Tag: James A. Bacon
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A Call for Civility
Virginians are desperate for a change in tone. The Charlie Kirk memorial at UVA hit all the right notes. I was proud of the University of Virginia students speaking last evening at the Charlie Kirk memorial held in Cabell Hall. The message was pitch-perfect: a celebration (as advertised) of free speech and civil dialogue. The…
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Bacon in the News: Joe Luter RIP
Joe Luter, the Norfolk-born businessman who rescued Smithfield Foods from near bankruptcy and built it into the nation’s largest producer of pork products, passed away last month. Read his obituary here. The size of the bacon market was estimated to be $15.2 billion in 2024. According to one online source, Virginia-based Smithfield accounted for 27%…
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Teacher Pay and Student Performance
In a newly published study, Open the Books calculated the relationship between the increase in a state’s average teacher pay between 2019-2023 and the increase (or decrease) in NAEP (National Assessment for Educational Progress) test performance between 2019 and 2024. It found a mild negative correlation: “Higher overhead costs are associated with lower test scores.”…
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Introducing the Oinkonomics Podcast
It’s never too late to teach an old pig new tricks. In 2002, I launched Bacon’s Rebellion as a digital newsletter. In 2005, I switched to blogging. Now, as the world has moved decisively to podcasts, I’ll give podcasting a try. I’ll be interviewing people involved in the arts, sciences, culture, business, and politics on…
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Letter from UVA College Republicans
“As we watched Charlie Kirk lose his life yesterday, many of our professors, teaching assistants, and peers met this gruesome news with joy, laughter, cheering the violence on, and wishing it upon us conservatives.” But renowned political science professor Larry Sabato was not among them.
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Can Virginia Save $2.6 Billion in Medicaid Spending Through One Simple Fix?
Brad Hart is co-owner of Forest Park Pharmacy, an independent pharmacy. He has a few things to say about Medicaid spending in Virginia. Independent pharmacies have a big stake in state Medicaid policies, but the dude is from Fort Worth, Texas! Click here to listen. Hart’s commentary is based on a report by Arlington-based Strategic…
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UVA’s FIRE Ranking Worse Than It Looks
Statement from The Jefferson Council: The truth is finally catching up with the myth. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s (FIRE) just published its 2026 College Free Speech Rankings, reflecting FIRE’s new focus on the actual reality on the 257 college campuses surveyed rather than stated policy. While the Ryan administration often talked the…
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The Latest FIRE Free Speech Ranking
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression have graded Virginia universities D grade overall in its 2026 College Free Speech Rankings. That was actually better than the national average of F. The University of Virginia was tops in the state with a 21st-place ranking out of 250 institutions, largely on the basis of its formally…
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The Future of News?
Restoration News has a thoughtful essay by Matt Wolfson about Jeff Bezos’ makeover of The Washington Post, the largest provider of state/local news in Virginia. Although Bezos is pushing the Post’s op-ed section to embrace liberty and free markets, Wolfson sees the Amazon CEO’s moves as a deep-state power play. His conclusion: “This is media-as-cartel:…
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So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
by James A. Bacon I’ve been publishing Bacon’s Rebellion since 2002 (with one short interlude). My goal has been to create a platform for quality conservative journalism and commentary on Virginia-specific issues that allowed for civil dialogue and contradicting views. It’s been a good run. The blog has been a huge part of my life,…
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Hold the Presses! Gregory Washington Still Has a Job!
Against the backdrop of hysterical warnings that the George Mason University Board of Visitors might fire President Gregory Washington, GMU’s first Black president, at its meeting today, the Board gave him a raise. It wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement — only 1.5 percent — but it was a raise. Apparently, that means he still has…
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Campus Union Joins No-Confidence Movement
by James A. Bacon The “no confidence” campaign against the University of Virginia Board of Visitors is gaining momentum with the United Campus Workers of Virginia (UCWV) joining the effort. Strikes and lawsuits are among the options available to protesters, although, as one panelist put it in a “teach-in” yesterday, strikes by state employees are…
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Make America Safe for Anti-ICE Doxxers!
by James A. Bacon Federal immigration agents would be forbidden from wearing masks when making arrests under a bill that Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine plan to introduce to Congress, reports Axios Richmond. The proposal represents in part a response to incidents in Chesterfield County and Charlottesville courthouses where plainclothes Immigration and Customs…
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Let’s Run the Medicaid Numbers Before Hitting the Panic Button
by James A. Bacon Aubrey Layne was a great public servant in Richmond before he moved back to Norfolk to take a job as chief administrative officer of Sentara Health. He did a superior job as Secretary of Transportation under Gov. Terry McAuliffe and then as Secretary of Finance under Gov. Ralph Northam. He earned…
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Judge Affirms Senate Dems’ Power Grab
A Fairfax County circuit county judge has sided with state Senate Democrats who filed a lawsuit to prevent eight public university board members appointed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin from continuing to serve. The Democrats claimed that an 8-to-4 vote June 9 by a Senate subcommittee during a special session required no other action. Youngkin and…