Virginia experienced the largest decline in homeownershipof any state during the new millennium. In 2000, the homeownership rate sat at 73.9%; it declined to 67.4% in 2022. This makes for a percentage-point change of 8.8% since 2000 in 2020 — the most of any state. “With the average state decline sitting at 1.3%, Virginia’s dwindling rate of homeownership is the most drastic nationwide,” states the email.
Virginia has a home-ownership problem, which is intimately connected to the home affordability problem. What’s next — tent cities? (more…)
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) believes there are 17 safe Democrat state Senate seats in the General Assembly. (There are a total of 40 seats in the state Senate.) Democrats need to pick up 4 additional seats to keep their majority. To do that they are putting millions into these races:
Rep. Ben Cline, Republican from Virginia’s 6th District
by Scott Dreyer
The federal government’s fiscal year ended September 30, and in what has become a frequent occurrence, the Congress had failed to present a budget for the president’s signature.
In the weeks and days before September 30, many politicians, pundits, and average citizens were debating what would happen and what would be best for the country.
The overall Democrat position was that spending should continue at current levels, including funding for Ukraine’s war against Russia. The thought of a government shutdown was portrayed as a potential disaster that would cut stop salary and relief payments to deserving Americans.
This position is seen in tweets on X, formerly known as Twitter, by Virginia’s two US senators. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) on Sept. 27 wrote: “Extreme House Republicans have no plan to stop a shutdown, forcing millions of servicemembers & federal workers to go without pay. Shutdowns have a terrible human cost. We have to prevent this.”
On September 29, Virginia’s Junior Senator Tim Kaine (D) tweeted: “House Republicans threatening a government shutdown—which would hurt Virginians’ access to basic services they rely on every day—as a form of leverage is cruel and irresponsible. We can and should come together in a bipartisan way to avert a catastrophic shutdown.” (more…)
In 1974 a story in a Washington DC magazine listed the 10 dumbest members of Congress.
Numero uno?
Sen. William Scott of Virginia.
Scott was infuriated and called a press conference to deny the allegations, drawing attention to the article in an alternative magazine and proving to many that he really was dumb.
Voting is underway in Virginia’s legislative elections, where early voting started on September 22. To try to win a very close race, progressives are telling Republican voters that the Republican candidate is a Democrat, and the Democratic candidate is a Republican. This is occurring in House District 97, which the Virginia Public Access Project rates as one of Virginia’s most “competitive” legislative districts.
The progressive Policy Information Center sent mail to Republican voters in the district telling them that the Republican incumbent, Karen Greenhalgh, is a Democrat, and that Michael Feggans, the Democratic candidate, is a Republican. Here is an image of the mail that was sent:
The Policy Information Center is a facade for Forward Majority, a progressive PAC that claims that “Our democracy is in crisis” because of a “systematic assault” by the “GOP.”
Pundits such as Chaz Nuttycombe say the race in House District 97 is too close to call. Nuttycombe says the Virginia Beach seat is one of three House seats that is a “toss-up.” (more…)
Del. Kim Taylor (R) Photo Credit: Richmond Times-Dispatch
by Dick Hall-Sizemore
During the campaign season, I often get so frustrated with the pronouncements of candidates that I wish I could publicly pose questions that they would have to answer. The most recent example comes from a story in today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch about the highly competitive House race in the Petersburg area.
The incumbent, Del. Kim Taylor (R) says she “wants harsher punishments for opioid dealers.” To be fair to the delegate, that is a common refrain among a lot of politicians. I have two questions:
The type of opioids that are primarily abused are Schedule I or II drugs. The current statutory penalty for the distribution of Schedule I or II drugs is a sentence of five to 40 years. For the second conviction, the sentence range is five years to life, with a three-year mandatory minimum sentence. If the possibility of a 5 to 40-year sentence is not enough of a deterrent, what sentence would you propose?
You have been in the legislature for two years. Why haven’t you introduced a bill to increase the sentence for opioid dealers?
The three top priorities of her Democratic opponent, Kimberly Adams, are
“building affordable housing, keeping the community safe from violence and preserving abortion rights.” Who could argue with building affordable housing and keeping the community safe from violence? The question I would ask is: What specific actions do you propose to accomplish these goals? As for abortion rights, she was specific on that. She supports the current law.
Based on information submitted to the Department of Education by local school divisions, the starting salary for teachers in 34 school divisions in school year 2022-2023 was lower than $44,100.
The state Republican Party has this “booth.” It is a good idea. I don’t know if the Democrats have one because I did not walk around the whole area. The Republicans have a good location—right next to the main Commonwealth Pavilion, where there is a lot of foot traffic and there are bathrooms.
I was struck by how many yard signs did not identify the candidate as a Republican. A few did say “Conservative” but left off any party affiliation.
