Bacon's Rebellion

  • Oh, To Be An Incumbent

    Posted on

    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    According to the Virginia Political Newsletter, the House Republican caucus has targeted 12 Democratic candidates in the upcoming General Assembly election.  Their choices of targets reveal a lot about current Virginia politics.

    The targets are:

    • HD 21—Josh Thomas
    • HD 22—Travis Nembhard
    • HD 57—Susanna Gibson
    • HD 58—Rodney Willett
    • HD 65—Joshua Cole
    • HD 71—Jessica Anderson
    • HD 82—Kimberly Pope Adams
    • HD 84—Nadaruis Clark
    • HD 86—Jarris Taylor
    • HD 89—Karen Jenkins
    • HD 94—Phil Hernandez
    • HD 97—Michael Feggans

    The Virginia Public Access Project shows that 63 House seats are contested by the major parties. Of those 63, the House Republican caucus has chosen to target only 12. Of those target districts, seven are open seats (21, 22, 57, 65, 84, 89, and 94); an incumbent Republican is running in four (71, 82, 86, and 97); and an incumbent Democrat is running in only one (58). The caucus is putting its advertising dollars into elections for open seats, which is understandable, and defending four new incumbents, first elected in 2020 or 2022. There is only one race with an incumbent Democrat that the caucus is willing to put resources into.

    The battles will be in the open seats and in districts with recently elected Delegates who barely had time to get name recognition in their original districts and who are now running in new districts.  Those incumbents in both parties with several years of experience who did not get placed in a district with another incumbent or who was the incumbent who chose not to retire can apparently rest easy if the choice of the Republican caucus on how to spend its money is a reliable indication of the competitiveness of the districts.

  • Nurse Staffing Laws Bringing Big Changes are On the Horizon

    Posted on

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    sherlockj

    Sentara Halifax Regional Hospital, South Boston

    by James C. Sherlock

    In my lengthy series on Virginia’s nursing homes, I pointed out that many of them are understaffed with nurses, RNs in particular.

    I also pointed to a nationwide nurse shortage, due in part to burnout, that the training pipelines are not poised to fill.

    New York, Pennsylvania and Oregon are poised to mandate by law minimum staffing for hospitals and skilled nursing facilities to address both patient safety and burnout.

    On June 28, the Pennsylvania House, in a bipartisan vote, passed a bill that declared:

    (1) Health care services are becoming more complex, and it is increasingly difficult for patients to access integrated services. (more…)

  • The “I” Stands For Idiot

    Posted on

    by

    Bob Rayner

    Sen. Amanda Chase

    by Shaun Kenney

    State Senator Amanda Chase (I-Chesterfield) was soundly rejected by her own district in the June 20th primary, where participants were ostensibly pledged to support the nominee, win or lose.

    Of course, Senate Democrats are hanging on by a thread, knowing full well that Senate Republicans are in a prime position to overwhelmingly trounce a leftist opposition party that has only doubled down on failed policies in Richmond and elsewhere.

    For years, it had been speculated that Chase was held in thrall to her funders — Clean Virginia being prime among them — who were keen to paint Republicans in the worst possible light.

    Those same progressive dark money groups may have found their candidate, per WTVR:

    “If you give me a 1 percent chance to contest something I’m going to stand up for the people who voted and supported me,” she said.

    Chase said she planned to launch a write-in campaign in the fall so she could still have a shot to hold her Senate seat in November.

    Chase also stated she raised $10,000 to help get a legal consult to fight her loss.

    “We didn’t want to file a frivolous lawsuit. We didn’t want to file a lawsuit that didn’t have any standing. It took some time to raise the money and took some time to have our attorneys take a look at the best strategy moving forward and we believe is going to the state board of elections,” she said.

    Unfortunately for Chase, the Virginia State Board of Elections has already certified the outcome of her June 20th nomination contest. (more…)

  • Virginia No. 2 in Latest CNBC Ranking, 16th Worst in Real-World Performance

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Virginia has risen to the No. 2 spot in the CNBC Top States for Business ranking, up from #3 the previous year. The cable business channel gave the Old Dominion high scores for access to capital, business friendliness, workforce, and — No. 1 in the category — education.

    What a farce.

    First, let’s talk about the correlation between CNBC’s rankings and real-world economic performance. CNBC ranked Virginia No. 3 last year. Its economic performance measured by GDP growth, according to Wikipedia? Thirteenth worst! Tied with West Virginia.

    Adjusted for inflation, Virginia GDP growth was 4.0% last year. The national average was 5.7%. So much for CNBC’s predictive value. Last year was not an aberration. Growth has been sluggish for years.

    Second, let’s look at the No. 1 score for education. (more…)

  • Can We Call This a Statistical Sex Change Operation?

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    The number of Virginians who have changed the sex listed on their birth certificate increased from 166 during fiscal year 2020 to 275 in fiscal year 2021 and 384 in fiscal year 2022, according to Virginia Department of Health Director of Communications Maria Reppas.

    By my count, that’s 825 so far.

    The registrations follow a 2020 law that streamlined the process for people to change their birth certificates with the state registrar.

