Bacon's Rebellion

  • School Board Bullies

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    You’re guilty. I’m guilty. We’re all guilty.

    Admit it. At election time most of us know exactly who’s running for president, congress, governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, commonwealth’s attorney, treasurer, sheriff and city council.

    We study bond issues and constitutional amendments.

    We know how we’re going to cast our votes before we enter the polling place.

    But by the time we get to “school board” on the ballot we often suffer from ballot boredom. We either don’t vote for those offices or just shrug and cast our votes for familiar names.

    Never again. (more…)

  • A Regulatory Path to End the RGGI Carbon Tax

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    The states currently in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative compact.

    by Steve Haner

    First published today by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy.

    Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) will proceed to remove Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative carbon tax compact by the same route Virginia entered it: he will push to repeal the underlying regulation.

    As with much else in his promised “Day One” agenda, it will actually take time. What he gave Virginia on Day One was an executive order outlining the coming steps, which still must follow the letter of Virginia’s administrative process rules. Regulations are created, amended and repealed routinely.

    His administration will also notify the RGGI organization of Virginia’s intent to withdraw, a step contemplated and allowed under the governing memorandum of understanding.

    It was a vote of the Air Pollution Control Board, citing authority over airborne carbon dioxide emissions, that implemented the cap and trade rules that require electric power producers to buy carbon allowances. That allowance cost is then passed on to power customers, in the case of Dominion Energy Virginia customers, directly on every month’s bill. (more…)

  • Meritocracy Against the Wokes

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Progressive Democrats are awfully riled up about the term “meritocracy” in Youngkin’s EO 1 — and they ought to be.

    by Shaun Kenney

    Poor Democrats — they haven’t been this ruffled about Republicans taking over Richmond since 1865.

    Truly, it’s hard to feel much sympathy for the Virginia Democrats, whose lust for power and the damage they did in just two years was something to behold. What they deemed progress consisted mostly of bulldozing history, embedding outright racism into our classrooms and bureaucracy, and institutionalizing mental illness to the degree where if such things are questioned you are swiftly beaten out of the public square — or worse, the Twitter mob is followed up by a media no one reads and you are marched off to your own private gulag.

    Yet I digress.

    This morning’s brass ring for the left is Youngkin Executive Order 1, which repeals by fiat much of the Critical Race Theory embedded into state government by the Northam administration, and does so in such a way that any challenges will be in the face of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The offending passages? (more…)

  • Who Funded Voter Suppression in Rural Virginia?

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    It caused quite the brouhaha when Axios published a story in September on how a Democratic PAC posed as a conservative outfit to depress Republican voter turnout in Southwest Virginia by raising questions about Glenn Youngkin’s commitment to gun rights. Dominion Energy had donated $200,000 to the effort, run by Accountability Virginia PAC. Two days after the news broke Dominion said it had failed to vet the group and wanted its money back. The furor died down, and little has been heard of it since. Until today.

    Duane Yancey with Cardinal News checked the final filings for the  Accountability Virginia PAC, which weren’t reported until after the election. It turns out that Dominion had donated a total of $250,000 — $50,000 more than originally reported — while four Dominion executives had chipped in another $27,500. Between the corporation and its executives, Dominion accounted for 47.9% of the PAC’s total contributions.

    There is no indication, says Yancey, that they got their money back.

    Almost all the other donors were out-of-state venture capitalists and financiers known to be donors to Democratic politics. Read Yancey’s list for the full accounting, as well as his spin on the news: “Trying to discourage people from voting is wrong, no matter which side is trying to do it.”

    It is possible that the blowback against Dominion has just begun. (more…)

  • The Speaker’s Committee Assignments, With a Surprise

    Posted on

    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Todd Gilbert, Speaker of the House of Delegates

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Probably the single most important factor contributing to the power of the Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates is the authority, under the Rules of the House, to assign members to committees. The committees to which a member is assigned can often determine the degree of influence he wields in the House. Also, from a public policy perspective, the composition of a committee often determines the fate of legislation.

