Month: November 2020
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U.S. Supreme Court Must Limit Virginia’s Gubernatorial Authority in Emergencies
by James C. Sherlock Kerry Daugherty, as is her want, posted a particularly compelling essay today. The most important thing Kerry wrote was: “Please let there be another lawsuit. And let it get to the Supreme Court…. Seems only the courts can save us from these tyrants.” She is absolutely right. Article IV of the United…
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I Thought It Was All About the “Science”
by James A. Bacon Governor Ralph Northam likes to say he follows the “science” and the “data” when promulgating rules to fight the spread of the COVID-19 virus. But he admitted yesterday that the latest round of lockdown measures — which included ordering children as young as five to wear masks — was inspired by…
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Arbitrary and Capricious Rules for Thanksgiving
by Kerry Dougherty I missed Gov. Ralph Northam’s COVID press conference yesterday. That’s OK, his pressers always fill me with dread. Yet I had a legit reason for skipping this one: I was getting my hair done. In case Northam decided that the only way to “slow the spread” was to put Virginia’s hair stylists…
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The Coming Push for Electric Vehicles in Virginia
by James A. Bacon Now that Virginia is committed to a 100% renewable electric grid by 2050, the push is on to decarbonize the transportation sector. In a word, that means persuading Virginians to switch from cars with internal combustion engines to electric vehicles (EVs). In an early sign of what’s to come, a Charlottesville-based…
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Where Does Ralph Northam Go From Here with COVID-19?
by DJ Rippert Marcel Marceau. Ralph “The COVID Mime” Northam dropped a bevy of increased Coronavirus restrictions on the state last Friday. Those new restrictions on Friday followed another rambling COVID press conference held by Northam the prior Tuesday. Anybody watching the Tuesday news conference could be forgiven for being shocked by The COVID Mime’s…
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One Governor Blinks on Carbon Tax. Will Northam?
By Steve Haner The governor of Massachusetts stated yesterday that he and other unnamed governors in Transportation and Climate Initiative states are reconsidering the new carbon tax. Is our Governor Ralph Northam among them? He has a news conference this afternoon and somebody should ask. From a post late yesterday at the Boston Herald: “Gov.…
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Virginia Drug Overdoses Could Exceed 2,000 This Year
by James A. Bacon In just the first half of 2020, at least 1,086 Virginians died from drug overdoses, an increase of 427 deaths, or 39%, from the first six months of the previous year, according to the Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner’s 2nd Quarter 2020 report. The first quarter was trending upward…
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Cancel the Student Debt? Kiss the Working Class Goodbye.
by Kerry Dougherty We only have ourselves to blame. Baby Boomers, that is. We were the progeny of the Greatest Generation, but growing up in their houses, with their rigid rules and endless chores, our folks didn’t seem like the greatest. They seemed heartless when they sided with teachers over us and when they doled…
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RGGI Carbon Tax Hits Dominion Bills Next Summer
By Steve Haner Beginning August 1 of next year, Dominion Energy Virginia proposes to begin to collect the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative carbon tax from its customers, collecting $168 million during the first year through yet another of those proliferating rate adjustment clauses (or “RACs”). It will get it by charging a flat $.002388 per…
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Another VA Gas Pipeline Project Dies Under Fire
By Steve Haner Another proposal to build a pipeline pumping wealth and prosperity into the Virginia economy has been brought down. That is my impression of what the impact would be of expanding natural gas supply to our state – added wealth and prosperity. This beneficial project is not to be. Virginia Natural Gas has…
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How to Promote Ideological Diversity at Washington & Lee
by Neely Young It is well known by now that the professoriate at many colleges and universities, particularly the more elite ones, is dominated by politically liberal faculty. American higher education needs ideological diversity in classrooms, particularly in those that touch on political and social issues. Disciplines like sociology, history, political science, literature, and philosophy…
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How Childhood Traumas Are Driving Special-Needs Funding
by James A. Bacon More than 17,000 Virginia school children were categorized by the Virginia Department of Education as being disabled by autism or severe emotional issues in the 2018-19 school year. If these students get too unruly for schools to handle, they often wind up getting transferred to private special-education day schools. The cost…
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What Cox Brings to the Contest for Governor
by Steve Haner Virginia’s 66th House District, basically Colonial Heights and part of Chesterfield County, was drawn by a federal court special master. The incumbent delegate, Republican Speaker of the House Kirk Cox, was not supposed to survive the 2019 election based on past partisan performance in those precincts. But Cox ran nine points ahead…
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Anti-Marijuana Laws Are Racist… and So Is the Marijuana Industry!
Attorney General Mark Herring is full of praise for the just-released Joint Legislative and Audit Review Commission report on marijuana legalization. As he notes in a press release today, criminalization of marijuana disproportionately impacts African-Americans and other Virginians of color. But the press release makes an observation that I’ve never seen before: The marijuana industry…
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Citizen Reporting of Misfeasance or Malfeasance of Virginia Government
by James C. Sherlock I recently published a much commented upon column concerning the governance of Virginia. In it I failed to mention the Office of the State Inspector General (OSIG). The mission of that office is to partner “with other state agencies to serve as a catalyst for positive change by: Facilitating good stewardship…