Bacon's Rebellion

  • Binnie Peay, Then Jim Ryan

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Binny Peay (left), Jim Ryan (right)

    by Gordon C. Morse

    Jim Ryan resigned as president of the University of Virginia today and there goes a man of integrity who followed his own lights and acted upon his own beliefs. But then the political winds shifted, outside forces cranked up the pressure and it finally got to be too much.

    Wait, this sounds familiar.

    Oh, yeah, we got the same thing in October, 2020, when retired Army Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III stepped down as superintendent of Virginia Military Institute.

    Here was another man of incontrovertible integrity who followed his own lights and acted upon his own beliefs. But then the political winds shifted, outside forces cranked up the pressure and it finally got to be too much.

    Peay’s resignation followed unprecedented intervention coming out of Richmond and orchestrated by then-Governor Ralph Northam and the progressive powers that had ascended in the Virginia General Assembly.

    This time we have Ryan’s resignation in the wake of unprecedented intervention coming out of Washington, D.C. and orchestrated by President Donald Trump and the conservative powers amassed in the U.S. Justice Department.

    It may be time to do some rethinking about how best to govern Virginia’s public colleges and universities.

    (more…)

  • Sabato for UVA President. The Board Should Resign.

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Paul Goldman

    When I served on the State Council of Higher Education, academic freedom was a core educational value. Apparently no longer. We learned today the University of Virginia Board of Visitors caved in into President Trump. They him force out UVA President Ryan because the federal government bureaucrats didn’t like what UVA was doing. 

    When I served on the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) board, I was the lone voice standing up for academic freedom against bullying state government. At least I understood why the others were against me. They feared taking on state officials. 

    Unfortunately, I was naïve. I didn’t realize academic freedom had a financial price in Virginia’s higher education system.

    Money talked, not academic freedom. 

    It’s OK, apparently, to the lecture poor people and the less fortunate about how they should stand up for their rights at all costs.

    (more…)

  • Ryan Resigns

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    James A. Bacon

    Jim Ryan

    by James A. Bacon

    Under pressure from the Department of Justice, University of Virginia President Jim Ryan has submitted his resignation to resolve a DOJ investigation into the University’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, reports the New York Times. The Board has accepted Ryan’s resignation.

    In a letter to Rector Robert Hardie, Ryan said that he had planned to step down at the end of the next academic year but “given the circumstances and today’s conversations,” he had decided with “great sadness” to tender his resignation, according to a source whom the Times said was briefed on the contents of the letter.

    On March 7 the Board ordered Ryan to dissolve its Diversity, Equity & Inclusion programs and end all racial preferences. Due to frustratingly slow compliance, the Board followed up by tightening oversight over his efforts. On April 28 the Civil Rights division sent a letter demanding evidence that the University had complied with the March resolution. Governor Glenn Youngkin read the Board the riot act, demanding action on DEI, and Democratic Party legislators jumped into the picture by rejecting Youngkin’s nomination of board member Ken Cuccinelli, an act that quickly grew into a constitutional controversy as the legislators and the governor disagreed over whether they were empowered to do so.

    Yesterday the Times reported that the DOJ officials had demanded Ryan’s resignation based on conversations with three anonymous sources who had been “briefed on the back-and-forth between the University and the Justice Department” but did not want to be identified discussing “negotiations that were supposed to remain private.” In retrospect, it is clear that the negotiations centered on the terms and conditions of Ryan’s departure.

    It was unclear when Ryan will leave, the Times reported. In the letter, he said the resignation would be effective “no later than August 15, 2025.”

    (Read more to see updates.)

    (more…)

  • Gerber Vindicated

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    James A. Bacon

    Scott Douglas Gerber, a current Virginia resident and occasional contributor to Bacon’s Rebellion, reached a settlement with Ohio Northern University that includes reinstatement to his job and complete vindication to his reputation.

    ONU terminated his employment as a tenured law school professor after he objected to the University’s race-based hiring practices. ONU sent campus security and armed police officers into his classroom to forcibly remove him, according to America First Legal, which represented him in his litigation.

    Aside from allowing him to retire at his “rightful faculty rank” with all benefits intact, ONU formally acknowledged that Gerber was never a risk to anyone in the ONU community, never acted with moral turpitude, and provided “outstanding teaching, scholarship, and service” throughout his tenure.

