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

Tertium Quids

  • To rehire, or not to rehire, that is the question

    Number of comments: 1
    The RTD managed to cover the protest in front of the Warner and Webb offices Friday, and in they manage to capture Mark Warner at his "radical centrist" best:He stressed the costs of inaction."You guys hired me. At the end of the day, if I don't perform, don't rehire me." [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 22, 2009, 7:25pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • "100 Blanche DuBoises"

    Number of comments: 1
    The deals that allowed the Senate to invoke cloture yesterday are just the beginning of what could prove to be an orgy of legislative self-indulgence:[Sen. Mary] Landrieu and [Sen. Blanche] Lincoln got the attention because they were the last to decide, but the Senate really has 100 Blanche DuBoises, a [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 22, 2009, 9:03am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • 60 the hard way

    Number of comments: 1
    Byron York on why it was so difficult for senate Democrats to get the 60 votes necessary to being debate on Harry Reid's health insurance bill:But the Democrats' problems in keeping their side together, in the face of united Republican opposition, are an indicator of how public opinion is beginning' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 22, 2009, 8:29am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Mary Landrieu's honest graft

    Number of comments: 1
    "It's not a $100 million dollar fix, it's a $300 million fix"...but it had nothing whatsoever to do with her decision to allow debate on the health insurance bill that contains this hefty dollop of federal lucre: None dare call it a bribe. At least in the Senate. But it's entirely [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 21, 2009, 4:03pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Scenes from a protest

    Number of comments: 1
    Here are some photos of the protests on Friday in front of the downtown Richmond offices of Senators Warner and Webb (courtesy of Jim Smyers).In spite of the outcry, both worthies are intent on voting for cloture on the Reid health insurance bill. [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 21, 2009, 3:51pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • HSAs on the Chopping Block

    Number of comments: 1
    in an email, Sen. Mark Obenshain ponders alternative health insurance approaches for state employees, both as a way of addressing cost and providing greater flexibility. He suggests the state consider adopting health savings accounts:The idea is to give state employees more choices about how to manage their health, to let [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 21, 2009, 8:17am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Warner, Webb both to vote "yes" on cloture

    Number of comments: 2
    Both Senators Mark Warner and Jim Webb intend to vote "yes" on the cloture motion tomorrow evening that will bring Sen. Reid's health insurance bill to the floor for debate.Warner makes it clear he's looking for a handout (though probably not in Sen. Landrieu's league...but you never know), while Sen. [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 20, 2009, 5:12pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • A federal gas tax hike in the offing?

    Number of comments: 1
    Possibly. Or at least an attempt by a few Democratic congressmen to engineer one (via RedState):I just came from dinner and recognized the voices beside me. It was Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and three other Democrats. I knew the other faces but names escape me.They were strategizing on how to raise [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 20, 2009, 4:02pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Ben Nelson: For it before he was against it

    Number of comments: 0
    Mark Warner syndrome is spreading. Now it's Nebraska's Ben Nelson, who likes folks to think he's on the fence on just about everything, who has the "for it before he's against it itch":"Throughout my Senate career I have consistently rejected efforts to obstruct," he said in a statement. "That's what" [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 20, 2009, 12:18pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Mark Warner: For it before he was against it

    Number of comments: 4
    Via NBC reporter Adam Rhew's twittering of a Mark Warner appearance in Richmond this morning, we learn the following:Warner indicates he will vote FOR cloture tomorrow: "moving to debate it simply starts the process"Warner isn't a "yes" on Harry Reid's insurance bill as a whole -- yet -- because he' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 20, 2009, 10:31am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • The petty tyrants and eminent domain

    Number of comments: 0
    In a follow-up piece on an eminent domain case in Roanoke that pitted a small business owner against the city, two state-supported universities, a powerful non-profit and a housing authority, Bart Hinkle offers a warning to the rest of us who think our property really does belong to us:In the [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 20, 2009, 9:26am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Here's one way to re-open Virginia's closed rest areas

    Number of comments: 2
    A public-private partnership between the Carlyle Group (owner of Dunkin' Donuts) and the state of Connecticut is one example of how a cash-strapped state like Virginia can re-open its shuttered rest areas:The Carlyle Group said Thursday that it has signed a deal with Connecticut to refurbish and run the state's [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 20, 2009, 8:33am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • How to fix the state's budget problems

    Number of comments: 1
    Barnie Day puts on his Jonathan Swift hat and offers some solutions to Virginia's budget problems. Snip:Remove all the chairs from the Capitol and the General Assembly Building. Make everybody stand up. This move alone would cut the ‘long’ sessions from 60 days to 10, and the ’short’ ones from [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 20, 2009, 8:22am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Voting for cloture mean voting to pass the bill

