Monthly Archives: June 2021

Northam’s Hidden 40% Gasoline Tax Hike

Posted on June 26, 2021 by | 58 comments

Fill ‘er up

Did you know that last year Virginia’s tax on gasoline increased 5 cents per gallon, on July 1, 2020, from 24.4 cents to 29.4 cents?

Did you know that this year Virginia’s tax on gasoline is increasing again, by another 5 cents per gallon on July 1, 2021, to 34.4 cents? That is a 40% increase in one year.

Also, starting next year the Virginia gasoline tax will automatically increase with inflation every July 1st.

Did you know that in addition to the Virginia gasoline tax, there is a federal gasoline tax of 18.4 cents?

Therefore, the total gasoline tax at Virginia pumps will have increased from 42.8 cents in 2019 to 52.8 cents this year.

You won’t find these numbers in press reports because the Virginia government obfuscates gasoline taxes. Continue reading →

58 Comments

Posted in Taxes

Looks Like We’ll Be Hearing a Lot More from the “F— UVA” Lady

Posted on June 26, 2021 by | 15 comments

Hira Azher

by James A. Bacon

I get a lot of unsolicited emails in my inbox from liberal advocacy groups around Virginia. I don’t block them because I think it’s important to know what people have to say, even if I don’t usually agree with them. Imagine my surprise when an email arrived today, introducing the new communications and digital outreach coordinator for Virginia Interfaith Power & Light — Hira Azher.

Bacon’s Rebellion readers may remember Ms. Azher as the resident of the University of Virginia Lawn who made quite the name for herself by posting “F— UVA” in bold letters on her door. For many, that incident exposed for the first time the depth of animosity toward the university, Thomas Jefferson and established institutions generally that exists at UVa. It certainly awakened me to the degree to which UVa in recent years, most notably during the tenure of President Jim Ryan, has become an incubator of grievance, resentment and hate.

In the letter of introduction to subscribers to the Virginia Interfaith Power & Light newsletter, Azher tells all about herself. Thinking this might be of interest to readers who have followed the Lawn controversy at UVa, I am republishing it here. Continue reading →

15 Comments

Posted in Charity, Philanthropy and Nonprofits

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Disrespecting Stonewall Jackson Dishonors All Those Who Fought Under Him

Posted on June 26, 2021 by | 36 comments

Civil War reenactors as the Stonewall Brigade. Photo credit: Stonewallbrigade.net

by Donald Smith

When we think about wars, we often think of the great commanders who led the armies and navies that fought those wars. Mention World War II, and names like Eisenhower, Halsey, Rommel and Yamamoto come to mind. If you think of the American Revolution, quickly you’ll find yourself thinking of Washington, Cornwallis, Greene, etc… And, especially in Virginia, if you think about the Civil War, Stonewall Jackson will most likely cross your mind.

We remember generals for their leadership and decisions — but we also remember them for the armies they trained and led. It was the armies that won the great victories, not the generals. Patton didn’t rescue the 101st at Bastogne*; his Third Army did. Eisenhower didn’t take Omaha Beach; the survivors of the 29th Infantry Division (and many other troops) did. In that sense, the generals serve as symbols of the men who fought under them. The legacy of the general is intertwined with the legacies of the thousands of men and women he commanded.

One of the reasons that VMI’s handling of Stonewall Jackson’s legacy is so disappointing, is that it has impacts beyond Stonewall himself. Jackson has a personal legacy, as a person, a teacher and a battlefield titan. But he is also the most visible symbol of the army command he organized and led to victory after victory in the Civil War. A command which fought from First Manassas to Spotsylvania Court House, and is one of the most famous in American military history—the Stonewall Brigade. Continue reading →

36 Comments

Posted in Culture wars, Virginia history

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Amazon Donates CRT Book to Arlington Schools

Posted on June 25, 2021 by | 23 comments

Ibram Kendi

by Hans Bader

Amazon donated hundreds of copies of a racist, error-filled book by a critical race theorist to Arlington County public schools. In doing so, the Seattle-based company helped poison young minds and taught high-school students falsehoods about America’s history and politics. It did this at the urging of a school official in Arlington.

