Bacon's Rebellion

  • Testing a New Governor’s Resolve

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    by Derrick A. Max and Steve Haner

    A Quick End to the Honeymoon Phase

    This session, the General Assembly sent over 1,000 bills to Governor Spanberger for her signature. She signed 852 into law, vetoed 8 and proposed amendments to 180. Even though some of her amendments were little more than window dressing (see article on Paid Family and Medical Leave) and a few were substantive, the General Assembly during its reconvened session on Wednesday ignored her amendments on over two dozen bills.

    The Senate even took 12 of the amended bills, lumped them into a bloc, and voted 21 to 18 to “pass them by for the day.” In other words, they didn’t even give the Governor the courtesy of a debate on many of her ideas. This dismissive tactic may or may not be unprecedented, but it was clearly a power move that tells the Governor that the General Assembly believes it is in charge. 

    On one bill, SB342, dealing with eminent domain, the Governor sought to do a reenactment clause as her amendment. In that one case, a motion was made that the bill become law regardless of the objections of the governor. That takes the same supermajority vote as overriding a veto, and legislators from both parties passed it in both the House and Senate. That motion to jam a bill past the governor has happened successfully before but is very unusual when the majority is the same party as the governor.  

    In short, Governor Abigail Spanberger identified real problems in major legislation — and the General Assembly ignored her almost entirely, and in some cases, rudely so.

    (more…)

  • Guess Who Won on Redistricting?

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    The Rich Men north of Richmond may have won for a day, but they cashed out every ounce of public goodwill they had to do it.

    A singer with a red beard passionately performing with an acoustic guitar outdoors, surrounded by trees and nature.

    by Shaun Kenney

    First and foremost, let’s knock down all the pretended olive branches from those who voted “yes” on Tuesday to impose some sort of federal anti-gerrymandering law. They know damn good and well that the federal government cannot impose such regulations (which is why the present lawsuit stops at the Supreme Court of Virginia and not the U.S. Supreme Court) because redistricting is a reserved power of the states— not the federal government.

    If they truly wanted non-partisan redistricting, they would have pushed the Virginia Model to the other 49 states. So spare me — not interested.

    Lucy can keep her football this time.

    A decorative curly design element in grey, positioned between two horizontal lines.

    Bob Lewis and I had a good talk about the present state of affairs which made its way into the pages of the Virginia Mercury:

    Kenney is a former Republican Party of Virginia top official and committed conservative who lives in rural Virginia and often differs with Trump. On Wednesday, he posted on Facebook: “51-49 for Virginia to have 91-9 representation.”

    Seven words that say it all.

    The last slender string of hope for nonpartisan redistricting is needling its way through the courts — first in Tazewell and eventually to the Supreme Court of Virginia — where the unfair language of the amendment undoubtedly cost the “no” campaign votes. Yet one is reticent to believe that SCOVA will undo the public will, even if the language itself and the process by which the voters were dragged to this point was and remains patently unconstitutional (and most assuredly unfair).

    (more…)

  • Thirteen Brave Girls Came Forward…

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    and Fairfax County Public Schools filed zero Title IX complaints

    Three monkeys sitting on a log, covering their eyes, ears, and mouth respectively, against a blurred green background.
    Image credit: CoPilot

    by Stephanie Lundquist-Arora
    Originally published in IWFeatures

    This year, 13 brave girls at Fairfax High School stepped forward to tell administrators that Israel Flores Ortiz, an adult illegal immigrant from El Salvador who was enrolled as a junior at the school, sexually assaulted them during school hours. The girls accused Ortiz of fondling their genitals while they were transitioning between classes in the hallways.

    During his court hearing on April 21, in which he was sentenced to a mere 360 days in jail, Ortiz read a statement in Spanish apologizing to the girls. “I hurt them,” he admitted, also apologizing to his own mother and father.

    A few months in jail seems a light sentence for an adult in the country illegally who sexually assaulted 13 girls in their high school. But the Commonwealth’s Attorney, Steve Descano, a George Soros-funded prosecutor, notably charged Ortiz with lesser counts of assault, not sexual assault as the case should warrant.

    And as IW Features previously reported, there was skepticism surrounding whether school administrators filed the appropriate Title IX complaints with regard to the assaults. Federal law requires that school officials, who are mandatory reporters, file such complaints when a student reports sexual harassment or assault to them.

    IW Features sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the district seeking aggregated school-level data of Fairfax High School’s Title IX referrals from the past three years. With an hour left until the legally mandated FOIA deadline, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) FOIA office sent IW Features district-level data detailed in the table below.