    Number of comments: 3
    Senator Reid's health insurance bill faces a cloture vote tomorrow. He needs all 60 Democrats to vote for cloture so the bill can proceed to debate and a final vote. Erick Erickson provides a timely reminder of just what all this Senate mumbo-jumbo means:This is important — a vote in [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 20, 2009, 8:01am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • A $100 million bribe for Mary Landrieu

    Number of comments: 5
    It's not unusual for legislators to add sweeteners to their bills in order to gain their colleagues' votes. In the case of Harry Reid's health insurance bill, he needs every Democratic vote just to bring the measure to the floor. So...to get one fence-sitting Democrat, Louisiana's Mary Landrieu on board,' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 19, 2009, 4:04pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Does Reid have the votes?

    Number of comments: 3
    Harry Reid needs all 60 Democrats to vote in favor of a procedural vote on Saturday to move his health insurance bill to the floor. Does he have them? Maybe, maybe not:At a rally with supporters of the healthcare reform bill, Reid would not say he had secured commitments from [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 19, 2009, 3:39pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • State budget hole gets even bigger

    Number of comments: 0
    What happens to a state's budget once the federal stimulus money goes away? Virginia is about to find out:The next two-year budget is expected to fall approximately $600 million short in revenues and include about $2.9 billion in additional spending, according to analysts for the Senate Finance Committee.The increased spending [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 19, 2009, 3:10pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Health insurance protests on Friday in Richmond

    Number of comments: 0
    Via WRVA's Doc Thompson we learn that local activists will be mobilizing in opposition to the Saturday health insurance procedural vote at Jim Webb's and Mark Warner's Richmond offices:Healthcare Protest Tomorrow - Noon-2pm. We hope to have a continuous chain of people between Webb's office at 507 E. Franklin and [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 19, 2009, 1:49pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Million Med Marches" in Newport News and McLean

    Number of comments: 0
    On the same day that Sen. Reid has promised his procedural vote on health insurance, there will be a few protests going on in opposition. Via email, here's information on one of them:You are invited to join fellow doctors, healthcare providers and patients from across the nation to attend The [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 19, 2009, 1:37pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Education Tax Credits the Choice for Independents in Virginia

    Number of comments: 0
    My last post focused on the general results of a school choice poll in Virginia. Contra conventional wisdom, education tax credits are significantly more popular and less opposed than are charter schools. Even more interesting is the stability of support for donation tax credits across party identification. A stunning 64 [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 19, 2009, 12:02pm EST
    by Adam Schaeffer

  • What’s the Most Popular Choice Reform in Virginia?

    Number of comments: 0
    Pop Quiz: What’s the best education policy a moderate politician in Virginia can pursue? A. Vouchers B. Charter Schools C. Education Tax Credits Conventional wisdom says go with charter schools, because they are a bipartisan, moderate compromise reform that will get you the largest number of Independents and the least [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 19, 2009, 12:00pm EST
    by Adam Schaeffer

  • Health Insurance vote possible on Saturday

    Number of comments: 0
    The Senate could vote by Saturday on whether to proceed to debate Sen. Harry Reid's nearly $900 billion health insurance bill. The machinations are many, the stakes high, etc, etc. But following up on the post below about the insurance mandate, here's a glimpse of the penalties Reid's bill contains [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 19, 2009, 9:15am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • The ethics dodge, and McDonnell's move to embrace reform

    Number of comments: 2
    The Governor wades deeper into the Phil Hamilton ethics mess, calling for the House probe to continue, and for legitimate reasons, including overall ethics reform as well as clarity:Kaine also suggested that if left unexplained, the episode could taint ODU's reputation at a time when the university's stature is on [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 19, 2009, 8:53am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Changing the relationship between people and their government

    Number of comments: 0
    Regrettably lost in the debate over health insurance reform is this point about the mandates that are at the core of the legislation:But the problem is that Democrats don't need the public option to engineer a "federal takeover of our health care system." All they need is the power to' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 19, 2009, 8:13am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Tax credits for school buildings? Sure. Students inside? Eh, no.

