Category: Regulations, Gov’t Oversight
-
“We Are All Keynesians Now”
By Peter Galuszka John Maynard Keynes, the British economist, advocated government spending and monetary intervention as suitable for modern economies. When I was a student at a liberal college in New England in the early 1970s, we were taught that Keynes very much had the right idea. As evidence, we had the Great Society programs…
-
Photo Project Spotlights Pipeline Impact
By Peter Galuszka Veteran photographer Karen Kasmauski, who grew up in Norfolk, has a brilliant online project that shows the human and environmental impacts of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. She is a senior fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers, a non-profit group that funded her project that centers mostly in rural Nelson and Buckingham…
-
Don’t Blame Northam for Virginia Medicine’s Structural Flaws
by James C. Sherlock I have to give Governor Ralph Northam a partial pass on a key issue. Much of the criticism directed at him is for actions or inactions that are based on incomplete data and, as a a consequence, incompletely informed staff assessments concerning the business of healthcare in this state. That is…
-
This is the Green New Deal Economy. Enjoy.
By Steve Haner If all else fails in achieving your green energy dreams, you can always hope for a depression. In Italy, the COVID-19 depression has already dropped electricity demand by about 18-21%, as reported recently by Utility Dive. The regional transmission organizations around the United States are seeing declines, as well, and I’ve been…
-
A Look at Richmond and COVID-19
—
by
in Agriculture & forestry, Business and Economy, Children and Families, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Consumer Protection, Culture wars, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Efficiency in Government, Entrepreneurs and Innovation, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Government workers and pensions, Housing, Infrastructure, Insurance, Labor and Workforce, Money in politics, Planning, Public safety & health, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Resilience, Science & Technology, Social Services and Entitlements, Telecommunications, UncategorizedBy Peter Galuszka Here is a roundup story I wrote for Style Weekly that was published today that explains the effects of COVID-19 on the Richmond area. Hopefully, BR readers will find it of interest. It was a tough piece to report. The impacts of the deadly virus are very complicated and multi-faceted. An especially…
-
Options Available for Waiving Federal Healthcare Laws
James C. Sherlock I provide here an update on the status of waivers of federal health care laws in response to the COVID-19 crisis. All of the source materials are official government websites. On March 13, President Trump declared a public health emergency under the authority vested in him by the Constitution and the laws…
-
Worst Possible Time for a Minimum Wage Hike
by James A. Bacon As Virginia businesses contend with event cancellations, widespread self-isolation, and other fallout from the COVID-19 epidemic, Governor Ralph Northam has a critical decision to make: Does he sign minimum wage legislation into law or not? Even as the epidemic began spreading in the United States earlier this month, the General Assembly…
-
Another Critical Coronavirus Graph
By DJ Rippert Timing. As Jim Bacon wrote, “Now comes COVID-19. Everyone is in a blind panic. The concern may be overwrought, whipped up by the media. Or maybe things could get worse than anyone could imagine. Nobody knows. Uncertainty reigns.” Jim is right. Uncertainty does reign. But what are the costs of indecision if…
-
Electric Yellow School Buses? Pure Green Grease
By Steve Haner Having voted to give Dominion Energy Virginia a blank check to spend billions of your money on offshore wind turbines, the Virginia House of Delegates will vote today to provide hundreds of millions more from your pockets for electric school buses. Last week the House defeated a similar bill, twice. It received…
-
Energy Updates: Signs of Resistance After All
The Main Clean Energy Bill. Both General Assembly chambers have now approved a single substitute version of the omnibus clean energy bill, on largely (but not totally) party line votes. In a further compromise on their plan to save the world, proponents decided not to force closure of a Southwest Virginia coal-burning plant and were…
-
Why the Supply Shortage of Virginia Docs and Nurses?
by James C. Sherlock Virginia’s political class ignores the severe shortage of doctors and nurses in Virginia — except when it actively works to make the problem worse. This essay will illuminate both the issue and the votes that rejected proven solutions in the 2020 General Assembly. Virginia data – 2019 State Physician Workforce Report…
-
How Virginia Blocks Healthcare Innovation
by James C. Sherlock Jason Hwang and Clay Christensen in 2008 published “Disruptive Innovation In Health Care Delivery: A Framework For Business-Model Innovation.”[1] They observed, “Health care remains expensive and inaccessible to many because of the lack of business-model innovation.” They further wrote: “It is almost requisite that any discussion about the future of health…
-
Bacon Bits on the Bay
By DJ Rippert Political action regarding the Chesapeake Bay is increasing. Here is a summary of some key issues …. Menhaden victory. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation reports, “The Virginia House and Senate have passed bipartisan legislation to transfer management of Virginia’s menhaden fisheries from the General Assembly to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC).” The…
-
Virginia’s Top Employment Cop Adds Enforcers
By Steve Haner The final state budget is still in negotiation, but it could add as many as five new enforcement staff to the Office of the Attorney General to seek out and prosecute discrimination in Virginia’s workplaces, using old and new definitions of what is prohibited. The price tag looks to be about $600,000…
-
The Legal Corruption of COPN
by James C. Sherlock I have been asked to give examples of the corruption of administration of the Certificate of Public Need (COPN) law and show how it has created and supports regional monopolies. I have chosen as my example COPN Planning District 20 which is my home area of south Hampton Roads, the cities…