Bacon's Rebellion

  • First the James River, Now Federal Grants

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Photo credit: Reddit

    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    On Wednesday, OMB rescinded the specific memorandum ordering the temporary freeze, OMB memorandum M-25-13.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.”

    (more…)

  • Who Deserves Credit for Improving Economy?

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Image credit: ChatGPT

    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.

    (more…)

  • Senate Dems Administer Severe Butt-Kicking

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    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.”

    Republicans were caught flat-footed.

    (more…)

  • Is There a Doctor in the House?

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    sherlockj

    Is There a Doctor in the House?

    by James C. Sherlock

    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.

    (more…)

  • Reid Vows to Fight for Prosperity, Public Safety, Parental Rights

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    James A. Bacon

    Image credit: John Reid

    by James A. Bacon

    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.

    (more…)

  • Fairfax DEI Tab: $6.4 Million and Counting

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    James A. Bacon

    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.

    — JAB

  • An Overdue SOL Assessment Reform Bill

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Todd Truitt

    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
    1. Quality and transparency of SOL exams
    2. Quality of local exams used as an alternative to SOL exams
    3. 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.

    (more…)

  • Nothing in the Water

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    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.

    It was a success.

    Never to be repeated, as it turned out.

    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.

  • Tax-Free Tips Bill Fails First Vote, Standard Deduction May Grow

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    By Steve Haner

    Thank you, Delegate Watts

    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.  

    (more…)

  • Build, Baby, Build

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    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.

    (more…)

  • Organized Labor? We’re Not Organized, We’re Academics!

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    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.

    (more…)

  • Four Anti-School Choice Myths Exploded

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    by

    Steve Haner

    By Chris Braunlich

    Chris Braunlich

    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.

    (more…)

  • I’ve Got It! Let’s Just Change the Rules!

    Posted on

    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, (D-Henrico)

    Because it could not legally stop the establishment of a historical horse racing facility within its boundaries, Henrico County is asking the General Assembly to change the rules.

    This issue was covered before in Bacon’s Rebellion. In summary, Henrico voters approved the establishment of off-track-betting facilities in the county. In 2018, the General Assembly approved the establishment of historical horse racing (HHR) facilities. After HHR was approved, the Rosie’s Gaming Emporium company approached Henrico officials about locating a HHR facility in the county. The Rosie’s officials promised that they would not locate in an area not agreeable to the county. Over several years, Rosie’s suggested several locations, all of which the county objected to. The county finally gave Rosie’s a list of sites it would approve, but one of those that Rosie’s felt would be suitable did not work out in the end due to lack of surface parking. In 2023, Rosie’s, under new ownership, Churchill Downs, acquired a large empty space in a shopping center in the county and announced that it would locate a HHR facility in that space. The zoning for the shopping center allowed, by right, such use.

    Alarmed that the new owners were no longer abiding by the assurances of the former owner, county officials set in motion the steps needed to change the zoning ordinance so as to require any HHR or similar operation to acquire a provisional use permit. Rosie’s won the race to the courthouse and filed its plans before the Board of Supervisors could meet to enact the amendment to the ordinance.

    Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg D-Henrico, has introduced legislation (SB 1223) to punish Rosie’s and change the rules. The bill would apply only to Henrico and would cut by more than half the amount of the wagering pool a HHR facility could keep if it had not been approved in a referendum held after July 1, 2018. According to the Henrico Citizen, these provisions could cost Rosie’s $17 million, or perhaps more, annually. (more…)

  • The Nationalization of Virginia Politics Is Now Complete

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    On Friday the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee discussed Governor Glenn Youngkin’s slate of appointees to state boards and commissions listed in multiple bills. Senate Democrats had amended the bills to strike the names of nine nominees, including four to George Mason University, two to the Virginia Military Institute, and three others. (In my previous reporting I referred to only the six nominees mentioned in Senate Bill 275.)

    Knowing that the Democrats would win narrowly in a straight party-line vote, Senate Republicans asked to delay the final vote until Monday in the hope of finding a way to salvage the nominees. They appealed to years of bipartisan Senate tradition, saying that their simple request would have been honored in the past — an assertion that no one disputed.

    Although legislators maintained a civil tone — they referred to one another as “my friend the senator from Franklin County,” and the like — the answer was a hard no. The reason stated by Senator Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, had nothing to do with the intrinsic merits of the appointments. He blamed President Donald Trump.

    (more…)

  • Jeanine’s Memes

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    From The Bull Elephant

Now Available

Book cover of 'Dust Mites: A Second American Revolution' by James A. Bacon, featuring astronauts planting a flag with a blue and white emblem on a lunar landscape, with Earth visible in the background.
For sale on Amazon.com

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.

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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.

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