blognetnews.com
» Virginia
edited by: Vivian Paige, Virginia Editor

Tertium Quids

  • Harry Reid may have his 60 votes

    Number of comments: 4
    Thanks again to honest graft:Senator Nelson, according to a senior Senate staffer, got a huge appropriation for Nebraska — and a state opt-out for abortion funding, as in states can opt-out. Another Democratic Senator bought off with money we are printing to pay our bills.Earlier, word was that Nelson might [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 19, 2009, 12:53pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • One powerful way to do good, and cut the state's budget

    Number of comments: 1
    It's school choice -- using education tax credits. Our interview with Dr. Adam Schaeffer, a Virginia Institute senior fellow and a policy analyst at the Cato Institute, has the details. [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 19, 2009, 9:31am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Brink, Colgan back Kaine's tax hike

    Number of comments: 0
    Interesting to see that at least two Democrats are willing to walk the plank for Tim Kaine's final budget...and that one of them chairs the Senate Finance committee:It should be noted that Kaine does have sponsors--Del. Bob Brink is pushing the measure in the House. And, in an interesting twist, [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 18, 2009, 2:21pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • A tax hike for the ages

    Number of comments: 2
    My own quick math on what I might pay if the car tax was eliminated in favor of a local income tax showed me I'd be writing a bigger check to government than right now. And it seems I wasn't alone:The state's hated local car tax would be replaced with [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 18, 2009, 12:25pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Even some Democrats don't like the idea of a local income tax

    Number of comments: 0
    Sen. Chap Petersen writes of the Governor's proposal:The Governor next proposed eliminating the car tax at the local level completely and replacing it with a 1% local income tax to be authorized by the General Assembly. This would be a new tax assessed by localities in addition to current income [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 18, 2009, 12:13pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • The car tax returns

    Number of comments: 1
    I just watched gov. Kaine's presentation to the General Assembly money committees regarding the budget...More cuts are on the way, of course, for K-12 and higher education, for public safety, for VDOT, for health care, state employees ranks will be further culled and the survivors won't get raises until 2013' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 18, 2009, 10:13am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • It's Red Friday

    Number of comments: 0
    The "red," in this case, representing the blood Tim Kaine's budget will spill for state agencies, employees and, naturally, taxpayers. There are only a few hints of what's in store:Early yesterday, Kaine was asked whether his proposal would include spending cuts, layoffs or revenue increases."All of the above," he said.Kaine [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 18, 2009, 8:40am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Eminent domain abuse in Roanoke gets national attention

    Number of comments: 0
    The eminent domain case of Stephanie and Jay Burkholder gains the attention of Fox News as the City of Roanoke confiscates their business to turn it over to Carilion Health System for the creation of a biomedical park."Wait, how can this happen?" you may ask. "I thought the law in" [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 17, 2009, 4:59pm EST
    by Brian Gottstein

  • Howell and Putney and their "significant concern"

    Number of comments: 4
    House Speaker Bill Howell and Appropriations chairman Lacey Putney have written a letter to Mark Warner and Jim Webb regarding the health insurance bill meandering through the Senate. They aren't thrilled with the load of unfunded mandates it may send Virginia's way:In order to reduce the ranks of the uninsured,' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 17, 2009, 1:58pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Is it art?

    Number of comments: 2
    The winner of an art contest in support of a public option for health insurance is raising eyebrows on the right. And for good reason. Here's the piece:DC is the heart of it all. The life-giving center of everything. It makes a limited government believer's skin crawl.Well, that and the [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 17, 2009, 10:27am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • The Conventional Wisdom turns frosty toward Kaine

    Number of comments: 1
    To understand where Official Richmond stands, one reads Jeff Schapiro. Or watches his short videos, like the one below.So, what's the Official View on Tim Kaine these days?Don't let the door hit you on the fanny when you leave.' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 17, 2009, 10:08am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Keith Olbermann against health insurance mandates?

