Bacon's Rebellion

  • Youngkin Denies Virginia Taxpayers Access to Free Tax Services

    Posted on

    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

     

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    The 2022 federal Inflation Reduction Act directed the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to prepare for Congress a report on “a potential IRS-run free direct e-file tax return system (Direct File).” After delivering the report to Congress, the IRS proceeded to develop a pilot e-file tax return system and made it available to taxpayers in 12 states for the 2024 filing season.

    The response of taxpayers to IRS surveys was highly favorable, as were reports in the media (see here and here). After making adjustments to the program based on results from the pilot, the IRS announced that it would make the program, called Direct File, available nationwide in 2025.

    Direct File, as used in the pilot, was limited to relatively simple tax returns. For example, all of a taxpayer’s income had to be from wages and no more than $1,500 in interest income. Also, only the standard deduction was available. In its announcement of nationwide application, the IRS stated it was examining ways to expand the number of tax situations the program could cover in 2025 and in the future. Millions of taxpayers across the country will have the option in 2025 of directly completing and filing their income tax returns electronically, at no cost, with the IRS.

    Alas, Virginia taxpayers will not be in that number.

    (more…)

  • VCU Clarifies Rules for Demonstrators

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Virginia Commonwealth University, where police clashed with pro-Palestinian demonstrators in the spring, has responded with alacrity to Youngkin administration admonitions to update its policies in preparation for more mayhem when students return for the fall semester.

    Among the more notable features of the updated policies is a requirement that anyone wearing a face mask for the purpose of concealment must present an ID to an Authorized University Employee. State law, enacted to combat the Ku Klux Klan, restricts the wearing of masks to conceal one’s identity. The law was rarely enforced last spring when protesters wore keffiyehs and COVID masks over their faces.

    VCU’s policies are laid out in three documents: “Interim Campus Expression and Space Utilization,” “Interim Concealment of Identity,” and “Interim Student Code of Conduct.”

    In communications to the university community, VCU officials also articulated principles for the issuance of university pronouncements in response to national and global events.

    (more…)

  • Reagan Biopic: “He Understood His Principles”

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    Steve Haner

    By Chris Braunlich

    It has been 30 years since Ronald Reagan walked off the American political stage; two decades since he was laid to rest in the lengthening shadows of Simi Valley’s “golden hour.”

    But with the coming August 30 release of the big-budget biographical film Reagan, he will again spring to life, albeit on screen. Americans will have an opportunity to remind themselves of what it was like to have a leader who deployed Irish bonhomie in the service of conservative ideas.

    The Thomas Jefferson Institute is offering an opportunity to view the film on August 27, before its official release. Former Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner will be there to offer his unique “insider perspective” on the Reagan Administration and Reagan the man. Tickets and more information are available here.

    Having seen an early, before-special-effects version, I can say the movie is worth watching, watching early, and promoting to friends.

    Instead of pounding home a “message,” Reagan tells a story. And what a story it is: son of an alcoholic father, a movie star whose career dipped so low that at one point he was reduced to selling autographed photos from his home, Governor, and President, the film depicts Reagan’s life from age 11 to age 83.

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  • Dominion Acquires Wind Lease Adjacent to CVOW

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    Steve Haner

    The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced today that Dominion Energy Virginia has successfully bid on the second wind energy lease area off Virginia Beach, the plot which is adjacent to, and further out to sea from, the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.  If developed, along with the recently acquired North Carolina project, Dominion could one day have 6,000 megawatts of turbines (at peak production) covering more than 500 square miles of ocean.

    The lease area adjacent to CVOW covers 176,000 acres (275 square miles) all by itself, and is comparable in size to the original CVOW. The lease area off Kitty Hawk is much smaller, about 40,000 acres. According to BOEM, Dominion bid more than $17 million for this newest acquisition. In its most recent integrated resource plan Dominion indicated it would begin to develop the second phase of CVOW as construction for the first phase wound up, and the Virginia Clean Economy Act envisioned the second phase, as well.

    No plan or timeline for the North Carolina location has been announced. It has been hampered by local opposition to bringing the needed power lines ashore through Virginia Beach’s residential Sandbridge neighborhood. Some of the additional turbines will enjoy special consideration in front of the State Corporation Commission because of VCEA unless it is amended. But that law did not declare a full 6 gigawatts of offshore wind to be “in the public interest.”