    There are a lot of factors at play in doling out committee assignments. They include (not necessarily in this order of importance): party distribution, regional balance, members’ preferences, members’ backgrounds and expertise, seniority, and personal factors (whether the member impressed or crossed the Speaker, for example). (more…)

  • Rolling Back Regulations Easier Said Than Done

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Virginia has lagged the nation in economic growth and job creation for a decade or more, and Governor Glenn Youngkin has made it a priority, as every governor does, to boost economic development. One of his strategies for rebooting the economy is to prune needless regulation.

    “The growing regulatory burden on businesses and individuals requires time, money and energy for compliance. This represents an opportunity loss that inhibits job creation and economic growth,” Youngkin says in Executive Directive Number One, “Laying a Strong Foundation for Job Creation and Economic Growth Through Targeted Regulatory Reductions.”

    Accordingly, Youngkin has directed all state agencies under his authority to reduce the number of regulations not mandated by federal or state statute by 25%. He also directs the Secretary of Finance to explore the feasibility of implementing a 2-for-1 “regulatory budget.” (The meaning of the 2-for-1 budget is not defined in the directive, but I interpret it as a call for deleting two regulations for every new regulation promulgated.)

    This is all fine and good — I share the aspiration of rolling back the regulatory state — but we have to be realistic. The number of regulations not mandated by federal or state law is miniscule. With the exception of the regulatory diktats issued by former Governor Ralph Northam in response to the COVID emergency (which Youngkin is nullifying by separate executive orders), Virginia governors and state officials can’t impose new regulations by fiat. (more…)

  • Virginia Becomes a Free State

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    Blue skies, sunshine and crisp temperatures greeted Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s first day in office Saturday in Richmond.

    Within hours, he signaled his respect for the Virginia Constitution, which protects the rights of parents to decide what’s best for their own children by reversing Ralph Northam’s mask mandate for all school students.

    Youngkin also scrapped Virginia’s vaccine mandate for all state workers, while urging everyone to take the vaccines.

    Day One promises had been made and were kept.

    With that, Virginia joined the other free states, where citizens are treated as adults and don’t have to live in perpetual dread of their governor’s next dictatorial whim. (more…)

  • Reframing the Debate from CRT to “Divisive Concepts”

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    We all knew that Governor Glenn Youngkin’s campaign to root out Critical Race Theory (CRT) would be controversial. There are tremendous issues at stake and entrenched interests involved. It would be helpful if both sides honestly characterized the issues so we could then have an informed debate about them. Sadly, preliminary indications are that the Democratic Party of Virginia — which presumably speaks for many other Democrats — is determined to obscure the issues by constructing strawmen and knocking them down.

    A case in point is the “CRT isn’t taught in schools” trope employed by the Terry McAuliffe campaign. The Dems can’t let it go. It resurfaced again in a tweet from @vademocrats proclaiming, “Glenn Youngkin admitted today that he’s been lying to Virginians and critical race theory is not in fact taught in Virginia’s schools. This dangerous lie continues to pit parents against educators and our students are paying the price. It must end now.”

    That tweet has been retweeted 151 times and liked 302. And Democrats accuse Republicans of spewing disinformation! (more…)

  • The General Assembly to Enlist in the Reading Wars?

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Matt Hurt

    A few days ago. Delegate Carrie Coyner, R-Chesterfield, and Senator Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, submitted HB319 and SB616, both titled, “The Virginia Literacy Act.” These bills intend to codify instructional practices regarding the Science of Reading into Virginia law. While there are some widely acknowledged positives associated with the Science of Reading, it is not apparent to me that the bill will improve outcomes for Virginia students.

    First, the reading wars have raged for more years than I have been alive. Initially the warring factions were the “whole language” zealots versus the phonics militants. Eventually the supporters of phonics won the battle. Soon thereafter, a rift emerged among the phonics camp about how much of the reading instruction should be straight phonics versus a blend of phonics and other activities, such as writing, word study, and etc.

