The Jefferson Journal
Commentary
Stan Collender, “one of the world’s leading experts on the U.S. budget and congressional budget process,” claims in his Forbes column that the federal deficit is “falling rapidly as a percent of Gross Domestic Product and that means the national debt is less of an economic burden than it has...
A quarter century ago this month, the move to standards-based education kicked off in Charlottesville, Virginia. There, President George H.W. Bush and the man who would succeed him, Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, led an education summit of the nation’s governors aimed at examining what the nation’s education goals should be,...
A year or so ago, few would have predicted the manufacturing expansion we are seeing here in Virginia. After years of seeing jobs and indeed entire manufacturing industries move offshore, we are thrilled to hear of new operations happening right here in the Commonwealth. Recent months have brought announcements of...
In closing statements of former Governor Bob McDonnell’s August trial, lead prosecutor Michael Dry made a remarkable statement. McDonnell had flat-out denied key testimony of star witness Jonnie R. Williams, a suspected con man under federal investigation who had agreed to testify in exchange for a generous immunity agreement. Dry...
There is “…overwhelming evidence that EPA’s proposed WOTUS [Waters of the U.S.] rule would have a devastating impact on businesses of all sizes, States, and local governments without any real benefit to the environment,…” says the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The U.S. Chamber, along with other business groups, has prepared...
The late Herb Stein, former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, once quipped, “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.” Stein’s Law, as it is now known, applies to the five bailouts of the Highway Trust Fund with general fund money since 2008, to the tune of...
While the General Assembly and Governor McAuliffe debated Medicaid expansion in Richmond earlier in the year, the federal government bureaucracy tried to change the Medicare Part D program into a Medicaid type program. Let me explain. When Congress passed Medicare Part D in 2003 and added prescription drug coverage to...
Why aren’t we making more progress improving the academic performance of Virginia’s school children? Many reasons have been advanced. Some say that school divisions don’t get enough money or that the money is unfairly distributed between schools. Others say that the public school system is over-regulated, bound by bureaucracy and...
By the appearance started to take shape in many stores in malls and shopping centers, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas – the time of year that represents about 20 percent of the retail industry’s total sales. And based on recent announcements by some national retailers to hire...
(Editor’s Note: Virginia has a large poultry industry and this article shows the impact of a judge’s ruling in California on that industry here in the Commonwealth.) A U.S. District Court judge in California on October 2, 2014, told six Attorneys General they did not have a case when they...