    Number of comments: 1
    In a way, yes he is. At least he is so long as there's no public option, Medicare expansion or other government program:KEITH OLBERMANN: Health care reform that benefits the industry at the cost of the people is intolerable and there are no moral constructs in which it can be [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 17, 2009, 9:28am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Democrats in a slump. But so is the GOP

    Number of comments: 4
    The new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds the Democratic party in a slide, one that has Peter Hart raising red flags:"For Democrats, the red flags are flying at full mast," said Democratic pollster Peter Hart, who conducts the survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff. "What we don't know for'" [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 16, 2009, 7:20pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • How they voted on the debt ceiling

    Number of comments: 1
    The House of Representatives voted 218-214 to raise the nation's debt ceiling to... ...$12,394,000,000,000.Yipes. How did Virginia's worthies vote?"Yes" -- Boucher, Connolly, Moran, Scott"No" -- Cantor, Forbes, Goodlatte, Perriello, Nye, Wittman, WolfThe Republicans had a free vote and the Democrats had to choose on what side of this ready-made campaign [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 16, 2009, 6:38pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • How to Fix County Budget Problems

    Number of comments: 0
    I’m wrapping up a paper on the real cost of public education, the total price tag per student, not just the stripped down version they typically trot out to show voters. One of the districts is Arlington, VA, which is the one I happen to live in. Though the district [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 16, 2009, 4:27pm EST
    by Adam Schaeffer

  • Reading is fundamental. Except in the Senate

    Number of comments: 0
    An extraordinary exchange between Tom Coburn and Max Baucus on whether the Reid health insurance bill ought to be read before the members vote on it. In the back-and-forth between the two, Baucus admits that many of his colleagues are what some have long suspected them to be...dullards: [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 16, 2009, 3:03pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • How to hide a trillion dollars

    Number of comments: 0
    How does official Washington manage to hide a trillion in spending? If you're Congress, and you have a health insurance bill you really, really want to hide the full cost, youdo a lot of fudging...the kind that would get mere mortals thrown in the slammer:...Democrats have been submitting proposals to' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 16, 2009, 1:33pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • F&P Radio with Bob Marshall

    Number of comments: 0
    On this episode of Freedom and Prosperity Radio...Delegate Bob Marshall is introducing the Virginia Health Care Freedom Act in the General Assembly in January, which would guarantee that every Virginian has a right to (as well as a right not to) purchase health insurance and medical services from whatever provider [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 16, 2009, 12:16pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • George Allen's rehabilitation continues

    Number of comments: 3
    Another instance of former Sen. George Allen raising his profile, this time against the Democratic health insurance bill under debate in his former stomping grounds. Does all of this add up to a return to electoral politics for Allen?"That's not necessarily a relevant question for this," he said with a [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 16, 2009, 10:37am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Air Congress and shades of '94

    Number of comments: 0
    The last time I saw lengthy articles like this one on congressional travel was 1994...right before the wheels came off the Democratic machine. What's fun about this look inside congressional wanderings is who is doing the freeloading...it's the deficit-fighting Blue Dogs:In Edinburgh, the lawmakers stayed at the Sheraton Grand Hotel [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 16, 2009, 9:31am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Kaine's money hunt

    Number of comments: 0
    Tim Kaine does not intend to go quietly into that good night. He's looking for new sources of revenue to close the budget gap, and seems to have had his fill of cutting.So where might he find new revenues?In the days leading up to Friday's budget announcement, Kaine already has [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 16, 2009, 8:31am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • High Noon for Health Care

    Number of comments: 1
    Just returned from the latest rally against ObamaCare in Washington, D.C. Upper Senate Park was packed full of rowdy protesters wearing (and seeing) red.There were some media personalities present, like Laura Ingram and Dick Armey, as well as a few of the better D.C. pols like Sen. Jim DeMint.During lobbying [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 15, 2009, 4:17pm EST
    by Josh Eboch

  • Howard Dean wants the health bill killed

    Number of comments: 2
    The former DNC chairman thinks the Reid bill isn't worth saving now that a Medicare buy-in has been dropped and the whole process should begin again...using reconciliation:“This is essentially the collapse of health care reform in the United States Senate. Honestly the best thing to do right now is kill' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 15, 2009, 3:04pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • The dark heart of health insurance: the mandates

    Number of comments: 1
    With Joe Lieberman having effectively blocked a public option in the Reid health insurance bill, we can now focus on the real evil within the bill: the mandates. Here's how Cato's Michael Cannon puts it:...an individual mandate gives government more (and more immediate) control over Americans’ health care than even [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 15, 2009, 2:19pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • What a difference a day, and $500 million in honest graft, can make...

    Number of comments: 0
    Today it appears Senate Democrats are closer than ever to a health insurance deal after dropping the Medicare expansion plan and the whole public option concept, thus bringing Joe Lieberman that much close to "yes" on the rest of the package.That still leaves Nebraska's Ben Nelson as a potential snag, [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 15, 2009, 12:09pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Marshall's anti-mugging bill

    Number of comments: 2
    In this case, the mugger is the federal government and the object isn't just your money, but your liberty. Del. Bob Marshall's proposal to prevent this crime rests on a number of constitutional principles, but there's one argument that deserves a bit more explanation. Advocates of a health insurance mandate' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 15, 2009, 9:16am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Kos wants the Reid bill to die

    Number of comments: 0
    The Daily Kos founder writes in his Twitter feed:Insurance companies win. Time to kill this monstrosity coming out of the Senate.Interesting. [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 15, 2009, 9:01am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Is Joe Leiberman advocating the death of thousands?