    Under the terms of the settlement, according to the Bluffton Icon, Gerber submitted his retirement letter ending his employment. Both sides agreed not to disparage one another, and Gerber agreed not to publish a memoir entitled, “Cancelled.”

    Gerber, a graduate of the University of Virginia Law School, recently criticized his alma mater for its DEI policies, which we republished here.

    You know what would be cool — if the UVA School of Law hired Gerber. You know… to demonstrate how committed it is to intellectual diversity.

  • Make Virginia Elections About Virginia, Not Trump

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    No Kings protest in Petersburg. Image credit: USA Today

    by Derrick Max

    Senator Tim Kaine recently sent out a fundraising email where he quoted the Washington Post that the Virginia “elections are seen as a referendum on the Trump administration.” This suggests that voters should cast their ballots based on how they feel about our current President, rather than the pressing issues facing our Commonwealth today. This kind of rhetoric may play well with partisan crowds and national talking heads, and it may attract donors, but it does a disservice to Virginia voters who deserve a debate focused on real leadership on state issues, not recycled grievances about the President’s agenda.

    With the primary elections behind us, it should be clear: Donald Trump was not on the ballot, and he will not be on the ballot in November. What is going to be on the ballot is the direction of our Commonwealth — critical decisions about Virginia’s economy, energy availability, education and schools, taxes, public safety, infrastructure, and the role of government in our daily lives.

    These are not abstract questions; they are concrete policy choices that will affect every Virginian regardless of party affiliation. And, as the President drives more decisions and control down to the states – state policy should be the primary concern of Virginia voters now more than ever.

    (more…)

  • Iran and Trump Derangement Syndrome

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    James A. Bacon

    Mark Warner, once a moderate Democrat, has become a partisan hack.

    by Kerry Dougherty

    It’s unseemly, not to mention unpatriotic.

    I’m talking about the Democrats and assorted lefties in the media who this week were gleefully calling the American B-2 bombing of key Iranian nuclear sites a failure. Their premature celebrations were based on a leaked initial damage assessment that was labeled “low confidence.”

    By trumpeting this slice of misinformation they were essentially cheering for Iran.

    A country that wants us all dead.

    How much must they hate Donald Trump to be siding with the Islamist extremists running Iran?

    Yet there they were, hoping that the chief exporter of terrorism in the world was able to hold onto it’s enriched uranium so it could quickly build bombs to drop on Israel and ultimately the U.S.

    All to make Donald Trump look bad.

    These people are sick. Reopen the asylums.

    We’ve come to expect this sort of nasty schadenfreude from the likes of CNN, MSNBC, and assorted nasties in Congress.

    Oh look. Virginia Sen. Mark Warner initially found reports of minimal damage at Fordow “interesting.” Continue reading.

  • This Week Showed Again Wind and Solar Don’t Beat the Heat

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    PJM generation mix at noon Thursday. Hydrocarbon fuels produced 67% and nuclear about 23%.

    By Steve Haner

    Once again, a spell of hot weather has proven that our economy and comfort depend on hydrocarbon fuels. As you can see from these simple pie graphs from the PJM regional energy market, two-thirds of the electricity sustaining Virginia on a recent hot afternoon was produced by natural gas, oil and coal.   

    One graph shows wind and solar provided a pittance of power, a nominal, merely symbolic amount.  Wind energy is notorious for fading during hot spells.  And the disappearance of solar from the grid as the sun sets can produce incredible spot prices for additional megawatts of electricity that then become needed.  The marginal price in Virginia exceeded $3,000 within the PJM trading network earlier this week.  

    That is $3 per kilowatt hour, not the 15 cents per kilowatt hour most Virginians usually pay for the power itself. Yes, sometimes solar power is cheap.  Then it dies in the dark and the cost to replace it will crush our economy and wallets.  Gas, coal and nuclear power run our world and cool our houses, and they don’t go down at sunset or when the wind dies.   

    The PJM Interconnection, which includes Virginia among its 13-state operations region. apparently functioned well in the hot spell. It was not any hotter than we see most summers, but PJM was hitting records.  There were times on the public metering of PJM when it was clear the reserve margins were getting tight.  An unexpected disruption – a failed power plant or transmission line – could have triggered brownouts or worse.   

