Author: James A. Bacon
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Celebrating a Fine Virginia Tradition
I don’t watch many movies on the big screen but I won’t miss this: “Lawless.” The movie is based upon a true story about moonshiners in Prohibition-era Franklin County, Va. Best line from the trailer: “I’m a Bondurant. We don’t lay down for nobody.” Local boys fighting the revenuers. What’s not to like? — JAB
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Time to End the Demon-Fuel Mandate
Gov. Bob McDonnell joined six other governors earlier this week in asking President Obama to waive the ethanol quotes mandated by the federal Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS). His letter to the Environmental Protection Agency earlier in the month follows a similar plea from Virginia senators Mark Warner and Jim Webb earlier this month. The RFS…
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Hey, While We’re at It, Could We Make the Gekko Virginia’s State Lizard?
Looks like the Virginia Department of Transportation will finally start generating some serious sponsorship revenue to help support its 43 Interstate rest stops. CRH Catering Co., Inc., of Connellsville, Pa., will pay the commonwealth $2 million annually to help offset the rest stops’ $21 million in annual operating costs. As part of the deal GEICO…
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The Densification of Richmond
Pressure is intensifying to redevelop Richmond’s retail enclaves at greater densities. But locals love the Libbie & Grove shopping district just the way it is. Is there a way to satisfy both?
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The Private Sector Strikes Again — Flying Turbines! (No Joke.)
by James A. Bacon I have inveighed repeatedly against the folly of pumping billions of public dollars into solar- and wind-powered projects, whether by means of direct subsidies, loan guarantees or the electric-utility mandates known as Renewable Portfolio Standards. Building and maintaining a vast, expensive energy infrastructure based on uneconomic technology saddles government and consumers…
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So Begins the Fifth Battle of Manassas
The McDonnell administration wants to build a highway through the Manassas National Battlefield Park and foes are mobilizing to black the initiative. Call the coming clash the Third Battle of Manassas. Actually, no, don’t. The third battle occurred when mega-developer John. T. “Til” Hazel tried to build a giant mall next to the battlefield back…
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The Great Jobs-Skills Mismatch
by James A. Bacon Much of the unemployment in the United States is tied to cyclical economic factors like swings in housing starts and industrial production but some of it stems from a mismatch between the jobs available and the skills of unemployed workers, contends Brookings Institution scholar Jonathan Rothwell in a new article, “Education,…
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A Riposte to Rippert
by James A. Bacon Blog contributor Don Rippert and I have been engaging in an invigorating tit-for-tat in the comments section of the blog. I thought the subject matter of sufficient interest to elevate it to the level of a full-fledged blog post. The topic: Should Northern Virginia be compensated for the failure of downstate…
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Stupid Politician Tricks
In recent years Virginia legislators have relied increasingly upon “an array of budget gimmicks, accounting sleights of hand, and one-time deals” to balance the budget, contends the Commonwealth Institute in a new paper, “Shell Game: Virginia Balances its Budget with Cuts and Accounting Sleights of Hand.” Authors Sara Okos and Michael Cassidy have made the…
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The Political Economy of Utility Bicycling
by James A. Bacon Last week Richmond Times-Dispatch Publisher Tom Silvestri asked in a commentary what plans local governments had to make their communities more bicycle friendly. The City of Richmond and County of Henrico responded. Here’s the bottom line: By the year 2015 Richmond plans to have 140 miles of dedicated bike lanes and…
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The Virginia-Maryland Border War
by James A. Bacon The fiercest rivalry in American politics today may not be between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, suggests Stephen Moore in today’s Wall Street Journal. It may be between the governors of Maryland and Virginia: Martin O’Malley and Bob McDonnell. Not only do the two governors and their states vie for bragging…
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Faltering Innovation and America’s Grim Economic Future
A confluence of trends will reduce economic growth in the United States to half — or less — of the rate that has prevailed for the past 150 years, argues Robert J. Gordon, an economics professor at Northwestern University in a new paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, “Is U.S. Economic Growth…
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“Value Capture” as Rail-to-Dulles Financing Tool
The decision of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors to fund its $270 million share of the Rail-to-Dulles project by taxing landowners around its two METRO stations could create a prototype for financing transportation projects in the future, argues Jay Corbalis, regional coordinator of LOCUS at Smart Growth America. “The importance of the vote —…
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Do Incentives Buy More Investment… or Better Rankings?
by James A. Bacon It has long been evident that the actions of college and universities boards are informed by the U.S. News & World Report rankings of higher education. If the U.S. News methodology gives brownie points for greater selectivity in admitting students, colleges and universities will adjust their policies to appear more exclusive.…