Wonkette

This is Democratic Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia. He would like to cut some spending that studies have shown is useless, see, to help shore up the state’s budget because $275,000 isn’t pocket change. But, the usually fiscally conservative Republicans in the state are throwing a fit. Why? Because the spending is on abstinence-only education.

Last month, Kaine announced that he was eliminating $275,000 in matching funds for federally-funded abstinence-only education programs. The programs that Virginians’ tax dollars were paying for were not even held in schools, for the most part, and studies (including one released in April by the Congressional Research Service) have shown that they aren’t particularly effective. But, yesterday, a bunch of conservatives (including some elected officials) held a press conference to vociferously object.

In additional to being a relatively socially conservative state, Virginia claims to be a fiscally conservative one. The Grover Norquist fiscal conservative group, Americans for Tax Reform, asks elected officials to pledge not to raise taxes, and Lt. Governor Bill Bolling (who spoke at the press conference), 8 Senators and 28 House Members in Virginia have done so. One would think that eliminating $275,000 in state spending would help the elected officials of that state who want to reduce taxes do so. But, Bolling, at least, is willing to sacrifice his desire for low taxes and reduced government spending on the altar of giving money to privately-run ineffective abstinence-only education programs. I guess keeping teenagers in the dark about how their bodies work and how to protect themselves against disease and pregnancy if they choose to have sex is far more important than lower taxes. Silly me.

Va. GOP Assails Kaine on Sex-Ed [Washington Post]
Reducing Teen Pregnancy: Adolescent Family Life and Abstinence Education Programs [Congressional Research Service]
State Signers of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge [Americans for Tax Reform]