Category: Politics
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Their Money is Bad and Our Money is Righteous
During the 2018 session I received a curious meeting invitation, hush-hush, from somebody who indicated a possible alliance in the struggle against the pending utility legislation. We had to meet away from the Pocahontas Building to avoid observers. My curiosity led me to take the meeting, and it turned out to be about the Clean…
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Behavior Has Changed But Within Limits
There are plenty of complaints these days that the legislative process is unduly influenced by money, but when the spotlight shines or a major scandal erupts, behavior can change. For example, Virginia legislators simply do not want to report that they have received gifts or attended lobbyist dinners, on public records which are available to…
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Money Always Finds a Way
Every right-thinking person in America is concerned, if not downright appalled, by the role of money in politics. Citizens want their legislators to base their lawmaking decision on the merits of the case, not how much money corporations and special interest groups are shoveling into their campaign coffers. Some states deal with the problem by…
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A Shocking Case of Lawful Behavior
by Stephen D. Haner Sometimes the problem is fake news and sometimes the problem is non-news, and in a shocking non-news story it was revealed that (gasp) politicians are raising money. Just as they have for every year I can remember, General Assembly incumbents are filling mail and email inboxes with invitations to their usual…
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Taxes, Data Centers, and Republican Party Politics
Data centers account for 92% of all new capital investment in Prince William County between 2012 and 2017. Now Corey Stewart, chairman of the Board of Supervisors and Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, wants to raise taxes on them. Stewart, who is running as a Donald Trump-style populist, proposes to use the $21 million…
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Lies, Damn Lies, and CNN Statistics
So, I listened this weekend to some of the speeches in the “March for Our Lives” protest against guns, and heard a lot of criticism of the National Rifle Association for buying votes through its enormous campaign contributions. Then I saw this article published on the CNN website that purports to explain why the NRA holds…
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Yes, Virginia, There Still Is a Libertarian Party
And in other news largely ignored by Virginia media over the weekend… The Libertarian Party of Virginia nominated Matt Waters, an Alexandria fund-raising consultant, as its candidate for U.S. Senate. Waters will run against Democratic Senator Tim Kaine and whoever wins the Republican Party free-for-all. In his speech to LPVA delegates, Waters said his…
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Make No Mistake, Dems Oppose the Tax Cuts
by John Whitbeck I read the guest piece from Alfredo Ortiz this week (“Comstock Supports the Tax Cuts. Do Her Democratic Foes?“) with a bit of a smile. Republicans are pleased to be the driving force behind tax cuts in America. While Mr. Ortiz might be uncertain about where Democrats in the 10th District stand,…
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Another Lesson in Virginia Political Corruption
by D.J. Rippert Say governor, is that a Rolex you’re wearing? On Sept 4, 2014 former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell was found guilty of 11 counts of corruption. While the US Supreme Court unanimously overturned the conviction Chief Justice John G Roberts correctly described the former governor’s actions as “tawdry.” Back in Virginia, Governor McAuliffe formed…
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Insufferable Self-Righteousness
Michael Bills, a former Goldman Sachs executive and chief investment officer of the University of Virginia, is so outraged by what he calls the “legalized corruption” of Dominion Energy’s outsized campaign contributions that he says he’ll donate thousands of dollars to legislators who pledge not to accept money from the power company and to divest…
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Now They’ve Really Ticked Me Off!
Recent news reports have revealed that Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, senior FBI employees involved in the bureau’s investigations of the Clinton email scandal and Russia-gate, have made all manner of derogatory comments about President Donald Trump. Their observations aren’t anything worse than what we hear on Cable TV every day, and independent prosecutor Robert…
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Virginia’s Top 10 Stories (Told and Untold) of the Year
Phew! I finally made it through the all-consuming Christmas season, and I’m still alive to tell the tale. Christmas is a wonderful but grueling time of year for the Bacon family, marked by numerous feasts, expanding waistlines, excessive gift giving, shrinking bank accounts, and considerable out-of-town travel to distant relatives. But I’m back in the…
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We Can Disagree, But Let’s Do So Civilly
These are remarks made by Cliff Hyra, Libertarian Party candidate in the recent gubernatorial election, on the need for civil discourse in Virginia and the United States at the Big Bacon Fry two weeks ago. I’ll have more to say in future posts about the excellent discussion we had there and initiatives that could arise…
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Bacon Bits: Campaign Contributions, Bronze Parachutes, and Bus Subsidies
Herewith some follow-ups on stories we’ve been tracking on Bacon’s Rebellion: Election fallout for electric utilities: Tuesday’s election wasn’t just a rout for Republicans. The General Assembly will be a more hostile place for Virginia’s electric utilities as well. As Robert Zullo with the Richmond Times-Dispatch points out: “Thirteen candidates who signed a pledge refusing to…
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Take Back the Discourse — Fight for Civility!
This cry for civility could not be more timely given the subject of my previous post: Libertarian Party candidate for governor Cliff Hyra has called upon Ralph Northam and Ed Gillespie to halt their vicious attack ads. The statement he released today is worth quoting at length: When I first decided to run for Governor…