Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Bacon Bits: Government, Race, and Poverty

—

by

James A. Bacon
in , ,

Whites need not apply.

The initial draft of a Loudoun County Public Schools “student equity ambassador program” barred white students from admission to the program. The selection guidelines said specifically, “This opportunity is open to all Students of Color,” reports The Virginia Star. The guideline was deleted after whistleblowers called public attention to it, but the draft reveals the mindset of the Critical Race Theorists running Loudoun public schools. “Anti-racism” is transmogrifying into anti-white racism before our very eyes.

Your tax dollars not at work. Virginia’s unemployment insurance program ranks worsts in the country for processing claims that require staff review. The backlog has increased to more than 90,000 cases, reports The Virginia Mercury. Additionally, Virginia was the second-to-last state in the country to issue $300 weekly supplements authorized by President Trump. State officials attribute the delays in a decision early in the COVID-19 epidemic to prioritize helping people submit and complete applications that can be automatically validated using state payroll data; 86% of routine applications have received their first payment within three weeks, the fifth best in the nation.

Testing the guaranteed-minimum-wage theory. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney has announced a pilot program to give $500 a month to 18 families over the next two years. Recipients will be randomly selected from families that no longer qualify for public benefits programs. The Robins Foundation, a local nonprofit, is splitting the $480,000 bill for the test with the city. “Poverty is symptom of centuries of injustice, not a result of personal failure. Richmond must lead the way in lifting hard-working families up,” Stoney said. “This is part of something much bigger: a national movement toward economic stability and the fight for a living wage.” The program will test the theory that families will use the extra money to improve their situations or avoid spiraling further into poverty. Let’s hope the city is keeping close track of the results to determine if the program works as designed.

— JAB

Share this article

ADVERTISEMENT

(comments below)

ADVERTISEMENT

(comments below)

Comments

16 responses to “Bacon Bits: Government, Race, and Poverty”

  1. James Wyatt Whitehead V Avatar
    James Wyatt Whitehead V

    The good news in Loudoun: parents have formed a watch dog group that is addressing the extremes of the critical race theory. I applaud this development. My old colleagues in Loudoun are in a state of demoralization however. The last 8 months of disaster in public education are taking a toll on many able educators.

    Guaranteed Income in Richmond. Glad they are using city money and philanthropy money. It will be interesting to see if socio economic data supports this form of socialism. Note to those 18 families. UPS is hiring. 21 bucks an hour. 30 bucks on hour for overtime. 250 bucks a day if you can swing a 10 hour shift. No education or job skills required.

    1. Steve Haner Avatar
      Steve Haner

      Oh to be one of the fortunate 18 families, getting that extra $6K. No question, guaranteed income ’tis the Coming Thing. If offered instead of the cafeteria of other forms of assistance (SNAP, Medicaid, TANF), it would be worth discussing. But it will be offered in addition to…Don’t forget Virginia really screws low income folks with its income tax and the state will be getting its share of those payments (or are they tax free, too?)

      1. James Wyatt Whitehead V Avatar
        James Wyatt Whitehead V

        The philanthropy should bear that burden too if they are serious about Guaranteed Incomes. I believe Sacramento experimented with this and abandoned the cause.

        1. WayneS Avatar
          WayneS

          Canada did a pilot study in Manitoba almost 50 years ago. They abandoned the idea as well.

  2. djrippert Avatar
    djrippert

    Speaking of schools, the Superintendent of Richmond’s public schools says that he is not optimistic about in-person education resuming in Richmond after the winter break. This stands in contrast to two adjacent school districts – Henrico and Chesterfield – which do intend to resume in-person classes after the winter break. Richmond’s school superintendent, Jason Kamras, tried to defend his comments. “Richmond is not Henrico and it is not Chesterfield,” Kamras said according to WTVR. “We are very different places.” Apparently, Kamras didn’t elaborate on how the City of Richmond is so different from Henrico and Chesterfield Counties.

    In the mind of those on the left Donald Trump should be pilloried for his failure to implement a national response to the Coronavirus outbreak. However, those same lefties think it’s fine and dandy that Virginia lacks a state-wide or even metropolitan-area wide response to school re-openings in the face of COVID-19.

