Frank Knapp Jr.: Surprisingly, small-business owners agree with voters on toxic chemicals threat

AFP

We have heard an ongoing cry from organizations claiming to represent all businesses that they oppose any government action on toxic chemicals in our products, warning of increased costs and job losses. Now, a new independent poll shows that when it comes to protecting workers and consumers from negative effects of toxic chemicals, small-business owners agree with voters in that both want to be protected by stricter regulations.

AAA: Best and worst in Virginia transportation in 2012

Chris Graham

“One-and-done” is a phrase oft-used to describe the NBA’s controversial draft eligibility rule. Yet it also describes what happens to a team when it wins in the first round of the playoffs, only to lose in the second round. Most transportation projects can take “roughly 1 to 3 construction seasons from funded year to completion.” They aren’t “one and done” undertakings.

Chris Graham: Bah, humbug

AFP

Scrooge City is run by self-styled libertarians who shout from the tops of the Blue Ridge that they want government run like a business and tear up on public-access TV over their concerns for the little man. And then there’s reality. Big Government is alive and well in Waynesboro. Just ask Christian Critzer.

Chris Graham: ‘Meaningful contributions’ from the NRA

Chris Graham

The National Rifle Association pledged to offer “meaningful contributions” to make sure that school shootings like the one last week in Newtown, Conn., that took the lives of 26, including 20 first-graders, would never happen again. Those “contributions” took on a familiar form on Friday, with the gun-rights lobby attacking gun-control laws and unveiling a plan to placed armed guards in every school in America.