The post-truth nature of the Trump White House came home to Harrisonburg today.
One of Trump’s hundreds of executive orders demands that schools stop teaching critical race theory and quit indoctrinating students. The text is on the White House news site, for those who want to read the entire text. The jargon and faux-legalistic writing can’t hide its incoherence.
The local part is in a fact sheet distributed with the executive order, but not yet posted on the White House news site. The fact sheet says:
Harrisonburg City Public Schools in Virginia implemented a policy forcing teachers to “always use a student’s preferred names and pronouns” while using different ones with their parents.
(Note: This column was published originally on Kerry: Unemployed & Unedited.)
Even though Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly know their extremist bills don’t have a shot at escaping Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s veto pen, they insist on introducing the most far-left bills imaginable in the 2025 legislative session.
Virginia Democrats are quickly killing commonsense Republican bills that would protect children, abolish taxes on tips, protect women’s sports, and expand freedom for Virginia families. That includes voting against a bill requiring physicians care for a baby born alive during a botched abortion.
Democrats killed two Senate bills that would require public school sports participation to be determined based on biological sex, not gender identity. Despite overwhelming support for this type of law nationally, Virginia Democrats refuse to solidify protections under Title IX. Women have overcome obstacles to be able to compete in high level athletics, but Democrats want those gains erased by (transgender) men.
A part of their assault on Second Amendment rights, Democrats have also moved legislation forward that would place liability for crimes committed with a firearm onto gun manufacturers or dealers—the equivalent of suing vehicle manufacturers for deaths caused by car accidents. Continue reading.
In the past few years, under governors of both parties, Virginia has expanded its standard deduction for income taxpayers from $6,000 for a couple in 2018 to $17,000 todaysaving those taxpayers $633 per year. When they produce their budget bill on Sunday, the Democrats who hold the majority in the Virginia Senate may try to claw back that $633. This would be a major tax hike on millions of Virginians.
The Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee on Tuesday deferred action on three Republican bills that would have made that $17,000 standard deduction permanent. It is scheduled to expire at the end of 2025, and all it takes for the General Assembly to capture about $1 billion in new revenue is to do nothing.
Nothing is what the Senate Democrats did when those Republican-sponsored bills were considered. They were “passed by for the day.” To pass them now “significantly hamstrings our ability to construct a budget,” said Senator Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville. “We need to look at our entire tax structure,” added Senator Mamie Locke, D-Hampton. “Those who earn more should pay more,” she added.
Thus, a target was clearly placed on the standard deduction, which could retreat from $17,000 this year to only $6,000 next year for that taxpaying couple if no extension is approved. Another $11,000 of income would be hit with tax and that would cost the taxpayers $632.50, enough to reduce take home pay on paychecks. An undetermined number of low-income people who now pay no tax would start to do so again.
Over in the House of Delegates, the exact opposite move is underway. A bill sponsored by a senior Democrat would not only maintain that higher standard deduction, but would increase it another $1,500 per couple to $18,500, saving another $86. The House bill has passed one committee unanimously but will also get tangled up in the House’s version of the state budget released Sunday.
Last week, the James River froze over and folks were walking across the river on the ice. This week, Virginians were confronted with another freeze. The Trump administration ordered federal agencies on Monday to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance….” The purpose of the “temporary pause” was to “give the Administration time to review agency programs and determine the best uses of the funding for those programs consistent with the law and the President’s priorities.”
The memo specifically exempted Social Security and Medicare funds. It also generally exempted “assistance received directly by individuals.”
The memo resulted in widespread consternation and confusion over what was covered. Predictably, a group of nonprofit organizations filed suit in federal court to block the order. On Tuesday, a federal judge issued a temporary injunction against implementation of the order and scheduled a hearing on February 3. Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a second directive declaring that it sought only to bring spending in line with the president’s recent executive orders, including those that clamp down on foreign aid and funding for diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI.
On Wednesday, OMB rescinded the specific memorandum ordering the temporary freeze, OMB memorandum M-25-13. However, the administration made it clear that the freeze was still in effect. On X, Karoline Leavitt, the administration’s press secretary said, “This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze. It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo. Why? To end any confusion created by the court’s injunction. The President’s EO’s on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented.” In court, the Washington Post reports she said, “The only thing that has changed since we’ve filed our papers is whether or not there’s a paper called OMB 25-13.”
