Bacon's Rebellion

  • Youngkin Commutes Killer’s Sentence

    Posted on

    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Well, this is a turnabout! Steve Descanos, the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s attorney much maligned in Bacon’s Rebellion for being woke and soft on crime, secured a guilty verdict in a trial involving the killing of an unarmed man. Two days after the offender was sentenced by the presiding judge, Governor Youngkin commuted his sentence.

    The case involved a Fairfax County police officer who shot and killed a man suspected of having stolen a pair of sunglasses from a Tysons Corner Center store. The shooting occurred at night as the police were pursuing the suspect. After an investigation and viewing the officer’s body cam footage, the Fairfax County police chief fired the officer, saying the his actions did not meet the department’s use-of-force protocols.

    This was not the first time that the officer had drawn his gun on suspected shoplifters. It had happened at least twice before. In both those instances, no one got shot. Charges were subsequently dropped against the suspects.

    Descanos secured an indictment for involuntary manslaughter, but the trial jury, after viewing the body cam footage, instead found the defendant guilty of the lesser charge of reckless handling of a firearm. Last Friday, the judge sentenced the offender to three years in prison. After spending two nights in jail, he walked free on Sunday following Youngkin’s commuting his sentence.
    Youngkin explained his decision by saying that the sentence exceeded the state’s sentencing guidelines. “I am convinced that the court’s sentence of incarceration is unjust,” he said.

    Think about this. Youngkin, who did not attend the trial and did not hear the testimony, chose to substitute his judgment for that of an experienced judge who oversaw the trial and who had reviewed the presentence reports prepared by experienced probation officers.

  • Medicaid Yet Again – Skyrocketing Costs of New Therapies

    Posted on

    by

    sherlockj

    Medicaid Yet Again – Skyrocketing Costs of New Therapies

    By James C. Sherlock

    The featured image above is from my friends at AARP.  We continue to work together to improve Virginia nursing homes.  

    Basic Medicaid and CHIP, which I support, are threatened by soaring costs. 

    I have recommended bringing Medicaid expansion home to the states to fund to protect the basic program at the federal level while addressing unsustainable federal borrowing.

    This piece will address the increasing slope of the medical cost curve driven by new therapies very expensive to develop and to furnish through insurance.  

    Speaking frankly, the quickest way to lower therapy costs is to shut off the supply of new drugs.  Once current ones age out of protected status, costs would indeed drop.  But few will wish to go down that road with such therapies as individually-tailored cancer vaccines on the horizon.  

    A pessimist would say that since everyone eventually dies of something, it is not clear that life- and quality-of-life-extending therapies would actually lower the costs of medical care in the long run.  

    An optimist would point to the outsized costs of chronic diseases and take a different view.

    But all of that is just jabber.  

    We begin this discussion knowing that government insurers will be pressured to cover the costs of new therapies.  By the loudest voices.  Including those of everyone who feels that they or their loved ones will be advantaged by the new drug.

    But commercial insurers will not be so pressured, because individuals and businesses are cost sensitive.

    Which brings us to the costs of GLP-1 drugs as a canary in the coal mine for Medicaid costs.

    (more…)

  • The Day the Masks Came Off

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Chap Petersen

    Image credit: Bing image Creator

    March 1 is an anniversary I remember well.

    That was the day in 2022 that SB 739 took effect on an emergency basis, ending COVID19 restrictions in Virginia public schools — two years after they began. 

    In a nutshell, it allowed children ages 5-18 to attend school without a mask over their face. Amazingly they survived and are still with us. 

    This memory has been swept under the rug by those responsible: the media, the legal system, the politicians. Because, let’s face it, these “health” policies made no sense at the time and they had an enormous negative impact on our children which is still being felt. But back to the story at hand …

    In the 2021 session, SB 1303 had formally reopened schools in Virginia after they had been closed for a year in reaction to COVID19. That victory was a massive struggle for many of us. Wrongly, we thought the war had been won over COVID19 shutdown policies. 

    In August 2021, Governor Northam — who had watched from the sidelines during the debate of SB 1303 — announced that all schools must impose a mask mandate on children, even as retail stores and restaurants were transitioning to normal status. 

    (more…)

  • A Homework Assignment – Nursing Facility Neglect and Abuse

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    by

    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock

    I read two comments on my local Nextdoor blog this morning. They reminded me that most people know nothing about nursing homes or about what to do if they or their loved ones are abused or neglected.