    “When many LGBTQ folks are looking to move from less restricted states to states that offer more protections and safety, Virginia is one of the states that people are looking at,” Narissa Rahaman, executive director of Equality Virginia, told the Virginia Mercury.  “We are a beacon of hope for many around the country, but especially in the South, and we should do our part to remain that way.”

    Hmmm…. If the law allows trans people to change their Virginia birth certificates, how does that make Virginia more inviting to people moving here from other states? Just asking.

  • I’m Never Voting On Election Day Again. Join Me!

    Posted on

    by

    Robin Beres

    by Kerry Dougherty

    It’s strange to think that I will never again get up on Election Day and head to the polls. I’ll never again take my granddaughter with me to see me fill out my ballot and drop it into the ballot counter. I’ll never again grab two “I Voted” stickers — one for her and one for me.

    I’m voting absentee from now on, something I swore I’d never do.

    Let me explain. In January’s special election to fill the 7th District State Senate seat left vacant when Republican Jen Kiggans was elected to Congress, Democrat Aaron Rouse won by a razor-thin majority of 696 votes with 50.84 percent of the vote. The district is split between part of Norfolk and part of Virginia Beach. Republican Kevin Adams won the Election Day contest and even the early voting.

    But what clinched the election for Rouse were absentee ballots in Virginia Beach, traditionally a Republican stronghold. Of the 5,884 absentee ballots returned, 4,283 were for Rouse.

    Here, look at the results: (more…)

  • Public Confidence in Higher-Ed Is Hemorrhaging

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    I started sounding the alarm years ago: through soaring tuition and leftist orthodoxy, higher-ed institutions would lose the support of a broad swath of the American people. At some point, parents rebel against paying small fortunes to have their kids indoctrinated to reject their values. As the latest Gallup poll shows, a steadily declining percentage of Americans express confidence in higher education.

    Predictably, the decline over the past decade has been sharpest among Republicans, whose values are most reviled in academia. The decline among Democrats, who are far more likely to feel a philosophical kinship with campus progressives, has been modest. (See the Gallup numbers.)

    I would love to see the same question asked about Virginia’s system of higher education as a whole, and for individual institutions, too. I would conjecture that resentment is strongest against “elite” institutions where progressivism is the strongest.

    Obviously, there are many progressives in the general population, so some people are just fine with what’s happening on college campuses. But if you alienate half your potential market, you’re in big trouble. — JAB

  • More Money for an “Indecipherable” K-12 Funding Formula?

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Virginia public schools receive less funding from the state than the 50-state national average, less than the Mid-Atlantic regional average, and less than three of the five bordering states, says a new report from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC). The state needs to radically update its methodology for calculating Standards of Quality (SOQ), a measure of staff and other inputs that sets the bar for state funding. Adopting all of JLARC’s recommendations would cost taxpayers $1 billion in near-term funding and more than $2.5 billion longer-term.

    Democrats and media allies immediately used the JLARC report to claim that Virginia schools are “underfunded.” As Axios Richmond puts it: “Virginia is cheaping out on public school funding compared to most other states.” Then there was this from House Minority Leader Don Scott Jr., D-Portsmouth: Virginia’s GOP “would rather fund corporate giveaways” than students’ education.

    Republicans pushed back. Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera and Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Coons noted that the report omitted the last two fiscal years, in which Virginia has funneled an additional $3.2 billion in state aid to public schools. More to the point, they contend, without major reforms such as raising educational standards and improving reading competency in elementary schools, “investments in K-12 funding likely will not translate into improved student outcomes.” (more…)

  • Loudoun County Public Schools – Part 2 – Sterling

    Posted on

    by

    sherlockj

    Park View High School – Courtesy Loudoun County Public Schools

    by James C. Sherlock

    We are told by the left that more money is the answer to better schools. That is what Virginia Democrats are running on as education policy.

    I am comparing two high schools in America’s richest county, Loudoun, to control for per pupil expenditures.

    In Part 1 we looked at Freedom High School in Chantilly. Breathtaking results.

    Park View High School, like Freedom, is in Loudoun County. It’s in Sterling.

    Park View has 1,400 students, Freedom 2,000. The demographics are different. The Park View student body is far more economically disadvantaged and heavily Hispanic.

    Asian, White, Black and Hispanic kids from wealthy families at Freedom High all blew away the state assessments in 2021-22. The outcomes were far worse, even among Asian-American students, at Park View.

    Those results can be explained by differences in the learning environments.

    • At Park View 33% of the students were chronically absent in 2021-22; at Freedom 11%.
    • Offenses, Referrals and Arrests and Suspensions reported to the government in 2017-18 (last year available) not only between the two high schools, but even more disturbingly at Sterling Middle, a feeder to Park View, were starkly different.

    Loudoun County’s money has not provided a suitable learning environment at Park View or Sterling Middle.

    Because of that failure, despite all of the spending, economically disadvantaged students in Loudoun test no better in math, reading and science than the state average for similarly disadvantaged students.

    The lesson I take away from this is that schools can’t create learning environments and teach at schools like Park View and its feeders using the same methods they do with kids from wealthier families and expect good results.