    Number of comments: 0
    The chorus of current, former and hope-to-be pols in favor of extending tax credits to refurbish school buildings gains Gov. Kaine's support today.That's great. But what about education tax credits for the kids inside those buildings?Not so much.As our Adam Schaeffer notes regarding education tax credits in Virginia:Contra conventional wisdom, [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 18, 2009, 3:52pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Maybe Gore misspoke

    Number of comments: 0
    Otherwise, his statement that the earth's core (and even stranger, its crust, where we are) is "several million degrees" makes him look rather foolish: [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 18, 2009, 3:10pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Ethics Investigations, Hamilton and the Speaker's Contempt

    Number of comments: 1
    When Del. Phil Hamilton resigned this week, the House ethics investigation into his conduct ceased as well. That's left minority leader Ward Armstrong a bit flustered, but it's also provided him with something he and his caucus sorely need: an issue...Frustrated by the halt to the inquiry, House Minority Leader [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 18, 2009, 2:36pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • For the congressman who has everything: a lump of coal

    Number of comments: 0
    This is quite funny:For $7.99 and three optional donation amounts to the Alden Aaroe Shoe Fund holiday drive, Melancon will pack two to three ounces of America’s favorite energy source in a plastic baggy and ship it with a choice of two finger-wagging form letters admonishing your congressman or congresswoman.And [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 18, 2009, 10:28am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Nearly $3 billion more needs to be cut from Virginia budget

    Number of comments: 0
    It's possible that up to $3 billion must be cut from the state's budget by 2012.Scary? Some politicians think so:"These budget numbers are scary, and they're stark," Del. Clarence E. "Bud" Phillips (D-Dickenson) said. "They're going to have a grave impact on the citizens of the commonwealth."It also means that [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 18, 2009, 9:29am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • More stimulus on the way

    Number of comments: 0
    Democrats are pushing for yet another stimulus bill, this one aimed at job creation (supposedly real jobs in places that actually exist. Maybe).The rationale and timing are simple: It's all politics:The House of Representatives is pushing a bill aimed at boosting employment, a potentially risky move that underscores Democrats' fears' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 18, 2009, 9:16am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • No cap and trade until spring

    Number of comments: 3
    The Senate's version of cap and trade will be delayed until spring, at the earliest. Not because it doesn't have supporters, mind you (except for Sen. Webb, who says he will vote against the bill regardless of the timing). No, the real reason is it might destroy jobs:Momentum for a' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 18, 2009, 8:17am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Plans to Burn Perriello in Effigy Flame Out

    Number of comments: 0
    According to The Plum Line, Danville Tea Party chairman, Nigel Coleman, has been forced to abandon plans to burn Rep. Tom Perriello (VA-5) in effigy later this month.Announcement of the rally sparked a media firestorm last week (no pun intended), and apparently the backlash was just too hot for organizers [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 17, 2009, 3:56pm EST
    by Josh Eboch

  • A $3 trillion tax increase?

    Number of comments: 0
    This is sure to spark a recovery...letting all the Bush tax cuts expire:Since Obama already wants to get rid of the income and capital gains tax cuts for wealthier Americans that expire at the end of 2010, clearly what [Council of Economic Advisers chair Christina] Romer is referring to is [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 17, 2009, 3:01pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • But would he have won?

    Number of comments: 2
    Fresh from his knifing of Creigh Deeds, Gov. Tim Kaine said he would have run for a second term, if the state constitution allowed for it:If Virginia did not bar governors from serving consecutive terms, "I would have basically just tried to continue the expansion of pre K," he said.Well [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 17, 2009, 1:29pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • The simplest health care reform of all

    Number of comments: 0
    From Virginia Institute Board of Scholars member Arnold Kling:The bill I would propose would be one that encourages experimentation at the state level. Offer to support an experiment that allows an individual state to adopt single-payer, while allowing another state to offer deregulated insurance and medical practice.So simple, it fits [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 17, 2009, 1:11pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Our "Business Friendly State"

    Number of comments: 0
    Barnie Day contemplates the Virginia Register of Regulations and discovers:How many pages of regulations do you think it takes to govern a “business-friendly” state like Virginia? A thousand? Two thousand? Three? Four?Close to five. Nearly five thousand pages. (I checked the Bible this morning. That gang of regulators covers a [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 17, 2009, 12:45pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Your government nanny

    Number of comments: 0
    What if at age 55 you were told by the federal government that you were prohibited from playing racquetball or riding a bike? What if you were told at any age that you weren't allowed to rock climb, eat ice cream or candy bars, or eat foods with lots of' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 17, 2009, 10:11am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Portrait of the Incumbent as a HighWire Man

    Number of comments: 2
    Walter Shapiro offers a profile of Rep. Tom Perriello that finds an incumbent who's drawn to risk, cares too much, works too hard and darn it, we just need more of him around:Watching this intriguing first term congressman for a day in small-town southern Virginia, I vacillated between two wildly [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 17, 2009, 10:00am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Health Care Is Not a Right

    Number of comments: 0
    While the debate over health care "reform" rages in the Senate, and the media parses the exact meaning and veracity of claims that it will be "budget neutral," it's important not to forget the fundamentally flawed premise at the heart of this issue:The belief that some people have a "right" [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 17, 2009, 9:50am EST
    by Josh Eboch

