Bacon's Rebellion

  • Spanberger Cabinet Picks Much Different from Youngkin’s

    Posted on

    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger

    Despite stocking her transition team with individuals unfamiliar with Virginia politics and issues, Gov.-elect Spanberger has not followed Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s path of bringing in non-Virginians and persons unfamiliar with government and the Virginia legislature to fill out her Cabinet. Instead, she has, so far, surrounded herself with Cabinet members who have extensive experience with Virginia government and the General Assembly, in particular. 

    Here are her announcements so far:

    Secretary of Finance—Mark Sickles. Sickles is a long-time member of the House of Delegates from Fairfax County, first elected in 2003. He has been a member of the House Appropriations Committee since 2015 and vice-chair since 2024. In addition to his long experience on the Appropriations Committee, he has been a member of the budget conference committee since 2018. Health care has been one of the primary issues he has focused on, serving as chair of both the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Resources and the full House Committee on Health, Welfare, and Institutions, as well as on the Joint Subcommittee on Health Care. In addition to these legislative assignments, he serves on the House Rules and Privileges and Elections Committees and is chair of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.

    Del. Mark Sickles (D-Fairfax) Photo credit: Washington Post

    The Secretary of Finance oversees the development of the biennial budget that the Governor presents to the General Assembly. Included among the agencies that report to him are the Departments of Planning and Budget, Taxation, Accounts, and Treasury.

    Comment: Spanberger probably could not have found anyone with a deeper knowledge and understanding of the General Assembly and the budget process. The Commonwealth will be facing major budget challenges in Medicaid and social services resulting from the provisions of the recent federal tax and spending legislation. Sickles’ background in these areas will be invaluable. His main challenge will probably be having to pivot from a legislative perspective to representing the executive branch.

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  • Officer-Involved Shootings on the Rise in 2024

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    James A. Bacon

    Line graph depicting officer-involved shootings in Virginia from 2019 to 2024, showing trends in incidents, injuries, and fatalities.

    The number of officer-involved shootings in Virginia increased to 45 in 2024, nearly double the rate recorded in 2019, according to the Virginia State Police Crime in Virginia 2024 report. The number of fatal shootings, 31, was two-and-a-half times higher than five years previously.

    The Crime in Virginia report classifies every one of the shootings as either “justified” or “pending.”

    One of two things (or perhaps both) seems likely: Either police are playing faster and looser with their guns, or the public’s interactions with the police are getting increasingly contentious. Either way, the trend is disturbing and bears looking into.

    In the old days, when legacy media actually had resources to follow stories like this, someone would have dug into the numbers. No longer. The Washington Post compiled a database of fatal shootings, which can be found here. Shootings in 2024 are included, but that is the last year. The newspaper stopped updating the database in 2025 and apparently has no plans to resume it.

  • Bacon Meme of the Day

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    A cartoon depicting a group of people in a fiery setting, with a devil figure overseeing them. The characters look frustrated, and a speech bubble says, 'Smell that bacon? They're not really cooking some; they just pipe the smell in to torment us more.'

  • About Those Hate Crime Numbers…

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Line graph depicting the number of hate crimes in Virginia by ethnic victim classification from 2000 to 2024, showing trends for Anti-Black, Anti-White, Anti-Hispanic, Anti-Jewish, and Anti-Muslim categories.

    The officially reported tally of hate crimes against Jews spiked to 84 in 2024, while the number against Blacks increased slightly from an already high level to 136, according to data from the Virginia State Police Crime in Virginia 2024 report.

    As the report itself notes, however, these numbers should be viewed with caution. “Because of the difficulty of ascertaining the offender’s subjective motivation, bias is reported only if the investigation reveals sufficient information to lead a reasonable and prudent person to conclude that the offender’s actions were motivated, in whole or in part, by bias against race, religion, disability, ethnicity or sexual orientation. “

    In other words, what constitutes a “hate crime” is in the eyes of the beholder. Take the City of Charlottesville, for example. While the University of Virginia was in the throes of highly agitated pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli agitations in the first half of 2024, UVA Jews cited numerous antisemitic incidents. For purposes of compiling data, however, the City of Charlottesville reported only one anti-Jewish hate crime.

    Another example: Fairfax County. In 2019, county police reported 14 anti-Black and 2 anti-Hispanic hate crimes. In 2024, the numbers had surged to 73 anti-Black hate crimes and 21 anti-Hispanic crimes. Without the 59-crime increase in anti-Black incidents and 19-crime increase in anti-Hispanic incidents over those five years, the statewide numbers would have shown declines in such crimes.

