Category: Politics
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To Be Continued…
The three little words that should terrify every Virginian by Jonathan Arnott What do John Tyler, James Monroe, and Thomas Jefferson have in common? They are the three Virginia governors who have gone on to become president. Just a couple of years from now, the United States could sleepwalk into adding a fourth name to…
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Out-of-State Nursing Home Chains Continue to Plague Virginia – A New Solution
by James C. Sherlock Nursing home chains headquartered in New Jersey, New York, and Atlanta have, in the last decade, plagued Virginia with their operations here to a degree that should have proven intolerable to the Governor and the General Assembly. New Jersey-based Medical Facilities of America (MFA) is both the largest and the worst-performing…
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Democrats and the New American Royalty
by Patricia N. Saffran and Ann McLean Governor Abigail Spanberger signed two bills from the Virginia General Assembly recently to require ICE officials to stop wearing masks and identify themselves. The DOJ sued as a result. She knew she would lose this case as California recently lost to the DOJ on these same issues. The question is…
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Spanberger’s Slow Start
by Rich Tucker Imagine for a moment that you’re at a Donald Trump rally. As you approach the event, you come across a Republican protester wearing an anti-Trump mask and carrying a “No more wars” sign. Perhaps the person is also accusing the president of being too cozy with corporations. Does that sound unlikely? Well, outside a…
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The Governor Knows How to Throw Some Sharp Elbows
by Dick Hall-Sizemore All governors have ceremonial “signing” events for legislation that has already been officially signed into law. The purpose is to highlight both the legislation and its patrons. On June 16, Gov. Spanberger had a ceremony in Richmond in which she signed a batch of bills relating to gun violence. As she signed…
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Virginia on the Brink
by Kerry Dougherty With Virginia’s top two Democrat females mud wrestling in Richmond, it’s time to think about what a Virginia state government shutdown might look like. With 13 days to get a budget, the unthinkable may actually happen: Virginia government may shut down because the Democrats fundamentally don’t like each other. None of us…
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Virginia Democrats Are in Serious Trouble
State Senator Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) announces a Democratic “Civil War” over the budget, while nationally Democrats aren’t exactly pivoting well. by Shaun Kenney Let’s start with the basics. As of this moment, the generic congressional ballot is D+5. Which isn’t great for Republicans. Yet when compared to other midterm elections? Democrats enjoyed a D+10 environment…
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GOP No Longer the Party of Ronald Reagan
Former Republican Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling writes on The Republican Standard that the Trumpification of the Republican Party nationally and Virginia is complete. He writes: Recent primary elections in several states have clearly shown that the Grand Old Party as we once knew it is stone cold dead. The GOP is no longer the party…
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Virginia’s Old-Fashioned Cat Fight
by Kerry Dougherty Someone recently asked why I’m so fond of including Tweets, er Xes, in my posts. That’s easy. There’s no better way to figure out what’s going on in the devious hearts of politicians than to read their Tweets. In the days after her businesses were raided by the FBI State Sen. Louise…
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Helmer Threatens SCOVA Justice
Maybe it isn’t Justice Kelsey that needs to be worried in 2027, but a coalition of Virginians sick and tired of Dan Helmer’s lust. For power. Of course. by Shaun Kenney Who is this magical “we” Dan Helmer is talking about? Have the Democrats already decided that Kelsey must go? Are Democrats seriously contemplating a…
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Spanberger Isn’t Moderating, She’s Muddling
Vetoing the collective bargaining bill, observing court orders, and honoring MOUs on data center tax exemptions isn’t pivoting to the center — it’s muddling through. by Shaun Kenney The Washington Post — alternately condemned for being a fascist propaganda machine now that it no longer reflexively agrees with the political left, alternately praised as defending democracy behind…
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Adversarial Government Works Best
by Chap Petersen A couple years ago, I wrote an essay entitled: “Single-Party Government Didn’t Work in the Soviet Union, and It’s Not Working in Fairfax County Either.” My goal was to point out the parallels in failing one-party systems. But frankly the points were too obvious. So I didn’t bother publishing it. Maybe I…
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Left-Wing Money Paid For Deadly 2017 Charlottesville “Hate Rally”
by Scott Dreyer On April 21, when many Virginians were focused on the gerrymander election, the federal Department of Justice (DOJ) made a bombshell announcement: The innocuously-named Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which for decades has posted a “Hate Map” where they targeted many right-wing individuals and groups, often including those holding pro-life, biblical, and/or conservative views,…