    (more…)

  • Table Stakes: Virginia Nursing Home Chains Selling to REITs

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    sherlockj

    Table Stakes: Virginia Nursing Home Chains Selling to REITs

    by James C. Sherlock

    Sometimes, when you are winning big in a table stakes poker game, it can be time to put some money in your pocket. That is part of the game many nursing home chains are playing these days.

    Everybody wins but the nursing facility residents, Medicare, and Medicaid.

    The enterprise architecture of many less ethical chains is familiar to regular readers. In this example, a chain has sold six of its property LLCs to a real estate investment trust (REIT) and kept six.

    The business model is as profitable as it is complicated, and for the same reasons. Notice all the places where Medicare and Medicaid money go each day in this example. Not much is left for staff and patient care.

    Compared with other states, Virginia’s nursing home sector has been sparsely penetrated by REITs. We can view this as the owners of the chain-controlled operating companies and property companies that dominate in Virginia being very happy with their profits, the COPN-driven lack of competition, and Virginia’s history of non-enforcement of regulatory violations. We give them few reasons to sell their property companies.

    But some do. We’ll look at the players, the deals, and the implications.

    (more…)

  • Only Five Vetoes out of 1,082 Bills

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    In just three months, Virginia’s governor has undermined Second Amendment rights, parental authority, and fiscal responsibility.

    A person holding a green sign that reads 'KEEP VIRGINIA BLUE,' with an outline of the state of Virginia in blue, in a crowd setting.

    by Victoria Manning

    Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger ran as a moderate, but her actions after the first legislative session prove otherwise. She has embraced an extreme left-wing agenda, eroding Second Amendment rights and backing laws that will make Virginia an even more expensive place to live. For the first time in five years, the state is now facing a budget deficit.

    The Democrat-controlled legislature sent 1,082 bills to the governor’s desk to sign. She vetoed only five bills, amended 111 (which will return to the legislature for consideration), and allowed the rest to become law.

    One of the key responsibilities of the General Assembly is to approve a budget. Yet despite holding full control, the Democrats haven’t passed a spending bill. For four years under Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the state had $10 billion in surplus revenue and delivered $9 billion in tax relief to Virginians. Now, after just one session under Democrat leadership, Virginia faces a half-billion-dollar deficit because the leftist majority demands bigger government rather than fiscal responsibility.

    Democrats prioritize stripping the rights of Virginia citizens over responsible spending and balancing the state’s checkbook.

    (more…)

  • Virginia Got Fairfaxed

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    A giant caricature of a creature resembling a troll, made out of a map of Fairfax County, is rampaging through a village. The troll is armed with a large club and appears menacing, while frightened villagers, including women carrying baskets, flee in panic among crops like cabbages.
    Image credit: Grok

    For brief time on Election Night it appeared that common sense and fair play had prevailed in Virginia. You could see it in the horror on the faces of the CNN hosts as they were forced to report that a NO vote on the blatantly misleading redistricting referendum was ahead by almost 10 points.

    Then came the Fairfax ballot dump. In a period of about six minutes NO went from a comfortable lead to losing by just a little over two points.

    The Democrat power grab, which will rig all but one congressional district to favor Dems, was a success.

    Career bureaucrats in Fairfax County control Virginia.

    It took upwards of $70 million for Democrats to blanket the commonwealth with lies about how gerrymandering was really all about Trump. Or to promote the silly fiction that the new district lines are temporary.

    Even after dusting off Barack Obama and getting him to cheer the move to disenfranchise millions of Republicans, the forces of evil prevailed only by a hair, showing that in most parts of Virginia the Democrat party is deeply unpopular.

    Consider this: Abigail Spanberger – after she falsely claimed to be a centrist during the campaign – won the gubernatorial race by a whopping margin of 15%. One year earlier, Kamala Harris beat Donald Trump in Virginia by about five points.

    The gerrymandering referendum – with all the might and money of the corrupt Democrat Party – squeaked through. Continue reading.

  • Virginia Gets Fairfaxed

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    An illustration of a cartoonish man in a top hat representing Fairfx, with octopus-like tentacles reaching out to various locations such as Frederick, Clarke, Page, Rockingham, Culpeper, Spotsylvania, Hanover, Louisa, and Cumberland.

    by Scott Dreyer

    In a closely watched race nationwide, the “yes” side eked out a narrow win in Virginia over “no,” as of 9:30 p.m. last night by a 51.3% to 48.6% margin.

    Polls closed at 7:00, and at one point early in the evening, as many smaller localities had posted their results, the No side was ahead by about 50,000 votes. By 8:20, however, the lead was narrowing, with the No lead only 50.22 (1,070,065) versus the Yes 49.78% (1,060,718).

    By 8:27, as Gargantuan Fairfax County began to drop its numbers, Yes pulled ahead to 50.06% to No at 49.94%, and the trend line was established.

