Category: Money in politics
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VMI Alumni PAC Endorses GOP Ticket
by James A. Bacon The Spirit of VMI Political Action Committee (SoVP), formed by Virginia Military Institute alumni in response to the Governor Ralph Northam-ordered VMI racism investigation, has endorsed the Republican slate of candidates for statewide office — Glenn Youngkin for Governor, Winsome Sears for Lieutenant Governor, and Jason Miyares for Attorney General. In…
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Same Politicians Who Legalized Weed and Casino Gambling Killed Skill Games
by Kerry Dougherty For more than 30 years Virginia’s been breathlessly legalizing vices. It began when voters approved a state-run numbers racket – the lottery – in 1987. Since then, all manner of wagering has been approved for our gambling pleasure. Virginia now has horse racing, off-track betting, sports betting and soon, casinos. But in…
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Change Coming to Virginia Beach Politics
by Dick Hall-Sizemore A recent federal court decision could fundamentally change the politics of Virginia Beach, the Commonwealth’s largest city. Some background is needed first. Virginia Beach has an unusual method of electing its council. All 11 members of the council are elected by all the voters in the city. However, seven of the council…
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Where Is the Trump Donor Money Going?
The Virginia Public Access Project has done an interesting bit of data sleuthing. It identified 360 Trump donors who have given to Republicans battling for the GOP’s gubernatorial nomination through the end of March. Trump in Heels Amanda Chase is dominating in the number of contributions, but average size of most her donations is small.…
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COPN Monopolies Depress Income for Virginia Healthcare Professionals Without Lowering Costs
by James C. Sherlock Virginia is among the richest states in the country. We are ranked ninth among states with the highest median household income in the 2019 (latest) Census Bureau American Community Survey. Virginia median household income was $74,222 and the U.S. as a whole was $62,843. But Virginia has a Certificate of…
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Medicaid and Medicaid Rate Increases Boost Virginia Hospital Profitability
by James C. Sherlock Virginia in 2018 both expanded Medicaid and increased Medicaid reimbursement rates. Those changes orchestrated by Virginia hospitals took effect in 2019 and resulted in a major financial windfall to those same hospitals. I have compared the 2018 and 2019 Hospitals Operating and Total Margins spreadsheets published by the state through…
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COPN – Don’t Leave Home Without It
by James C. Sherlock Sometimes I think we don’t personalize the effects of Virginia’s Certificate of Public Need (COPN) program on individual Virginians in ways that are relatable. Nor do many understand the power of the hospital monopolies. Many readers here have followed the progress of our reporting of the increasing and relentless suppression of…
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Buy Bacon’s Book
By Peter Galuszka This is a shameless advertisement. Jim has written an excellent book and you should buy it and review it. While some of Jim’s focus is at odds with a similar book I wrote eight years ago, “Maverick Miner” is a really well put together effort at research and writing. In my reporting,…
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What Texas’s Crisis Means for Virginia
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in Blogs and Blog Administration, Business and Economy, Consumer Protection, Corruption and Scandals, Culture wars, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Energy, Environment, Government Finance, Insurance, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Money in politics, Political Influence, Politics, Property rights, Public safety & health, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technologyby Peter Galuszka The Texas freeze and ensuing energy disaster has clear lessons for Virginia as it sorts out its energy future. Yet much of the media coverage in Virginia and certainly on Bacon’s Rebellion conveniently leaves out pertinent observations. The statewide freeze in Texas completely fouled up the entire energy infrastructure as natural gas…
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Bacon Bits: Fear and Loathing at Every Turn
Minutes away from monthslong blackouts. Partisans and their friends in the media will debate forever how to apportion the blame between renewables, natural gas and other factors in the rolling blackouts in Texas. What the situation in the Lone Star State indisputably does do, however, is drive home the absolute necessity of maintaining an electric…
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Baby Steps Toward Campaign Finance Reform
By Dick Hall-Sizemore Virginia law prohibits a candidate for public office from converting “excess” campaign funds to her personal use when closing out her campaign finance account. However, there is nothing to prevent a candidate from using campaign funds for personal, non-campaign related, purposes during a campaign. Ever since his first General Assembly session (2014),…
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The Democratic Coalition’s Conflicts of Interest Cause Much Political Scrambling
by James C. Sherlock It is tough to be a Democratic politician in Richmond or Washington. Now that they govern, they find it one big game of coalition whack-a-mole. I have written today of the conflicts between the interests of teachers unions and those of parents playing out in the Virginia General Assembly. That vital…
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Business as Usual in the Virginia Senate – “Dominion Dick” Saslaw Delivers
by James C. Sherlock Associate Press headline Feb. 15: “Virginia Senate Democrats kill electric rate reform bills.” Fish gotta swim, Senator Richard L. “Dominion Dick” Saslaw gotta be Senate Majority Leader and Chairman of the Virginia Senate Commerce and Labor Committee. Saslaw has received nearly a half million dollars in campaign donations from Dominion Energy and…
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Virginia’s Physicians and Nurses Must Take – Yes, Take – More Influence Over Virginia Health Policy
by James C. Sherlock As I have studied and reported upon Virginia’s struggles in COVID response, many things have come into focus that need to be done better in healthcare. I have reported on a lot of them here and called for changes. One major, overarching flaw needs attention. Virginia’s physicians and nurses do…
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Probably a Coincidence – COPN, the Monopolization of Health Care and the Marginalization of the Poor
by James C. Sherlock I have been asked many times about how freer markets in healthcare can coexist with our need to treat the poor. I will try to briefly cover some of the complexities of the answer to that question. And I will show that of all of the government healthcare control systems, COPN…