Bacon's Rebellion

  • Where Goes the Virginia GOP in a Post-Trump Presidency?

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Kirk Cox. (Photo credit: Roanoke Times.)

    by James A. Bacon

    In the aftermath of the mob action at the U.S. Capitol two days ago, establishment Republicans have decisively condemned not only the rioters but President Trump for firing them up with assertions that the 2020 election was stolen. As best I can tell, hard-core Trump supporters seem unrepentant. They still think the election was stolen, they’re more convinced than ever that the system has failed them, and they feel no regrets for taking their protest into the halls of Congress.

    Although divisions in the Republican Party start at the top, the fissures extend deep into every state. Here in Virginia, the contrast between establishment figure Del. Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Beach, a former Speaker of the House, and Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, a die-hard Trump supporter, could not be more stark. Cox condemned the Capitol riot in no uncertain terms. Chase, who attended the rally in Washington, defended the protesters. Indeed, she portrayed them as the victims, highlighting in a tweet the fact that Capitol Police shot and killed Ashli Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran from California who was among a group of people forcing entry through a door.

    I don’t know how this division heals. Unless it does, I see no way for Republicans to create an effective counterweight to the Democrats in Virginia. Democratic ascendancy in Richmond seems assured for the foreseeable future.

    Can Republicans achieve a rapprochement between the two wings of the party? Is such a rapprochement even desirable? (more…)

  • Northam’s Pretty Good Presser

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    Sitting down?

    Here’s the attaboy to Gov. Ralph Northam that I meant to write for Thursday, until anarchy broke out in the U.S. Capitol.

    Ever since they began in March, some of us have come to dread Northam’s COVID press conferences. The governor’s tone drips with condescension, he seems to blame people for getting sick and many of his emergency orders have been larded with restrictions that aren’t remotely grounded in science, but seem instead designed only to punish Virginians and make life miserable. No sitting on the beach comes to mind.

    So, naturally, I turned on his Wednesday presser with trepidation, wondering what fresh hell awaited us. After all, Virginia’s infection rates are up sharply and even though we have thousands of empty hospital beds, no hospitals in the commonwealth are reporting a shortage of PPE and ICUs still have plenty of capacity, we seemed ripe for some kind of ugly California-style measures.

    The urge to do something even if they know it won’t work, seems to be strong in most governors.

    I was stunned and pleasantly surprised that this once the governor didn’t follow the lead of idiots like Gavin Newsom and Andrew Cuomo. Neither did Northam berate Virginians who are doing their best to stay healthy during a pandemic.

    Instead, he spread hope. (more…)

  • Big Changes Coming to Bacon’s Rebellion

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    James A. Bacon

    Dear Readers,

    There has been considerable activity behind the scenes here at Bacon’s Rebellion as we work on elevating the blog to the next level. We see a tremendous market opportunity as newspaper newsrooms continue to shrink, skewing consistently leftward in their editorial coverage as they do so. We believe that there is a large audience for a publication with a moderately conservative center of gravity that delivers Virginia news and commentary while maintaining a diversity of perspectives and a civil exchange of views. And we believe that Bacon’s Rebellion is the logical candidate to fill that niche.

    As believers in free-market capitalism, we are not seeking foundation grants to propel us forward. And we hate to rely upon your charity (although we will ask for your help). Instead, for the foreseeable future, we will generate revenue from advertising. That means you soon will be seeing ads on the blog for the first time. I promise that they will not be intrusive. I can’t predict exactly when the ads will first appear, but the day is not far off. So, don’t be shocked.

    Our next initiative will be to publish a newsletter. Initially, as we get our bearings, we will publish only two or three times a week, but eventually we hope to blast it out daily. Besides highlighting blog posts on Bacon’s Rebellion, we plan to aggregate a wealth of content you can’t access by subscribing to VA News, The Virginia Mercury. Virginia Business or The Virginia Star. This, too, will be supported by advertising. (more…)

  • Is It Time To Dust Off the Nixon – Ford Playbook?

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    djrippert

    Image by heblo from Pixabay

    By DJ Rippert

    Mea Culpa. I’ve long thought that’s it’s easier to get forgiveness than permission  So I’m going to join Jim Bacon and break the cardinal rule of Bacon’s Rebellion … sticking to topics limited to matters of Virginia public policy. Just this once.

