Ken Cuccinelli’s office grows, but the reasons are more complex than what meets the eye

While it pains me to defend Ken Cuccinelli, the truth remains a standard that shouldn’t falter along narrow political party lines. The Roanoke Times recently reported that the Virginia attorney general’s office has “grown dramatically” under Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who is campaigning on a quasi-libertarian platform of calling for less government intrusion in the lives of Virginians.

According to Virginia documents on the budget, the attorney general’s office intends on spending $42.7 million in 2013, an increase of almost 25 percent of the $34.3 million that Cuccinelli’s office inherited in 2010. New hires in Cuccinelli’s office is also set to rise to 381 positions, or 19 percent.

On the face of it, the growth in Cuccinelli’s office during his time as attorney general would appear to be a major contradiction in one of his main campaigning messages. However, a good deal of the growth in the attorney general’s office has been the result of federal grants to pursue Medicaid fraud, a sum which is currently in excess of $9 million. The Roanoke Times also notes that the remainder of the Medicaid fraud unit’s revenue comes from criminal conviction fines.

As University of Virginia’s political guru, Larry Sabato, put it, “There’s apparently a legitimate reason for the increase. But in the eyes of an ad-maker, it’s Cuccinelli’s job to get that side of the equation out there, and he may have to spend a sizable sum to do so. This is money he can’t spend on more productive endeavors.” That is, Cuccinelli and his office are doing what they legally can with money they’ve received to crack down on Medicaid fraudsters.

Cuccinelli’s spending may still be in contradiction to the public image he has attempted to paint for himself during his candidacy for governor, but if Terry McAuliffe is going to defeat Cuccinelli for governor, the defeat should be based on facts and truths as opposed to distortions and blind accusations.

In this one particular case, it appears the Cuccinelli has carried out his duties as attorney general with praise (albeit, with Cuccinelli-like zealotry). Luckily for Terry McAuliffe, there are plenty of other issues that Cuccinelli can be attacked on, but this shouldn’t be one of them.

To win by unvirtuous means is ultimately no victory for our republic. Virtue is what ultimately holds our government in place and it is virtue which this country so desperately needs at this point in our continuing history.