    A third-party energy developer, Equinor Wind US LLC, paid $75 million for a smaller, 101,000 acre lease area that sits further north near the Maryland-Delaware line. According to a report now up on Virginia Mercury, no firm bid against Dominion for the Virginia area lease but there was heavy bidding from several potential developers for the other site. 

    — Steve Haner

  • Good Luck With That, Lame Duck

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    The Joint Tax Subcommittee of the General Assembly is convening in Richmond today to discuss how to make Virginia’s tax code more “fair and equitable,” reports Michael Martz in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. 

    When the Democrat-controlled legislature says it wants to make taxes more “fair and equitable,” it’s time to reach for your wallet. What’s “fair and equitable” to Democrats is rarely fair and equitable to you and me.

    Martz informs us that unnamed “officials” say the tax code needs to fix the overreliance on income taxes, a top state income-tax bracket kicking in at $17,000, service-sector exemptions to the sales tax, and… and here’s the kicker… “the need to generate more money to pay for K-12 public education and the state’s share of Medicaid health care costs.”

    Governor Glenn Youngkin is pressing for tax cuts, not tax increases. But House Finance Chair Vivian Watts, D-Fairfax, whom the RTD assures readers “prefers a long-term outlook,” accuses Youngkin of playing politics. “That’s the politics of the only state with a one-term governor,” she said. “You don’t do tax reform just for a political agenda.”

    (more…)

  • Data Delayed Is Data Denied

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Last week I observed that the 2023 Crime in Virginia report, a compilation of the previous year’s crime statistics published by the Virginia State Police, used to come out in May. It is now August, and there’s still no sign of the document. The older the data gets, the more it loses relevance as a source for understanding current crime trends.

    Now the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that it is “unclear” when the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) will publish its annual update on public schools’ Standards of Learning (SOL) performance. In the past the document was released every August. According to the RTD, Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Coons notified school districts in June that the data would not be published until “the end of September,” although in response to the newspaper’s inquiry VDOE said the release could occur “much earlier.”

    The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner typically publishes its annual report in August. The CMO’s annual review of some 20,000 deaths is crucial to understanding important trends from fatal drug overdoses to maternal mortality. There are still more than two weeks to go in the month, so there’s hope that the Youngkin administration can keep to its schedule on this one.

    (more…)

  • Miscellaneous Musings

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Hanover County teenagers are not that clueless

    The members of the Pamunkey Regional Library (Hanover County has the most members) have gone to great lengths to assure that books with explicit sexual content are shelved in the adult section, rather than the “teen section.”

    A recent phone call to the library confirmed that any teenager with a library card could check out books from any section of the library.

    Striking a Nerve

    Bacon’s Rebellion has run two articles (here and here) this year disclosing how some agencies, despite not spending all their capital maintenance reserve (MR) appropriations for many years and thereby building up large balances, continue to receive MR appropriations, which only add to their unspent balance. In the capital budget development instructions for the next budget cycle recently sent to agencies by the Dept. of Planning and Budget, the following admonition was included:

    There will be an exercise this fall to better understand how well agencies are able to fully utilize their maintenance reserve funding.  Although specifics on this exercise will be forthcoming, the amount of uncommitted maintenance reserve funding at an agency will be taken into account for agencies requesting additional capital funding for large maintenance-type projects.

    This is the first time that this language, or anything similar to it, has appeared in the capital budget instructions and it could be viewed as a shot across the bow of agencies.  However, if carried out as indicated, this exercise will be a waste of time. It seems that agencies will be asked to identify uncommitted MR funding. The capital project staff of any agency worth its salt could show that every dime of its MR balance is committed. For example, there is no doubt that the Dept. of Corrections can show its balance of more than $100 million “committed” to legitimate projects. Left unsaid will be the fact that it would likely take the agency 10 years to spend that amount of money on maintenance reserve projects.

    (more…)

  • A Tax Question

    Posted on

    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    The numbers in the following scenario are not necessarily based in reality. They are used to illustrate a point.

    Mary Sue works as a housekeeper in a large hotel, cleaning guest rooms and changing bed linens. She makes $30,000 annually. Her employer deducts taxes, including Social Security, from her wages.

    Susie Que waits on tables in a busy restaurant next door to the hotel. She makes $30,000 annually. Of that amount, $10,000 is from her base pay and $20,000 is from tips. Her employer deducts taxes, including Social Security, from her wages and tip income. 

    Both Presidential candidates have proposed excluding tip income from taxation. Why should Mary Sue have to pay taxes on all her income, while a good part of Susie Que’s income is excluded from taxation?