    Trump Gotta Go. By all accounts President Donald Trump is cocooned in the White House “mentally unreachable” to his staff and Vice President Pence. This would be unacceptable for two days let alone two weeks. America has many enemies and a mentally crippled president invites disaster. Beyond that, America has vast military might and a mentally crippled president could be tempted to use that might in ways that would be disastrous. Trump gotta go. (more…)

  • Northam Appoints Leaders to Guide Public School Overhaul

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    Sen. Jennifer Boysko, new co-chair of The Culturally Relevant and Inclusive Education Practices Advisory Committee

    by James A. Bacon

    Governor Ralph Northam has announced his appointees to an advisory committee tasked with making recommendations about adopting “culturally relevant and inclusive education practices” in Virginia’s public schools.

    The committee will be led by three co-chairs: Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Herndon, who introduced legislation to set up the committee; Francisco Durán, Arlington County school superintendent; and Andrew Daire, dean of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Education.

    Francisco Durán, Arlington school superintendent and committee co-chair

    “Inclusive and culturally relevant learning environments are vital to creating equitable pathways to success for all Virginians,” Northam said in a press release announcing the appointments. (See the full list here.) “The work of this committee will advance our ongoing efforts to tell the complete and accurate story of Virginia’s complex past, improve our history standards, and give educators opportunities to engage in important conversations and lessons with their students.”

    “When we teach an honest narrative of our past, students better understand their place in history and are equipped to work toward a better society,” said Secretary of Education Atif Qarni. “This committee will build on the work of the Commission on African American History Education to ensure the content taught in Virginia classrooms is accurate and inclusive of perspectives which have been historically marginalized.” (more…)

  • Hurrah — Teachers Near the Top of the Vaccination List

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    Administering the vaccine at the Richmond City Health Department. Credit: Richmond Times-Dispatch

    by James A. Bacon

    The Virginia Department of Health has released its priorities for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine in the next phase of the vaccination rollout. The top priorities are exactly who you’d expect — front-line essential workers and people over 75. It is reassuring to see that child-care and K-12 teachers and staff are high on the list.

    In the initial phase, vaccines are being distributed to hospitals and nursing homes, either to people most likely to be exposed to the COVID-19 virus or to be at high risk of dying from it.

    Next come the frontline essential workers. Police, fire and hazmat workers top the list. Then come corrections and homeless-shelter workers who work in settings where prisoners and homeless, packed into confined quarters, are at high risk of transmitting the virus.

    Then comes the category of “child-care, K-12 teachers and staff.” One might ask why the commonwealth is prioritizing school teachers. After all, “the science” is clear that K-12 schools are low-risk settings for getting the virus. I’ll tell you why: Unlike the other occupations, teachers appear to be uniquely reluctant to return to their normal place of work. Their fears — rational or irrational — must be addressed. (more…)

  • Virginia Republican Congressmen Support Coup Attempt

    Posted on

    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Photo credit: The Sun

    By Dick Hall-Sizemore

    After taking an oath on Sunday to support and defend the Constitution, four Republican members of the House of Representatives from Virginia supported an attempt to disregard the votes of about 5 million citizens in a vain effort to keep Donald Trump in office.

    These Congressmen were Morgan Griffith (9th District), Ben Cline (6th District), Robert Good (5th District), and Rob Wittman (1st District).

    The supporters of this attempt cited vague claims about election fraud and concerns about the integrity of the electoral system. Trump continued to stoke these baseless claims in the face of statements by his top Homeland Security official on the integrity of the election system and his Attorney General that there is no evidence of widespread fraud that would change the results of the election. He fired them both after they made such statements. He continued to air such claims despite being ruled against by numerous judges, many nominated by him. (more…)

  • The U.S. As Banana Republic

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    Chaos at the Capitol Building. Credit: Fox News

    I’m breaking a cardinal rule of Bacon’s Rebellion that restricts commentary to Virginia public policy. The events occurring at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., right now are so unprecedented and so indicative of the political polarization in this country that I’m opening up this post to general commentary. — JAB

  • Anyone Think They Understand Hospital Pricing?

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    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock

    Having written yesterday about the newly appeals-court-certified HHS rules on hospital price transparency, I will use this opportunity to provide some real examples of the gargantuan Rubik’s cube that is hospital pricing.

    I will be talking about hospital prices only, not the much lower prices of non-hospital alternatives including  ambulatory surgical centers and office-based practices for some hospital procedures.   

    These examples are meant to give the reader an understanding of the enormous differences in hospital payments for identical procedures. Don’t try to make more of them than that. I won’t entertain detailed questions on individual charges because I simply don’t have the information to provide those answers.

    I will use the term diagnostic-related groups (DRGs). A DRG is how government insurers and many health insurance companies bundle hospitalization costs to determine how much to pay for your hospital stay. 

