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gouging as
a rational economic response to shortages in the
aftermath of the storm. He also defended those speculators who bought
up storm necessities and resold them with a high
mark-up. They
were just “imitating” Gov. Mark R. Warner’s
business model — Warner became wealthy by
reselling government licenses he got for free. In
the Virginian-Pilot, Kerry
Dougherty called some price gouging contractors
“scoundrel, vermin, and hurricane hairballs,”
but stopped short of endorsing all but limited
restrictions on the practice.
University
of Virginia Environmental Sciences Professor
and Cato Institute Fellow Patrick
Michaels, writing in the Washington Post,
blamed the extensive damage caused by the storm on
our love for trees:
In
today's blame game, people are pointing fingers at
Pepco and Dominion Virginia Power, when the cause of
all the mess is right out there in the backyard,
planted and neglected since the house was built. The
power companies can't come in and saw down trees on
your property that stand 60 feet from the
residential power line. If they had the authority
and the will to do so, there would hardly be any
shade left in Falls Church. Imagine the hue and cry
from our suburban culture, which worships trees as
ardently as Egyptians once venerated cats.
Dave
Addis of
the Virginian-Pilot discussed the
implications of the fine print found in homeowners
insurance. Many
homeowners discovered after storm damage that their
deductibles had increased. He called for insurance companies to direct
some of the creativity they put into advertising
toward advising customers of insurance changes.
Jeff
Schapiro of
the Richmond Times-Dispatch speculated on the
politics of the storm, especially on the issue of
taxes:
Never
mind that the hurricane could prove the strongest
argument for strengthening the services on which
Virginians depend: police, rescue, transportation,
schools and health. Maybe Isabel will be a reminder
that all this costs money - and might require even
more from taxpayers.
Hugh
Lessig and Terry Scanlon,
writing in the Daily Press, noted how the
storm affected election campaigns, canceling events
and then impacting the issues candidates confronted.
One
Virginia
pundit, Jesse
Todd of the Daily Press, shared the
personal devastation that Isabel visited upon his
home. He wrote
of the things he would have after the storm that he
could not have imagined before the storm:
Have
a tree on my house (big enough to await a crane).
Have a smashed chimney cover, smashed gutters,
smashed porch railing. Have flashing ripped off to
open the underside of the roof to rain. Have no
electricity. Have no phone service. Have a car with
a broken windshield, broken windshield wiper and
numerous dents.
Nonetheless,
Todd believes himself “incredibly lucky.” As Virginia returns to “normal” after
Isabel, it’s a belief worth contemplating.
Tax
Heroes
Margaret
Edds of the Virginian-Pilot praised Del. Allen Louderback,
R-Luray, and David Jarman of the Virginia Organizing
Project for their advocacy of tax reform proposals. That’s the good news, but the bad news for
Edds is, “Virginia [should not have] to rely on a
two-term delegate, a grassroots organizing group,
and newcomers to the state such as Jarman to do the
heavy lifting on tax reform.”
Patrick
Lackey, Edds’ colleague at the Pilot,
continued his on-going crusade against tax cuts and
for higher taxes by writing, “I view paying taxes
the same way I view buying a car. I don't want to
pay too much, but I want to pay enough to get a car
that runs and a government that works.”
The
Big Kahuna
The
Virginia Republican eavesdropping scandal refuses to
die, much to the delight of Virginia Democrats. Jeff
Schapiro traces the scandal’s newest and
potentially juiciest link: Attorney General Jerry
Kilgore. The essential case against the AG:
Kilgore
has generally ducked publicly discussing the details
of this 20-month-old scandal. He defers to his
handlers, who attempt to keep the opposition at bay
with biting quotes that could further validate the
impression that Kilgore has something to hide.
All
Hail the Revolving Door
Delegate
and pundit Preston
Bryant, writing in his Roanoke Times
column, heaped accolades on former delegate Jack
Rollison, now working for VDOT Chief Philip Shucet. After losing his spring primary, Rollison was
quoted as saying he was going to concentrate on his
auto service business, but apparently an enhanced
pension for staying in state government was more
lucrative. Rollison
does have extensive experience with transportation
issues.
Wilder
Agonistes
Former
Governor
L. Douglas Wilder used his Richmond
Times-Dispatch commentary column to publish the
letter he sent resigning his seat on the Board of
Trustees of Virginia Union University. Wilder, concerned about the financial health
of the school and the apparent unwillingness of
school’s president to accede to an audit, grandly
placed his action in the context of “Forty years after the March on Washington
led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”
Market
Contraction
Virginia
Pundit Watch offers a belated welcome to Barnie Day,
newest member of the Bacon’s Rebellion family. Bacon’s Rebellion gain is VPW’s loss. Day
has always been a rich source of no-holds-barred
commentary from an unabashedly partisan point of
view. Now that Day can be found in his entirety on
these pages, Virginia Pundit Watch is going to have
to dig deeper to find equally compelling bloviation.
--
October 6, 2003
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