Category: Politics
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Boomer….Wha?
By Peter Galuszka Remember the federal deficit that lurked behind the corner? Where did it go? Al Kamen of The Washington Post asks that question in a column today. He writes: “Not long ago, the federal deficit was projected to destroy the country, our country’s future and just about everything else. The politicians and the…
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RAM, Coal and Massive Hypocrisy
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in Business and Economy, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Health Care, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Social Services and Entitlements, TaxesBy Peter Galuszka Sure it’s a photo op but more power to him. Gov. Terry McAuliffe is freshly arrived from the cocktail and canape circuit in Europe on a trade mission and is quickly heading out to the rugged and impoverished coal country of Wise County. There, he, Attorney General Mark Herring and Health and…
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Is the End of America’s Culture Wars in Sight?
by James A. Bacon Have the Culture Wars peaked? Is the national debate over God, Gays and Guns on the downward slide? Michael Lind, a conservative thinker and cofounder of The New America Foundation, thinks the end is foreseeable. Just as the Civil War didn’t end after Gettysburg — the Confederate states still had a lot…
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More Defense Cuts Plague Virginia
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in Business and Economy, Demographics, Economic development, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Money in politics, Politics, Science & Technology, Social Services and Entitlements, Taxes, Transportation, UncategorizedBy Peter Galuszka Virginia continues to see painful military spending cuts in the aftermath of the years’- long U.S. intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan. Among the latest news is that the Army may cut 3,600 jobs at Ft. Lee, ironically the site of a recent and large expansion, by 2020. That could result in a…
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Finally, Some Sense on Climate Change
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in Consumer Protection, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Health Care, Infrastructure, Insurance, Land use & Development, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Property rights, Public safety & health, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, Social Services and Entitlements, UncategorizedBy Peter Galuszka Pulling the state’s head out of the sand, Gov. Terry McAuliffe has reversed his predecessor’s policy on addressing climate change. He has reestablished a 35-member panel to see what the state can do to deal with what many scientists believe is an impending crisis. McAuliffe revived the panel first created by Democratic…
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The Odds of Redistricting Reform: Slim to None
The general public in Virginia is overwhelmingly opposed to the current arrangement for redrawing legislative districts every year, in which lawmakers select their own constituencies and perpetuate their hold on power. The occasional outbreaks of reform-mindedness haven’t gotten far, however. It is exceedingly rare for any political party, either Democratic or Republican, to voluntarily cede control over a…
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Two UMW Daughters of the ’60s
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in Business and Economy, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Environment, Federal issues, Government workers and pensions, Gun rights, Health Care, Housing, Immigration, Infrastructure, LGBQT, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, Social Services and Entitlements, UncategorizedBy Peter Galuszka Just a few days ago, Elena Siddall, a Mathews County Republican activist and Tea Party Patriot, posted her account on the Rebellion of being a social worker in New York in the 1960s and the wrong-headedness of Saul Alinsky, a leftist organizer who had had a lot of influence back in the…
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Denying Truth on the Outer Banks
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in Business and Economy, Children and Families, Consumer Protection, Courts and law, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Infrastructure, Insurance, Land use & Development, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Property rights, Public safety & health, Science & Technology, Social Services and Entitlements, Taxes, UncategorizedBy Peter Galuszka North Carolina’s Outer Banks have always been a touchstone for me – in as much as anyone can associate permanence with sandy islands being perpetually tossed around by tremendous wind and water forces. The Banks and I go back to 1954 and Hurricane Hazel when I was an infant. They mark many…
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From Budget Crisis to Constitutional Crisis
by James A. Bacon We live in truly extraordinary times in Virginia. Never in my 61 years have I had occasion to ask myself, “Do Virginians believe in the rule of law or the rule of men?” Governor Terry McAuliffe exercised his prerogative as governor yesterday to veto portions of the state budget passed by both…
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McAuliffe: Time for Some Real Ethics Reform
Peter Galuszka One can hardly blame Gov. Terry McAuliffe for ditching the General Assembly’s absurdly weak ethics panel along with deep-sixing the line items in the budget that restrict him from expanding Medicaid. Obviously, the nice-guy, bipartisan approach he had advocated simply isn’t possible with the likes of Tommy Norment and Bill Howell in the…
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Must Read of the Day: Complex Cities
As former Bacon’s Rebellion contributor EM Risse likes to say, urban planning isn’t rocket science — it’s a lot more complex. Ed’s quip came to mind when reading the latest post by Charles Marohn on the Strong Towns blog. The thrust of Chuck’s post is that local government leaders act as if towns, cities and counties…
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McAuliffe Team Continues Transportation House Cleaning
by James A. Bacon I’ve been out of town attending a conference so I wasn’t able to cover the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) meeting this month. But based on press coverage and press releases, it sounds like Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s transportation team is getting a good handle on things, correcting some of the more grievous policy decisions…
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Tea Party Populism vs. Eric Cantor
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in Business and Economy, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Economic development, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Government workers and pensions, Health Care, Immigration, Infrastructure, Insurance, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Social Services and Entitlements, UncategorizedBy Peter Galuszka Political analysts and the media are still trying to tease out the meaning of soon-to-be-former House Majority leader Eric Cantor’s primary loss last week to an obscure college professor. Two major themes seem to be emerging. One is what the Tea Party’s role was and what the Tea Party really is. The…
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Why Brat Beat Cantor
by James A. Bacon I rarely pontificate about congressional races but I live in the 7th Congressional District, so I believe I have a few insights into how David Brat slew Goliath, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. National media have examined the race through the prism of national issues such as immigration and the Tea Party. While…
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Behind Cantor’s Big Loss
By Peter Galuszka There’s big political news tonight as House Majority Leader Eric Cantor loses a Republican primary to upstart economics professor David Brat, a Tea Party favorite. While Brat’s challenge was noticed nationally, few expected Cantor to go down. But with more than 80 percent of precincts in the 7th Congressional District reporting, there’s…