The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data highlight significant gains in employment and labor-force growth in the Commonwealth, said the Governor’s Office in a press release this morning. The data, said the statement, underscores Virginia’s “resilient and dynamic labor market.”
Unemployment dipped slightly to 3.0%, 1.1 percentage points below the national rate of 4.1%. The labor-force participation rate of 66.0% remained significantly higher than the 62.5% national participation rate.
“Virginia’s labor market continues to demonstrate resilience and growth, with a strong increase in nonfarm payrolls, a growing labor force, and low unemployment,” said a statement attributed to Governor Glenn Youngkin. “Our commitment to business-friendly policies, reducing costs, and fostering innovation has created an environment where both Virginia companies and Virginians can thrive.”
Look, this is modestly good news, and I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade. I think Youngkin’s pro-business policies are beneficial. I would love to credit them for the positive economic results. And if I had to wager, I would bet that the numbers would support the proposition that Youngkin has been a better steward of the economy than his predecessor Ralph Northam.
But these numbers by themselves don’t prove anything.
Yesterday the Virginia Senate passed the “Right to Contraception Act,” guaranteeing Virginians “the right to obtain contraceptives and to engage in contraception,” in a party-line vote with Republicans in opposition. In the run-up to passage of the bill, Senate Democrats engineered a vote that put Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, the likely Republican candidate for governor, on record against it.
Democrats were quick to exploit the vote.
“Virginians deserve a governor who will defend their reproductive freedoms – not pretend that threats to their rights aren’t real. When this legislation comes across my desk as governor, I will sign the right to contraception into law,” said Abigail Spanberger, the favored Democratic nominee, in a statement issued on Tuesday, as reported by the Augusta Free-Press.
“As a proud mom of three girls, I find it unacceptable that some politicians believe they’re entitled to a say in families’ personal medical decisions,” she added. “I believe in Virginians’ fundamental right to privacy, and I believe we must make sure that right is protected for future generations.”
Colonial Heights Rehabilitation and Nursing Center (Colonial Heights) is in the news again. New story, similar outcomes — a patient either dying or dreadfully injured — both ignored. The first time 18 staff members were arrested.
This time it was a physician who allegedly wasn’t even there. That was the problem.
In a brief summary of a riveting report from WRIC Richmond:
Dr. Gohar Abbasi of Chesterfield is facing charges after a schizophrenic man with serious injuries was able to leave Colonial Heights Rehabilitation and Nursing Center with a catheter and a colostomy bag still in place.
The victim is 33-year-old Timothy Holton of Colonial Heights. Court records indicate is homeless. But he wandered daily in the community. He was well known, reportedly gentle and liked there.
Dr. Abbasi was arrested and charged with abuse and neglect of a vulnerable adult with a bodily injury or disease.
He was released on bond “without objection to travel to Islamabad, Pakistan from Jan. 23 to Feb. 14 to visit his elderly parents and attend his niece’s wedding.” Family man.
A chronological summary as reported with quotes in italics:
Mid-November 2024. Mr. Holton was in a car accident that left him severely injured.
Court records indicate (he) had displaced pubic rami fractures, a left sacral fracture, a large amount of blood in his pelvis, a nondisplaced T5-T6 spinous process fracture and many other serious injuries.
According to court documents, Holton was treated at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Medical Center before he was transferred to the Hanover Health and Rehabilitation Center.
Holton was transferred once again to Colonial Heights Rehabilitation and Nursing Center for long-term care.
Kudos. The Washington Post and Richmond Times-Dispatch both managed to write straightforward news articles about WRVA talk show host John Reid entering the race for lieutenant governor. It’s a low bar, but we never take it for granted, and we’re always happy to see it. Unsurprisingly, though, both newspapers viewed Reid’s bid through a culture-war lens.
Reid is gay. And the authors of both articles wonder if his sexual orientation represents a handicap in a Republican party primary.