  • Top effictive tax rate in Virginia goes to 52% under House health bill

    Number of comments: 4
    Via the Tax Foundation comes this handy graphic (click on the map to increase its size) on what would happen to effective marginal tax rates in the House version of health "insurance" reform becomes law. Note that Virginia's top effective rate would go to more than 52 percent. And isn't [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 17, 2009, 8:56am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Nothing like a parting knife in the back from the Governor

    Number of comments: 2
    Seeking, perhaps, to insulate himself as much as anything, part-time and soon-to-be former Gov. Tim Kaine slices Creigh Deeds into fine little pieces for running a poor campaign:Asked about his own advice to Deeds, who lost to McDonnell on Nov. 3 by 17 percentage points, Kaine said: "I'd rather not'" [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 17, 2009, 8:42am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Palin and the Goldwater tradition

    Number of comments: 1
    Here's a chin-scratcher, from Newsweek's Jon Meacham, regarding Sarah Palin and her parallels to Barry Goldwater:Goldwater was a seminal figure, and is too often caricatured as a nuclear cowboy by the left and as a conservative John the Baptist by the right. But as Perlstein's reporting makes clear, Goldwater was [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 17, 2009, 8:01am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Get ready to pay back that federal tax credit

    Number of comments: 3
    A bit of happy tax news from your friends at the IRS:More than 15 million taxpayers could unexpectedly owe taxes when they file their federal returns next spring because the government was too generous with their new Making Work Pay tax credit.Taxpayers are at risk if they have more than [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 16, 2009, 1:42pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Never let a good controversy go to waste

    Number of comments: 1
    Seeking to cash-in on the interest generated by this story about the Danville tea party group contemplating to burn Rep. Tom Perriello in effigy (which may not occur anyway), the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has created an online petition asking people to "Tell the GOP leadership to immediately denounce these" [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 16, 2009, 12:52pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Behind the "created or saved" job numbers

    Number of comments: 0
    According to this handy chart, more than 75,000 "created or saved" jobs resulting from stimulus spending are bogus.Considering this example from Douglas county, Wisconsin:The county's report claimed to have created 100 jobs with its $7.3 million grant, but that's only because the true figure of five jobs was mistaken for [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 16, 2009, 12:44pm EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Hamilton Quits

    Number of comments: 0
    Defeated for re-election and dogged by a corruption scandal, Del. Phil Hamilton has decided to resign.Alas, Phil we hardly knew ye... [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 16, 2009, 8:49am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Matthew Lesko Impersonators Abound

    Number of comments: 0
    The Wall Street Journal has a long piece on General Electric's transformation from boring a conglomerate into a stimulus-hunting, subsidy-seeking conglomerate. The portrait isn't pretty:Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt now has his eye on a huge new pool of potential revenue: Uncle Sam's stimulus dollars. Mr. Immelt, a registered Republican, quips' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 16, 2009, 7:49am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Arguing for the Status Quo

    Number of comments: 1
    That reliable barometer of the Conventional Wisdom, the RTD's Jeff Schapiro, argues that what Bob McDonnell needs most in his new cabinet is more of the same, particularly when it comes to the state budget and the all-important position of Finance Secretary:Legislators in both parties believe McDonnell would be well [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 15, 2009, 9:20am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • Time for TABOR?

    Number of comments: 4
    The RTD makes a brief case for a taxpayer bill of rights as a way to control spending: The General Assembly should put a brake on spending growth that would automatically hold budget increases to within some multiple of inflation plus population growth. Any excess revenue would be rebated to [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 15, 2009, 8:55am EST
    by Norman Leahy

  • A VDOT contractor calls for a tax hike

    Number of comments: 5
    But says that hiking the gas tax a dime and indexing it to "economic conditions," whatever they may be, would take the politics out of the equation and ensure that roads get built and repaired like clockwork. Self-serving? Of course not:Some might charge that a contractor lobbying for transportation money [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 14, 2009, 8:13am EST
    by Norman Leahy
← powhatan life Great Blue Heron →

Blog Info:
Tertium Quids

» http://tertiumquids.blogspot.com/

Categories

Conservative

BNN Traffic Index

Alexa: 931,010
58,828

Compete: No data
0

Quantcast: No data
2

BNN Traffic Index: 58,828

BNN Influence Index

Rank

This week: 11

Last week: 19

12-week Average:

BNN Authority Index

Technorati: 0

Google: 2

BNN Authority Index: 1.0

Author(s)

Norman Leahy, Josh Eboch, Jeboch, Adam Schaeffer

» Subscribe to the Tertium Quids feed