Year: 2012
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Medicaid Expansion a Dangerous Choice for Virginia
by James A. Bacon Thanks to the Supreme Court ruling on Obamacare, Virginia now faces the choice of whether or not to expand its Medicaid program. We are sure to hear many arguments along the line of Judy Solomon with the Center for Budget Priorities that Medicaid expansion is a “good deal for states.” She…
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Housecleaning on State Mandates
by James A. Bacon Yesterday, July 1, marked the day when bills enacted into law earlier this year went into effect. Among other changes in the way we conduct the affairs of local government, cities and counties are no longer required to obtain permission from the Virginia Department of Transportation to install red light cameras!…
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McDonnell Bolsters UVa Board, Keeps Dragas
Governor Bob McDonnell has put his stamp on the University of Virginia Board of Visitors, reappointing its lightning-rod Rector Helen Dragas, replacing five old board members and appointing two “senior advisors.” “Cognizant of the need for varied and wide-ranging voices, I have appointed competent professionals to the board who come from the fields of academia,…
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The Coming Medicaid Battle
The Supreme Court ruling on Obamacare now presents Virginia with a huge decision. While most attention has focused on the legality of the Obamacare “mandate,” the Supremes also determined that Congress cannot compel the states to participate in the expansion of Medicaid. Thus, the General Assembly will have to decide whether or not Virginia will…
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O’Bummer
by James A. Bacon Yeah, I’m bummed out by the Supreme Court ruling on Obamacare, although it does contain a silver lining in declaring that there is a limit to Congress’ ability to invoke the Interstate Commerce Clause to regulate anything and everything. That’s no small consolation. And, yeah, I do feel lied to. The…
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Health Care’s Big Victory
Posted on behalf of Peter Galuszka, who is out of town today. — JAB The U.S. Supreme Court’s surprising and wise decision backing the vast majority of the Affordable Care Act is a major victory for ordinary Virginians, tens of thousands of whom up to now don’t have or can’t afford health insurance. The victory…
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Money for the Bi-County Parkway? I’ve Got a Nice Fireplace. Perhaps You’d Like to Burn Your Money There Instead.
by James A. Bacon I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Buried within the massive Six Year Improvement Program approved by the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) last week was a line item that provides $5 million for preliminary engineering and design of the Bi-County Parkway (BCP). The parkway, the dream of a vocal element…
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Population Growth Shifting to Cities
And the evidence just keeps pouring in… Growth and development in metropolitan regions is shifting from the periphery to the core. I’ve made that point previously by pointing out that property values tend to be rising in metro cores and falling in the periphery. Now comes Census Bureau data that population growth in “cities” (presumably…
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UVa Needs Someone Who Thinks like Helen Dragas but Isn’t Helen Dragas
Governor Bob McDonnell soon will reveal his appointments to replace three members of the University of Virginia Board of Visitors, including Rector Helen Dragas. The sad truth is that, despite the BoV’s recent vote of support for her, Dragas is damaged goods. She rushed through the forced resignation of President Teresa Sullivan without respect for…
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Remake Boards of Visitors Now
By Peter Galuszka An early summer calm has settled on the “The Lawn” at the University of Virginia following 16 days of pointless controversy that damaged the school’s reputation and raised serious questions about how Mr. Jefferson’s school should be run. The most important issues wafting up from the now-quiet battleground are not really whether…
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Pssst, I Heard this Rumor that There’s an Oil and Gas Boom in the U.S.
by James A. Bacon I never cease to be amazed by the cluelessness of alternative energy advocates. They endlessly repeat the mantra about United States dependence upon foreign source of oil as justification for investing billions in clean energy sources that supposedly will give our economy a huge lift. It’s as if the most important…
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Sullivan Back In
The Board of Visitors has reinstated Teresa A. Sullivan as president of the University of Virginia while also expressing support for Rector Helen E. Dragas, the university news service has reported. Dragas had taken a leading role in forcing her resignation, effective August, earlier this month. Given the overwhelming support Sullivan enjoyed among faculty, staff…
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“Helen Dragas Gets It”
This just in from Charlottesville: Teresa Sullivan, president of the University of Virginia, was reinstated after a unanimous vote of the Board of Visitors, including that of Rector Helen Dragas. The Daily Progress reported that the board also voted unanimously to support Dragas. This is a happy ending to an unusual and unnecessary chapter in…
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Want to Grow Jobs? Forget about “Job Creation” and Focus on Fundamentals
How can Virginia state government best help the economy adapt to the inevitable downturn in federal spending (see previous post) and the resulting squeeze on the economy? William M. Shobe, author of “Beyond the Great Recession: Preparing Virginia for Expected Cuts in Federal Spending” makes some useful observations. In the long run, argues the Weldon…
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How Badly Will Federal Spending Cuts Hurt? Not as Much as You Might Think.
by James A. Bacon Virginia’s economic growth in recent years has been fueled by a surge in federal government spending, and that surge soon will come to an end, warns William M. Shobe in the May issue of the Virginia Newsletter, “Beyond the Great Recession: Preparing Virginia for Expected Cuts in Federal Spending.” Writes Shobe:…