Writes the Post’s Laura Vozella:
Reid could face a challenge appealing to socially conservative Republicans who have long opposed gay rights. [Denver] Riggleman, as a freshman congressman from rural central Virginia, lost a GOP nominating convention in 2020 after officiating a same-sex wedding. In 2021, a Republican running for lieutenant governor was targeted for supporting gay rights. Only a few Republicans in the General Assembly voted this year to support an effort to enshrine same-sex marriage rights in the state constitution.
Fairfax County Public Schools pay $6.4 million in salaries to support 52 employees in the “Chief Equity Office,” reports the Fairfax County Times. Chief Equity Officer Nardos King earns $258,641 annually. Data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act sometimes conflict, but the findings “paint the picture of a sprawling bureaucracy,” writes Asra Q. Nomani.
The Chief Equity Office made waves for overseeing the rollout of the “Privilege Bingo” card and “Woke Kindergarten.” It has incorporated books by Ibram X. Kendi into school curricula, and it oversees the district’s policy dictating that students who turn in homework receive a minimum of 50% on assignments n matter the quality of their work.
Virginia’s assessments for its Standards of Learning (SOL) could soon get a muchVirginia’s assessments for its Standards of Learning (SOL) will soon hopefully be getting a much-needed revamp. Senator Schuyler Van Valkenburg, D-Henrico County, and Delegate Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax County, have proposed a bill to significantly upgrade our assessment system.
The bill advanced this past Thursday out of the Senate Education and Health Committee on a unanimous vote.
At the Senate Public Education Subcommittee hearing on January 16th, VanValkenburg summarized their bill as improving:
Delegate Dan Helmer
Quality and transparency of SOL exams
Quality of local exams used as an alternative to SOL exams
Test scores and instructional time
VanValkenburg Defends Standardized Testing
VanValkenburg is a defender of testing and high academic standards.
He stated that this bill is not anti-testing, but is “test agnostic”—not touching the politically sensitive issue of changing the number of tests. Thus, the bill likely does not remove the much-maligned through-year growth testing language for such reason, which was strongly disliked by parents and educators and is no longer being used.
There’s something in the water — Bing Image Creator
by Kerry Dougherty
Looks like the Virginia Beach City Council grew a pair.
Finally.
After months of being played by the organizers of Pharrell Williams’ illusive Something In The Water Festival, the city is pulling the plug on the 2025 weekend event that was never going to happen.
The history of the hip hop festival dates back to 2019 when Beach native Pharrell Williams joined the city to turn the most crime-filled weekend of the year – April’s annual Beach College Weekend – into something positive.
In fact, after that first year the event seemed cursed.
First there were the covid years when the then-governor – an idiot – banned outdoor gatherings. Next came a souring on Virginia Beach by Pharrell after his cousin was shot to death by a police officer. Then commenced a game of cat and mouse between city officials trying to woo the superstar back home.
The festival moved from spring to fall in 2024, but just as tickets went on sale for the October event, Williams abruptly cancelled. Cpntinue reading.
If it were my job to pass the bill to eliminate income tax on tips, my first move would be to fill the room where a committee was voting with men and women who depend on tips and who would benefit from the bill. I’d have the legislators considering a no vote looking out at motivated constituents. With some nice signs, maybe, and some speeches at the podium.
But Governor Glenn Youngkin’s proposal to create that tax break for Virginia taxes was rejected Monday afternoon in front of mainly lobbyists. It was “passed by for the day” by House Finance Committee Subcommittee #3, but that includes most of the senior Democrats on the full panel.
Language to eliminate tip income from the list of taxable items is also buried in the Republican Governor’s budget bill. It is too soon to totally write off the idea, given the ebbs and flows of a session and given that at some point it may become federal tax law.
The bill in question, House Bill 1965 offered by Delegate Anne Tata, R-Virginia Beach, initially included two big tax proposals that helped propel Donald Trump into the White House, the tip provision and a provision to eliminate tax on overtime. She reduced the bill to focus only on tips in a substitute. Eliminating taxes on overtime would blow a major hole in the state’s revenue, per the impact statement.
