fought the moms and dads and other commuters in Loudoun at every turn, even opposing studies that would look at distance pricing, a common practice on other roads, including some under the ownership of Macquarie.  I also urged the Commonwealth to purchase the road. For more information, click here.

His objection is that his constituents are willing to pay high toll rates for a private road that he, Frank Wolf, did not make possible by diverting federal highway money from your pocket to his distinct.  It should be noted that there is a parallel six lane public highway, which the paying public choose to avoid like a traffic jam.

Further, Congressman Wolf has repeatedly called for state imposed price controls that would cause this private business to fail.

When this private company planned to build a commuter rail line, Wolf blocked their participation and obtained federal funds (your tax dollars) to have a fully public rail line built, which will be subsidized by the government to compete with the private road in one of the wealthiest areas of the country.

His suggestion that the Dulles Greenway be bought by the state runs counter to Virginia’s transportation policy, which favors the development of private roads to be financed from tolls paid by drivers.

Congressman Wolf’s irresponsible pandering endangers private capital investment in Virginia transportation.  As the Dulles Greenway is foreign owned, Wolf endangers foreign investment in the United States as Wolf’s rhetoric is an assault on property rights the likes of which we would expect from a Hugo Chavez or Evo Morales.  Further, his demagoguery endangers the investments that Americans have made overseas as he legitimizes foreign theft of American capital.

In attacking business, capital, and private property while calling for public ownership and government control of prices, this Republican, Frank Wolf, represents true views of the Republican Party on limited government, individual rights, and property rights.