The Free Beacon reports that “Amazon spent $5,000 to distribute hundreds of copies” of “Ibram X. Kendi’s book ‘Stamped’ to Virginia public school students.”  The “key concept” Kendi teaches is that society needs to discriminate against whites to make up for past discrimination against blacks. Kendi says, “The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.” Kendi once wrote an op-ed suggesting that white people are aliens from outer space.

Amazon, which is building its East Coast headquarters in Arlington, donated the copies of Kendi’s book after “Amazon employees reached out to Arlington Public Schools as part of ‘NeighborGood,’ a program to donate $100,000 to schools and other institutions that ’empower black voices and serve black communities.’” Continue reading →

23 Comments

Posted in Culture wars, Race and Race Relations

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Now They’re Gunning for Patrick Henry

Posted on June 25, 2021 by | 45 comments

Patrick Henry

by James A. Bacon

The State Board for Community Colleges has told Patrick Henry Community College (PHCC) to change its name. The issue: Henry owned slaves.

Best known for his oratory — “Give me liberty, or give me death!” — Henry served as the first and sixth post-colonial governor of Virginia. A stalwart defender of individual liberties, he was a major advocate of the Bill of Rights. He believed slavery was wrong and hoped for its abolition, although he continued to own slaves himself.  “I am the master of slaves of my own purchase,” he wrote in 1773. “I am drawn along by the general inconvenience of living here without them. I will not, I cannot justify it.”

The Patrick Henry Community College Foundation board has resisted the name change on numerous grounds. It has estimated the cost at more than $1 million, and has pledged to dedicate an equal sum to fund a “diversity and equity program.” The name change would have a “reputation cost,” the PHCC Foundation has said, and enrollment could suffer. Furthermore, the board says, there is minimal support in the community for changing the name. Continue reading →

45 Comments

Posted in Culture wars, Education (K-12)

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More Jumbled Thinking about Healthcare and Race

Posted on June 25, 2021 by | 14 comments

by James A. Bacon

The lead story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch today focuses on the findings from a new Virginia Commonwealth University study: “Life expectancy in the U.S. sees largest drop since 1943, ‘jolting’ decline for Black people and Latinos.”

The average life of Blacks fell 3.25 years and of Latinos by almost four years. The reasons? COVID was a contributing factor, of course. But according to the RTD article the underlying cause is systemic racism.

The article is an incoherent jumble of factoids and non sequiturs. Black mothers are more likely to die in pregnancy-related deaths…. Black infants have the highest mortality rates in the U.S…. Segregation from Jim Crow housing policies… Housing and job insecurity… Accidental overdoses and homicides… Actor Chadwick Boseman’s death from colon cancer at age 43… “In [Richmond’s] Mosby Court, a public housing community, the average life span is 68. Less than 6 miles away, a person born in the primarily white and affluent Windsor Farms neighborhood will live an average of 84 years.”

Not explained is how those factors, which are persistent through time, made disparities worse during the COVID epidemic. Not mentioned is the fact that a person born in a predominantly Hispanic or Asian neighborhood is likely to live longer than Whites and Blacks alike! Continue reading →

14 Comments

Posted in Health Care, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations

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Same Politicians Who Legalized Weed and Casino Gambling Killed Skill Games

Posted on June 25, 2021 by | 14 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

For more than 30 years Virginia’s been breathlessly legalizing vices.

It began when voters approved a state-run numbers racket – the lottery – in 1987. Since then, all manner of wagering has been approved for our gambling pleasure.

Virginia now has horse racing, off-track betting, sports betting and soon, casinos.

But in their wisdom, members of the General Assembly – the same ones who battled tirelessly to bring slot machines and blackjack to the Old Dominion – decided to 86 electronic skill games that reside mostly in truck stops, convenience stores and restaurants.

