Category: Labor and Workforce
-
Hey, How about a Richmond-Norfolk Mega-Region?
by James A. Bacon The Hampton Roads and Richmond regions should align themselves as a “mega-region” to gain critical mass in the competition for economic development, maintain Thomas R. Frantz and Nicole L. Pugar in a Times-Dispatch op-ed today. “Cities that want to compete nationally and internationally are blurring boundaries, combining their assets and resources,…
-
Spinning Virginia Coal
By Peter Galuszka There’s a predictable drumbeat in the Old Dominion that is trying to blame Big Coal’s economic weakness on federal regulators. A weekend ago, a group called the Federation for American Coal, Energy and Security, a “grass roots” group with ties to the coal industry, staged a rally in Abingdon attended by about…
-
Why Regulation Is Essential
By Peter Galuszka If there is ever an argument in favor of regulation in today’s anti-government political climate in Virginia, one needs look no farther than the interstate highways. Buoyed by a wave of intercity bus deregulation about 30 years ago, new bus lines started up using older vehicles, no frills and often over-tired drivers.…
-
“It’s for you!”
By Peter Galuszka The coincidences are revealing. How many times have you read this blog and you find that much of the comment seems scripted from afar. The American Legislative Exchange Council, the cabal of right wing business and propagandists who draft laws for harried state legislators, pushes a template for private school tuition tax…
-
UNDERCLASS LOVER
—
by
in Business and Economy, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Electoral process, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Government workers and pensions, Gun rights, Health Care, Housing, Immigration, Infrastructure, Insurance, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, LGBQT, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, Social Services and Entitlements, Taxes, Transportation, Uncategorized, Water-waste waterI want to be an underclass lover Lay it down like a big ole’ brother No mind who gets stuck With the leftover I get my F&%# Without too much workover Don’t care about the deficit Don’t give a damn about the debt ’cause when it comes to lov’in You ain’t seen noth’ yet Ya…
-
Virginia’s Overregulated Occupations
If the Old Dominion truly has the best business climate in the United States, as many Virginians like to think it does, that status surely can be attributable only to the many and perverse way in which other states screw things up. The Commonwealth does so many things wrong that, viewing ourselves in isolation, it…
-
Are We Going Back to Selma?
By Peter Galuszka Imagine it is Alabama in early 1965. The Southern state, like Virginia, has for decades deployed a number of ruses such as poll taxes and literacy tests to prevent U.S. citizens and state residents from voting. These people otherwise would have been qualified voters but also happened to be African-Americans whom the…
-
Clarity Amid Blather on Dulles Rail
By Peter Galuszka It has always been supremely puzzling to me why this blog has taken such a strident and shrill anti-union attitude. The shining example is the smear campaign against project labor agreements (PLAs) and Phase Two of the Silver Line of Metro to Dulles airport. The attacks extend to attempts to liquidate personally…
-
ALEC, the Tea Party and the Feral GOP
—
by
in Business and Economy, Children and Families, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Demographics, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Energy, Environment, Government Finance, Gun rights, Immigration, Insurance, Labor and Workforce, LGBQT, Media, Money in politics, Politics, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Social Services and Entitlements, Taxes, TransportationBy Peter Galuszka Virginia’s conservatives have gone through a spasm of controversy as they struggle to find their message. They desperately need to balance their ideas of fiscal discipline and limited government with a wide spectrum of unrelated hard-right social issues. The clearest evidence yet of the quandary for their soul involves the American Legislative…
-
Dulles Rail: “Good Night, John Boy”
By Peter Galuszka The convoluted schemes of Virginia state politicians to avoid paying for rail service to Dulles International Airport are as frustrating as they are self-defeating and unfair. Just a few days ago, it seemed that the General Assembly would consider adding $300 million to extend Metrorail to Dulles on the Silver Line when…
-
A Positive Light on Virginia’s For-Profit Colleges
Michele Claibourn with the Weldon Cooper Demographics & Workforce Blog took a look at the same data that I did in my previous post and made a very interesting comparison, as seen in the image at left. The top graphic compares the four- and six-year graduation rates of Virginia’s public colleges, private colleges and for-profit…
-
Virginia: Best State to Make a Living
MoneyRates.com has ranked Virginia the “Best State to Make a Living” in its annual study , beating out Washington state, Texas and Illinois to snag the top spot. The ranking considers four factors: Average Income, which increased in Virginia over the past year; Cost of Living based on ACCRA Cost of Living Index, which slightly…
-
Complacency Check: Virginia’s Employment Picture
We can all take some comfort in the fact that Virginia’s unemployment rate has fallen to 5.8%, a three-year low. Only a year ago, unemployment was 6.4%, and it had been as high as 7.2%. Clearly, the economy is strengthening. It would be beastly not to savor the gains for a least a moment. So,…
-
Richmond’s Arab Spring
—
by
in Business and Economy, Children and Families, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Demographics, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Electoral process, Energy, Government Finance, Health Care, Immigration, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, LGBQT, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Social Services and Entitlements, UncategorizedBy Peter Galuszka What seems one of the wildest General Assembly sessions that ended on Saturday was actually a healthy display of democracy in action. It could presage a fundamental way that things are done in Richmond. True, a new Republican and conservative majority in the House of Delegates pushed odious wedge issues at the…
-
¡Viva la Revolución!
—
by
in Business and Economy, Children and Families, Consumer Protection, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Electoral process, Energy, Government workers and pensions, Gun rights, Health Care, Housing, Immigration, Infrastructure, Insurance, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, LGBQT, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, Social Services and Entitlements, Taxes, Transportation, Uncategorized, Water-waste waterEstimado Jefe! Usted nunca debe salir de la ciudad, señor! Ahora que usted está ausente, la revolución comienza! Amados lectores de ya no ver los artículos que glorifican a los ricos y privilegiados. Vamos a ayudar a la tierra y los pobres y redistribuir los fondos de cobertura. ¡Viva la Revolución!