    A table displaying percentages of 'Yes' and 'No' responses by jurisdiction, including Roanoke City, Roanoke County, City of Salem, Botetourt County, Bedford County, Franklin County, and Fairfax County.
    (more…)

  • Classroom Consequences of the “Equity” Calendar

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Due to expanded religious/cultural holidays, Fairfax County Public Schools classrooms are open for full five-day weeks only half the time. Minorities and the poor pay the price.

    by Stephanie Lundquist-Arora
    Originally published in iWFeatures

    In January 2022, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) adopted a calendar containing fewer five-day school weeks and more early release days with the explicitly stated goals of “equity and inclusion.” 

    At that time, the 12 Democratic-endorsed school board members also voted to decouple spring break from Easter—a terrible idea that lasted only a year—as part of broader efforts to create a more “equitable” school calendar. 

    FCPS’s updated calendar further recognizes several religious and cultural holidays, including Eid al-Adha, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Día de los Muertos, Diwali, Bodhi Day, Three Kings Day/Epiphany, Orthodox Christmas, Orthodox Epiphany, Lunar New Year, Ramadan, Good Friday, Theravada, Orthodox Good Friday/Last Night of Passover and Eid al-Fitr. 

    Fairfax County Public Schools 2025-2026 standard school year calendar highlighting important dates and instructional weeks.
    (more…)

  • Gordon K. Davies, RIP

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    A well-dressed older man with short gray hair and a gentle smile, seated against a light-colored background.
    Gordon K. Davies

    by Gordon C. Morse

    I learned earlier today of the death of Gordon K. Davies, the former head of the State Council for Higher Education. He was ousted from that post almost 30 years ago, and Virginia was the less for it.

    Occasionally, the commonwealth attracts brilliance to its service, and Gordon was brilliant enough to get on people’s nerves. As the familiar line goes, he did not suffer fools gladly—though in Gordon’s case, he wasn’t going to suffer them silently, either.

    The old-guard Democrats—the ones still holding onto power in the late 1990s—would have protected Davies, not because he was especially lovable, but because he delivered the goods. He knew his stuff. He understood that Virginia’s system of higher education—in its history, ideals, and defining characteristics—really amounted to no system at all. It was mostly an idea. Davies understood why that idea required protection, partly because he knew how many times it had come under assault.

    The attempts to centralize and homogenize Virginia higher education—to build a superboard in Richmond, with a “chancellor” on a throne—were routine and resolute from the 1920s forward. Formal legislative commissions were formed, consultants were hired, recommendations were hauled before the General Assembly repeatedly, all with one essential goal: efficiency.

    Efficiency had carried the day in many other states and, based on Virginia’s parsimonious inclinations, it’s a wonder that centralization never got done. Virginia adopted that model for its community college system, but every time an opportunity arose to put Richmond in command of the state’s 15 colleges and universities, the powers responded with a single word: No.

    (more…)

  • How Democracy Dies: One Step at a Time

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    In the immortal words of Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, president pro tempore of the state senate: “Ten Fuckin’ One.”

    Illustration depicting the results of a Virginia redistricting amendment vote, showing 'Yes' at 51% and 'No' at 49%. The image features a map of Virginia, a humorous reference to districting, and text celebrating the outcome.
    Image credit: Grok

  • Did Anti-Hate Group Infiltrate the Unite the Right Rally?

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Between 2014 and 2023, the Department of Justice alleged in indictments filed yesterday, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) funneled more than $3 million in donated funds to individuals associated with violent extremist groups including the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations, and National Socialist Party of America. SPLC, which tracks “hate” groups nationally, allegedly paid an individual to infiltrate organizers of the infamous 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.

    I asked ChatGPT to summarize the material in the indictment pertaining to the Unite the Right rally. Unbidden, ChatGPT questioned the validity of the charges. Here follows the summary. JAB

    The document you provided does not appear to be a standard or authentic federal indictment related to the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. Instead, it presents highly unusual and widely uncorroborated allegations—particularly involving the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)—that do not align with known, publicly documented prosecutions tied to that event.

    Focusing strictly on what the document itself claims about Charlottesville, here’s a clear summary:

    Key allegations in the document (Charlottesville-related)

    • The document asserts that a paid informant (“field source”) connected to the SPLC was involved in online organizing related to the Unite the Right rally (2017).
    • This individual is described as:
      • Participating in leadership chat groups planning the rally.
      • Making racist posts online as part of their role.
      • Helping coordinate transportation for some attendees traveling to Charlottesville.
    • It further claims that:
      • These actions were conducted under the supervision of the SPLC.
      • The SPLC allegedly used covert financial mechanisms (shell entities and bank accounts) to pay such informants.
    (more…)

  • Another SCC Warning That VCEA Will Fail and Cost a Fortune

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    by Steve Haner

    The Virginia State Corporation Commission, consisting of three judges all picked by the General Assembly while Democrats were in control, has delivered another stern warning that the Virginia Clean Economy Act is unworkable and will greatly increase electricity costs within Virginia as it reaches failure.