    Additional generation is needed, preferably inside Virginia, and it must be reliable and dispatchable (works on demand).  The time to start was two or three years ago, but so far only solar and wind are being added.  The quickest dispatchable option is natural gas.  The impediment to getting it is the obsolete Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA).   

    (more…)

  • Do Conservatives Really Want This Precedent?

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    The New York Times is reporting that the Trump administration has demanded that the University of Virginia fire President Jim Ryan as the condition for “resolving” the federal government’s investigation into the school’s DEI efforts.

    President Trump has declared DEI illegal. No courts have done so. As much as they dislike Ryan, do conservatives really want to endorse the federal government dictating that a college president and the college’s policies align with the personal policies of the President of the United States? If so, this country is on the path to becoming an autocratic Hungary.

  • One Is Enough

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    End Virginia’s Front License-Plate Requirement

    Too many license plates. Image credit: Chat GPT

    by Gabrielle Brohard

    The Commonwealth of Virginia currently mandates that most passenger vehicles display two license plates — one on the front and one on the back. While this policy may seem minor or administrative, it has direct financial, environmental, and practical implications. With a growing number of states abandoning this outdated requirement, Virginia should follow their lead. Eliminating the front plate requirement would save money and reduce environmental harm, without compromising effective traffic enforcement, safety, or toll collection.

    Requiring two license plates for every vehicle doubles the state’s costs of manufacturing, distributing, and managing license plates. With roughly 8.4 million registered vehicles in Virginia, removing the front plate could save taxpayers significant money. These funds could then be redirected to more critical budget items, or better yet, to reduce taxes.  

    Twenty-one states, including neighboring North Carolina and West Virginia, only require a single rear plate. Three states recently abolished their two-plate mandate: Ohio dropped its front plate requirement in 2020 and realized annual savings of $1.4 million, Utah dropped its front plant this year and will save $1.75 million per year, and in 2022, Alaska moved to a one-plate system.     

    (more…)

  • Youngkin Blocked Gun Grabbers 54 Times, But He Won’t Always Be Around

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Dem. candidate Abigail Spanberger has made it clear she will pass every anti-gun policy Gov. Youngkin has fought against.

    by Bronson Winslow

    For the past four years, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has served as a firewall against the radical Left’s relentless assault on the Second Amendment — vetoing a whopping 54 gun control bills aimed at dismantling the rights of law-abiding Virginians.

    His unwavering commitment to the Constitution sets a national standard for protecting gun rights — but more importantly, it highlights just how aggressively the radical Left is pressing in. With the governor’s race on the horizon, Virginians need to understand the policies Democrat legislators are eyeing and realize just how different the Commonwealth would look if Youngkin hadn’t stood his ground.

    “I swore an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of Virginia, and that absolutely includes protecting the right of law-abiding Virginians to keep and bear arms,” said Youngkin.

    (more…)

  • Standards and Expectations!

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Part deux

    by Gordon C. Morse

    Let me pick up where I left off last, because these process/procedure questions sit at the heart of representative democracy. It matters how you get there and keeping proper order isn’t an idle, wonky issue. It’s pretty much the only way we avoid settling things in the streets.

    It’s also kind of fun to argue about this stuff – and argue we should.

    “I’ve been in the Senate since 1992,” Senator Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, told The Virginian-Pilot. “For the governor, or the attorney general, or even the secretary of education, to tell board members that they can stay anyway no matter what we say — it doesn’t work like that. That’s not what the constitution requires us to do.”

    The constitution? You mean, Virginia’s constitution? If Lucas thinks that the Virginia Constitution – in letter and spirit – means for a legislative committee, on its lonesome, to show up on a June day in Richmond and render final judgment on the governor’s appointments to the governing boards of Virginia’s colleges and universities then she’s … well, cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, as we said as kids.

    (more…)

  • Major Hit to Virginia Budget Looming in Congress

    Posted on

    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Courtesy of Sentara Norfolk General Hospital

    There are many provisions of the reconciliation bill now being considered by the U.S. Senate that would affect Virginia. One issue that would have a great impact is the proposed crackdown on health-related taxes or assessments used by states.

    The federal Medicaid statutes authorize states to levy taxes, or assessments as they are sometimes called, on health-care facilities that serve Medicaid patients and then use the revenue from those assessments for the state’s share of Medicaid expenditures. (This article will use the term “assessment” from now on, primarily because that is the term Virginia uses.) In other words, in addition to its revenue from the General Fund, a state can use any revenue from a provider assessment for its share of Medicaid funding.

