Author: James A. Bacon
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At Last, a Transportation Plan from Cuccinelli
by James A. Bacon Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli has unveiled his long-awaited transportation plan. It’s a mixed bag — it has some good ideas and some not-so-good ideas. But at least he has a plan. As far as I can tell, his rival Terry McAuliffe has articulated no transportation-related ideas beyond, “Build,…
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More Pandering for the Meals Tax
by James A. Bacon The Times-Dispatch reports more puke-inducing rhetoric from the pro-meals tax forces in Henrico County. This time, the intelligence-insulting blather comes from Yes 4 Henrico’s Kids, a group that has solicited $145,000 from business groups to tout the tax. “I think we’re going to win” the referendum in November, said Laura Lafayette,…
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An Inquiry into the Origins of Social Disorder
by James A. Bacon The conventional wisdom in housing-reform circles these days emphasizes the need to bust up concentrations of poverty. When Mayor Dwight Jones recently explained his thinking behind Richmond’s latest plans to inject mixed-income housing into the City of Richmond’s desolate East End, he said he wanted to change the culture of poverty. Poor people…
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Let’s Get Creative with Bus Stops!
Discussion continues in the comments section of this blog on the subject of Arlington County’s $1 million bus stops. I have not inquired into the precise reasons for this travesty, but I would suggest what part of the solution is — more competition. Designing and erecting a bus shelter is not like raising the Burj…
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Grappling with the Sharing Economy
When historians look back upon the cultural history of the United States, they may well conclude that the greatest contribution of the Millennial Generation was its embrace of the sharing economy. Previous generations of Americans assumed as a bedrock principle that it made sense to own their major personal assets: cars and houses. Young people…
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Building a Culture of Cycling
Arlington County has set the goal of becoming the most bicycle-friendly community on the East Coast, and it has devoted serious resources to make it happen. The task takes more than building bike lanes and painting sharrows — it takes changing the culture of transportation, as explained in this video produced by the county. The…
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What Happened to Voter Suppression?
The McDonnell administration has restored the civil rights of 6,874 non-violent felons. That’s an all-time high for a Virginia gubernatorial administration, claims a statement from the Governor’s Office. But there is more work to be done, so Governor Bob McDonnell will include money in his proposed budget next year to supplement the work of six…
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How Not to Build a Space Program
Barely a month after its successful launch of a robotic spacecraft from the rocket launch facility at Wallops Island — a tremendous P.R. coup for the Virginia-based space program — Orbital Sciences Corp. is suing the state of Virginia for $16.5 million to recover cost overruns incurred during construction of the launch pad. Space News…
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The Folly of Expanding Medicaid
by James A. Bacon As Richmond lawmakers ponder whether or not to expand Virginia’s Medicaid program, the center-left Commonwealth Institute has made another pitch for the program. Their paper, “Medicaid is Far from Broken,” creates plausible talking points to bolster anyone inclined to accept the federal government’s offer to cover the vast majority of the…
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The Case for Higher Speed Rail
by James A. Bacon Yes, it is possible to be a conservative and support high-speed rail in the United States. Indeed, in a paper prepared for the American Public Transportation Association, “High-Speed Rail: A Conservative Appraisal,” conservatives William S. Lind and Glen D. Bottoms have outlined a practical, disciplined approach to build a better passenger rail system. …
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Bacon Stymied in Insincere Attempt to Enroll in Obamacare
Just for yucks, I tried signing up for Obamacare. Not that I wanted the insurance — I just wanted to see what happened. Or didn’t happen. As it turns out, I didn’t get past the account sign-up stage. Here was my message: Anybody remember Hurricane Katrina? According to liberals like Bill Maher, that fiasco was…
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Developing Transportation ROI Metrics: Easier Said than Done
Calling for a “consumer-based transportation model,” House Speaker William J. Howell intends to submit a bill in the upcoming session of the General Assembly to base project funding decisions upon “specific, quantifiable and measurable metrics.” The hope is that money will start flowing to projects not on the basis of politics and ideology but on the amount…
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Boomergeddon Three Years Later: Still Running on Schedule
by James A. Bacon With the non-stop news coverage about the federal budget and debt-ceiling crisis, I’ve been thinking a lot about the Boomergeddon scenario I wrote about back in 2010. Since I predicted a financial collapse of the federal government within 15 to 20 years, a number of significant developments have occurred. Congress enacted…
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Testing the Limits
With 22 projects in the pipeline, Tony Kinn and his team are garnering national recognition for their work on public-private partnerships. They’re just getting started.
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Democracy in Action: Henrico County Style
by James A. Bacon Henrico County officials doubled down last night on their claim that a 4% meals tax would be paid largely by out-of-state residents. Previously, they had contended that 40% of the tax would be paid by non-resident workers and visitors to the county. Now, in light of new data provided by Richmond…