Category: General Assembly
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Capitol Fortress
by Dick Hall-Sizemore With the opening of the new General Assembly Building this month came other reminders of how the world has changed. It was not that long ago that staff and tourists could walk unimpeded into the Capitol building. One could drive into the circle beyond the gate fronting on Grace Street to pick…
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Deep Dive: Casinos, Highways, and Ignoring RVA Voters
by Jon Baliles Republished with permission from RVA 5×5. They say the past is prologue and that if you don’t learn from history, you are doomed to repeat it, among other famous quotes that have stood the test of time. And they have a factor of truth and lesson in them. And so is the…
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“Completely Ignored by Our School”: Roanoke College Swimmers, Part 4
by Scott Dreyer At Hotel Roanoke on October 5, members of the Roanoke College women’s swim team calmly and clearly delivered blistering indictments of what they described as failed, unresponsive leadership at their school, the NCAA, and USA Swimming. Some of their gut-wrenching stories about being forced to train, compete, and share facilities with a…
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National Academy of Sciences Offers Superb Recommendations for Fixing Virginia’s Nursing Home Crisis
by James C. Sherlock Sometimes, we need to listen. I just finished the 806-page 2022 report “The National Imperative to Improve Nursing Home Quality: Honoring Our Commitment to Residents, Families, and Staff” by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). It is downloadable at the link. That study and report were utterly professional and thorough, as…
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Roanoke College Swimmers Stand Up for Equality
by Scott Dreyer At noon on Thursday, October 5, the Hotel Roanoke’s Washington Lecture Hall was the scene of a press conference featuring ten members of the Roanoke College women’s swim team. Aided by Riley Gaines and several women’s rights groups, they sought to shine a spotlight on what they portrayed as gross negligence and…
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Stop All Aid to Palestinians and Other Terrorists. Every Bit of It
by Kerry Dougherty On Saturday morning Hamas terrorists unleashed Hell on innocent Israelis. As Israel’s ambassador to the US pointed out, given the population of Israel 600 dead Israelis is the equivalent of 20,000 dead Americans. This was Israel’s 9-11. Their Pearl Harbor. Some say it was the most deadly day in history for the…
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Democrats Target Virginia House, Senate Seats
by Jeanine Martin The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) believes there are 17 safe Democrat state Senate seats in the General Assembly. (There are a total of 40 seats in the state Senate.) Democrats need to pick up 4 additional seats to keep their majority. To do that they are putting millions into these races:…
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A Progressive Dirty Trick: Tell Republican Voters that the Democrat is a Republican
by the staff of Liberty Unyielding Voting is underway in Virginia’s legislative elections, where early voting started on September 22. To try to win a very close race, progressives are telling Republican voters that the Republican candidate is a Democrat, and the Democratic candidate is a Republican. This is occurring in House District 97, which…
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Which Party?
by Dick Hall-Sizemore I was at the Virginia State Fair this morning. The state Republican Party has this “booth.” It is a good idea. I don’t know if the Democrats have one because I did not walk around the whole area. The Republicans have a good location—right next to the main Commonwealth Pavilion, where there…
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DOE Response to Average Teacher Salary Issues
by Dick Hall-Sizemore My article on average teacher salaries must have struck a nerve. This morning I received an answer to my inquiry from the Department of Education (DOE). In short, DOE disavows any responsibility for the accuracy of the data in the report it submitted to the General Assembly. The Office of Communications declares,…
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LaRock Launches Senate Write-In Campaign
by Jeanine Martin A message from Republican Del. Dave LaRock: “I believe people are tired of Democrats destroying our Country and our communities and trying to run our lives. The people of Senate District 1, me included, deserve to be represented by a reliable conservative, someone who shares their values and can be trusted to…
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Virginia Republicans Respond to Lies About Abortion
by Jeanine Martin Democrats mean what they say: abortions allowed up until the moment of birth and for some, like former Governor Ralph Northam, even after a child is born. Currently Democrats are claiming Republicans want to ban abortion in Virginia. For instance, the excellent Republican candidate for the State Senate in the 31st district,…
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A Case Against Further Tax Cuts
by Dick Hall-Sizemore After more than a decade of state budget revenue shortfalls and concomitant budget cuts, one would think there would be smiles all round at the news of revenues coming in substantially above the projections, resulting in a healthy general fund surplus. Incongruously, that was not the case. Republicans seemed to be outraged…
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Transparency? Hah!
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Maybe it was the weirdness of amending the biennial budget after Year 2 of the biennium had started. Maybe all the money they had to spend made them dizzy. Maybe they were in a hurry because many of them were in the middle of re-election campaigns. Whatever the reason, the General Assembly…
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Thunder in the Pulpits
by Michael Giere “But this was not always so. In fact, for much of our history, it has been just the opposite. Godly men and women who were fearless, bold, strong, and savvy have been central to the American experience.” There has never been anything in history like the US Constitution, signed on September 17,…