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  • Happy Recovering-from- New-Year’s-Eve Day

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    James A. Bacon

    A group of individuals sitting together in a dimly lit setting, wearing party hats and holding festive items, portraying a celebratory atmosphere.
    Grok imagines hungover Jamestown settlers recovering from New Years Eve

  • Back to Zero-Sum Racial Politics

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Bye-bye Diversity, Opportunity and Inclusion.

  • Trump Administration Sues UVA for Offering In-State Tuition to Illegal Aliens

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Exterior view of the Rotunda at the University of Virginia, showcasing its iconic architecture at dusk.

    by Kerry Dougherty

    Imagine, for a moment, you’re the parent of an exceptional North Carolina high school senior. She worked hard. Her grades are excellent. Her test scores are top tier.

    She applies to and is accepted at Virginia’s prestigious flagship, the University of Virginia. The cost of in-state tuition for a first-year student ranges from roughly $16,500 to $27,000 while the cost to out-of-state students is more than $66,000.

    That discrepancy is to be expected. State-supported schools always offer reduced tuition to in-state kids.

    But UVa goes way beyond that. The university founded by Thomas Jefferson offers in-state tuition and enhanced financial aid to ILLEGAL ALIENS who live -illegally – in the commonwealth. If they attended high school here for two years these illegals are treated as preferred students.

    Make it make sense.

    Yesterday, the Department of Justice announced that it had filed suit in the Eastern District of Virginia, asking a federal judge to bar the state from enforcing the policy.

    The suit claims that UVa’s policy “is not only wrong, but illegal.”

    “In Virginia and nationwide, schools cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi in a news release. “This Department of Justice will not tolerate American students being treated like second-class citizens in their own country.”

    If that North Carolina girl can’t get in-state tuition, why should someone who is in the country illegally get preferential treatment? Continue reading.

  • School Division’s Legal Bills Continue to Swell

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    A pile of burning U.S. dollar bills engulfed in flames, emitting smoke against a dark background.

    by Stephanie Lundquist-Arora

    Even Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, Virginia Senate president pro tempore, knows the last thing Fairfax County needs is more money. Earlier this month, Sen. Lucas posted on X, “I’m getting sick and tired of localities in Northern Virginia (especially Fairfax) spreading misinformation about being underfunded by the Commonwealth of Virginia. It’s time to correct the record and stop these lies.”

    Sen. Lucas explains that Fairfax County commissioned a study with the Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia, which inaccurately found that Virginia’s largest county only gets 50 cents back on each tax dollar raised by the Commonwealth. The liberal senator continues, “This is false and is a number derived by only counting money we send the county directly, not services used by all.”

    In the X thread, Lucas points to the irony that the center Fairfax County is paying to conduct the “study” finds exactly what is most convenient for the argument that they are entitled to more money from the state. She concludes  the thread by stating, “We will not be bullied or lied to by the richest community in the Commonwealth that is constantly begging us for more funding.”

    While the county’s leaders ask state officials for more money, they continue to tax many Fairfax residents, particularly seniors on a fixed income, out of the county. As property taxes have increased by about 65% in the last decade, and an incredibly unpopular 4% food tax will be implemented in January, county leaders continue to increase their own salaries. The Board of Supervisors chairman, Jeff McKay, also enjoys a taxpayer-funded car. Fairfax County’s residents further cover Chairman McKay’s car tax, gas, auto insurance, E-ZPass, oil changes, and car washes. 

    (more…)

  • Somali Daycare Scandal Spreading

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    Buckle up, folks. Nick Shirley’s blockbuster report on massive fraud in the daycare and healthcare industries in Minnesota may just be the tip of the Somali iceberg.

    Investigations are underway in Washington State where more than 500 licensed daycares are run by Somalis. Many without physical addresses.

    Uh-oh.

    (more…)

  • Massive Infusion of Rural Healthcare Funds will be a Magnet for Waste and Fraud

    Posted on

    by

    sherlockj

    Massive Infusion of Rural Healthcare Funds will be a Magnet for Waste and Fraud

    by James C. Sherlock

    The Trump administration has announced that Virginia will receive $189,544,888 for 2026 alone to improve rural healthcare. That figure is based on an application made by the Youngkin Administration that specified how it would be spent.    