I chatted with the nice guy who was manning the booth. He is chairman of the Westmoreland County Republican Party. He said that he, too, had noticed the lack of party identification on the yard signs. He said he did not understand it and had no explanation for it.
Of the scores of yard signs displayed, only four candidates were willing to admit they were Republicans.
While it is unconfirmed at this time, there are several rumors going around that in another few weeks that casino advocates will hold a press conference promising eternal life for seniors if they vote for the casino referendum on November 7th.
Who knows, at this rate of promising anything and everything for your vote, the casino advocates might have Oprah in RVA by late October offering new cars for any remaining voters as long as they have a mail-in ballot marked Yes. So, don’t vote too early!
The second casino referendum has become a leveraged buyout of the voters and there is no dollar amount or offer that won’t be matched by the casino advocates to get the referendum across the line the second time around. They have already raised and committed $8 million to buy your vote, and that total will almost certainly go up.
But alas, these and the other yet-to-be-revealed voting scams are just a way to hoodwink voters into believing that the casino will exist to do more good for the community than it will for the owners and investors. Which is clearly not the case. It isn’t the case in Bristol, or Danville, or Portsmouth or any casino in the country. (more…)
According to Post reporter Robert Costa, high-roller Republican donors are meeting in two weeks at the Cavalier Hotel for a two-day closed meeting dubbed, “Red Vest Retreat.” The well-heeled donors assured the writer that the money is there, the only question is whether the governor is willing to jump in.
Some of the biggest Republican donors in the country will converge next month at the historic Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach for a two-day meeting to rally behind Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The closed gathering, named the “Red Vest Retreat” after the fleece Youngkin wore during his 2021 campaign, will begin Oct. 17 and be focused, officially, on the Republican effort to win full control of the General Assembly in Virginia’s upcoming elections. But unofficially, several donors tell me, it will be an opportunity for them to try to push, if not shove, Youngkin into the Republican presidential race.
It’s worth remembering that the Cavalier is Virginia Beach developer Bruce Thompson’s baby. In 2013, Thompson was Terry McAuliffe’s Hampton Roads finance chair. In 2021 he switched sides, serving as Youngkin’s state campaign finance chief.
The choice of venue for this political retreat is no accident. (more…)
Abigail Shrier deserves a Pulitzer Prize for her 2019 work of journalism, “Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters.” She’ll never get the recognition she deserves from the literary establishment, though, because her conclusions transgress some of the holiest orthodoxies in the progressive canon. Despite the outcry that greeted her book, it became a best seller and transformed the way many people think about transgenderism. I am one of them.
Anyone reading the book, as opposed to imbibing the mischaracterizations of her critics, will readily see that Shrier is no “transphobe.” She is highly empathetic to the struggles that transgender people undergo, and she respectfully refers to them by their transgendered names and pronouns. She also acknowledges that gender dysphoria is a real (but exceedingly rare) phenomenon that occurs mainly among boys as young as three or four who believe that their minds and bodies are mismatched.
Shrier is reviled because she regards the unprecedented surge of transgender identity among adolescent girls as a cultural contagion, and she sees “affirmative” practices of hormonal treatment and breast removal as one step removed from medical malpractice. She criticizes teachers, psychiatrists and medical professionals who automatically “affirm” transgender identity rather than inquire about other potential explanations of emotional distress.
One critic described her work as “a fear-filled screed, full of misinformation, biological and medical inaccuracies, logical fallacies, and propaganda.” Perhaps. I’m no expert. But I found her credible.
Virginians can hear Shrier speak for herself when she appears at the University of Virginia October 11, Room 125 of Minor Hall, at 7:00 p.m. The event is sponsored by The Jefferson Council and the Common Sense Society. Register here. (more…)
The states currently in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative tax compact.
By Steve Haner
Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) is defending the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board’s decision to exit a multi-state carbon cap and tax compact as within the regulatory agency’s authority. He has also claimed to the circuit court hearing an appeal of that decision that the plaintiffs were not affected by the action directly and thus have no standing to sue.
The four plaintiffs, all associations, filed a 138-page petition in the Circuit Court of Fairfax County in late August. Miyares’ office used just ten pages total for two responses dated September 13. (more…)
My article on average teacher salaries must have struck a nerve. This morning I received an answer to my inquiry from the Department of Education (DOE).
In short, DOE disavows any responsibility for the accuracy of the data in the report it submitted to the General Assembly.
The Office of Communications declares, “All data in the teacher salary survey report is based on data certified by school division superintendents. VDOE staff tries to identify as many of the variances as possible and obtain corrections from school divisions within the time-frame available each fall.” (more…)
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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From an email from search-intelligence.co.uk attributed to RubyHome Luxury Real Estate:
by Jeanine Martin
by Kerry Dougherty 
by Jon Baliles
by Dick Hall-Sizemore
