Bacon's Rebellion

  • More Falsehoods and Malarkey from Clean Virginia

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    Capitalist Michael Bills of Clean Virginia: “Dividends are Bad”

    By Steve Haner

    The big money behind the Clean Virginia activist group was all earned by a Charlottesville hedge fund manager through the great American system of capitalism. That didn’t stop his organization from a recent attack that could have come from Communist Party USA. This one would have made Bernie Sanders blush.

    Dominion Energy is paying out dividends in the middle of a pandemic! Shocking.

    “Dominion Energy is transferring nearly $3 billion dollars from Virginia families and small businesses to Wall Street shareholders at a time when people are still struggling to stay in their homes and keep the lights on. This is economic injustice at its starkest,” said Clean Virginia Executive Director Brennan Gilmore.”  See this news release.

    I know I pick on Clean Virginia all the time. Somebody has to call it out. This cannot simply be stupidity. They have to know these statements are nuts and they hurt their own cause.

    “The record payouts will arrive on the heels of a new Virginia budget that allows Dominion Energy to pocket over half a billion dollars of customer overcharges while forcing Virginia customers to pay for all outstanding debt that is owed to the monopoly…”

    “A new Virginia budget, expected to go into effect next week, compels no refunds of the $502.7 million Dominion overcharged customers since 2017 and puts the financial burden of the COVID-19 crisis and economic fallout on the shoulders of Dominion’s captive Virginian customers, allowing shareholders to pocket excess profits…”

    Whatever excess profits Dominion Energy Virginia has earned in the 2017-2020 period are still hanging out there, accounted for somehow on the utility’s books. It is a lie to say they have now been pocketed by shareholders in the 2020 dividend payout. It is also a lie to say the new budget bill allowed that to happen. (more…)

  • UVa’s New Seal

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Circulating by email among University of Virginia alumni….

  • COVID Is Still News

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    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    By Dick Hall-Sizemore

    I seem to recall that contributors and comments on this blog often said that “come November 4, COVID will no longer be a big news item.” The implication, of course, was that the main national news organizations were hyping the COVID issue in order to damage the Trump administration.

    Well, it is now November 9, almost one week after the election and Biden has been declared the winner. Let’s check on how COVID is being covered.

    Washington Post

    • Print edition–lead story:  Biden Moves Fast on Virus and Economy.  Additional story:  Latest COVID surge is breaking records
    • website, 5:00 a.m. today — President-elect Biden announces coronavirus task force made up of physicians and health experts

    New York Times 

    • Front page, print edition: “Terrifying” Surge Awaits a New Administration, sub-head: U.S. Virus Cases Pass 10 Million as Colder Weather Looms

    Richmond Times-Dispatch (more…)

  • Would a Mobile Crisis Team Have Saved Marcus-David Peters?

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Image of Marcus-David Peters projected onto the Lee Monument.

    by James A. Bacon

    Marcus-David Peters, fatally shot in 2018 by a Richmond police officer while in the midst of a mental health crisis, has become an icon for criminal justice reform in Virginia. Protesters occupying the area around the Lee statue on Monument Avenue erected a sign (since removed) designating Lee Circle as Marcus-David Peters Circle. Lawmakers named the “Marcus-David Alert” bill after him, requiring all police departments by 2026 to dispatch mental health professionals to emergency situations involving people in mental distress.

    The story of how Peters, an unarmed black man, met his demise is a tragic one, and tales like it are all too common. Many police-civilian encounters ending in violence involve people suffering from mental breakdowns. It makes intuitive sense to use trained mental-health professionals to talk them down from the ledge, so to speak, rather than relying on police officers trained primarily in the use of force.

    But a close look at how the Peters tragedy unfolded raises questions. Given the rapidity with which events unfolded, would a “mobile crisis team” have made a difference? Would putting mental health professionals into the front line of law enforcement have put their lives in danger? (more…)

  • Bacon Bits: This and That

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    Casinos credit positive for Virginia cities. Now that voters in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Danville and Bristol have approved casino gambling, Moody’s, the bond rating service, has issued a report concluding that the measures are “credit positive” for the four cities. Bristol expects a proposed casino development will create recurring revenues representing more than 25% of fiscal 2019 general fund revenues. Danville’s proposed casino would increase general fund revenues by nearly 29%. Norfolk’s project would boost general fund tax revenues by 4%, and Portsmouth’s by 7%.  Moody’s did not examine the potential negative and unmeasurable loss of tax revenue as casinos suck up dollars spent on other forms of local entertainment.

