Category: Poverty & income gap

Virginia’s New Ruling Class: How Exploitation Works in the Real World

Jun 21, 2021

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by

James A. Bacon

in Education (higher ed), Health Care, Poverty & income gap

Medical debt, which comprises 58% of all debt collections in the U.S., is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States. Between January 2018 and July 2020, hospitals filed tens of thousands of lawsuits and other court against against patients, according to AXIOS, which drew upon Johns Hopkins University data. Until a public outcry…
How’s Descano’s Social-Justice Prosecution Policy Working Out?

Jun 14, 2021

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by

James A. Bacon

in Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Culture wars, Poverty & income gap

by James A. Bacon Steve Descano was elected Commonwealth Attorney of Fairfax County in 2019 on the promise that he would end mass incarceration by winding down the prosecution of marijuana possession and raising the threshold to $1,500 for larceny prosecutions. As he stated in his reform platform, “I will not ruin someone’s life because…
Free Bus Fares for Everyone Because… Equity

May 31, 2021

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by

James A. Bacon

in Poverty & income gap, Transportation

by James A. Bacon Once upon a time, Virginia built roads and bridges according to the quaint old principle of “pay as you go,” meaning that the state didn’t spend money it didn’t have. That idea went hand in glove with another quaint concept that the people who used public transportation infrastructure should be the…
How to Empower Low-Income Communities in Virginia

Apr 15, 2021

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by

James A. Bacon

in Poverty & income gap

by Stephen Jordan There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to describing poverty in Virginia. Portsmouth, aka “Pistol City”, population 93,000, is six hours away from Galax, population 6,000. The housing projects of east and south Richmond are very different from the hollowed out small towns that dot Southside and coal country. Both urban and…
Kings Dominion Stays a Step Ahead of the Minimum Wage

Apr 10, 2021

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by

James A. Bacon

in Business and Economy, Labor and Workforce, Poverty & income gap

by James A. Bacon Virginia’s $9.50-per-hour minimum wage will go into effect May 1, but it won’t have much impact on King’s Dominion, which expects to hire more than 2,000 seasonal workers, mostly young people, this season. The Hanover County amusement park plans to boost its minimum wage to $13 per hour, reports Virginia Business.…
Virginia Will Mandate and Hold Retirement Savings

Mar 31, 2021

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by

Steve Haner

in Business and Economy, General Assembly, Government Finance, Labor and Workforce, Poverty & income gap

by Steve Haner Next week’s reconvened General Assembly session will decide whether only full time employees of Virginia’s small businesses will be pushed into a new state-sponsored retirement savings plan, or part-time workers will join them there.
Roving Bands of Whites Steal COVID Shots?

Mar 26, 2021

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by

Steve Haner

in Health Care, Poverty & income gap, Race and Race Relations

by Steve Haner Call out the militia! Roving bands of white people are rushing to Danville to steal COVID vaccines from more deserving blacks and Latinos! That’s the big news according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, although it lacks the courage to write that headline directly. The story dominates the print front page and the on-line…
More Unintended Consequences: Shutdowns, Alcohol, and Domestic Violence

Mar 21, 2021

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by

James A. Bacon

in Poverty & income gap, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight

by James A. Bacon As the number of COVID-19 vaccinations administered in Virginia passes the two million mark, new COVID-19 cases in Virginia are falling off rapidly. We can look forward to the day when fear of the virus will be a distant memory. But the damage wrought by the virus — or, to be…
Podcast: How the General Assembly Has Changed

Mar 18, 2021

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by

Peter Galuszka

in Agriculture & forestry, Blogs and Blog Administration, Business and Economy, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Consumer Protection, Courts and law, Demographics, Economic development, Energy, Entrepreneurs and Innovation, Environment, General Assembly, Government Finance, Health Care, Housing, Immigration, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations

By Peter Galuszka I haven’t contributed much to BR lately since I am slammed with non-Virginia work. I did manage to help out on a Podcast about how the General Assembly has changed the state over the last two years as Democrats have gained power. This Podcast is produced by WTJU, the University of Virginia…
Mark Herring: Friend of the Poor, Scourge of Lenders

Mar 17, 2021

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by

James A. Bacon

in Business and Economy, Poverty & income gap, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight

by James A. Bacon Attorney General Mark Herring is at it again — acting to protect the poor by government fiat without regard to unintended consequences. In a press release release today, Herring claims credit for backing a law backed by Del. Hala Ayala, D-Woodbridge, that will ensure that federal COVID-relief payments don’t “get swept…
Exploitation and Privilege at VCU

Mar 6, 2021

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by

James A. Bacon

in Education (higher ed), Poverty & income gap

by James A. Bacon Bacon’s Rebellion has devoted considerable digital ink over the years to explaining how Virginia’s higher-ed institutions exploit its students through unconscionably high tuition and fees. But it is useful to remind ourselves that colleges and universities are rigidly hierarchical and exploit the knowledge workers at the bottom of that hierarchy as…
VUU Gambles on Recruiting Hispanic Students

Mar 5, 2021

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by

James A. Bacon

in Education (higher ed), Poverty & income gap, Race and Race Relations, Uncategorized

by James A. Bacon Although the appeal of Virginia’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) has been limited mainly to African-Americans, Richmond-based Virginia Union University, founded in 1865 to educate former slaves, is making a major push to recruit Hispanic students. VUU President Hakim J. Lucas wants the student body to be 25% Hispanic within…
You Thought Payday Lenders Were Bad? Welcome to Internet Lending.

Mar 4, 2021

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by

James A. Bacon

in Government Finance, Poverty & income gap, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight

by James A. Bacon A new law that went into effect this year is designed to protect Virginians against “predatory” short-term loans by limiting what lenders can charge. And in honor of National Consumer Protection Week, Attorney General Mark R. Herring is encouraging Virginians to familiarize themselves with the risks associated with smaller-dollar loans. I’m…
Politicians Get the Gold Mine, the Middle Class Gets the Shaft

Mar 1, 2021

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by

James A. Bacon

in Energy, Poverty & income gap

by James A. Bacon Thousands have Virginians have fallen behind on their electric bill payments as they struggle through the COVID-19 epidemic. The General Assembly wants to help. So, in the budget compromise reached by the House of Delegates and the state Senate, Dominion Energy will be directed to forgive customers’ unpaid balances that…
Updates: PPP, PIPP, Dominion’s School Buses

Feb 21, 2021

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by

Steve Haner

in Energy, General Assembly, Government Finance, Poverty & income gap, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Social Services and Entitlements, Taxes, Transportation

by Steve Haner Tax on Paycheck Protection Program Grants The General Assembly session deadlines require final decisions on various revenue bills before the final budget bill is adopted, in theory keeping the two issues separate. What is good tax policy should not be driven by the need or greed of the appropriators.