    I urge readers to post the following as a public service on Nextdoor and your favorite social media:

    Definitions of abuse and neglect in Nursing Homes:

      • Abuse: Willful infliction of injury, unreasonable confinement, intimidation, or punishment resulting in physical harm, pain, or mental anguish. Nursing home abuse can include physical harm, emotional distress, and other mistreatment inflicted upon elderly residents by caregivers, staff members, other residents, or visitors.
      • Neglect: Failure to provide goods and services necessary to avoid physical harm, mental anguish, or mental illness.

    There are three sources of recourse for anyone having an abuse or neglect complaint with a nursing facility:

    1. For an immediate threat response dial 911.

    2. Virginia has a 24-hour elder abuse hotline at (888) 832-3858, or make an online report 

    3. Even if you have done 1. or 2. above, please contact the Virginia Dept. of Health Complaint Unit at vdh.virginia.gov/licensure-an. VDH licenses all nursing homes and is required by federal law to investigate reports of patient neglect and abuse. Their nurse-led inspector teams are understaffed but good at what they do, and will get to it. The most threatening situations will get a fast response.

    You might save a life.

  • A Good Week for FERC and America’s Energy Reliability

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    FERC Chairman Mark Christie

    by Steve Haner

    The new chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission used the Trump Administration’s order to have agency employees report their activities as a chance to show off. Late last week the chairman issued a four-page letter of accomplishments on behalf of his staff, a list that might be a good month, not a good week, at some other agency or department. 

    The Chairman of FERC now, of course, is Virginia’s own Mark Christie, previously a member and sometimes chairman of our State Corporation Commission. The letter should also reassure those Americans who are hoping to see the new administration take a new direction in energy policy, one accepting of hydrocarbons and focused on energy reliability. 

    Whether Christie answering on behalf of all his employees and fellow commissioners satisfies the request from the Department of Government Efficiency, time will tell. The substance of the report, however, with its focus on natural gas projects likely would have infuriated many in the previous Biden Administration.   

    He reports that between February 14th and 24th, FERC: 

    “Issued the following Orders under Sections 3 and 7 of NGA (Natural Gas Act) to ensure that pipeline infrastructure needed to ensure plentiful supplies of natural gas at reasonable prices are in place:  

    (more…)

  • Medicaid – Again

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    by

    sherlockj

    Medicaid – Again

    by James C. Sherlock

    Featured image courtesy of Cato Institute.  It is worth a close look by those who suggest there is no room for federal budget reductions.

    On the morning of Feb. 25th, I posted a column a week ago that asked whether Virginia should pay the full cost of Medicaid expansion.

    That same evening, the budget outline for FY 2026 passed by the House of Representatives on Feb. 25 will need major savings from federal contributions to healthcare. The resolution’s sponsors intend to:

    “Achieve $8.7 trillion of savings over 10 years by strengthening Medicare for
    seniors, making Medicaid work for the most vulnerable, ending cradle-to-
    grave dependence, and lowering interest costs.”

    To the charge that the budget resolution will kick poor people off of Medicaid, the sponsors have offered a peremptory response:

    Our budget does not include policies that reduce benefits or remove Medicaid enrollees from the program. Rather, the budget refocuses Medicaid on the most vulnerable and empowers states with flexibility so they can tailor their Medicaid programs to their populations.

    So that clearly portends state funding of Medicaid expansion. 

    I quote below the Social Security Act provision on Medicaid appropriations.

    “Sec. 1901. [42 U.S.C. 1396] For the purpose of enabling each State, as far as practicable under the conditions in such State, to furnish

    (1) medical assistance on behalf of families with dependent children and of aged, blind, or disabled individuals, whose income and resources are insufficient to meet the costs of necessary medical services, (emphasis added) and

    (2) rehabilitation and other services to help such families and individuals attain or retain capability for independence or self-care, there is hereby authorized to be appropriated for each fiscal year a sum sufficient to carry out the purposes of this title.

    The sums made available under this section shall be used for making payments to States which have submitted, and had approved by the Secretary, State plans for medical assistance.”

    It is difficult to square appropriations for Medicaid expansion with that statute.

