As the Virginia General Assembly opens, Gov. Robert F. McDonnell is once again fiddling with any number of things. These include yet another proposal to privatize ABC stores, a new budget based on a phony surplus and an ambitious plan to borrow heavily to build roads despite his posturing as a fiscal conservative. It’s a…

Gov. Bob McDonnell has just issued Executive Order #31 creating the Independent Bipartisan Advisory Commission on Redistricting. The commission is tasked with ensuring bipartisan citizen involvement in the redistricting process for General Assembly and congressional seats. Stated the governor: As Virginia redraws its legislative districts later this year, the process should take place in a…

Here’s a less-than-pleasant quiz. What type of weapon did mass killer Seung-Choi use to slay 32 people at Virginia Tech in 2007? What type of weapon did Jared Loughner use to kill a federal judge, a 9-year-old girl, four others and to wound 14 more people, including U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords, in Tuscon on Saturday?…

Overview: I have decided to add an unplanned segment to the Politics and the Chesapeake Bay series. I felt there were sufficient questions following the first article in the series (Pt 1) to warrant an intermediary article to answer those questions. The two big areas of interest involved the uniqueness of the Chesapeake Bay (especially…

The embarrassing textbook flap in Virginia comes as several trends converge — technology changes allowing printing of limited runs of niche textbooks, little oversight of Internet-based research and the Old Dominion’s el-cheapo philosophy regarding education spending. The controversies, of course, involve Connecticut-based Five Ponds Press, which has printed two textbooks for use in Virginia classrooms…

True to form, the Richmond Times-Disgrace spent about half of its front page this morning toasting the elevation of their hometown favorite, Eric Cantor, to his new position as House Majority Leader, following the GOP rout in November elections. None of the major newspapers — the New York Times, Washington Post or Wall Street Journal…

The Washington Times published this column yesterday. I didn’t expect much attention. But before noon, I had enjoyed my 15 minutes of fame — in Canada. After a PostMedia wire reporter wrote a story… about me writing an op-ed… and distributed it nationally, Toronto’s National Post asked to republish the piece, the director of an…

It has finally dawned upon the Washington Post news staff that the new crowd of deficit hawks in Congress may not portend well for the regional economy. Indeed, it won’t. The only thing that could be worse than the rough patch we’ll experience if Republicans make good on promises to slash federal spending by $100…

Overview – This is the first in a series of articles about politics and the Chesapeake Bay. While I’d love to present the matter in one article, the topic is simply too broad and complex for a single post. In the Beginning – The Chesapeake Bay was formed 18,000 years ago when the glaciers melted…

Now that it’s the New Year, what happened to the Sound and the Fury? Let me get my nose out of my eggnog. I’m not just talking about a holiday hiatus. Where’s the rage over federal debts and deficit spending? Remember all those months of harrumphing about Arma-and Boomer-Geddon? How we are doomed by negating…

Christine Romans interviewed me this morning for CNN American Morning. A one-on-one interview running more than five minutes on a national cable network is a generous allotment of time, but it barely skims the surface of the weighty topics at stake. Still, I can’t complain. The interview provides a nice introduction to the “Boomergeddon” book.…

The sleeper story of the season: Gov. Bob McDonnell, staff and senior legislators will be paying calls on rating agencies S&P, Fitch and Moody’s to defend Virginia’s AA rating. According to Chelyen Davis with the Free-Lance Star, McDonnell says he has no reason to believe that the AAA is in jeopardy, but he’s never met…

Gov. Bob McDonnell made a few big promises when he ran for governor. One of those promises, raising more money for transportation, was a bust. Privatizing the state’s ABC stores, collecting royalties from offshore oil drilling and slapping tolls on Interstate highways have crumbled like the asphalt on Interstate 95. But another of his promises,…

The looming insolvency of many states and municipalities is getting more and more attention. CBS’ 60 Minutes highlighted the problem Sunday, and everyone concerned about Virginia public policy needs to watch this video. Needless to say, Virginia is in far better shape than Illinois, New Jersey and California, but it would be foolhardy to think…