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The Jefferson Journal

Commentary

Could Asset Recycling Be the Answer for Trump Infrastructure Plan?

Jefferson Forum
June 19, 2017

In my April column in Public Works Financing, I pointed out that the Trump Administration faces a dilemma in its quest for a $1 trillion infrastructure program based largely on private capital investment via public-private partnerships (P3s). Any such program must be enacted by Congress, and therein lies the problem....

Study Questions Ethanol's Image

Gary Baise
June 19, 2017

The Heritage Foundation Blueprint for Agriculture includes a lengthy chapter on U.S. biofuels policy and the renewable fuel standard (RFS). Heritage concludes that ethanol and other current biofuels are harmful to agriculture, the environment, and consumer. My first two reviews of Heritage’s positions on ag, found here and here, may...

Tax Reform is Key to Virginia's Future

Mike Thompson
June 8, 2017
As of March 2017, our state’s unemployment rate was over 3%. Granted, these numbers are not awful, but I would argue there is room for improvement. Many of these jobs are held by people who had better paying jobs just a few years ago. And we still have too many...

Building on Virginia’s Data-Center Boom

Jefferson Forum
June 8, 2017
Data centers are the hottest trend in Virginia economic development these days. But the state is only beginning to think through the implications. Loudoun County, home to 75 facilities, has developed the largest cluster of data centers in the country (and perhaps the world), and next-door-neighbor Prince William County is...

An Unhealthy Obsession with Climate Change

Jefferson Forum
June 8, 2017
On June 1 came the encouraging news that President Trump has decided the United States will exit the U.N. Paris climate agreement. The agreement imposes huge burdens while producing little or no impact on the global climate. From the outrage shared by the media, one would think Trump has doomed...

Is Capitalism Good for the Environment?

Jefferson Forum
June 8, 2017
It has been said that capitalism works for a very simple reason – people can be counted on to do what is in their own interest. That has been the basis of human interaction since the beginning of time. One villager would catch fish and sell them to others, which...

Study Says Farm Subsidies Distort Planting Decisions

Jefferson Forum
June 6, 2017
This week I am addressing Heritage's view on subsidies. It claims "Government intervention creates numerous problems and makes the status quo of agricultural subsidies an untenable situation. Subsidies distort planting decisions of farmers so that instead of responding to the market, they make decisions based on the incentives provided by...

Getting Right on Crime

Jefferson Forum
May 24, 2017
From Richard Nixon to Donald Trump, conservatives have long known how to be “tough on crime." But there is an increasing movement by conservatives to be “Right on Crime” -- to insist on transparency in the criminal justice system with the goal of protecting the public, lowering crime rates, and...

Understanding the Federal Budget

Jefferson Forum
May 24, 2017

The president released his budget submission to Congress and there will be plenty of heat surrounding it but not nearly enough light. There will be loud talking about budget cuts that hurt the poor, the sick, the elderly, children, and so on but what does that really mean? In reality,...

Virginia Voters Back Pipeline by Nearly Two-to-One

Jefferson Forum
May 24, 2017

Registered voters in Virginia favor construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) by an almost two-to-one margin over those who oppose it, according to a poll released by the Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) today. Fifty-four percent support the controversial project strongly or somewhat, while 31% oppose it. Eighty-three percent of...