    Casinos credit negative for problem gamblers. “Gambling can be fun,” acknowledges Carolyn Hawley, president of the Virginia Council on Problem Gambling. “However, it can be harmful to some people.” Virginia has reached a “critical tipping point” with gambling, and education, prevention and treatment programs are a priority. “More gamblers are seeking  us out with greater needs. We must be able to provide treatment, but we currently don’t have the resources,” Hawley said. However, in passing enabling legislation, the General Assembly “did the right thing” by providing some funding for a Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund. According to Moody’s, gaming taxes will be held in a Gaming Proceeds Fund, of which 0.8% would go to the gambling treatment fund.

    $1 Million to investigate racism at VMI. Governor Ralph Northam is asking the General Assembly to approve $1 million to fund an independent investigation of alleged racism at the Virginia Military Institute. A Washington Post article described black cadets and alumni facing “relentless racism,” and Northam, a VMI graduate, announced an investigation into the military academy’s culture, policies, practices, and equity in disciplinary procedures. (more…)

  • Update on Virginia K-12 School Outbreaks

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Carol J. Bova

    As the COVID-19 epidemic regains momentum this fall, the virus has crept into a few public schools in Virginia. Seven of ten outbreaks in progress are in the Southwest Region where there is significant current and rising community spread. The other three in the Central and Eastern regions where several September school outbreaks have now ended.

    The  Virginia Department of Health (VDH) Outbreaks report shows 43 outbreaks in public K-12 schools, with 227 cases, as of Nov. 6. 

    The K-12 School Dashboard lists 35 as of October 30th, with October 23 as the most recent date VDH was notified. The total case number for those 35 isn’t known because cases in the two-to-four range are suppressed, showing an asterisk instead. Unfortunately, suppressing those small numbers makes it impossible to see exactly how many cases are involved with the eight new outbreaks and how the number might have increased or decreased since the previous report.

    For what the data is worth, here is the list of schools with outbreaks in today’s report, as of October 30th, showing whether they are “in progress,” “closed,” or “pending closure” in the official system.

    (more…)

  • Virginia’s Worst Public Schools and Districts for Black Children

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    by

    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock

    I have competed a study of Virginia’s worst-performing schools in the education of black children.  The results presented in this essay represent a scandal of the first order and demand explanations, both from the school boards and the Virginia Department of Education.

    In my next post I will review two books by prominent black academics with polar opposite views on what to do about it. But this is about the abject failure of many of Virginia’s schools to educate black students.

    (more…)

  • Herring Is Moonlighting in Election-Law Litigation

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Mark Herring: busy man or busybody?

    by Emilio Jaksetic

    This year Attorney General Mark Herring has joined legal filings  in court cases involving election law disputes in six other states. This is strange because legal disputes about the election laws of other states: (1) are not within his jurisdiction or authority, (2) have no legal effect on Virginia or its elections; and (3) set no precedents that can bind or limit a Virginia court interpreting Virginia law.

    Under the U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 4, “[t]he Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof ….”  And, the election laws pertaining to state and local elections fall under the relevant provisions of each state’s constitution and statutory laws. So, disputes over the election laws of other states have no bearing on Virginia’s election laws. Furthermore, nothing in the Virginia Constitution or the Virginia Code gives Herring any duty or responsibility for getting involved in legal disputes about the election laws of other states.

    Nevertheless, press releases from the Office of the Attorney General show that he has joined in the filing of amicus (“friend of the court”) briefs in lawsuits concerning the election laws of the following states: (more…)

  • Sorry, Abigail, the Culture Wars Are Just Warming Up

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Abigail Spanberger: despite winning, not a happy camper.

    by James A. Bacon

    Having narrowly survived a challenge from Republican Nick Freitas, Virginia’s 7th district congresswoman, Abigail Spanberger, had some sharp words for her Democratic Party colleagues in a conference call yesterday. Reports Politico:

    [Spanberger] grew angry as she warned her party against some of the rhetoric she argued hurt moderate Democrats like herself, saying the election results were a “failure.”

    “No one should say ‘defund the police’ ever again,” Spanberger said on the call, according to two sources. “Nobody should be talking about socialism.”

    Spanberger also warned that if Democrats kept up their tactics in 2022: “We will get f—— torn apart.”

    Spanberger has every reason to be concerned. She has narrowly won twice now in a congressional district that had been gerrymandered to vote GOP, and Republicans will continue to field candidates against her. She must stake out the middle ground politically. While Joe Biden might well succeed in ousting the polarizing Donald Trump from the presidency — the outcome is still too close to fall — I see little prospect of Democrats taming their rhetoric, either nationally or here in Virginia. (more…)

  • Virginia Rocks

    Posted on

    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Old Rag Mountain

    By Dick Hall-Sizemore

    It is time to take a break and talk about something entirely different related to Virginia — how the current physical structure of the Commonwealth in the 21st century came to be.