    As pointed out in my previous article, Medicaid expansion alone, unreformed, will cost the federal government $1.7 trillion over the next ten years. Not for basic Medicaid for poor children and adults, but rather for its expansion to cover single, healthy adults earning up to 138% above the poverty level.

    (more…)

  • Jeanine’s Memes

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    From The Bull Elephant

  • Bagby the Wrong Choice for Dem Party Chair

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Senator Lamont Bagby

    by Paul Goldman

    Tellingly, the Virginia Democratic Party establishment is trying to force the Central Committee to elect State Senator Lamont Bagby, D-Richmond, as the new Party Chair. Tim Kaine, Louise Lucas, Don Scott, Abigail Spanberger, Mark Warner, the who’s who of the Party have endorsed him. His supporters on the Steering Committee (key party leadership group) rejected hosting forums where potential candidates for the position can debate their ideas before an audience of Central Committee members. Bagby has been anointed: everyone else needs to fall in line.

    But I ask: Why Bagby? And why does his choice this year tell me the party establishment is apparently out of touch with its grass roots?

    We need to go back to 1991, when Mark Warner and I were helping Governor L. Douglas Wilder. Then state Senator Bobby Scott will remember. Senator Lucas may too, since she also benefited.

    Today’s Democrats don’t realize the current role of Party Chair traces back to a decision I had to make as Democratic Party Chair in 1991. The Old Boys Club running the Party Establishment were infuriated by my decision. But it had to be finally done in a state whose General Assembly politics remained mired in its segregationist roots. Key White party establishment figures called me a traitor to the party. Bobby Scott initially opposed me too. But I sided with Wilder. We had a legal and philosophical basis for our principled position.

    Senator Bagby is a direct beneficiary. The truth, as discussed below, also explains why Mr. Bagby is the wrong choice in 2025.

    (more…)

  • Wins Departs VMI

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    And now some say it’s all political?

    by Gordon C. Morse

    The Virginia Military Institute Board of Visitors declined on Friday to renew retired Army Maj. Gen. Cedric Wins’ contract as superintendent, and the situation doesn’t greatly differ from 2008 when the governing board at the College of William & Mary did likewise with Gene R. Nichol.

    There was a stiff reaction to Nichol’s dismissal; there will be stiff reaction this time.

    Some will recall that Nichol did not take it well and insisted that it was a fight over ideology. He’d been a victim of a “committed, relentless, frequently untruthful, and vicious campaign.”

    Nichol then immediately made for the exit door and never returned.

    In truth, the W&M Board of Visitors and Nichol were at odds and something was bound to give. W. Taylor Reveley III, then-dean of the law school, stepped into the gap and did so splendidly.

    We’ll see what happens with VMI. As with W&M, many and varied voices will likely speak out.

    In this instance, however, some may well emanate from Washington, D.C.

    (more…)

  • Bacon Meme of the Week

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Ewww!

  • VMI Board Votes No on Extending Wins’ Contract

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    The Virginia Military Institute voted 10 to 6 today against extending the contract of Superintendent Cedric T. Wins. His current contract expires June 30. Board members gave no explanation.

    Wins has been embroiled in a knock-down, drag-out fight for four years with conservative alumni unhappy with changes he has made to the VMI culture, most notably the purging of the Stonewall Jackson statue and inscriptions from post, the watering down of the Honor Code, and implementation of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

    National media are already making Wins’ race an issue. The New York Times headline reads, “The First Black Leader of Virginia Military Institute Is Ousted.”

    (more…)

  • VanValkenburg Takes Another Crack at Affordable Housing

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    I’m beginning to think that Senator Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico, is my favorite Democrat. Admittedly, my list of Democrats whose policies I like is a short one, so it’s not a high bar to clear. But I’d go one step further. VanValkenburg is generating ideas to address affordable housing that could be — should be — coming from Republicans but aren’t.

    The Henrico senator’s latest proposal is to encourage infill housing development by rethinking a regulation in the state building code that requires two staircases for mid-rise apartment buildings. Eliminating the second staircase would help developers maximize space on smaller parcels, making it easier to add new housing in dense areas, reports The Virginia Mercury.

    I’ll get to the logic behind VanValkenburg’s proposal in a moment. But first let me stress how unconventional it is among Democrats, whose instinct for addressing every social problem in the universe is to (a) create a government program, (b) spend more money, and/or (c) enact more regulations.

