Jim Bacon gave me dispensation for this longish post because it is one perspective on the Virginia political process today. HB 6055 is the son of Frankenstein (HB 3202) that was ruled Un-Constitutional by the Virginia Supreme Court. The arrogance of trying to stuff this bill and its Regional Government down the throats of voters…

Here is the Republican con in the special Transportation Session. HB 32o2 is back like the son of Frankenstein, or any other horror film remake unto ridiculousness, as the Republican transportation ‘answer’. But like the original HB 3202 it is just a con game for the Commonwealth. It is more about political corruption of politicians…

Here’s a quote that summarizes the futility of the proceedings in the General Assembly yesterday, in which the major accomplishment was the state Senate’s passage of a gas tax that Gov. Timothy M. Kaine never asked for and the House of Delegates will never vote for. From the Washington Post: “There is no consensus in…

Here’s the latest salvo from the General Assembly battlefield: Senate Democrats this afternoon killed a measure that would ensure that funds raised by regional levies would be spent exclusively in the regions that paid the taxes. According to an email missive from the Virginia Senate Republican Caucus, Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, led Democrats on the…

The following was submitted by Ron Utt of the Heritage Foundation and the Virginia Institute for Public Policy: As the state legislature convenes in Richmond this June in a special session to revise Virginia’s recently enacted surface transportation program, a number of elected officials – ranging from the legislature’s Republican caucus to the Attorney General…

There’s a very interesting story lurking within Len Gilroy’s column, “Another One Bites the Dust.” Gilroy tackles the idea that privately financed public-private partnerships are a bad deal for motorists because the private sector can’t avail itself of tax-free bond financing like state and municipal governments can. In the last few weeks, the Pennsylvania Turnpike…

As the special session convenes today, the General Assembly has got transportation on the brain, and so do we at Bacon’s Rebellion. Indeed, it’s pretty much transportation and land use from start to finish for the June 23, 2008, edition of Virginia’s preeminent public policy e-zine — with a dash of other topics to keep…

My last post generated considerable e-mail traffic from members of the VCU community and I learned of a faculty meeting on June 19 to discuss it. Uninvited, I went to it and was allowed to stay if I respected the participants’ desire for confidentiality. Here are excerpts from a post I did for R’Biz on…

The NY Time’s Jay Tierney has a good post that is also a useful tonic for what seems to be a creeping Malthusian trend on the Rebellion of late. He discusses an article by George Mason University economist Robin Hanson that focuses on “singularities,” the stunning advances that have completely transformed the way we do…

WaPo had an interesting front page “analysis” by Neil Irwin this morning: “Why We’re Gloomier Than The Economy: Consumer Anxiety Outstrips the Data.” Earth to Neil: Citizens can Read. They can read the headlines we noted in the recent post “HEADLINES, HEADLINES.” They can read the other headlines on today’s front page of WaPo and…

The Kaine administration has been doing some useful things behind the scenes, but because of my monomaniacal fixation on transportation, land use, energy and the environment, I have not had time to highlight the more positive initiatives. With this post, I hope to make up for that deficit to some small degree. One of Gov.…

Mr. Peter Galuszka took one for the team when he bought, read and reported on Thomas Sowell’s “Basic Economics.” I was unable to respond to his post in a timely fashion, so I’m posting here to show where our political perspectives from the Right and the Left blend on the basics of basic economics. Because,…

There has been a lot of loose talk on this Blog about Fundamental Transformation not being an urgent need, especially in the Commonwealth of Virgina. Our friends the Tiger Riders may have not been reading the headlines. Last Saturday the Business section of WaPo was headlined by: “Flying Is Going to Get Even Less Fun.”…

The University of Virginia will tap more of its $3.2 billion endowment to strengthen university programs and help hold the line on tuition increases, reports the Daily Progress. The Board of Visitors voted Friday to increase the payout rate to 5 percent of the fund’s market value on June 30, a move that should generate…

Virginia Senator John Miller (D-1SD) will introduce a bill to abolish the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority (HRTA). This unelected, unaccountable, unseparated powers Regional Government – ruled un-Constitutional (by unanimous decision of the Virginia Supreme Court) -has already spent $200k. Let’s see which Hampton Roads legislators sign up to be co-patrons of this bill – and…