Bacon's Rebellion

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

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    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).   

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  • 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.     

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

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    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.

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  • Standards and Expectations!

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    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.

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  • Major Hit to Virginia Budget Looming in Congress

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    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.

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

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    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.

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  • Dedicating a Statue to George Washington — in London

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    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.

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  • Skating on the Edge of Judicial Ethics

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Thanks to the reporting of the Fredericksburg Free Press, more detail is available on the case of the Spotsylvania County judge indicted on bribery charges.

    As noted in an earlier article in Bacon’s Rebellion, Richard T. McGrath, chief district court judge of the 15th Judicial District, which includes Spotsylvania County, was indicted on a charge of bribery of a public official, a Class 4 felony.  

    One normally thinks of bribery as the giving of money or something else of value to a public official to gain some advantage. This is not the case with McGrath.  Allegedly, he was seeking pay raises for the local district court staff and, in a meeting with county officials, including the chair of the Board of Supervisors, he allegedly threatened to begin dismissing traffic tickets if the staff did not get raises.

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  • Wahoo Know-Nothings

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    There is a new player in the struggle for the soul of the University of Virginia: Wahoos4UVA, which describes itself as a group of “proud alumni, students, parents, faculty, staff, and friends” of the University. Its stated mission is to defend UVA from an “orchestrated campaign of misinformation and political pressure.”

    Who is conducting this alleged misinformation campaign? The signature-raising letter published by Wahoos4UVA refers to a “small, unrepresentative group of alumni,” which you can be certain is none other than the Jefferson Council (on whose executive committee I serve). The name of our organization, like that of Lord Voldemort, presumably is too heinous for Wahoos4UVA to actually utter.

    These self-professed defenders of UVA President Jim Ryan regard the Jefferson Council as thoroughly reprehensible. Our tactics, states the letter, consist of “lies, personal attacks, and public disrespect” and “stand in direct opposition to the Honor Code and the values that define UVA.” Furthermore, asserts the letter, we circulate “false claims and distortions.”

    Wahoos4UVA offers zero evidence to back up its claims. Not one lie. Not one personal attack. Not one false claim. Not one distortion. This is the kind of bilious rhetoric normally found in letters to the editor penned by cranky old men. But I feel compelled to respond, for the group does appear to be backed by significant resources — enough to set up a well-designed website, file incorporation papers in Delaware, and publish full-page ads in newspapers across Virginia — and has won instant credibility with local media. Inevitably, people will hear what they have to say.

    The “overwhelming majority of alumni” are proud of the progress UVA has made under President Jim Ryan’s leadership, asserts the letter without providing the slightest documentation of what alumni think. It might be more accurate to say that an overwhelming majority of Wahoos4UVA letter signatories are proud of UVA’s progress under Jim Ryan. That the authors of the Wahoos4UVA screed assume they represent a majority tells us more how rarely they encounter divergent views in their cosseted social milieus than anything about the opinions of UVA alumni as a whole.

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  • Kings, Colonialists and Naked Bike Riders

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    I’ve just come back from vacation in England and found it to be a nation of vivid contradictions offering parallels to what we’re experiencing in Virginia. The United Kingdom is torn by the same battle between wokery and tradition as the Old Dominion. Statues have fallen — most notably of Cecil Rhodes, the quintessential colonialist and imperialist, as well as assorted philanthropists who derived their wealth from slavery. But many Brits still revere their past and their memorials.

    Statue of Robert Cornelis Napier

    There is such a super-abundance of statuary in England that the loss of a few bronze works is scarcely noticed. One cannot walk a few blocks through London without bumping into a statue. The photo at left, which I encountered during my wanderings, honors Robert Napier, a British military engineer and commander, who fought in the Sikh wars in India, the opium wars in China, and the Abyssinian expedition of 1867-68. In the latter campaign, which he led, Napier rescued European hostages from the mad Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia. Mission accomplished, his army returned to India and left the Abyssinians to proceed with their nation-building on their own.

    For all of Napier’s purported sins against non-Western peoples, his statue still stands in London free from graffiti and protesters. Contrast the fate of his memorial to that of George Rogers Clark, conqueror of the Northwest Territory, which the University of Virginia took down for shame for his role in subduing the indigenous peoples there. And let us not forget the City of Charlottesville’s dismantling of the statue of his younger brother William Clark, Meriwether Lewis, and their guide Sacagawea. Lewis and Clark warred against no one and despoiled no one of their land. The alleged offense of the statue commemorating the explorers was said be to how the artist had displayed Sacagawea in a submissive posture. Any excuse will do for tearing down the past.