    I have been taking an introductory geology course this fall from J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College. (Virtual, of course.)  I became fascinated with geology many years ago and determined to take a course when I retired and had the time. My class project was a short paper and presentation on the geology of Shenandoah National Park.

    So, to give your mind some relief from constantly checking your computer for any updates on the ongoing ballot counting in other states, here are some of the things I have learned about our mountains: (more…)

  • 14,000 Overlooked Ballots Discovered on Henrico Flash Drive — Yes, It Was an Innocent Error

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    The conservative blogosphere is ablaze with anecdotes and accusations of Democratic Party voter fraud. I’ll leave it to others to determine if there is any substance to the charges in in locales ranging from Philadelphia to Nevada. But there is one case very close to home — in my home jurisdiction of Henrico County — that bears comment.

    Last night, Republic Nick Freitas held a slender lead — 1,350 votes — over incumbent Democrat Abigail Spanberger in the 7th congressional district race. Then, suddenly, the election scoreboard showed that she had leaped ahead with a 5,134-vote lead. The explanation, according to the Virginia Public Access Project: Election officials discovered 14,616 votes that had been overlooked on election night.

    “Officials overlooked the ballots, which were saved on a memory stick mislabeled as ‘provisional ballots,’” VPAP tweeted. This batch of ballots broke 64.0% for Spanberger and 34.8% for Freitas.

    The conservative blog Just The News highlighted the sudden shift this morning in a headline: “Virginia Democrat Spanberger surges ahead after ‘overlooked’ ballots found on flash drive: Report.” (more…)

  • A COVID Update Before the Winter Surge

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Carol J. Bova

    As the election furor dies down, interest will turn to the expected winter surge in COVID-19 cases. Before we get caught up in the onslaught of dire predictions in the news and resultant handwringing over national and worldwide numbers, let’s look at Virginia’s numbers.

    (more…)

  • Anti-Bias Training… or Government-Mandated Indoctrination?

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    In September President Trump issued an executive order banning bias and diversity training in the federal government that inculcates divisive concepts such as the idea that some people, by virtue of their race or sex, are inherently racist, sexist or oppressive.

    Three days ago, Virginia’s attorney general, Mark Herring, joined a coalition of attorneys general in urging the president to rescind the order on the grounds that it could be “misconstrued” to roll back implicit bias training for federal contractors and federal grantees.

    “Government should expand and increase its commitment to training centered on understanding and combating racial injustice,” said Herring in a press release. “Now is the time for greater communication and support for diversity, equity and inclusion, not less.”

    Looking ahead the 2021 General Assembly session, Herring says Virginia police should undergo training to eliminate “implicit bias” and “racial bias,” among other topics meant to further racial justice. Meanwhile, the Virginia Department of Education and local school boards across the state are implementing “implicit bias” seminars and training sessions for teachers, administrators and even students. (more…)

  • Fairfax School Board Should Focus on Schools, Not Environmental Policy

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Fairfax County Environmental, er, School Board

    by Emilio Jaksetic

    Not content with running the county’s public school system, the Fairfax County School Board now is involved with developing strategies and recommendations for county environmental policy. The results can be seen in the Final Report of the Oct. 1, 2020, Fairfax County Joint Environmental Task Force (JET).

    In April 2019, the JET was established “to identify areas of collaboration between Fairfax County Government and [Fairfax County Public Schools] to further county efforts in energy efficiency and environmental sustainability, developing implementation strategies. and making recommendations to the [Board of Supervisors and School Board].” During the period April 2019-October 2020, five members of the board served as members of JET’s Executive Committee.

    The JET was tasked to “provide a forum for informing, advising, collaborating and addressing Countywide issues and aligning institutional policies and practices pertaining to climate change and environmental sustainability through the lens of One Fairfax and to appointing bodies.” (more…)

  • Initial Observations on the Virginia Election Results

    Posted on

    by

    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock

    Nobody asked, me, but I offer my Wednesday morning initial assessment of the elections in Virginia. In no particular order, here they are.

    Until there is a Republican Party of Virginia, not the current Republican Party of me, the party candidates will remain eclectic to the point of statewide incoherence. Not sure who has the juice to pull that together.

    It looks at this point like Abigail Spanberger lost to Nick Freitas by about 3,000 votes with 100% counted. I suspect there will be a recount. The rest of the House races were pretty one-sided. Redistricting by the new commission established by the new constitutional amendment will be crucial.

    Northern Virginia is the bedroom of the federal government. It has been a long time since there were a significant number of Republicans in the career bureaucracy. Dispersing the offices of those bureaucrats around the country, generically a good idea, may not help the Republicans in swing states.

    One question with a potential huge impact on Virginia legislation: Will the Virginia Supreme court take cases that result in an assertive role for that court in assessing new laws for constitutionality?

    (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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