    Word count limits the ability of this essay to further investigate the reading wars, but suffice it to say that the smart money says these wars will rage long after I’m dead. While some educators may welcome the science-of-reading mandates, others will find them a bitter pill to swallow. Folks tend to spit out things they find bitter. Given our recent experience with the Critical Race Theory fury, it seems that mandating controversial things may not be a wise move, either practically or politically. (more…)

  • Jeanine’s Memes

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon


    from The Bull Elephant

  • Day One

    Posted on

    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Photo Credit: WTVR

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Comments and ruminations on “Day One” actions:

    Executive Order 1—”Inherently divisive” concepts. The headlines will have gotten this one wrong. The Governor has not prohibited the teaching of critical race theory in public schools, not that anyone was actually doing that. He has directed the Superintendent of Public Instruction to purge the Dept. of Education’s policies, directives, guidelines, etc. of any items that advance “inherently divisive” concepts or practices. As long as they stick to the fairly narrow definition of “inherently divisive” concepts laid out in the Executive Order, I don’t have any problem with this. Those definitions do not conflict with the traditional definition of critical race theory, anyway. If the administration goes after teachers who may be pointing out Virginia’s segregationist and racist past and the lasting effects of those past policies and practices, that would be going too far.

    DOE overdid it with its Diversity, Inclusiveness and Equity campaign. It was just a little too much of beating people over the head. However, that message and approach has resonated and probably sunk in with a lot of areas and institutions and, much to the consternation of some commenters on this blog, likely will be difficult to turn back. (more…)

  • Loudoun County Public Schools Bravely Faces Its Past

    Posted on

    by

    sherlockj

    The Loudoun County Public Schools administration building in Ashburn.
    Times-Mirror/Trevor Baratko

    by James C. Sherlock

    The Loudoun Times-Mirror has run a story headlined, “Report detailing LCPS’ handling of sexual assaults complete; Title IX coordinator replaced.”

    “Replaced” in this case does not mean the official was fired. The official in question is still chief of staff. The Title IX assignment was kicked down the food chain to HR.

    That’s it. It was an enterprise architecture problem.

    This story, of course, recounted Loudoun County Public Schools’ response to the rape of two students in two different high schools by a student who was moved by the superintendent to protect his “privacy.”

    Loudoun County Public Schools acknowledged on Friday it has received an outside law firm’s report examining the school division’s handling of two sexual assaults at a pair of Ashburn high schools, according to a statement.

    Loudoun County Public Schools has taken action, and will continue to take action, responsive to the concerns raised by the sexual assaults in LCPS, school officials said in the statement.

    “The division’s handling.” (more…)

  • Schools Gone Wild — Henrico Edition

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    This story gives a whole new meaning — a literal meaning — to the phrase, “hair on fire.” According to WWBT/Gray News, a teenager at John Rolfe Middle School in Henrico County seta fellow student’s hair afire with a lighter. The boy is at VCU Medical Center suffering from second- and third-degree burns.

    Here’s the TV station’s account of what happened:

    His mother said she was told the school was on lockdown due to COVID-19 contact tracing, so her son’s math class was having lunch inside the classroom.

    She says her son went to throw away his tray when another student approached him from behind with a lighter.

    “That’s when the girl kind of flicked the lighter and lit his hair on fire,” the mother said.

    (more…)

  • Bacon Meme of the Week

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

  • Northam Exits — the End of an Error

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Scott Dreyer

    Unlike the other 49 states in the Union, only Virginia has a constitution that prohibits a governor from serving two consecutive terms. That is why former Governor Terry McAuliffe tried to make a comeback last November but current Governor Ralph Northam–blessedly–must exit the Governor’s Mansion on January 15, 2022.

    Early on, Northam seemed to harbor a nasty streak. In November 2013, while running for Lieutenant Governor, Northam publicly snubbed his black opponent, E.W. Jackson by pointedly refusing to shake his hand after a debate. If a white Republican refused to shake the hand of a black man, the media would have a field day till the offender’s career was toast. But for Northam, a Democrat? He got a pass from the friendly media. He won that election.

    Northam, a pediatrician from the Eastern Shore, then ran for governor in 2017 against Republican Ed Gillespie. Much like Joe Biden in 2020, Northam marketed himself not as a “scary radical” but as a reasonable “uncle figure.” (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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