Tag: Stephen D. Haner
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New Ways to Soak the Rich, But Tax Hikes Coming Will Be Broader
By Steve Haner, As a new Democratic Party trifecta looms in Virginia, a progressive policy group has floated a long list of old and new ways to soak Virginia’s upper income residents through taxes in order to fund additional state spending. The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis doesn’t use the word “spending,” of course, but speaks of “investments” in…
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Enhanced Trifecta Gives Democrats Full Control of Energy Laws
By Steve Haner, The return of the political trifecta Democrats enjoyed during the 2020 and 2021 General Assembly sessions – now bolstered with a 64-36 majority in the House of Delegates – leaves the question of how to deal with Virginia’s energy issues entirely in their hands. Only if the Democrats suffer a significant…
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Jones’ Advice on Inflicting Pain Implemented by Warner, Kaine
“Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.” That was former Delegate Jay Jones’ deep political insight, seeking to justify his assertion that the children of the Speaker of the House should die so Democrats could prevail. Is that not exactly what Virginia Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner are now putting…
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Authentic Abigail on Dumping the Anti-Gerrymander Rule
When they show you who they are, believe them. That clip, first noticed on X back in August, struck me as a bit of “authentic Abigail,” especially the tone when discussing Republicans. There goes the moderate mask. Perhaps even then there was a quiet plan to try to do what she said couldn’t be done, overturn the…
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IRP Part 2: Dominion Bill Projections Just Keep Exploding
By Steve Haner, Two years ago, Dominion Energy Virginia predicted that by 2035 a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity would pay $174 per month. That represented a 50% increase over the first 15 years of compliance with the Virginia Clean Economy Act. The current bill, just five years into the age of VCEA, is…
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Dominion Says VCEA Compliance Means Many New Nukes
By Steve Haner, If or when Dominion Energy Virginia complies with the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) and closes its hydrocarbon generation units, the best way to power Virginia will be a truly massive amount of new nuclear power. That comes from the latest iteration of Dominion’s ever-adjusting integrated resource plan (IRP), filed with the…
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Democrats Dominate Energy Discussions With GOP MIA
By Steve Haner, “The energy bills are…” shouts the emcee on the stage. “Too damn high” comes the immediate response from a crowded meeting room in the east end of Richmond October 16. That call and response mantra constantly punctuated a long and creative presentation on Virginia’s energy dilemma from the point of view of the activist group Clean Virginia. The point of view varies greatly from the Thomas Jefferson Institute’s views on why…
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UVA’s Weldon Cooper Backpedals on Economic Gloom Yet Again
By Steve Haner, In April, economic prognosticators at the University of Virginia published a prediction that Virginia would lose 32,000 jobs during 2025. The Al Gore-like jeremiad was promptly adopted by Virginia Democrats who used it in speeches and advertising to claim Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin and his chosen successor, Winsome Earle-Sears, were mismanaging the economy.…
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Spanberger, Hashmi Have Massive Leads in Campaign Funds
By Steve Haner, Two of the three Republicans running for statewide office in Virginia this year are being crushed in the fundraising contest. Only Jason Miyares, the incumbent Republican candidate for Attorney General, has raised more funds than his Democratic opponent, Jay Jones. All campaigns had a deadline of Wednesday night to report on their…
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What Democrats Will Pass First if Given Full Political Control
By Steve Haner, Predicting how Democrats will transform Virginia should they gain full control of state government in November’s election is easy. Just look through the list of 400 plus bills vetoed by Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, most of them from 2024 and 2025. The progressive bills which reached Youngkin’s desk with unanimous or near…
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“All of the Above” Abigail? She Did Say It.
By Steve Haner, Democratic nominee for Governor Abigail Spanberger told the October 9 statewide debate audience that she favors an “all of the above strategy” in addressing Virginia’s massive demand for new electricity in coming years. If she has used that phrase before in this campaign, it hasn’t made the record. “All of the above”…
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State Spending Grows Faster Than Income. Something Has to Give.
By Steve Haner, There was an important story in the preliminary end-of-year financial report that the Richmond Times-Dispatch misinterpreted as the state “running in the red.” State spending has been on a major growth spurt under Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, although the Democrats with the majority in the General Assembly have just as much to…
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No, Times-Dispatch, Virginia’s Budget Did Not “Run in the Red”
By Steve Haner, It is not clear who should be more ashamed of themselves, the Richmond Times-Dispatch or Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax). Both didn’t just mislead Virginians, but defamed Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin and the entire state finance staff. Even the silly season has limits. Virginia’s state government finances did not “run in…
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“Clean” Energy Mandates are Raising Power Bills, Not Data Centers
By Steve Haner, No, Virginia, we cannot blame the data centers. The impact of the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) on rising electricity bills is more significant and destined to grow. With the cost of living turning up in election polls as a top voter concern, a repeal of the VCEA is one step the…
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A Million Reasons to Worry Either Way the Election Goes
By Steve Haner Democrat Jay Jones and Republican Jason Miyares have now both accepted more than $1 million each in campaign contributions from major players in Virginia’s energy wars. The job they both seek, Attorney General of Virginia, includes a duty to stand firm on behalf of Virginia’s energy consumers against the elephants in the…