The 2021 General Assembly is now six weeks away, with the holidays in between. We know no more about the coming Northam Administration proposal to impose a carbon tax and rationing scheme on our motor fuels than we did months ago. Keeping you uninformed may be part of the plan...
Would you like to keep Virginia from drawing legislative districts skewed in favor of the Democrats — that is, prevent liberal gerrymandering? One way to fight such gerrymandering is to apply to be a citizen member of the Virginia Redistricting Commission, which will draw the boundaries of Virginia’s Congressional and...
During the 1788 New York ratification convention, anti-federalists opposed the new Constitution “for lack of a Bill of Rights”. Alexander Hamilton replied, “The Constitution is itself in every rational sense, and to every useful purpose, A BILL OF RIGHTS” (Federalist #84). Indeed, it was written to safeguard liberty against the...
President-Elect Joe Biden has announced his EPA review team, many of whom are lawyers from some of the nation’s largest legal firms. Agriculture is in for an interesting ride. Patrice Lumumba Simms is designated as the team leader to review EPA’s actions and presumably personnel. Mr. Simms is listed as...
Few issues were more important during my time in the General Assembly than transportation funding. Representing a district filled with long-distance commuters and congested highways, it always was a struggle to balance the need for funds against public reluctance to raise taxes. One compromise in 2013 raised transportation revenue during...
The battle is now rejoined to kill the Electoral College and elect a U.S. President in 2024 based purely on the national vote total. The stubborn refusal of President Donald J. Trump and many other Republicans to accept the November 3 outcome is likely to become a new talking point...
In Virginia, nearly 30% of students who enroll in community college or four-year college fail to complete their degrees within six years. There is widespread agreement across the political spectrum that it would be a good thing if more students completed their degrees and fewer dropped out of college after...
President-Elect Joe Biden is planning to quickly sign a series of Executive Orders shortly after being sworn in on January 20, 2021. This is according to media outlets. The Washington Post states “He [Biden] will rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and…[fulfill] commitments he has made in recent months, and he will reverse...
Virginia family finances and the state economy as a whole will suffer if Virginia joins the Transportation and Climate Initiative, an economic consulting firm concludes in new data released by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. Families will pay $737 more per year, while the state will lose more...
So, where do yesterday’s elections leave us? We don’t know who won the presidential election, and we probably won’t know for days, if not weeks. Still, we can draw some meaningful conclusions. Virginia remains a solid blue state. The Democrats’ political dominance has jelled. With 98.44% of votes reported, Joe Biden...