    So, rather than pay the hospital for each specific service and consumable it provides, these insurers pay a predetermined (government) or negotiated (private insurers and individuals) amount based on the DRG under which they were billed. They then entertain charges for services and consumables that were provided but were not included in the standard bundle.  (more…)

  • Noble Goal, Constitutional Blunder

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Emilio Jaksetic

    Del. Tony O. Wilt, R-Harrisonburg, is sponsoring House Joint Resolution 513 to amend the Virginia Constitution to limit the duration of the governor’s executive orders during a state of emergency. The bill is written in a way that needlessly accepts the notion that the governor has broad, sweeping power beyond what the office is actually granted under the Constitution.

    How can a proposed limitation of the duration of the Governor’s executive orders result in a grant of broad, sweeping powers? The answer is found by analyzing HJ Res. 513 in the context of other provisions of the Virginia Constitution.

    The bill fails to take into consideration the following pertinent constitutional provisions: (more…)

  • Old News: Transgenders and Bathrooms. New News: Taxpayer-Funded Gender Reassignment Surgery

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Del. Danica Roem, D-Manassas, Virginia’s first transgender legislator.

    by James A. Bacon

    I’m surprised this hasn’t caused an uproar yet: In his newly revised budget, Governor Ralph Northam wants to guarantee that transgender enrollees in Virginia’s expanded Medicaid program have access to “gender-affirming” care.

    “This is an important equity issue and a critical part of making our commonwealth welcoming and inclusive of all,” Northam spokesperson Alena Yarmonksy told The Virginia Mercury.

    The Mercury cites an estimate that 34,500 transgender people live in Virginia, of whom 2,000 are on Medicaid. Medical treatments can range from counseling to hormonal therapy and gender reassignment surgeries. If the General Assembly adopts Northam’s budget language, Virginia would become the 19th state to explicitly state that Medicaid covers transgender treatments. (more…)

  • Whither the Statues?

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Ryan K. Smith

    by James A. Bacon

    Now that most Confederate statues have been removed from prominent public places, where will they go? They’re too big to fit into museums without expensive retrofitting, and not many museum boards are likely to welcome the controversy of housing them anyway. A commonly suggested alternative is to move the memorials to cemeteries.

    But apparently even that idea will engender controversy. In a recent op-ed in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Ryan K. Smith, a Virginia Commonwealth University history professor, calls the introduction of statues into cemeteries “a political statement.” He concludes: “However much dignity we might wish for the individual dead, we cannot lend the sanctity of their cemeteries for a new Lost Cause.”

    It appears that some people can’t declare victory and call it a day. Not content to remove the statues from prominent views, they effectively want to extirpate them entirely from the public sphere. (more…)

  • SCC: “Independence, Honesty, Commitment to Law”

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    FERC Commissioner Mark Christie of Virginia. Virginia’s loss, the nation’s gain.

    On Monday, Mark Christie took the oath of office to become a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and simultaneously vacated his seat on the Virginia State Corporation Commission. He did it sitting in one of the SCC courtrooms downtown.  The following is an excerpt from remarks (in full here) he made from the bench before U.S. Fourth Circuit Court Judge Steve Agee administered the oath to join FERC.

    The reason I have so enjoyed this Commission, and am so sad to leave, is our culture. The culture of the SCC consists of the following three primary elements: (more…)

  • About-Face by Virginia Beach School Chief

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Aaron Spence

    by Kerry Dougherty

    Aaron Spence, superintendent of Virginia Beach Public Schools, has seen the light.

    Finally.

    After months of kowtowing to the local teachers’ union — er education association — which is doing its best to keep classrooms closed, he belatedly joined the common sense get-the-kids-back-in-class crowd.

    Better late than never.

    Spence was persuaded, it seems, by medical experts who told him what many have known since last spring: That youngsters are not being infected by COVID-19 at significant rates, they tend to have very mild symptoms if they do test positive, and they’re terrible vectors of COVID-19. In other words, they don’t spread the virus. (more…)

  • Important Changes in Healthcare Billing and Price Transparency

    Posted on

    by

    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock

    A lot happened right before the New Year to change the rules for healthcare billing and pricing.

    Balance Billing

    In one of the events, new federal law buried in the end of year, 5,600-page $900 billion COVID-19 federal relief legislation bans balance billing to patients.

    “Surprise” billing for the balance due after an insurance company pays its contracted providers occurs when patients are presented with unexpected bills from out-of-network providers who practice in in-network hospitals.

    ER physicians in particular have been very active in forming practices that contract with hospitals, effectively reducing the supply of ER physicians available to work as hospital employees. (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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