Make no mistake, they’re doing the bidding of the greedy big boys of gambling by cracking down on the little guys.

The casinos don’t want competition for those Virginia betting dollars. Continue reading →

14 Comments

Posted in Money in politics, Regulations and Government Oversight

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Virginia Ratifies!

Posted on June 25, 2021 by | 25 comments

by Dick Hall-Sizemore

On this date, 233 years ago, June 25, 1788, Virginia ratified the United States Constitution.

The stakes could not have been higher. Ratification by nine states was required for the Constitution to go into effect. When the delegates to the ratifying convention began their deliberations on June 2, they knew that eight states had ratified the Constitution. Being the largest state, the actions of Virginia would likely influence the remaining holdouts: New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island. As it turned out, New Hampshire ratified the Constitution four days before Virginia on June 21, thus making it the state that provided the ninth, decisive vote. However, the delegates in Richmond could not have known that. And, without Virginia’s ratification, the new nation would have likely been doomed. Continue reading →

25 Comments

Posted in Governance, Politics

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Loudoun County School Board Ignorant or Dismissive About the Performance of Its School District

Posted on June 24, 2021 by | 11 comments

by James C. Sherlock

I have, with much of America, been watching the woke cabal that forms the majority of the Loudoun County School Board. They are true believers. It is testimony to the depths of their feelings that they don’t let the needs of the kids in that school district get in the way of dogma.

That majority, mostly relatively young products of our universities, are hell bent to find and stamp out anti-Black racism.

To do so they ignore both extraordinary Black student success in Loudoun schools and the very poor job that system has done in educating Hispanic, poor and English learner kids.

That raises the obvious question of whether the members have done their homework to understand the schools they run. So I did it for them.

The overarching lesson from that exercise is that the school board does not understand Loudoun County schools, or, if they do, don’t care.  Maybe both. Continue reading →

11 Comments

Posted in Culture wars, Education (K-12)

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What to Do with Virginia’s Pile O’ Money

Posted on June 24, 2021 by | 60 comments

by James A. Bacon

Virginia is expected to close out the year with a $2 billion budget surplus. An estimated $900 million is required under the state constitution to go into a rainy day reserve fund. That leaves roughly $1.1 billion for the next General Assembly and Governor of Virginia to play with.

According to Brandon Jarvis’ Virginia Scope newsletter, the two candidates for governor, Glenn Youngkin and Terry McAuliffe, have very different ideas of what to do with the surplus cash.

“Virginia families deserve a tax refund from this surplus,” said Youngkin spokesperson Macaulay Porter. “Investing in our kids and our schools, public safety, and infrastructure is the right thing to do.”

Vague… very vague. But at least the statement signals a willingness to return something to taxpayers and to slow the relentless growth in state spending. By contrast, McAuliffe is campaigning on a promise to spend $2 billion per year more on education — much of it to boost teacher salaries. Continue reading →

60 Comments

Posted in Education (K-12), Government Finance, Taxes

Social Engineers Notch a Big Win at TJ High School

Posted on June 24, 2021 by | 21 comments

by James A. Bacon

The racial bean counters won the battle over admissions to the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Revisions to the admissions policy at the elite high school, one of the highest-rated public schools in the country, have boosted the percentage of offers to Hispanic and Black students in the fall — largely at the expense of Asian students.

Of the 550 slots available at TJ, 11% will go to Hispanic students and 7% to Black students. In previous years, the percentage of Hispanic students receiving offers varied between 1% and 2%, while the percentage for Blacks was typically 1% or 2%.

White students received 22% of the offers, compared to 17% and 22% over the past four years, essentially unchanged. Asian students, who previously accounted for 65% to 75% of offers, received only 54%.

“These kids are going to be more equipped, with their diverse backgrounds and stories, to really bring a holistic look at the power of science and technology to improve our country and our world,” said Fairfax County Schools Superintendent Scott Braband, as reported by The Washington Post.