    It’s very hard to understand how Henrico County, Chesterfield County and the City of Richmond can reach such different conclusions about the re-opening of public schools. If it is dangerous to re-open then Gov Northam should intervene and keep Chesterfield and Henrico closed. If it is safe to re-open then Northam should insist that Richmond re-open so that the enhanced educational results of in-person teaching can be afforded the youth of Richmond.

    In places like New York there is an active public dialog between the governor and the mayors of major cities regarding how to contain the virus. In Virginia the governor is AWOL and unelected teachers’ associations seem to trump mayors and county supervisors when it comes to a systematic approach to public school education.

    https://www.fox5ny.com/news/gov-cuomo-orders-nyc-schools-in-covid-hot-spots-to-close

    1. James Wyatt Whitehead V Avatar
      James Wyatt Whitehead V

      The city school teachers are holding the classrooms hostage. They will not open unless “His Excellency” gets involved. Kamras can’t have school, not enough staff that will show up for in person work. Northam’s leash holders would never permit him to take unilateral action. Kamras would never be able to find enough warm bodies that are qualified to replace the paid teachers sitting on the virtual sidelines.

  3. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Experts are now confirming what some of us posited earlier in the year–it should be pretty safe to have in-class education for elementary school students, which are the ones that benefit the least from virtual schooling. This is from what some of this blog feel is a bastion of COVID scare tactics, the NYT, no less. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/22/health/coronavirus-schools-children.html

    1. Steve Haner Avatar
      Steve Haner

      See Martha? The NYT says it, so we can finally accept it as true….even though CDC was saying it six months ago….and in Europe they proved it already by doing it.

      Henrico will be moving some of its elementary students back in a couple of weeks, not later as DJ said. And on a limited basis some special needs students are already there. With the coming surge, I doubt it will hold, but I may be pleasantly surprised.

    2. Nancy_Naive Avatar
      Nancy_Naive

      Heavens to get Murgatroyd, Dick. Whatever were you thinking, citing the NYT as an authority on this site? These people believe QAnon.

      1. WayneS Avatar
        WayneS

        You’ve made a couple of references to this recently, each time while insulting conservatives, so guess I should ask: What is a QAnon? If I am going to believe something I think I at least have a right to know what it is I am believing.

        1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
          Dick Hall-Sizemore

          QAnon is a conspiracy theory that posits that there is a cabal of Satan-worhipping pedophiles that is running a global child-trafficking operation and that President Trump battling against. The theory also asserts that many Democrats are associated with this cabal.

          1. James Wyatt Whitehead V Avatar
            James Wyatt Whitehead V

            Here is the latest Q link. If you love conspiracy theories this is the mothership. Makes Oliver Stone look very tame.
            https://qanon.pub/

          2. WayneS Avatar
            WayneS

            Wow. I have not heard of this before. We truly live in strange times.

            Thank you, I think…

            As far as N_N accusing me of believing such nonsense? I sold my dueling pistols, so I guess I’ll just shrug and write it off as more of the arrogant, condescending, bullshit his inferiority complex requires him to spew. 🙂

          3. James Wyatt Whitehead V Avatar
            James Wyatt Whitehead V

            Yeah Mr. Wayne that Qanon is wild stuff. I don’t understand a bit of it. It seems to have a big following. It reminds me of the gimmick William Miller of the Millerites used back in the 1840s. Huge following about the coming of the end of the world. His paper publish a collage of current and historical facts with the Bible sprinkled on top. The movement actually rocked Wall Street. Of course Miller ended up as an exposed Hoaxer.

        2. Nancy_Naive Avatar
          Nancy_Naive

          These people. Are you these people? So be it.

  4. Stuboy1947 Avatar
    Stuboy1947

    OMG! “Poverty is symptom of centuries of injustice, not a result of personal failure.” So now we are teaching people whatever happens is not their fault! If this is really true how did Stoney become mayor? And Obama president? The sooner we get people to take responsibility for their lives the better our country will be. So I hope the $500 makes a difference. I hope it helps those family learn to succeed. I hope we know the real results of this experiment.

Leave a Reply

Read More