    The details of the authorizing provision are complex, but there are three principal requirements:

    1. Broad based. The assessment must be imposed on all the non-governmental health care entities within a specified class. For example, all hospitals must be subject to the assessment, not just those that treat a high proportion of Medicaid patients.
    2. Uniform. The assessment must be consistent in amount and scope to the services to which it applies. For example, the rate cannot be higher on Medicaid revenue than it is on non-Medicaid revenue.
    3. Hold harmless. Taxpayers, i.e. hospitals, cannot be guaranteed that they will recoup their entire assessment from increased Medicaid revenue.

    Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia use at least one type of assessment to help finance Medicaid. The federal Medicaid law establishes minimum levels of eligibility, service provision, and payment rates for participant states. States may exceed those minimums, but they must pay their share of the increased costs. (Virginia’s share of Medicaid costs is about 40 percent.) However, they can use revenue from the health-care assessments to pay all or a portion of the state share. The result is that the number of people served, services provided, or payment rates are increased, with the increased costs being borne by the hospitals, nursing homes, etc. and the federal government. The health care facilities benefit because their overall Medicaid revenue increases, usually more than offsetting the amount of the assessments. Those facilities that have a higher Medicaid caseload benefit the most. There is no question that these assessment programs are expensive for the federal government. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that eliminating the authorization for the assessments would save the Medicaid program $612 billion over a nine-year period.

    (more…)

  • Taxes and Trans Are the Winning Ticket for GOP, Reid Says

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    John Reid. Image credit: John Reid campaign

    by James A. Bacon

    Taxes and transgender rights are the two big issues that John Reid, Republican nominee for lieutenant general, thinks will bring him victory in a year where the conventional wisdom favors a Democratic sweep in statewide elections.

    Most Virginians hate the car tax, and an increasing number are stressed by the steady increase in property taxes. Even families that have paid off their mortgages are getting squeezed out of their homes by surging housing assessments and real estate taxes, said Reid in an interview today with Bacon’s Rebellion.

    The other big issue he consistently hears about is the “insanity” of permitting biological boys compete in girls’ sports. That national issue has hit home in places like Loudoun and Hanover Counties here in Virginia, Reid said.

    In the money race, Reid is running far behind his opponent, Ghazala Hashmi, a Democratic state senator from Chesterfield County who has outraised him by $1.3 million to $311,000 and, even after fighting a tough Democratic primary, has more than four times as much cash on hand.

    While Hashmi has racked up huge contributions such as $475,000 from Charlottesville mega-donor Sonja Smith, compared to Reid’s biggest donation of $12,000, he’s running closer in the total number of donations — 1,875 to 1,142. And now that the Republican statewide slate has settled its internal differences and is presenting a unified front, he thinks fundraising will pick up.

    (more…)

  • Dedicating a Statue to George Washington — in London

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    When Governor Glenn Youngkin visited France and the UK last week on an economic development trip, he rededicated the London statue of George Washington at Trafalgar Square gifted by the United States. Imagine that: the Brits honoring a statue of a traitor to the crown!

    One wonders what the reaction would have been if Youngkin had tried rededicating in Virginia a statue to Washington, who was a slaveholder and speculator in lands once belonging to indigenous peoples. (Hat tip to Freedom Rider.) — JAB

  • Standards and Expectations

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Along with other Virginia Senate hallucinations

    by Gordon Morse

    May a committee of the Virginia Senate act on behalf of the entire body? That appears to be question raised by a group of Senate Democrats and, if the answer is yes, it would contradict legislative norms presently held most everywhere.

    Maybe there’s an exception in Albania, I don’t know.

    Generally speaking, a committee is a functional part of the larger whole and, while it may be authorized to advise the body, it may not act on behalf of the entire legislative body except in very limited, specific circumstances or when expressly granted such authority.

    Do most committee actions prove determinative? Yeah. Sure. But only within in the context of the legislative process and the operations of the entire Senate. A committee may be discharged from the consideration by the body.

    In short, the dog rules, not the tail of the dog.

    In this lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the Fairfax County Circuit Court, nine members of the Senate, all Democrats, insist that a single legislative committee — in this case, the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee – may act alone to reject a group of Governor Glenn Youngkin’s college and university board appointments.

    (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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