Fairfax has “broken the hearts of many deserving students,” the Coalition for TJ, an organization of parents defending the old standards, countered on Twitter. “We lament the war on Asians launched by Fairfax County Public Schools.” Continue reading →

21 Comments

Posted in Culture wars, Education (K-12), Race and Race Relations

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Fear and Loathing in Mathews County

Posted on June 24, 2021 by | 11 comments

Menacing

by Carol J. Bova

When Mathews County Supervisor Amy Dubois offered a resolution on June 22 that the Board of Supervisors meet at the high school auditorium instead of the Historic Courthouse, surprised members of the public attending called out, “Why?”

At the meeting, all Dubois said was, “We were urged by an organization within the county to move to the high school.” Although it was not audible on a citizen’s recording, the Mathews Gloucester Gazette Journal added that she said “for safety reasons.” (County staff failed to broadcast or record audio for the meeting.)

Supervisor Paul Hudgins was not pleased about the resolution and clearly said on the citizen recording, “We voted on this last month, to go back to the old courthouse. We keep changing these meeting schedules like some people do their clothes.” Supervisor Jackie Ingram also objected, and she and Hudgins voted against the change, which passed 3-2. Continue reading →

11 Comments

Posted in Culture wars, Government Transparency

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Loudoun County School Board Unplugs the Public

Posted on June 24, 2021 by | 63 comments

Image credit: legalinsurrection.com

by Kerry Dougherty

Well, THAT wasn’t a good look.

Loudoun County sheriff’s deputies broke up a boisterous school board meeting Tuesday night, handcuffing and arresting one parent just as the assembled crowd finished singing “The Star Spangled Banner.”

This came after the school superintendent abruptly ended a public meeting and declared it an “unlawful assembly.”

Not sure the school chief has that authority. A Virginia judge may ultimately decide.

Let’s back up. Loudoun County parents are in the vanguard of the anti-Critical Race Theory movement in the U.S. They’ve started a recall petition to remove far-left school board members whom they say are bringing CRT into Loudoun teacher training. They are also opposed to a new policy toward transgendered students that is under consideration by the board. Continue reading →

63 Comments

Posted in Culture wars, Education (K-12)

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Don’t Blame Pandemic for Rise in U.S. Violent Crime

Posted on June 23, 2021 by | 35 comments


by Hans Bader

Recent spikes in violent crime aren’t due to COVID-19 or the economy, as suggested recently in a Virginian-Pilot article exploring causes of a spike in violence in Hampton Roads.

Murders frequently fall during recessions and times of economic hardship. In the U.S. homicides fell during the 2007-2009 recession. In many other countries, murder rates actually went down during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For example, the murder rate fell in London by 16% in 2020, even though England suffered more from the pandemic than America did. England suffered far more economic harm than America did, with England’s economy shrinking 9.9% during 2020, compared to 3.5% in America. As Nicole Gelinas notes in the New York Post, murders also fell in other major countries in 2020:

How about Italy, hit hard and early by the pandemic? There, murders fell by 14%, to 271 from 315.

France with its troubled banlieues? The country’s murders were down 2% in 2020, to 863. Continue reading →

35 Comments

Posted in Crime, Corrections and Law Enforcement

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Car Crashes Down, Fatalities Up in 2020

Posted on June 23, 2021 by | 27 comments

Photo credit: Richmond Times-Dispatch

by James A. Bacon

Virginia transportation officials are puzzling over a divergence in road safety statistics during the COVID epidemic last year. The number of crashes on Virginia roads fell 15% to 20% below the level of a normal year while the number of fatalities climbed by 2.4% and serious injuries by 5.3%, reports The Virginia Mercury.

The numbers worsened in what officials termed the “belt, booze and speed” categories, with a 16.3% increase in speed-related deaths ad 13% in “unrestrained” deaths. In crashes in which wearing a seat belt was an option, 56% of the people who died weren’t wearing one. Continue reading →

27 Comments

Posted in Crime, Corrections and Law Enforcement, Public safety & health, Transportation

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