    Number of comments: 1
    Ezra Klein says "yes", and all because the Senator prefers to settle political scores rather than plump for universal health insurance coverage.Cato's Michael Cannon says Klein is full of it:Economists Helen Levy of the University of Michigan and David Meltzer of the University of Chicago surveyed the entire economics literature [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 15, 2009, 8:30am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Mark Warner, the spend-happy pol

    Number of comments: 3
    Sen. Mark Warner likes to remind people that's he's concerned -- deeply concerned -- about how health care costs may bankrupt the nation. He won't vote for anything that doesn't bend the cost curve down and save the economy from ruin.Maybe so. But after reading things like this, I'm reminded' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 14, 2009, 6:30pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Why is the Democratic health insurance scheme foundering?

    Number of comments: 3
    It now appears as though Senate Democrats are getting father from, rather than closer to, passage of any sort of health insurance bill by Christmas. Why is that? Cato's David Boaz believes it's all rather simple:The basic problem is that the more people learn about the bill, the less they [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 14, 2009, 1:47pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • A Democratic vision of 2010

    Number of comments: 0
    While there aren't a lot a lot of named sources in this story, there are some strong comments on what the Democrats will face in the 2010 elections:After a national election swept Obama into office, panicked Dems will try to localize their elections, though that may not work either."Localizing campaigns'" [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 14, 2009, 12:24pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Getting beyond the gas tax

    Number of comments: 2
    the RTD makes another plea to hike the gas tax as a way of providing a "comprehensive solution" to the state's transportation problems.That's looking backwards. Here's how the McDonnell camp will approach the matter:Reliance primarily on declining gasoline taxes is not a long-term strategy if we want to have a [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 14, 2009, 8:26am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Score a big one for Hurt. Maybe.

    Number of comments: 6
    Fifth District Republicans will choose their congressional nominee via primary, rather than convention. This is a short-term win for Sen. Robert Hurt, the only one of a gaggle of candidates who favored a primary.I'm not completely convinced this helps Hurt more than anyone else, but it does put a higher' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 13, 2009, 10:15am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • It's not just a job, it's a pension

    Number of comments: 4
    Appropriate reading for a cold and rainy Sunday is this Pilot piece on Virginia pols reaching for the pension gold. The focus is former Senator, and now Virginia Beach sheriff, Ken Stolle. Why would Stolle leave the Senate to become sheriff? Nostalgia, a sense of duty, and the pay-out:Stolle said [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 13, 2009, 9:15am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Sarah Palin, William Shater, Mass Hysteria

    Number of comments: 2
    This is brilliant... [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 12, 2009, 9:24am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Kaine to lawmakers: talk to the hand

    Number of comments: 2
    In response to a letter from Bill Bolling, Bill Howell, Tommy Norment and others urging the Governor to not put taxes into his mix of budget fixes, His Excellency tells the Republican worthies they don't have a clue:"While I appreciate your thoughts regarding the burdens faced by our citizens and'" [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 12, 2009, 8:28am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • What about George?

    Number of comments: 0
    Something to ponder from Barnie Day regarding the politics of Bill Bolling's higher profile:I think Bolling has a net in place, a net called in succession politics the “gennamum’s ‘greement.” It works like this: He and Cooch have already agreed that Cooch will seek a second term as AG, giving [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 11, 2009, 3:02pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • What the "insiders" think

    Number of comments: 3
    Here's a somewhat revealing list of who congressional and political insiders think is impressive, not so great and just plain awful.Interesting on the GOP side is that Bob McDonnell has impressed the insiders (though not surprising when looking at the list "insider" names).But these same insiders really dislike independent voices:What [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 11, 2009, 12:10pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Advising Bob

    Number of comments: 4
    Anita Kumar reprints the long list of folks advising Bob McDonnell during his transition.There are some good names, some bad names, some in-between. But under the "government reform" group, one stuck out as a real blast from McDonnell's past: Kevin Gentry.If the name doesn't ring any bells, Gentry was at' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 11, 2009, 10:37am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Richmond's storm water fees a job killer?