    Despite the concerns expressed in its 21-page opinion issued April 15, the Commission did approve another wave of solar projects for Dominion Energy Virginia, along with one of the two new battery projects the utility proposed.  However, several other projects the company wanted were turned down as being too costly for the pitiful amounts of energy provided.   

    The new projects approved and the cost overruns on solar projects previously approved will still combine to cost ratepayers billions of dollars more over time, and will add another $2.38 to the monthly bill of a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity as of May 1.  

    The language of the final order mirrors dire staff testimony reported on in Bacon’s Rebellion in January. In the weeks in between, the Virginia General Assembly has come and gone and done nothing to address the issues described. On the contrary, the bills it passed — most now signed by Governor Abigail Spanberger (D) — doubled down on the Virginia Clean Economy’s mandates or found new and different ways to increase the future price of power.

    (more…)

  • Virginia Surrenders to the National Popular Vote Movement

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    A large hand reaches down towards a small figure falling, with the figure's head replaced by a red 'VOTE' circle.

    The Electoral College provides a brilliant safeguard for the republic and must be guarded.

    by Jacob Grandstaff

    On April 14, Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) signed Virginia into the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC), which brings the total electoral votes in the compact to 222. Only 48 electoral votes remain to trigger the scheme that would award every participating state’s electors to the national popular-vote winner—neutering the Electoral College. 

    The Founders did not create the Electoral College by accident. Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution gives states the power to appoint electors “in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct.” They engineered this deliberately to protect the rights of smaller states that were naturally skeptical of entering into a union with states that were much more populous. A popular vote would have handed the presidency to the largest states and the most populous cities, leaving the residents of smaller states and rural regions with little motivation to vote. 

    The NPVIC represents a dangerous attempt to gut the Constitution without having to amend it.

    The Electoral College, by contrast, forces candidates to build broad, geographically diverse coalitions. The United States was not founded as a unitary, monolithic democracy, but a federal republic—and the Electoral College protects that form of government. 

    NPVIC supporters know they cannot muster enough support to abolish the Electoral College through amendment, so it seeks to bypass it through a patchwork of state pledges.

    (more…)

  • Storm the Polls Today

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    Graphic promoting voting with the text 'Today is the day. Vote No' in red, white, and blue colors, featuring stars and stripes.

    Democrats from California to New York to Washington, D.C., have poured between $70 and $100 million into Virginia to convince you that gerrymandering the state from a 6-5 Democrat advantage to 10-1 one is “fair.”

    It’s not fair. It’s rigging elections to give Democrats control of Congress.

    No matter how earnestly Abigail Spanberger, Tim Kaine, Mark Warner and Barack Obama lie about it, ordinary decent Virginians know this isn’t the Virginia way.

    Six years ago Virginians said goodbye to gerrymandering with a bi-partisan constitutional amendment.

    Now Democrats – using legislation sleights of hand –  are trying to bring it back with absurdly rigged maps.

    Storm the polls today.

    Vote NO.

  • Gerrymander Day: the Closing Arguments

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Virginia Democrats have a massive spending advantage and a terrible argument.

    A political map of Virginia showing regions in blue and red, indicating different political affiliations. Major cities labeled include Roanoke, Richmond, Norfolk, and Alexandria.

    by Shaun Kenney

    Most of the yelling and spending is over. The good news is that the “no” campaign will be the bipartisan conscience of Virginia against a hyper partisan progressive monolith who according to the Washington Post has polarized Richmond in a way no other modern party has ever done.

    Will Virginians reward partisanship with a 10-1 advantage with candidates representing Fairfax, Richmond, and Norfolk? Or will our non-partisan redistricting effort — the solution to this asbestos filled miasma — prevail against the spirit of the times?

    For Virginia Republicans, it all centers on how many of our friends and family we motivate tomorrow. Social media is a good start, but phone calls and conversations are far superior.

    The alternative isn’t democracy but the victory of demagoguery and a return to the political wilderness in seats so unfair and polarizing they could only be dreamt up in places like Chicago or New England.

    Unfairness as policy: the lobster districtIf there is a closing argument to the entire thing, let it be the congressional maps of New England, where 40% of New Englanders vote Republican and not a single Republican is represented in the cradle of the American Revolution.

    (more…)

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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