Author: James A. Bacon
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Did Shoddy Science Shut Down America?
by Kerry Dougherty Let’s get one thing straight before some of you become apoplectic. Covid-19 is real. It’s a nasty virus that can make victims desperately sick. It appears to spread faster and do more damage than the seasonal flu. It viciously attacks the elderly and those with underlying medical issues. It’s a killer. Got…
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Arlington Schools Curb Learning in the Name of “Equity”
by Hans Bader The schools in Arlington County are refusing to teach children anything new out of a concern for “equity.” Although the schools are physically closed due to coronavirus, students have been doing their assignments from home using school-issued electronic devices. Now school officials fear students will learn differently if they come from different…
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COVID-19 Update: Plague Still Intensifying
The COVID-19 epidemic is intensifying in Virginia. Twelve more people died from the virus yesterday, bringing the statewide total 121 yesterday, according to data published this morning by the Virginia Department of Health. Meanwhile, the number of new cases, 467, hit a new daily high, and so did the number of new hospitalizations at 87.…
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Bacon Bits: COVID, COVID, Cartel
More layoffs for healthcare workers. Ballad Health, which provides health care in the Kingsport-Bristol metropolitan area, has announced the furlough of 1,100 employees, including 200 to 250 in Virginia, reports the Herald-Courier. The loss of business due to federal efforts to reduce elective procedures, implemented to conserve personal protective equipment, has been financially devastating. “In…
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Why So Little COVID-19 Testing in Virginia?
by James A. Bacon Bacon’s Rebellion readers can’t seem to agree on much when it comes to the COVID-virus, but there is one area of consensus: Virginia needs to perform more testing. The Old Dominion ranks 12th in the nation for population (8.6 million) but only 22nd as of March 27 for testing. Only one…
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COVID-19 Update: Deaths Soar
Nationally, the experts are saying that the COVID-19 virus shows indications of leveling off. There may be signs of the same here in Virginia, but they are subtle. The latest numbers from the Virginia Department of Health and the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association show a steady increase in the number of confirmed cases, hospitalizations…
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Demand Rapid COVID-19 Testing
by James C. Sherlock Three days ago, I wrote the following: Now it has turned out that by far the most effective and timely test for COVID-19 has been produced for point-of-care (physicians offices, clinics, etc.) testing, not for centralized test labs. That fact has left the hospitals and the administration collectively clueless. … Daily…
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Virginia’s Let-the-Good-Times-Roll Budget
by Kerry Dougherty We’re in a hell of a mess here in Virginia, folks. Oh, other states are in trouble too. But how many of them saw their state legislatures go on a wild spending spree less than a month ago, even while the coronavirus was spreading across the globe? How many of them have…
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COVID-19 Update: Yikes!
I’ve divined hopeful signs in past statistical updates, only to have my hopes dashed. So, take this with a grain of salt. But Virginia may be turning a corner. Consider this nugget from the COVID-19 numbers reported by the Virginia Department of Health this morning: The number of confirmed new patients Tuesday was only a…
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The War against COVID-19: Tales from the Trenches
Small business gap funding. Northern Virginia technology entrepreneur Pete Snyder and his wife have donated $100,000 in “seed money” to create the nonprofit Virginia 30 Day Fund to help businesses meet payroll until federal relief comes through. The fund, reports the Washington Post, will provide up to $3,000 to each approved small business. recipients do…
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Regulated States Have Fewer Hospital Beds
by James C. Sherlock Virginians have read my complaints for years that Virginia’s Certificate of Public Need (COPN) law has artificially reduced supply of healthcare facilities in Virginia, driving up prices and reducing access. Legislators who believe as I do have not won the argument for the past 30 years in Richmond. Unfortunately, I offer…
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Boomergeddon Update: Back on Track to Self-Destruction!
by James A. Bacon It’s been ten years since I published my book, “Boomergeddon,” in which I advanced the argument that the fiscal/monetary system of the United States would collapse into chaos by the late 2020s or so. The nation has continued down the path to perdition, but not at the rate I had expected.…
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COVID-19 Update: Back into Panic Mode
The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has released its COVID-19 update, and I’m back into panic mode. The number of reported new cases leaped to 563 yesterday, the biggest number yet. What I had tentatively described yesterday as a respite in the exponential rate of increase over the weekend turned out to be an artifact…
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To Accelerate Economic Recovery, Delay These Laws
by Chris Braunlich Last week the Virginia Municipal League (VML), representing the Commonwealth’s city, town and county governments, urged Governor Ralph Northam to delay legislation imposing new costs and unfunded mandates on them. They argued that the economic recession and uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic have made both prohibitive. The VML is right. During…
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Why Can’t the Northam Administration Hit the Curveball?
by James C. Sherlock The question in the title is a proxy for nearly every question people ask on this blog. I will try to answer that here so that expectations for the Northam administration’s performance are not are impossible to meet. The key thing to know about the “Virginia Way” in healthcare is that…