Category: Money in politics
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A Look at Richmond and COVID-19
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in Agriculture & forestry, Business and Economy, Children and Families, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Consumer Protection, Culture wars, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Efficiency in Government, Entrepreneurs and Innovation, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Government workers and pensions, Housing, Infrastructure, Insurance, Labor and Workforce, Money in politics, Planning, Public safety & health, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Resilience, Science & Technology, Social Services and Entitlements, Telecommunications, UncategorizedBy Peter Galuszka Here is a roundup story I wrote for Style Weekly that was published today that explains the effects of COVID-19 on the Richmond area. Hopefully, BR readers will find it of interest. It was a tough piece to report. The impacts of the deadly virus are very complicated and multi-faceted. An especially…
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Hey, Politicians, Give Unspent Campaign Funds to Charity
by James C. Sherlock I am a strong believer in the generosity of most Americans. I offer in this essay a way for Virginia elected officials to donate campaign money left over from their last elections to charities that provide healthcare services to Virginia’s poor. It is a simple concept that can do a lot…
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Money and Chaos in Virginia Politics
by James C. Sherlock Having watched the flood of money into the 2017 and 2019 Virginia elections and the utter chaos in the 2020 General Assembly, I offer what I hope are two reform suggestions that meet with bipartisan approval. Limit the money in state politics I wrote an entire column on the abuses of…
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Virginia Has No Campaign Contribution Limits — And It Shows
by James C. Sherlock Did anyone notice the reporting last year that Virginia’s 2019 state election drew unprecedented amounts of special interest money from out of state, most of it targeted to turn the state blue? It worked. Federal laws regulate the use of money in federal elections. The states implement and enforce campaign finance…
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How Hospitals Exercise Political Clout
by James C. Sherlock Virginia’s hospitals and health systems have for decades gotten everything they have sought from the state government, both the constitutional officers and the General Assembly. Readers of this space have been provided the details of some of their successes that are counter to the public good. But what is the source…
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How Virginia Would Fare Under President Biden, Part 1
By DJ Rippert And then there were two. Today, Elizabeth Warren announced that she will withdraw from the presidential race. That leaves Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard (yes, she’s still running) as the remaining candidates for the Democratic nomination. Given that Tulsi Gabbard has exactly one delegate (from American Samoa where she was…
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Money Can’t Buy You Love (or Elections)
The 2020 election season has been fascinating to behold. Two billionaires, Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer, attempted to purchase themselves the Democratic Party presidential nomination through massive advertising buys. Bloomberg supplemented his television and online ad buys by hiring every party operative in sight and setting up campaign offices everywhere. “It is an open question…
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How Politically Skewed Is Virginia’s Artista Class?
In my previous blog post, I documented how Virginia’s college and university faculty staff skew leftward in their campaign contributions (at least among those who donated $10,000 or more over the past 20 years). But the imbalance was nothing compared to that of Virginia’s artistic/literary class. Using the same methodology (more than $10,000 in contributions…
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How Politically Skewed is Virginia’s Professoriat?
by James A. Bacon How thoroughly dominated are America’s institutions of higher education by faculty and staff hewing to the left side of the political spectrum? In a survey of 12,372 professors, finds a new National Association of Scholars study, 48.4% are registered Democrats and 5.7% are registered Republicans. The ratio of Democratic to Republican…
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West Virginia Offers to Incorporate Disaffected Virginia Counties
By DJ Rippert Almost heaven. West Virginia state legislator Gary Howell is spearheading an effort to allow Virginia jurisdictions frustrated by Richmond a chance to join West Virginia. While this might seem like gimmickry, Howell claims that “43 out of 100 West Virginia house members are sponsoring a resolution that would let West Virginia accept some…
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House of Delegates Election Tally: $66.4 Million
The final money tally is in, and it looks like more money was spent on House of Delegates elections in 2019 than any election in Virginia history. That was a nearly 42% increase over 2017, which itself was a record, according to data published by the Virginia Public Access Project. Democrats raised $38.2 million in the…
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Northam Comes to the Aid of Menhaden (But is Chap Petersen Paying Attention?)
By Don Rippert Fish tale. Omega Protein, a Canadian owned company, has willfully exceeded its menhaden catch limit in the Chesapeake Bay. You can read the details here. The catch limit is controversial since menhaden is the only marine fish regulated directly by the Virginia General Assembly. All other saltwater fish in Virginia are regulated…
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Virginia Democrats’ Quid Pro Quo Squabble
by James A. Bacon More blue on blue: Hedge-fund manager Michael Bills, the money meister behind Clean Virginia, worked behind the scenes to oppose the elevation of Del. Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax Station, to Speaker of the House. So alleged Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax, in an interview on the John Fredericks radio show last…
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What Will Clean Virginia Be Asking For?
By Steve Haner “Do you actively support efforts to reduce corruption in government?” Of course, any candidate presented with that question will reply yes. What do you expect? “No, I’m quite passive about corruption in government. Live and let live.” That was one of the softball questions on the Clean Virginia candidate survey form,…
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Wealthy Greenies Dump Millions into Virginia Elections
by Hans Bader You may not be following Virginia’s legislative elections, which will occur on November 5. But liberal billionaires across the country are. They are spending millions to help progressives take control of the Virginia legislature. The Washington Post reports that heaps of money are flowing into Virginia political campaigns ahead of the election.…