Author: James A. Bacon
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Double-Standard Bonds
by Jon Baliles One of the eternal mysteries of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s governing structure is the separate treatment of counties and cities. We are the only state in the country that has the screwy system of independent cities that are not part of a county government or structure. But that’s not where the screwiness…
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Another Key Virginia Republican Rejects Trump
by James A. Bacon No question about it: the Democrats won the expectations game. Republicans convinced themselves that they would sweep to victory in a Red Wave Tuesday, but they fell drastically short. It appears that the Rs will gain control of the House of Representatives and they still have a shot at squeaking out…
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Aftermath…The Midterm Elections
by Kerry Dougherty In the aftermath of the midterms there is gnashing of teeth among Republican voters who wanted a red wave. But, hey, we did our part in southeastern Virginia. We flipped the 2nd District congressional seat and some of the woke Virginia Beach School Board. Well done, neighbors! On Tuesday I met Mike…
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Trump’s Done, and It’s Patently Obvious
The American electorate spoke loud and clear on Tuesday – they want to move on and will reward those who effectively govern. by Chris Saxman *Phone rings* “What’s up?”, I answered recognizing the caller ID’d number. “He’s done, right?” came the question. “Yup, he’s done.” The caller hung up. But much to my astonishment (and…
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Parental-Rights Candidates Fared Well Tuesday
by James A. Bacon It has been the conventional wisdom for some time now that Governor Glenn Youngkin’s winning gambit in his race against Terry McAuliffe was tapping into the parental rights movement. Parents furious about the injection of wokism into public schools were emerging as a new political dynamic, and Youngkin was the first…
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Del. Tim Anderson Wants Virginia Republicans To Divorce Trump
by Kerry Dougherty Let’s be honest. The Trump years were exhausting. Those who voted for Donald Trump, supported his policies and didn’t regret their votes — the alternatives were Hillary and Biden — were weary by the end of it. Trump could be charming and funny. He could also be vicious and petty. He treated…
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Winners and Losers: 2022 Mid-Terms Edition
by Shaun Kenney The first wall to fall was pushed over in 1980 in the Polish shipyards. Later, other symbolic walls came down, and the Germans, of course, tore down the literal wall in Berlin. The fall of the Berlin Wall makes for nice pictures. But it all started in the Gdansk shipyards. — Lech…
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School System in Meltdown Approves $1,000 Employee Bonuses
by James A. Bacon Two months ago, citing a 71% rate of chronic absenteeism in Fredericksburg public schools, Bacon’s Rebellion columnist Jim Sherlock called for the resignation of the city’s superintendent, Marci Catlett. Looks as though she’ll be getting a bonus instead. The Fredericksburg School Board approved Monday drawing from federal COVID-relief funds to pay $1,000…
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Red Ripple
by James A. Bacon So much for the red wave, much less the red tsunami, or the red once-every-60-million-years-asteroid-extinction that would obliterate the Democratic Party that a few delusional conservative bloggers imagined. The mid-term elections resulted in a red ripple. As of this writing, it looks like Republicans will win a narrow majority in the…
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Virginia Business Tax Ranking Falls Again
Virginia continues its long side in tax competitiveness this year with a No. 26 ranking in the Tax Foundation’s “2023 State Business Tax Climate Index.” That’s a decline from 25th place last year, 24th place in 2021, and 23rd place in 2020. As recently as 2017, Virginia’s business tax climate ranked 16th. After eight years…
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The Woke Never Rest… Because It’s Hard to Keep Up
James Madison University already has a Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) program. Now three WGSS professors are proposing creation of an “LGBTQ” studies minor, reports The Breeze student newspaper. The program, which must undergo a lengthy approval process, would give students “access to a quality minor that would give them insight into queer lives,”…
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“The Fortune in the Book”
Fortune in the Book from Pacific Legal Foundation on Vimeo. by James A. Bacon A new Pacific Legal Foundation video tells the story of parents who fought changes to the meritocratic admissions policy at Fairfax County’s Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, rated the best public high school in the country, in…
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Vote!
What can I say? Kevin Bacon is way cooler than Jim Bacon (although, I’ve got to say, he’s looking a bit more ragged in this tweet than the young guy who starred in “Footloose.”) And if he tells you to get out and vote, you’re more likely listen to him than me. So… listen to…
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Optional SATs Are Here to Stay
by James A. Bacon There are two broad trends driving change in the admissions policies of higher-ed institutions these days. The first is the declining number of students enrolling in colleges and universities. The other is the increasing philosophical commitment to increase demographic diversity, which in practice means admitting more “under-represented minorities.” Arising from the…