Author: James A. Bacon
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Lawmakers Coddling Hospital Monopolies
by Jim Sherlock My last essay, “Runaway Costs and Hospital Monopolies,” discussed the fact that Virginians who get their health insurance at work and through the Affordable Care Act website pay the highest premiums in the country. We traced those costs to a number of sources, including the Certificate of Public Need (COPN), Virginia Department…
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Poll Showing Majority Support for COPN Is Meaningless
by James A. Bacon A new Mason-Dixon poll of 625 registered voters commissioned by the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association (VHHA) finds that Virginians prefer to keep the Certificate of Public Need program by a three-to-one margin. “Overall, nearly two-thirds of Virginians (62 percent) express support for the current health care delivery system with COPN…
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Bacon Bits: Wild and Crazy Edition
First the wild… The Virginia state Senate passed a bill, SB 657, earlier this week that would allow a person who changed his or her sex to have a new birth certificate issued, reports the Associated Press. Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, who sponsored the bill, says transgendered constituents have reported issues when leasing apartments, applying…
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Accidental Post Retracted
Note to readers: I accidentally published a post, “How Lawmakers Coddle Hospital Monopolies,” by guest contributor Jim Sherlock who was still in the process of editing and fact-checking. I have pulled it from the blog, and will re-publish when it meets our editorial standards. My apologies for the confusion. — JAB
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Legislators, Don’t Forget: Virginia Has 4th Lowest Violent Crime Rate in Country
by James A. Bacon In General Assembly action yesterday, Democrats spiked a slew of Republican bills to relax gun laws and debated a so-called “red flag” law that would allow authorities to remove firearms from persons deemed “a substantial risk of injury to himself or others.” The operating supposition behind Democratic gun-control initiatives is that…
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A Spending Boost We Won’t Object to: Medicaid Fraud Prevention
by James A. Bacon As legislators ponder the next two-year budget, which incorporates a $2.2 billion-per-year increase in spending (14%) in FY 2022 compared to the current fiscal year, they would do well to take into account a new Medicaid scam. Medicaid covers expenses categorized as “mental health skill building.” These mental-health services are particularly…
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Richmond During the Rally: The Safest City in Virginia
by James A. Bacon Twenty-two thousand armed citizens packed the streets of downtown Richmond yesterday, and not one shot was fired. No one was killed. No one was injured. There was only one arrest — of a 21-year-old woman who refused, in violation of a prohibition against masks, to remove a bandana from her face.…
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Answer Basic Questions, Please, Before Demanding Mo’ Money
by James A. Bacon Some public schools in Virginia, especially in inner cities and rural areas, are in disgraceful condition. Rainwater leaks into classrooms, ceiling tiles are falling, mold is growing, and rats are scurrying. We can all agree that something needs to be done. But what? How widespread are these problems? Are they so…
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Bacon Bits: In Non Gun-Related News…
In the Virginia political world, everyone’s attention is riveted today upon the gun-rights rally in Richmond. We are all hoping that everyone behaves himself and the event remains peaceful. But other things of interest are happening around the Commonwealth. Washington Metro ridership back up. The years-long downward slide in Washington Metro ridership reversed itself in…
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Runaway Costs and Hospital Monopolies
by James C. Sherlock Healthcare costs are crowding out other spending by citizens and governments. All Virginians know this. Few understand, though, that their elected leaders in Richmond, who are recipients of huge campaign contributions from hospital interests, bear a significant share of the blame and some are actively working to increase costs further. Virginia…
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Tensions Build as Gun-Rights Rally Nears
by James A. Bacon The gears are moving for the Second Amendment rally at the state Capitol scheduled for tomorrow. Buses are loading up with protesters. Law enforcement authorities are planning their crowd-control measures. Despite professions of everyone in charge that they want the event to take place peacefully, there are many disquieting signs. The…
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Early-Release-For-Murderers Bill Advances
A Virginia Senate committee voted Friday 9-to-5 (largely along party lines) to make many murderers eligible for release when they reach age 50. SB 624 effectively reinstates parole for many long-time inmates, even though the Virginia legislature abolished parole in 1995. The bill also guts Virginia’s three-strikes law, which required life without parole for offenders…
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Booming Telework Spurs Job Growth in Rural Virginia
by James A. Bacon The Internet, pundits long predicted, would emancipate people from the necessity of living near where they worked. The connectivity provided by cell phones, laptops and broadband would allow people to plug in at home…. or even while lounging by the pool or on the beach. It was a nice fantasy, but…
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Education or Indoctrination?
by James A. Bacon No question: The Holocaust was one of the defining events of modern history. An estimated six million Jews and five million others (Poles and Roma, mostly) died under the Nazi regime’s genocidal programs. No question: Ignorance of the Holocaust among American youth is startling and dismaying. A 2018 survey of Millennials…
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Will Middle-Aged Killers Get Early Release?
by Hans Bader A Virginia bill, SB 624, would make middle-aged murderers and rapists eligible for “geriatric release.” It would do so even though “geriatric” is precisely about being old. It is defined in the dictionary as “old, elderly,” or “relating to, or appropriate for elderly people.” Under SB 624, a prison inmate would be eligible for…