  • Virginia Universities, Brace Yourselves for Mayhem

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    In about two weeks summer break is over and students go back to college. You know what that means — they’ll be setting up their dorm rooms, reconnecting with friends, and organizing anti-Israel demonstrations.

    In an email letter to the University of Mary Washington Board of Visitors obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera urged the Fredericksburg university to prepare for more protests. Mary Washington was the site of major demonstrations last academic year, along with Virginia Tech, Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Virginia.

    “We have asked each institution to take proactive steps to update policies and improve communications channels before students return this fall,” Guidera wrote. And in bold face, she added, “I cannot overemphasize the critical importance of completing this necessary work within the next couple of weeks before students return to campus.“

    She continued:

    (more…)

  • Jeanine’s Memes

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    From The Bull Elephant

  • AP Flash: Sometimes the Weather is Hot!

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    Today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch contained one of the most ridiculous statements of the blatantly obvious ever distributed by the once-venerable Associated Press. The headline: “Poll: Extreme Heat Impacting Most Americans.” We needed a poll to learn that.

    Except in the coolest of summers here in North America there are always days, or a stretch of days, when high temps and humidity force a change in behavior compared to nice days. Yet we get this as “news”:

    The poll found that about 7 in 10 Americans have been personally affected by extremely hot weather or extreme heat waves over the past five years…That makes extreme heat a more common experience than other weather events or natural disasters like wildfires, major droughts and hurricanes, which up to one-third of U.S. adults said they’ve been personally affected by.

    Wow. Hot summer days are more common than hurricanes. Science in action! Who knew? Then this:

    A sizable share of Americans, around 4 in 10, report that extreme heat has had at least a minor impact on their sleep, pets or exercise routine.

    (more…)

  • What to Look for in 2023 Crime Report

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Data! We crave data!

    In past years the Virginia State Police has published its annual Crime in Virginia reports in May. For whatever reason, it’s mid-August and we have not yet seen the 2023 report. I may be the only person in Virginia who is agitated by the delay. Most media are satisfied with giving a top-line rendering of homicides and crime stats, but I like to dig deep into the statistics, and the older and more out-of-date the data gets, the more frustrated I get.

    Eventually, the report will be published, and I’ll relay key findings to Bacon’s Rebellion readers when it is.

    Based on anecdotal reading of news headlines, I expect that 2023 will show a meaningful drop in the homicide rate, and perhaps violent crime generally. We’ll see a continued decline in reports of drug offenses, many of which have been decriminalized. I think we’ll see a decline in non-drug-related non-violent crime, but I’m less certain.

    If violent crime rates drop, as I anticipate, the obvious question will be why. My instinct is to attribute any decline to a cessation of the defund-the-police rhetoric that demoralized police, hindered hiring, and sent police into a defensive crouch. The decline in police-hostile rhetoric since the 2000 George Floyd “mostly peaceful” protests is undeniable. Articles about police-department staffing shortages are rarer and less dire. In at least some locales, police have been adopting more aggressive tactics. But we shall see.

    (more…)

  • Bacon Meme of the Week

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    by

    James A. Bacon

  • Fiscal Train Wreck

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Think of the Washington Metro as a harbinger of the fiscal fate in store for the United States: it’s just a matter of time before the wheels fall off the subway car.

    Today The Washington Post reminds us that the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) is running out of money. Its governing structure encompassing Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., is dysfunctional. The federal COVID-relief spigot has stopped spewing cash. Labor contracts have driven up payroll costs. Ridership has plummeted since the COVID-19 epidemic. Repeated efforts to fix the quasi-government enterprise have failed utterly.

    Metro’s $2.4 billion annual operating budget faces a $750 million shortfall this year. Metro officials are projecting annual deficits of a billion dollars.

    Metro’s rail and bus system is critical transportation infrastructure for the Washington metropolitan area, so “the nation’s subway system” has always been able to shake down state, federal and local government for more money. But there may be a limit to how much state and local governments, which are constitutionally required to balance their budgets, are willing to pay — or will be able to pay in the not-so-distant future when federal aid dries up, as it inevitably will.

    (more…)

  • The Flimflam Blues

    Posted on

    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Robin and Linda Williams

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Just out in time for the election season is a new song by Robin and Linda Williams. The nationally-acclaimed husband-and-wife duo has been writing and recording songs and giving concerts all over the country, as well as abroad, for almost fifty years. They were long-time regulars on Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion. They live in Staunton. Unlike on some recent posts, this song was written by a real person and sung by real people.

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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