    A focus on race, ethnicity and money misses the point. The issues are discipline and self respect. Both can be taught. (more…)

  • A Tale of Two UNESCO World Heritage Sites

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Italians demand that people treat their UNESCO World Heritage sites with respect. Consider the recent example of the idiot caught scratching graffiti onto a brick of the ancient Roman Colosseum. Italians reacted with outrage at video (taken by an equally outraged American) when Bulgaria-born Englishman Ivan Dimitrov used his key to memorialize his devotion to his girlfriend with the phrase, “Ivan + Hayley 23/6/23.”

    According to the Sunday Tribune, Dimitrov faces a potential 2- to 5-year prison sentence and a fine of 15,000 euros. He has since apologized, pleading that he didn’t realize the structure was nearly 2,000 years old. His legal representative hopes to negotiate a plea deal that would enable Dimitrov to pay the fine without serving jail time.

    Compare and contrast the reaction to Dimitrov’s offense with the response two years ago when Hira Azher posted the infamous “F— UVA” sign on the door of her room on the Lawn, also a UNESCO World Heritage site. (more…)

  • The Pettiness of Canceling John S. Mosby

    Posted on

    by

    Bob Rayner

    by Donald Smith

    In April, in Georgia, a correction morphed into an overreaction. As part of the ongoing process to change the names of military bases named for Confederate generals, Fort Benning became Fort Moore. Around the same time, the National Ranger Memorial Foundation (NRMF) responded to a directive from U.S. government officials. The NRMF sent workmen to the Ranger Hall of Fame stone tablet, created and maintained on Fort Moore by the foundation, and covered a single name — John S. Mosby. The workmen also pried up bricks that commemorated Confederates in the foundation’s Ranger Memorial Walk. An exhibit on Mosby at the National Infantry Museum was also removed. With those actions, an understandable effort to modernize Army base names degenerated into pettiness.

    The Naming Commission, an investigative body established by Congress, recommended that all Army bases named for Confederate generals be renamed. I am a great-grandson of Confederate cavalrymen — and I freely admit the commission had a point. In 2022 the Army had more major active-duty bases named for Confederate generals who lost the Civil War than Union generals who won it.   

    But the Naming Commission went farther than base names. Much, much farther. It looked for every street name, every monument, plaque, and sign on DoD facilities that might be perceived to show Confederates in a positive light. Like Dr. Seuss’ Grinch, it relentlessly searched for every last can of Confederate Who-Hash! It then recommended that, with few exceptions, all be removed or changed. Apparently Congress didn’t reject any of the commission’s recommendations; that has caused names to be covered on stone tablets, memorial bricks to be pried up and (soon) campaign streamers that commemorate Confederate service to be removed from Army National Guard colors. (more…)

  • RVA History: Quintessential Preservationist

    Posted on

    by

    Robin Beres

    by Jon Baliles

    Historic preservation is important for many reasons, like helping us better understand our past and how to improve it for future generations. One great advocate of preserving Richmond’s history to convey stories forward was Mary Winfield Scott, who passed away in 1983, but whose legacy lives on in neighborhoods across Richmond, and who was the subject of a great piece by Greg McQuade at CBS6.

    Scott was a preservationist who helped save the 18th Century structure known as Linden Row on Franklin Street across from the city’s main library.

    “[She] quickly recognized that we were losing places that made Richmond unique,” said Will Glasco, with Preservation Virginia, a group that was born from Scott’s efforts.
    (more…)

  • Anti-Asian Discrimination is Condoned in Fairfax County

    Posted on

    by

    Robin Beres

    by Carl Noller

    People have been coming to America for centuries, many of them drawn by the opportunities this country offered. It was less who you knew or who you could bribe and more what you knew. Martin Luther King may have put it best when he encouraged us to judge others by the content of character, rather than skin color. Recently, however, Democrats have been telling us that this is all wrong — that race is the critical factor. Diversity, as a social goal, trumps all others.

    We have been electing Democrats in recent years, and, not surprisingly, they have begun implementing that vision, which inflames racial tensions. This can be seen very clearly with the changes in admissions criteria at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, ranked the best high school in the nation. The School Board deemed the Fairfax County high school too Asian. The student body needed to be more “diverse,” more reflective of the community. The School Board engineered this under a revised admissions process, which eliminated the standardized admissions test, eliminated the $100 application fee, and reserved seats in the freshman class for the top 1.5 percent of applicants from every middle school in the county. The effect was noticeable and will increase over the next three classes before leveling off, as those chosen under the old rules graduate.

    (more…)

  • Loudoun County Public Schools – Part 1 – Chantilly

    Posted on

    by

    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock

    Freedom High Seniors Waiting to Receive their Diplomas. Credit Hazel Nguyen, Design Editor, Uncaged (student Newspaper at Freedom)

    Part 1 of a series.

    Sometimes, even at my age and experience, I am legitimately surprised.

    After writing about the growth of leadership, support and administrative staffs in both institutions of higher learning and the public schools, I thought I had the picture.

    I did not.

    Then I looked at Freedom High School in Loudoun County.

    This article is not meant to reflect criticism, just amazement. (more…)

  • Jeanine’s Memes

    Posted on

    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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