    That is just a down payment. The Rural Health Transformation Program’s $50 billion in funds will be allocated to approved states over five years, with $10 billion available each year from 2026 through 2030.

    While the program includes federal-level guardrails, nearly a billion dollars over five years represents a significant investment in rural healthcare in this state. The administration and the General Assembly will be lobbied vigorously to direct the funds.  

    The General Assembly would be wise to ensure that the Inspector General and JLARC closely monitor:

    • Where the funds are allocated,
    • How they are spent, and
    • The prospects for long-term returns worthy of the short-term investments.    

    One undeniable challenge will be monitoring new and existing nonprofits that are already seeking shares of that funding, regardless of the state planning that has already occurred. Their costs can primarily be overhead in programs like this.  

    In a one-party state with no limits on campaign contributions, the blogs and TV networks, given the withered state of our print media, will need to pay particularly close attention to those same matters.

  • America’s Greatest of All Time

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Chap Petersen

    A historical reenactor dressed as George Washington holds a silver trophy, dressed in 18th-century attire, while a blurred audience is visible in the background.
    Image credit: Grok

    In a few days, our country will enter its 250th year. Some of us are old enough to remember the “Bicentennial” of 1976, which was the celebration of a younger, less introspective, nation.

    But America is no less greater. Indeed, the achievements of our Founding Fathers grow more noteworthy with time as our nation becomes less Euro-centric and more global in its constituency and its outlook.

    With that in mind, here are my list of Great Americans from colonial times to 1876 —

    1. George Washington. The indispensable man. The  general who held a ragtag army together for 8 years to eventually defeat the British (yes, with French help). To this day, America is the only English colony to win its freedom by force of arms and not by royal consent. The first President who established that the USA would be a democracy without a hereditary chief executive. Indeed, he willingly gave up his power — a truly novel idea at the time. And unlike others, he did not feel the need to imprison or execute his opponents.
    1. Abraham Lincoln. The founder of modern America. First, in reaction to secession, he decided that the Union was actually worth fighting for. Second, his decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation spelled the end of slavery. Third, he had a vision to reunite the nation, which (eventually) succeeded. In addition to the obvious, his administration also initiated the transcontinental railroad and the land grant university system. If Washington created the USA, then Lincoln put it on the road to become a superpower.
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  • There Are Real Scholars at UVA.

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    And then there are guys like this…

    But that’s nothing. Wait until you see what this guy is teaching!…

    (more…)

  • Slight Decline in Law Enforcement Staffing in 2024

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Line graph showing the number of law enforcement employees in Virginia from 2018 to 2024, with separate lines for officers, civilians, and total employees.

    The number of law enforcement employees declined slightly (1.2 percent) in 2024 compared to the year before, according to Virginia State Police Crime in Virginia data. The number of both civilians and officers was almost identical to that in 2022 when homicides were roughly 25 percent higher. If the number of law-enforcement personnel is a critical variable for explaining the violent crime rate, it’s not evident from these numbers.

    Arguably, law-enforcement morale and policing tactics are more important than raw numbers. Unfortunately, the Crime in Virginia contain no data reflecting upon morale. Turnover and early retirement in police officer ranks might be useful indicators of morale, but those numbers are not captured in the crime reports. — JAB

  • 3,257 Police Officers Assaulted in 2024

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Line graph showing the number of assaults, injuries, and fatalities of Virginia police officers from 2018 to 2024. The graph includes data points for officers assaulted (blue), officers injured (orange), and officers killed (black) with an upward trend in assaults and injuries over the years.

    Even as homicides and violent crimes declined in 2024, according to the Virginia State Police Crime in Virginia 2024 report, the number of assaults on Virginia police officers continued at roughly the same rate as in the previous two years. The 727 injuries to officers did represent a 10-percent decline from 2023, however. One police officer was killed in the line of duty; 679 injuries were classified as “minor.”

    It’s not clear if the data reflect a real increase in the number of assaults on police officers or a statistical artifact. States the report: “A new method of data aggregation reflects a higher number than reported in previous years.” The report does not say what the number would have been under the old methodology.

    — JAB

  • Jeanine’s Memes

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    A humorous cartoon featuring two men in 18th-century attire sitting at a table, engaged in a conversation about chess enthusiasts in a hotel lobby, with speech bubbles expressing their thoughts on boasting.

    See more memes at 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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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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