Category: Consumer Protection
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Marijuana and Casino Legalization Linked to Increases in Mental Illness and Substance Abuse
by James C. Sherlock We know what is going to happen. Dr. Daniel Carey M.D., Virginia’s Secretary of Health and Human Resources, will soon apply to the federal government for funding for substance abuse prevention grants. He knows. He plans to tell the federal government that additional people, mostly poor and Black, are going to…
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Herring Sues Minority Gas Station Owners for Price-Gouging
by James A. Bacon Attorney General Mark Herring has filed a lawsuit against the owners of a Springfield gas station for charging “unconscionable” prices for gasoline after the temporary shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline in May. “Bad actors will take advantage of times of crises to unreasonably increase prices for necessary goods, like gasoline,” said…
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Delta – 8 THC and the Government’s Marijuana Plans Go “Up in Smoke”
Is cannabis legal in Virginia? Most followers of this blog are aware of the recent legislative efforts in Virginia to decriminalize and then legalize the possession of intoxicating marijuana by adults. Most followers of this blog believe that Virginia is presently in a twilight world where recreational possession of intoxicating marijuana is legal while the…
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Vertically Integrated Health Providers/Insurers – Weak State Oversight But New Federal Authority
by James C. Sherlock In the contest between Virginia’s disorganized attempts to oversee vertically integrated health care and health insurance businesses, Sentara being the most prominent example, and Virginia’s regional monopolies’ defenses against effective regulation and legislation, the monopolies have won. This piece discusses Virginia’s failed legislative and regulatory oversight structures. I will recommend structural…
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COPN Monopolies Depress Income for Virginia Healthcare Professionals Without Lowering Costs
by James C. Sherlock Virginia is among the richest states in the country. We are ranked ninth among states with the highest median household income in the 2019 (latest) Census Bureau American Community Survey. Virginia median household income was $74,222 and the U.S. as a whole was $62,843. But Virginia has a Certificate of…
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The Real Nursing Home Scandal in Virginia
by James C. Sherlock Mike Martz has written three excellent columns that have appeared in the Richmond Times Dispatch starting March 19. Headline of one: “Virginia tries to move ahead of national ‘reform agenda’ for nursing homes.” The gist of it was that a couple of national nursing home industry organizations have taken advantage of the…
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Medicaid and Medicaid Rate Increases Boost Virginia Hospital Profitability
by James C. Sherlock Virginia in 2018 both expanded Medicaid and increased Medicaid reimbursement rates. Those changes orchestrated by Virginia hospitals took effect in 2019 and resulted in a major financial windfall to those same hospitals. I have compared the 2018 and 2019 Hospitals Operating and Total Margins spreadsheets published by the state through…
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Podcast: How the General Assembly Has Changed
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in Agriculture & forestry, Blogs and Blog Administration, Business and Economy, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Consumer Protection, Courts and law, Demographics, Economic development, Energy, Entrepreneurs and Innovation, Environment, General Assembly, Government Finance, Health Care, Housing, Immigration, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race RelationsBy Peter Galuszka I haven’t contributed much to BR lately since I am slammed with non-Virginia work. I did manage to help out on a Podcast about how the General Assembly has changed the state over the last two years as Democrats have gained power. This Podcast is produced by WTJU, the University of Virginia…
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Private Sector Screws Up Vaccine Dispersal
By Peter Galuszka For more than a year, there has been a stream of criticism of government handling of the COVID vaccine. On this blog, there has been a relentless pounding of Gov. Ralph Northam for his role in trying to navigate the pandemic that has so far killed more than 500,000 Americans. This is…
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What Texas’s Crisis Means for Virginia
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in Blogs and Blog Administration, Business and Economy, Consumer Protection, Corruption and Scandals, Culture wars, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Energy, Environment, Government Finance, Insurance, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Money in politics, Political Influence, Politics, Property rights, Public safety & health, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technologyby Peter Galuszka The Texas freeze and ensuing energy disaster has clear lessons for Virginia as it sorts out its energy future. Yet much of the media coverage in Virginia and certainly on Bacon’s Rebellion conveniently leaves out pertinent observations. The statewide freeze in Texas completely fouled up the entire energy infrastructure as natural gas…
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Business as Usual in the Virginia Senate – “Dominion Dick” Saslaw Delivers
by James C. Sherlock Associate Press headline Feb. 15: “Virginia Senate Democrats kill electric rate reform bills.” Fish gotta swim, Senator Richard L. “Dominion Dick” Saslaw gotta be Senate Majority Leader and Chairman of the Virginia Senate Commerce and Labor Committee. Saslaw has received nearly a half million dollars in campaign donations from Dominion Energy and…
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All According to Plan – the Biggest Government Scandal in Virginia History
by James C. Sherlock The Virginia Mercury published an excellent article on the difficulties being encountered in Virginia in scheduling COVID shots. But who could have anticipated the need? Who indeed. This story is part of the single biggest government scandal in Virginia history and the press is either ignorant of the underlying issue or…
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Holding Richmond Public Schools Accountable — Part I
by James C. Sherlock We have discussed here the failures of the City of Richmond Public Schools (RPS) in educating its economically disadvantaged children, as well as the abysmal performance of Black children in its schools. I intend to help readers understand how it manages to fail repeatedly even with major federal funding as…
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Basic Child Literacy Cannot Be too Much to Ask of Richmond City Public Schools
by James C. Sherlock Half of Black 4th graders in Richmond public schools couldn’t read in 2019. That is not OK. It is way past time to demand both better performance and accountability. Clearly neither the city of Richmond nor the Commonwealth has done that effectively. So I have filed formal complaints with the federal…
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Consumer Reports Misleads on Virginia EV Bill
by James C. Sherlock Few media outlets are as influential with their readership as Consumer Reports or as active in soliciting direct contact of public officials on issues that management feels are important to that publication’s political values. That is their right, but false statements in support of their positions is a violation of public…