After much political theater, the Virginia General Assembly and Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) have now compromised on a $188 billion state budget based simply on the revenue projected from current tax law, with neither tax hikes nor tax reductions. Making those revenue projections slightly more optimistic eased the path. With both sides backing off their desire to change […]
Sometimes I wonder if we have lost our nation to infantile and spoiled brats who think they are sufficiently knowledgeable of world events when in fact they are narrow-minded—and lately—profoundly anti-Semitic. I speak of the Hamas apologists who have brought violence to our intellectually castrated university campuses across the country. They remind me of the […]
After years of fighting counterinsurgency wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the US Army has a tough mission ahead of it. During those counterinsurgency years—some of which continues today as we keep a lid on any resurgence of ISIS—the US Army engaged in a combination of urban warfare and search and destroy missions. The tactical skills […]
After a month of unproductive political theater, Virginia’s leaders will finally sit down like adults and negotiate the budget. Better late than never. The message is “everything is back on the table,” which leaves the door wide open for the tax increase central to the Democrat’s demands. That deserves a quick no. At this point, Virginians […]
Earlier this week, Virginia could not agree on a budget for the next two years. So, the Governor and both sides agreed to symbolically meet in the epicenter of the Capitol in the shadow of Geroge Washington’s statue and plot a way forward. That path will take the General Assembly into a Special Session in […]
Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) is offering a compromise on the disputed state budget that gives Virginia’s Democratic legislators most of the spending they were initially demanding, especially for local schools and early childhood education. The Governor is also offering a quick path to a resolution that avoids additional months of budget stalemate and political division. “On […]
Voters in Jackson County, Missouri, rejected a sales tax ballot measure that would have funded stadium renovations to the home of the Kansas City Chiefs and built a new stadium for the Kansas City Royals. The billionaire owners of the two teams expressed their regret that taxpayers were unwilling to subsidize their clubs for the […]
What happens when one of the major political parties suggests the most modest of reforms to the benefits future Social Security beneficiaries will receive? The other major political party goes ballistic. Such were the atmospherics when the Republican Study Committee (RSC) played against the prevailing type with the GOP so far and issued a plan […]
There is a near-universal consensus among economists that increases in the minimum wage harm low-skilled workers the most. Originally designed to mimic racially discriminatory laws elsewhere, the minimum wage continues to be a means of picking certain classes and geographic locations over others. For example, the minimum wage benefits the high-cost-of-living areas in the Northeast over the lower-cost-of-living areas in […]
Readers can be forgiven if they think news stories sometimes run at cross-purposes. Consider a couple of recent stories about electric cars, pollution mandates, and the Biden administration, and watch the crack-up unfold. We begin with the slightly older story, and one that’s had legs for a few months: EV sales are slowing. Not ending, […]
