Category: Money in politics
-
Dems, Big Money, and Cultural Dominance
by James A. Bacon It happened so slowly, I hardly noticed. The Democratic Party has morphed into the party of Big Money in Virginia. The Republican Party has become the party of the little guy.
-
Bacon Bits: Dark Money Update
Things Go Better with Koch. George Mason University wants its university foundation board to be exempt from Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act. But Transparent GMU, a student group, has sued the foundation to turn over records of agreements with private donors, in particular those from the conservative-libertarian Charles Koch Foundation. University officials have conceded that…
-
A Shaft of Light in the Dark Money Gloom
by James A. Bacon As a follow-up to yesterday’s “dark money” post comparing the resources available to the conservative Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy (TJI) and the liberal Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis (CI), it is only fair for me to note that CI did disclose its major donors in its 2016 990 form.…
-
Dark Money and Think Tanks
by James A. Bacon When writing about the passing of Mike Thompson, founder of the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy (TJI) (see previous post), I chanced to look at TJI’s 990 forms. It had been my impression that Mike ran the small-government think tank on a shoestring, and the IRS filing confirmed it. The…
-
We’ll Miss You, Mike
by James A. Bacon Mike Thompson, president of the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy (TJI), passed away this weekend after a battle with leukemia. Founder of Virginia’s only state/local think tank with a conservative bent, the Northern Virginian was a regular fixture in Richmond and a consistent voice for small government. I had the…
-
Democrats Dominate Dark Money
by James A. Bacon Left-leaning groups have done an amazingly effective job of highlighting the role of conservative and libertarian “dark money” in the public sphere. Newspapers like the Washington Post and New York Times have eagerly amplified the findings, for example, of a student group, Transparent GMU, that raised issues about the influence of…
-
Virginia’s Left Consumes Another of Its Own
Dario Marques Jr., former government contractor and major contributor to Virginia Democratic Party poohbahs, has come under fire from Virginia progressives for his role in running an Arizona shelter for unaccompanied children who crossed the border illegally. Although Marques’ contract originated in 2014 during the Obama administration, work continued into the Trump administration — and…
-
Sanctimonious Money in Politics
The older I get, the more irritable I get. Perhaps, upon passing the threshold to Medicare eligibility, I became a cranky old man. In my defense, however, I do find myself continually provoked. The latest vexation comes from a Community Idea Stations article describing how an increasing number of Democratic Party candidates for General Assembly…
-
What is Going On?
Can someone from Northern Virginia please tell me what is going on when almost a million dollars is being raised in each of two primary contests for Commonwealth’s Attorney? I can understand the money being raised, as reported by VPAP, in the primary for chairman of the Fairfax Board of Supervisors. That is a political…
-
Corruption Allegations Mar Fairfax County Board Race
I’m shocked, shocked to find that there’s gambling going on here. Long time residents of Fairfax County will hardly be shocked to hear the news of a Fairfax County Supervisor being accused of unsavory business dealings with a land developer. Jeff McKay has been Lee District supervisor since 2007. He is currently vying for the…
-
Barbara Favola Makes Disingenuous Statements about Dominion Funding
A clarification has been added to the end of this article. Setup. Barbara Favola is the Democratic State Senator from Virginia’s 31st district. That district is centered in Arlington but includes areas of Fairfax and Loudoun Counties as well. Favola is a politician-for-life having served on the Arlington County Board from 1997 through 2012 and…
-
Dominion Tool? The GA Is an Entire Toolbox
Retiring state Senator Frank Wagner gets appointed to some job by Governor Ralph Northam Friday and the headline on Blue Virginia labels him a “Dominion tool.” But has the other legislator being rewarded with a full-time job, Delegate Mathew James, cast any votes against the state’s favorite political whipping boy?
-
2019 Assembly Had No Bark, Bite On Ethics
It is always important to listen for the dogs that don’t bark, and the 2019 General Assembly showed neither bark nor bite on issues of money, politics and ethics. Everything in Virginia is just fine with the legislators themselves, apparently. So fine that the only significant bill involving the Virginia Conflict of Interests and Ethics…
-
Proffers: They’re Baaaaack!
Gentlemen may prefer blondes but localities prefer proffers. A proffer is an arrangement between a locality and a land developer whereby the developer offers something of value in order to get a rezoning request approved. Why do developers want land rezoned? For residential development they want to build more homes on the land than the…
-
Sorry, Mr. Bloomberg, You Can’t Pay for Virginia Justice
Earlier this year I described how Attorney General Mark Herring had applied for funding from the Michael Bloomberg-funded New York University School of Law to hire a special assistant attorney to pursue climate-change and clean-energy initiatives. (See “Following the Dark Money.”) NYU had agreed to provide the funding but, for reasons as yet unclear, Herring’s…