    A case in point is a bill (SB812) sponsored by Senator Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, to extend rent-payment grace periods. If signed by Governor Glenn Youngkin, the bill would increase the mandatory waiting period from five days to 14 days after landlords notify a tenant of nonpayment before pursuing termination of a rental agreement.

    (more…)

  • Check the Mirror, Senator Hashmi

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    By Chris Braunlich

    Sen. Ghazala Hashmi

    State Senator Ghazala Hashmi (D-Powhatan) has written a Richmond Times-Dispatch commentary proclaiming Governor Glenn Youngkin responsible for Virginia’s education declines, a commentary astonishing for the breadth of its amnestic qualities.

    Senator Hashmi, who seeks the Democratic nomination for Lt. Governor, correctly notes “Virginia’s fourth-grade math scores have plummeted, dropping us from fifth place in 2019 to 22nd today. Students with disabilities and Black students have suffered some of the worst declines nationwide. And in reading, Virginia’s fourth-grade recovery is the third worst in the country.”

    And then she gets political, blaming Youngkin for the decline. But that’s a little like blaming the farmer who buys acreage his predecessor planted with bad seed. The “seeds” of Virginia’s education decline were planted by previous administrations with ineffective policies Senator Hashmi was quick to support.

    In fact, one of Youngkin’s first actions was to produce a 2022 report to determine where Virginia stood and to make it clear that Black, Hispanic, and low-income students were suffering most under the existing system. For his honesty, the teachers union called it a “blatant manipulation of data” and the Senate Democratic leader called it a “joke,” “dog-whistle talking points”, “outright lie, supported by cherry-picked data and warped perspective.”

    After two years of resisting or voting down Youngkin’s reform proposals, this supposed “lie” is now substantiated by the Education Recovery Scorecard developed by experts from Harvard, Stanford and Dartmouth. School divisions with high concentrations of at-risk students, like Petersburg and Richmond have suffered the worst losses, as the Youngkin report said.

    (more…)

  • VMI at a Crossroads: Integrity vs Politics

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Image credit: The Cadet

    by The Cadet editorial staff

    The Virginia Military Institute has long been a bastion of honor, leadership, and tradition. Founded to mold leaders of integrity and moral courage, it now finds itself caught in a storm of political agendas, ideological skirmishes, and administrative indecision. At the heart of this maelstrom lies a singular, essential question: Is VMI still upholding its core mission, or has it become another pawn in the relentless game of political power plays?

    This is not merely an internal crisis—it’s a pivotal moment that could reshape the very ethos of one of America’s most storied institutions.

    The recent controversy surrounding the possible extension of Superintendent Maj. Gen. Cedric Wins’ contract has spotlighted the dangerous intrusion of politics into VMI’s governance. Instead of measured debates over leadership effectiveness and institutional integrity, backroom deals and political strong-arming seem to have taken center stage.

    During the February 2025 Board of Visitors (BOV) meeting, board member Teddy Gottwald revealed a troubling claim: a state senator allegedly pressured BOV members, threatening to withhold critical funding unless they approved Wins’ contract extension. Congressman Ben Cline later implicated State Senator Jennifer Carroll Foy, citing an alleged warning that VMI’s budget was “in peril” unless Wins, the Institute’s first Black Superintendent, was granted a four-year extension.

    (more…)

  • General Assembly Upends Bill to Hold Virginia Nursing Homes Accountable

    Posted on

    by

    sherlockj

    General Assembly Upends Bill to Hold Virginia Nursing Homes Accountable

    by James C. Sherlock

    Fish gotta swim. The General Assembly gotta do the bidding of the nursing home lobby. Patients be damned – literally.

    Consider the fate of House Bill 2253 in the 2025 General Assembly.

    • As introduced, it would have empowered the Health Commissioner to impose serious sanctions on our worst nursing homes; but
    • As substituted, it gives her no authority to do anything likely to even inconvenience them.

    That was not a substitution. It was an execution.

    The substitute bill is objectively inhumane. It assures that Virginia will remain a prime target for people seeking the double-digit annual gains available from levels of understaffing far below federal minimum safe patient standards. Levels at which patients are proven to suffer and die without any pretense of adequate care.

    It passed unanimously in both chambers. I doubt very many of them read the midnight substitute.

    The governor should veto it.

    (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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