Tag: Guest contributors
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How to Cripple Small Business with One Easy Law
by Hans Bader Anti-discrimination legislation under consideration by the Virginia state Senate would shrink the value of the state’s economy and fundamentally alter its business climate. The “Virginia Values Act,” introduced by Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, would subject even small businesses to unlimited compensatory and punitive damages in discrimination lawsuits and order businesses to pay…
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HB 1200: Another Small Business Shakedown
by Hans Bader Right now, if you employ five or fewer workers in Virginia, you aren’t subject to most state restrictions on who you can hire. And if you have fewer than 15 employees, you usually can’t be forced to pay a worker’s lawyer much at all if the worker sues you. That would change…
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Death Tax Proposed for Virginia
by Hans Bader Lawmakers in both houses of Virginia’s legislature have proposed an estate tax. That’s a tax on what residents own at the time of their death. The proposed tax, set at hefty rates not seen since the 1970s, would affect the inheritances of many middle-class people. Virginia had an estate tax until July…
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New Bill Would Mandate Release of Old Murderers
by Hans Bader A proposed law would require Virginia prisons to release many murderers when they reach age 60 or 65, even if prison officials know they are dangerous. Under a bill proposed Friday by Del. Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, parole officials would be stripped of their authority to block such inmates’ release. Right now, Virginia’s…
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Northam Proposes Releasing Middle-Aged Murderers
by Hans Bader Virginia’s governor wants to make most murderers eligible for parole when they reach age 50. You’d never know that from reading the news stories written by liberal reporters. They say Democratic Governor Ralph Northam wants to help “elderly” inmates. But that’s contradicted by the governor’s own website. Under his plan, it says,…
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Non-Competes a Barrier to Economic Mobility
by Schuyler VanValkenburg Milton Friedman wrote in “Free to Choose” that “economic freedom is an essential prerequisite for political freedom.” But here in Virginia, the people who most need economic freedom and the political self-actualization that comes with it are the people whose economic freedom is most constrained. Let me illustrate with two realistic examples.…
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California Too Conservative for Some Virginia Dems
by Hans Bader To some Americans, staunchly progressive California may seem too liberal. But not to Virginia’s Democratic legislators. They’re proposing legislation that would make Virginia more liberal than California. That includes letting murderers vote while in prison, and letting them be paroled even if a court has sentenced them to life without parole. Virginia…
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Virginia Likely to Impose Excessive Minimum Wage
by Hans Bader It doesn’t make sense to ban jobs that pay a living wage, just because an employer can’t afford to pay a still higher wage. But that is what a $15 minimum wage does in regions where living costs and wages are low. There are cheap regions to live in where $11 an…
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Want to Help Workers Work? Keep Virginia’s Right-to-Work Law
by Chris Braunlich Are a majority of Democratic candidates for the Virginia General Assembly “anti-worker?” Based on their response to a Virginia Chamber of Commerce survey, it would seem that way. General Assembly candidates were surveyed on whether they would support Virginia’s Right To Work (RTW) laws. Republicans were unanimously supportive. Democrats were almost equally…
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End Parental Discrimination in Surrogacy Cases
by Jay Timmons Residents in the Richmond area are represented by three Republicans in the state Senate with very different views of Life and Family. All three will be on the ballot Tuesday. When it counted, Siobhan Dunnavant stood strong for children and the unborn. But sadly, Glen Sturtevant and Amanda Chase chose discrimination and…
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Making Solar Power a Win-Win for Everyone
by Felix Garcia There is a simple and common-sense approach to energy policy in Virginia. Go to the energy source which provides abundant, safe electricity at the least cost — solar. Our company is called AgriSunPower (ASP). Along with our co-developer Hecate Energy, our thought process begins with a simple premise. Solar power is the…
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Will “One Fairfax” Become “One Virginia”?
by Tom Pafford You may have heard the Commonwealth is close to succumbing to the -control of the Democratic Party and its bullying Progressive (read Socialist) agenda. As the Democratic apparatchiks working at BlueVirginia put it, “With 3 1/2 Weeks to Go, ‘Things Aren’t Looking Good for the Virginia GOP’.” Yep, the outlook looks bleak!…
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Taxes Likely to Go up in Virginia
by Hans Bader Taxes are likely to increase in Virginia after the Democrats take control of its state legislature this fall. Democratic spending proposals would add at least a billion dollars annually to the state budget. These costly proposals can’t be paid for without raising taxes, because the cost of existing state programs is already…
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Electric Vehicles Are Punishingly Overtaxed in Virginia
by Alleyn Harned In an October 15th post, James Bacon asked the question: How should we tax electric vehicles? Bacon’s bottom line is reasonable, and it is worth noting that electric vehicles (EVs) and clean fuels already pay more than their fair share in Virginia with equivalent or excessive taxes, according to Consumer Reports. It…
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Go, Nats, Go!
by Bill Tracy Virginia’s own Thomas Jefferson along with his friends Abe Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, George Washington are very happy today. In case you did not notice, there is big news in NoVA: The Washington Nationals are National League Champions for the first time in franchise history! Unexpectedly, many wholesome life lessons appear to be…