    A reverence for tradition and tolerance for libertine madness exist side by side in England. As it happened, two notable events took place in London one day that we were there: the Trooping the Colour in honor of King Charles’ birthday and the World Naked Bike Ride.

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  • UVA’s Administration Is Stonewalling on Viewpoint Diversity

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    UVA Board of Visitors meeting, June 2025

    by Scott Gerber

    The University of Virginia (UVA) is currently under investigation by the federal government because its administration is attempting to maintain its illegal “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) regime in secret after the Board of Visitors voted in March to dismantle it. The administration is also stonewalling the Board’s April resolution, which called for more viewpoint diversity at UVA.

    To his credit, President Jim Ryan introduced a presentation at June’s Board meeting by Interim Provost Brie Gertler by saying the right things: “Viewpoint diversity is near and dear to my heart;” “John Stuart Mill was right when he wrote in ‘On Liberty’: ‘He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that;’” “the clash of ideas is key to a great education and part of the path towards following the truth wherever it might lead;” “free speech and viewpoint diversity … are the foundation for both academic freedom and effective teaching and learning, and so they are the cornerstones of any flourishing university.”

    Unfortunately, what happened before and after Ryan’s encouraging words should alarm anyone committed to the true purpose of higher education: intellectual freedom, the pursuit of truth, and the promotion of virtuous citizenship.

    (more…)

  • VMI Board Makes Own Calls Without Direction From the Governor, says Gottwald

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    On June 10 Teddy Gottwald, president of the Virginia Military Institute Board of Visitors, wrote a letter to House Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, in response to Surovell’s statement justifying the Privileges & Elections Committee vote to block four of Governor Glenn Youngkin’s nominees to the VMI Board. The letter is somewhat old news at this point, but it didn’t get the attention it warranted, so I publish it here to keep readers apprised of developments at VMI. — JAB

    Dear Senator Surovell,

    Thomas E. Gottwald

    Thank you for your email and letter dated June 9th. I appreciate your input regarding the governance and oversight of Virginia’s colleges and universities. It is helpful to know the concerns you expressed in your letter, and I can assure you that the VMI Board of Visitors shares your desire for good and proper governance.

    The General Assembly in January chose to reject two highly qualified and capable alumni appointees to our BOV with little explanation, leaving us to wonder about the reasoning. Quintin Elliott served for more than twenty years in the Virginia Air National Guard and was later named Deputy Secretary of Transportation by Governor Northam. Clifford Foster is a highly respected financial professional who has given back to VMI extensively. Both were expected to strengthen our Board Finance Committee. The three alumni nominees in question today are all equally qualified. José Suárez is a U.S. Navy veteran, an accomplished businessman and expert on green energy. Steve Reardon is a respected lawyer who served in the US Army and Army Reserve. Jon Hartsock is a twenty-year veteran of the US Army — a combat veteran who later served with distinction in leadership positions at VMI. I respectfully take exception to any suggestion that these five individuals somehow do not possess the judgment, character, or willingness to follow good governance practices per your letter. 

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  • Car Tax Redux

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    The Fifth Dimension Beckons Once More

    by Gordon C. Morse

    There’s a “sign post up ahead.” Planet car tax looms before us. Once again, we’re on a journey to a wonderous land whose boundaries are only that of imagination.

    Jim Gilmore -– a cosmonaut of the first order — launched this trip in 1997, when he successfully sought Virginia’s highest elected office on the promise of kiboshing a principal revenue source for local government.

    “No Car Tax,” read Gilmore’s bumper stickers. “Elect me and that goes away,” he roughly vowed.

    It doesn’t get more direct than that.

    Then, as now, the car tax gets vilified as the one tax that Virginians hate the very most. Where that leaves the state income tax, I’m not sure. Probably offended.

    Republican Winsome Sears and Democrat Abigail Spanberger, candidates for governor, have now promised to finish what Gilmore presumably started nearly three decades ago.

    You just wish both of them had read up on this a bit. They still could. It’s not too late.

    (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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