Category: Politics
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I Guess I Called that One Wrong
by James A. Bacon Steve Haner likes to yank my chain every so often, and he did so this morning — digging up my 2019 prognostication that Dominion Energy had lost the Democratic Party in Virginia. At the time Dominion was still committed to natural gas and the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, and opposition to the…
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Redistricting: Fairness is in the Eye of the Partisan
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The Virginia Redistricting Commission has hit another wall. This one, over Congressional districts, is good, old-fashioned partisan politics, dressed up as differing perceptions of fairness. Last week, the Commission decided to keep Congressional districts Three and Four intact, with only those changes needed to bring their populations in line with what was…
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The Loudoun Way — School Rapes by a Member of a Progressive Protected Class
by James C. Sherlock Any time you think there is only one system of justice in America, consider these two stories I offer below, one a progressive dream and the other true. The true story will show some progressives care more about their dogma than kids. And any time you think only big city progressives…
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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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Virginia Elections: Endanger Kids, Lose Your Seat
by Kerry Dougherty I tried to warn you that kids would get hurt. I tried to warn the governor. On February 2, 2020 we published “Insane Bill Will Endanger Kids” after Democrats in the General Assembly passed HB257, reversing a law that had compelled school principals to report cases of sexual battery, stalking, assault and…
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McAuliffe Tries to Change the Subject
by Kerry Dougherty Lemme get this straight, a band of far-right fanatics held a rally in Glen Allen Wednesday night and the governor of Virginia held a press conference the next day to demand that GOP candidate for governor Glenn Youngkin denounce them? News flash, Gov. Northam: Youngkin wasn’t there. It wasn’t his rally. He…
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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…
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Redistricting: Breakdown!
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The redistricting process has broken down here on the eve of the deadline of the Virginia Redistricting Commission to report to the General Assembly. The divisions and distrust are so deep that the members could not agree even on which maps to use as a starting point in session on Friday. When…
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The Rise of the Political Class
by James A. Bacon Yesterday I noted polling of the race for governor in which Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin showed remarkable strength among minorities — 25% support from Blacks and 55% from Hispanics — along with a shrinking majority of Whites. That poll might have been an outlier, so I don’t want to make too…
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The Party Realignment Accelerates
by James A. Bacon Brandon Jarvis, author of the Virginia Political Newsletter, sums up the latest Emerson College/Nexstar Media poll of the Virginia gubernatorial election. Democrat Terry McAuliffe leads Republican Glenn Youngkin by one percentage point, with two percentage points undecided. Yes, it’s a tight race, but the demographic breakdown is what’s most interesting. McAuliffe…
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Virginia Beach: Will Cronyism Make a Comeback?
by Kerry Dougherty Do you ever find yourself longing for the days of rampant, in-your-face, shameless cronyism in Virginia Beach? Ever wish the Three Amigos were still on city council fetching water for their favorite developers? Ever miss the days when the city’s business was conducted in secret with public votes just for show? You…
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Redistricting: Incumbents, Open Seats, and Partisanship
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Most General Assembly incumbents are resting easier. The Democrat and Republican map drawers took their guidance from the Virginia Redistricting Commission seriously and drew district lines putting most incumbents in districts with no other incumbents. As discussed in an earlier post, the Commission members interpreted Virginia Code language as requiring it to…
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Redistricting: Impasse?
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The Virginia Redistricting Commission started its meeting on Saturday with the goal of reaching a preliminary agreement on one draft map for the House of Delegates and one draft map for the Senate in anticipation of public hearings scheduled to begin on Monday. Six hours later, the meeting was adjourned with the…
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Virginia’s Self-Inflicted Nursing Home Crisis – Part 3 – McAuliffe & Herring
by James C. Sherlock In the first two parts of this series, I wrote about the shortage of state inspectors for nursing homes in the Virginia Department of Health Office of Licensure and Certification (OLC) and the continuing danger it poses to Virginia patients. The problem, unfortunately, is much wider than just nursing homes. So…
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Virginia’s Self-Inflicted Nursing Home Crisis — Part 2, the Business
by James C. Sherlock Nursing homes are businesses. Seventy percent of those in Virginia are for profit. They are run not by doctors but registered nurses with physicians on call. Nursing facilities very widely in size in Virginia, from the 300-bed Mulberry Creek Nursing and Rehab center in Martinsville to facilities of less than 30…