The Jefferson Journal
Commentary
In a recent news release, Governor Terry McAuliffe heralded the fact that 86 percent of Virginia schools were fully accredited – “a record high” for his administration and a five point improvement over last year. He neglected to mention that 88 schools failed accreditation – a 203 percent increase in...
How do you handle a situation when a student is admitted to a college but isn’t academically prepared to do the work? Traditionally, colleges and community colleges have required students who fail basic readiness tests to take remedial courses. Nationally, students spend an estimated $7 billion a year on such...
EPA’s Inspector General (IG) claims EPA has not developed emission estimation methods (EEM) to determine whether concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) comply with the Clean Air Act (CAA). The IG Report, while not receiving much publicity, will eventually impact animal feeding operations throughout the country. The report on September 19,...
Suzette Kelo bought what she thought was her dream house, a little pink cottage in Connecticut with a great view, where the Thames River flows into Long Island Sound. She lovingly restored the home, but her dream didn’t last. When a pharmaceutical plant was built nearby, the City of New...
Speaking of populist critics of P3 concessions, one of the oddest is a Virginia writer named Randy Salzman. In pieces written for various media, including Thinking Highways, Salzman has put forth the view that P3 concessions are actually scams that harm taxpayers. The opening sentence of his Feb. 9, 2017...
The Obamacare health replacement debate has re-entered the public arena with the dramatic new effort by center-right Senators Lindsay Graham and Bill Cassidy. the idea is to send block grants to the states to spend on state designed and managed health care systems. For Virginia, it means $3 billion in...
The Obamacare health replacement debate has re-entered the public arena with the dramatic new effort by center-right Senators Lindsay Graham and Bill Cassidy. Their idea is to send block grants to the states to spend on state designed and managed health care systems.A recent study on this bill by the...
Ten years ago, the main concern for the Social Security Trust Fund was that dedicated tax revenues would fall below program costs starting in 2017. That has come to pass. According to the Trustees of Social Security and Medicare, Social Security will run an annual non-interest deficit of approximately $51...
As we celebrated the achievement of American workers on this Labor Day, we shouldn’t forget those who are left out of the labor market. The labor force participation rate, which is the percent of the civilian population 16 years and over who have a job or are looking for one,...
George Melloan, former Deputy Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page, wrote an insightful column on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017, in the Journalcharging the Democratic party in the United States has become the Green Party. Melloan claims “Under Green influence, Democratic lawmakers, when they controlled Congress, designated large tracts...