    Number of comments: 1
    Richmond businesses have been getting bills from the city for storm water run-off. But in some cases, the bills are so large, companies may have to lay-off workers in order to pay the fees.The power to tax is the power to destroy, and make no mistake, this "utility fee" is [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 11, 2009, 8:58am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Raising Bolling's profile...now and for 2013

    Number of comments: 7
    That LTG Bill Bolling will be a member of Bob McDonnell's cabinet -- as a "jobs czar" is interesting...Bob Holsworth calls it "a major elevation of the lieutenant Governor's role in state government.Yes, it is.But it is also has political implications that go far beyond "creating jobs" (which government doesn't'" [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 11, 2009, 8:27am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Mandating financial literacy

    Number of comments: 3
    Virginia's public high school students will be required to take a financial literary course in order to graduate. The new requirement has set some people on edge, as they wonder where the time/money/resources will come from to meet these requirements and whether, worst of all, the new mandate will cut [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 11, 2009, 8:14am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • First 5th District Republican Debate

    Number of comments: 4
    It looks like the first debate between candidates in the crowded field for the Republican nomination in Virginia's 5th District is set for Jan. 22nd, 2010.The event is scheduled to take place in Charlottesville at Albemarle County's Lane Auditorium from 7 to 9 PM. Its format will be determined in [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 10, 2009, 12:42pm EST
    by Josh Eboch

  • Dave Englin's "concerned"

    Number of comments: 0
    Democratic Del. Dave Englin is worried about Del. Bob Marshall's health care bill:"I'm concerned about it because we have a number of newly elected Republicans who came in on the shoulders of the tea party crowd," said Del. Dave Englin, D-Alexandria, referring to the conservative anti-tax movement. "I'm concerned that" [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 10, 2009, 10:46am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Is a congressional health insurance mandate constitutional?

    Number of comments: 0
    This discussion is just over an hour long, but gives great play to both sides on whether the health insurance bills under debate in Congress are constitutional.Randy Barnett says "no" and makes a very convincing case. Eugene Volokh says "yes" and also makes an excellent case, using arguments I've alluded' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 10, 2009, 10:37am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • The ethics push in capitol square

    Number of comments: 0
    It looks like Sen. Ralph Smith just might be leading a charge on ethics reform in the next session:Virginia lawmakers would have to disclose income that they and their immediate families receive from state and local government agencies under legislation designed to strengthen the General Assembly's Conflicts of Interests Act.The [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 10, 2009, 9:01am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Randy Barnett has some words for Bob Marshall

    Number of comments: 0
    Not specifically addressed to Marshall, but of great importance to the legislation he is proposing to counter the insurance mandates incorporated in the congressional health insurance bills. Here's a taste:...and for those who care about constitutional law: Raich involved an “as-applied” challenge wherein the Court refused to carve out a [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 09, 2009, 7:16pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • The Unconventional 5th District?

    Number of comments: 5
    The 5th Congressional District Republican Committee meets this Saturday to decide the method by which 5th District Republicans will nominate a candidate to run against vulnerable Democrat incumbent Tom Perriello.They would do well to consider the results of a recent national poll that found generic "Tea Party" candidates beating Republicans [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 09, 2009, 3:44pm EST
    by Josh Eboch

  • Regarding the Know Campaign's lawsuit...

    Number of comments: 0
    The Roanoke Times argues that the Know Campaign, which sought to use individual voting histories in a statewide mailing effort to "shame" folks into voting in last month's elections, says the group has "civic righteousness on its side" and should press ahead in the name of open records for all:Maybe [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 09, 2009, 3:17pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Why the Senate Health Insurance Deal is No Deal at All

    Number of comments: 1
    Cato's Michael Tanner explains why the deal Senate liberals and "moderates" have worked out is really no better, and in some ways worse, than Harry Reid's original plan: 1. In choosing the FEHBP [Federal Employees Health Benefit Program] for a model, Democrats have actually chosen an insurance plan whose costs [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 09, 2009, 1:39pm EST
    by Norman Leahy
← powhatan life Great Blue Heron →

Blog Info:
Tertium Quids

» http://tertiumquids.blogspot.com/

Categories

Conservative

BNN Traffic Index

Alexa: 916,501
60,304

Compete: No data
0

Quantcast: No data
-2

BNN Traffic Index: 60,304

BNN Influence Index

Rank

This week: 5

Last week: 11

12-week Average:

BNN Authority Index

Technorati: 0

Google: 0

BNN Authority Index: No data

Author(s)

Norman Leahy, Josh Eboch, Brian Gottstein, Adam Schaeffer, Nick Howard

» Subscribe to the Tertium Quids feed