The Jefferson Journal
Commentary
Each year when we release the Annual Highway Report, I receive a flurry of calls asking how states can improve their highways. Maintaining a quality state highway system is obviously difficult and complicated. While many factors play a role, the adoption of an accurate quantitative process based on cost-benefit analysis...
What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time there was talk of recession, in part, because the stock market and yield curve were signaling warning signs. At the end of 2018, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had its worst year since 2008. If the stock market is...
The National Pork Producers Council and American Farm Bureau Federation delivered an early Christmas gift for American farmers on Dec. 5, 2019. The gift is in the form of a Complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Southern California. It is likely the two representatives of agriculture will have a...
A new study by 34-year EPA veteran Dr. David Schnare, Director of the Thomas Jefferson Institute’s Center for Environmental Stewardship, demonstrates that the proposed Transportation and Climate Initiative would be “All Pain and No Gain” for Virginians.
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Polling data from a new poll conducted by the respect Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy shows that Virginians oppose the Transportation and Climate Initiative when they learn it will mean a major new carbon tax on gasoline and diesel fuel.
... In the introduction to his budget statement released yesterday, Governor Ralph Northam described his proposed 2020-22 budget as “the most progressive in Virginia’s history. If by “progressive” he means “leftist,” with a strong propensity for taxing, spending and wealth redistribution, it’s hard to argue with him. That’s exactly what it...
The issue of whether a Clean Water Act permit is needed when a pollutant originates from a point source and reaches a navigable water of the United States by virtue of groundwater, a non-point source, was argued Nov. 6, 2019, in the U.S. Supreme Court. The case is the County of...
The U.S. budget deficit reached $984 billion in 2019. That’s 4.6% of gross domestic product. Such a large deficit should cause interest rates to rise, according to traditional economic theory, because government debt “crowds out” private sector debt. Since there is a limited supply of money, the price of borrowing...
With the 2020 presidential campaign ramping up, many of the Democratic candidates have released policy positions for primary voters. Transportation, which is not considered sexy, has received little attention thus far. One exception is former Vice President Joe Biden, who released an infrastructure plan in mid-November. Unfortunately, his current transportation...
The proposed Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) — a new “Carbon Car Tax” would be bad for Virginia, according to a new analysis by the Thomas Jefferson Institute. Starting at 10 cents extra per gallon of gas (and rising in future years), the tax would reduce money set aside for...