Another, more significant tax cut advanced, however. The subcommittee unanimously endorsed both increasing the state’s standard deduction and to automatically increase it for inflation in future years. That was offered by Delegate Vivian Watts, D-Fairfax, who has long spoken in favor of indexing tax provisions, a taxpayer protection that has long been in federal tax law.
Who would have guessed? An apartment boom in Austin has knocked down rents for 19 straight months.
There’s an ongoing debate in the comments of Bacon’s Rebellion on how to address the housing affordability crisis in Virginia. My answer is simple: Build more housing. Doesn’t matter if it’s geared to higher-income buyers and tenants. When higher-income residents move into expensive digs, they create a vacancy lower in the housing chain, and when that dwelling is occupied, it creates a vacancy further on down.
Some commenters have poo-pooed such logic as trickle-down economics, They find something unpalatable with the idea of developers building housing mainly for the well-to-do, as if that somehow harms the poor. Despite ample evidence that government projects are among the worst housing anywhere in the U.S., some readers have insisted that state/local government should ensure the construction of cheaper housing targeted to lower-income families directly.
For doubters in market-driven solutions, I present the case of Austin, TX. The reason for the drop in rents, says Governing magazine, is simple: a boom in apartment construction.
The chief reason behind Austin’s falling rents, real estate experts and housing advocates said, is a massive apartment building boom unmatched by any other major city in Texas or in the rest of the country. Apartment builders in the Austin area kicked into overdrive during the pandemic, resulting in tens of thousands of new apartments hitting the market.
Image credit: UCW-VA by way of The Commonwealth Times
by James A. Bacon
It’s a shame that the United Campus Workers of Virginia (UCW-VA) are such insufferable leftists. I could almost sympathize with their aims. Universities in the United States treat their graduate students and adjunct faculty abominably. Thousands of these employees lead an insecure, ill-paid existence and probably could benefit from a union capable of negotiating with university administrators.
I quickly sour, however, when I see the union lobbying for patently political causes such as solidarity with Palestinians, opposition to “militarism” in higher education, and supporting “social justice” movements. These people are just neo-Marxists who want a bigger paycheck.
If the Campus Workers dropped their militant leftism and stuck to bargaining for better pay, benefits and working conditions, I expect they would recruit a lot more members. But political activism is their schtick, and they could not give that up any more than zebras can change their stripes.
When Governor Glenn Youngkin proposed an Education Opportunity Scholarship Grant – similar to what exists in 28 other states – providing $5,000 in private school scholarships to 10,000 low-moderate income public school K-12 students, the reaction was instantaneous, underscoring America’s partisan divide: Republicans endorsed it. Democrats opposed it.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Mt. Vernon), called it “unconstitutional.” Senator Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, the powerful Senate Finance Committee Chair immediately declared that “it’s not going to happen.” Senator Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, charged that such aid “widens disparities,” claiming the funds are insufficient and wouldn’t cover the financial gap for private schools.
Whatever happens to the Youngkin proposal, it is part of the annual conflict over whether or not low-income parents should be empowered to make the same kind of decisions for their children that wealthy parents can, similar to those debates we saw over the Education Improvement Scholarship Tax Credit.
It’s old non-news. But we learned long ago that if we don’t steer the narrative to the truth, the lies will take over.
The year: 2075. The American colonies on the Moon are getting restless under Washington’s tyrannical rule….
This second edition of “Dust Mites” has a snazzy new cover, includes helpful lunar maps, and is 5,000 words tighter than the original. The sequel, “Trogs,” is scheduled for publication this summer.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
About
Bacon’s Rebellion is Virginia’s leading politically non-aligned portal for news, opinions and analysis about state, regional and local public policy. Read more about us here.
Fund the Rebellion
Shake up the status quo! Your contributions will be used to pay for faster download speeds and grow readership. Make a one-time donation by credit card or contribute a small sum monthly.
Can’t wait until tomorrow
For your Bacon’s Rebellion fix?
Enter your email address to receive immediate notifications of new posts by email.
SUBSCRIBE
Search Bacon’s Rebellion
Categories
Archives
The Jefferson Council
Protecting Thomas Jefferson’s Legacy at the University of Virginia
Forgot Your Password?
Shoot me an email and I’ll generate a new password for you.
