Tag: Bacon’s Rebellion

by Cindy Right-wing blogger Jim Bacon casually says in a recent post (in his trash - climate denial, immigrant bashing, etc. - blog, which I...

This crap would be bad enough on its own, but to have it coming out of a blog that's proudly sponsored by Virginia's monopoly utility,...

by Ivy Main and Seth Heald, cross posted from Power for the People VA A sign at a protest against the Atlantic Coast Pipeline This post...

Yep, this blog is sponsored by your theoretically state-regulated monopoly utility, Dominion Power. I say "theoretically state-regulated" because, actually, it's the other way around,...

Over at Bacon's Rebellion, which is proudly sponsored by our friends at Dominion Power, Jim Bacon interviews "Aaron Ruby, a spokesman for Dominion Transmission,...

by Lowell I couldn't agree more with that quote by Waldo Jaquith in this new Style Weekly article by Peter Galuszka. Here's an excerpt, followed...

Frankly, the fact that GreenTech didn't "finish" the application for incentives from Virginia was fallout from the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) skepticism. Incentives are not stand alone traps for private sector prey. They are bait in the economic tackle box at the ready when the Commonwealth goes courting.

Last December, James Bacon trod gingerly when discussing the report by Ryan Nobles implying some kind of chicanery in Terry McAuliffe's description of the dealings with the Commonwealth. Instead of jumping on the disparaging McAuliffe inference in Nobles' report ala National Review Online, Bacon analyzed the statements by McAuliffe less literally and the prospects with more balance.

According to a spokeswoman from VEDP, the agency never officially was given the opportunity to bid or not bid on his project.

"We did not receive enough information to respond to GreenTech's business proposal that was received in 2009," said Suzane West, the Communications Manager for VEDP. - Ryan Nobles, Richmond's NBC 12

In the context of the usual opportunities to court industry, this one demanded immediate attention from the VEDP. That is just not the way government operates unless the skids are greased. Well before McAuliffe was a player in GreenTech Automotive, Mississippi was in contention; maybe already had stolen the march. GreenTech extended Virginia a courtesy that was not returned. While Mississippi was paving the highway to Tunica, Virginia built roadblocks. There was no compelling reason or really any way for GreenTech to build a case that could overcome VEDP's criticisms of its plan. The skepticism and risk analysis were not unwarranted. But Bacon's own bottom line was appropriate:

"Let's hope that the business prospects for GreenTech will be sufficiently clear by next year that we can make an informed judgment of McAuliffe's gubernatorial timber." - James A. Bacon

Over at Bacon's Rebellion, veteran reporter (BusinessWeek, Virginia Business, Virginian-Pilot, Richmond Times-Dispatch) Peter Galuszka is rapidly becoming one of my favorite Virginia bloggers.  For instance, check out his two latest columns, The "Cooch" and Academic Freedom and "Streamlining" State Government.  Both of these are superb, and I strongly recommend that everyone read them.  

The "Streamlining" article explains how Bob McDonnell "likes the idea of government streamlining because it fits his political philosophy of promoting limited government," but also how there isn't much room for efficiency gains in Virginia state government, as "previous Democratic Governors Mark Warner and Tim Kaine did a pretty good job running the state."

Galuszka's other recent article, The "Cooch" and Academic Freedom, argues that Ken Cuccinelli's assault on academic freedom in Virginia "conjures up some very ugly moments in American history."  According to Galuszka, "[Cuccinelli's] move is reminiscent of the church putting Galileo under house arrest for saying the planets move around the sun instead of the earth." Given this situation, Galuszka asks, "Why would an honest researcher want to work with Virginia universities if his or her work is going to be challenged by the likes of Cuccinelli and he or she will have to pay all of those lawyers fees to fund the Grand Inquisitor's witch hunts through their emails?"  Good question, and great article, by Peter Galuszka!