Category: Political Influence
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Leave Arlington’s Confederate Memorial Intact
by Phil Leigh Arlington National Cemetery’s Confederate Memorial should remain intact. Although four of the first seven cotton states arguably seceded from the union over slavery, they did not cause the Civil War. They had no purpose to overthrow the federal government. After forming the seven state Confederacy in February 1861, they promptly sent commissioners…
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The Naming Commission’s Diktats
by Donald Smith The Congressional Naming Commission (CNC) was authorized as part of the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act. Its eight commissioners included two retired Army generals, a retired Navy admiral and a retired Marine Corps general. It also had academics with imposing credentials. One commissioner is a professor emeritus at United States Military Academy…
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Suggestions to Ease Virginia’s Housing Crisis without Additional State Money
by James C. Sherlock The Richmond Times-Dispatch, on cue, wrote in an editorial the other day that more state money was needed to fund local housing. Maybe. But that is not the first place to look. The governor wants to condition development aid to local communities on their reforming land-use policies to permit more construction.…
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More on Virginia Sheriffs
by Dick Hall-Sizemore This article is a follow-up to Jim McCarthy’s article on sheriffs. My main purpose is to provide some details and more context to the discussion of the position of sheriff in Virginia. The sheriff is a “constitutional officer.” Article VII, Section 4 of the state constitution directs that in each county and…
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$8 Million a Year for Higher-Ed’s Non-Lobbyist Lobbyists
by James A. Bacon When Donald J. Finley retired from the Virginia Business Higher Education Council (VBHEC) earlier this year, Virginia’s higher-ed industry lost one of its most effective advocates in Richmond. As Charles Kelley with McGuire Woods Consulting tweeted at the time: “Don is the best example of a true public servant, and he’s…
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New Fed Policy Would Hide CMS Data on Patient Safety Records of Hospitals
by James C. Sherlock One of the most disturbing commentaries I have read in a long time relating to federal efforts to improve hospital patient safety reports a major step backwards in that program. I have written here many times of the power of the hospitals over Virginia’s politics. A proposed new federal rule shows…
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Virtual Education in K-12 Public Schools – A False and Corrupt Narrative in Virginia
by James C. Sherlock Public employee interests with personal stakes in the outcome are lying by omission in public discussions of virtual schooling in Virginia. Their message was published in Suzanne Munson’s column in the Richmond Times Dispatch on Jun 25th. The VDOE has made a commendable start with online learning through its Virtual Virginia…
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The Defense Production Act as a Political Tool to Boost Solar Farms
by James C. Sherlock We have had multiple discussions, good ones, on the issues surrounding solar farms in Virginia. Jim Bacon wrote an excellent column about it in February of 2021 titled “The Political Economy of Solar Farms.” It was good then and prescient as of yesterday. He wrote another one two days earlier. From that…
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Unionize Virginia’s Worst Nursing Home Chains
by James C. Sherlock If you go back to the series of articles I published here in October of 2021, you can refresh your memory on the dangers represented by Virginia’s worst nursing home chains. If you look at the complete spreadsheet of every Virginia nursing home from that data sorted by ownership, the bad…
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Not the Normal Governor Means Not the Normal Ethics
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Glenn Youngkin recently declared, “I guess I’m maybe not the normal governor. I think one of the differences is that I am an outsider and I come in with ideas on how we communicate.” We are beginning to find out how true that is. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that one of the…
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Know the Terms of Surrender in Negotiating With Teachers Unions
by James C. Sherlock Franklin Roosevelt thought collective bargaining agreements incompatible with public sector work. Today’s left, unburdened by the public interest, finds FDR’s principles at best quaint. Since May of last year collective bargaining is legal in Virginia for local government employees by local option, but for not state employees. The issues most people think…
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A Time for Conservatives to Speak Out
by James C. Sherlock Sometimes in life we come to a major fork in deciding who we are and who we are going to be going forward. Donald Trump was quoted in the New York Times as having on Tuesday “praised Mr. Putin’s aggression as “genius” and called the Russian leader “very savvy” for describing…
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Hands Off My Donations!
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Virginia Senators wasted little time killing off an attempt to limit campaign contributions. On its first day of meetings, the Privileges and Elections Committee took up Senator Chap Petersen’s bill to place a $2o,000 cap on campaign contributions (SB 44). Voting to report the bill were five Democrats: Deeds (Bath), Ebbin (Alexandria),…
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Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI+) Pilot – Hidden Data, Disappearing Value — Thanks for Nothing
by James C. Sherlock This is a follow-up to my Monday report on VPI+, a federally funded four-year pilot program to assess the value of the Virginia Preschool Initiative. Today we will discuss what was not reported to the public. We will also assess the dreadful results of the pilot participants after those kids graduated…
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More Proof Virginia Disclosure Laws are Crap
by Steve Haner In 2020, according to documents filed with the State Corporation Commission, Dominion Energy Virginia paid former state Senator John Watkins $92,297 for lobbying services. At the end of the reporting period, it officially claimed spending only $1,641 for him to influence the legislative process. In a similar manner, former Fairfax Delegate John…