Andy Schmookler: Shutdown

Republicans push themselves as patriots, but something about the claim and the way they act bothers Andy Schmookler. “In the last year-plus, three times they have basically threatened to do something that would be bad for the country if they weren’t given their demands met. A patriot doesn’t say, Meet my demands, or I’ll blow…

To kill or not to kill: Death penalty topic of debate at Bridgewater College

Contributors

Bud Welch, whose daughter, Julie Marie, was killed in the Oklahoma City bombing in April 1995, and Jeff Jacoby, a long-time proponent of the death penalty, will debate “The Death Penalty” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 29, in Cole Hall at Bridgewater College. The debate is sponsored by the Anna B. Mow Endowed Lecture Series…

Frank Knapp Jr.: The Corporate Attorneys Full Employment Act

Contributors

Congress is considering a proposal that portends to offer commonsense rules to affect how federal agencies analyze costs and benefits. Instead it will be disastrous to taxpayers, small and mid-sized businesses and the country as a whole. The Regulatory Accountability Act of 2011 (RAA), which passed in the U.S. House, provides extensively detailed procedures for…

Marshall: GOP loyalty oath requirement sends ‘wrong message’

Contributors

Del. Bob Marshall is urging Virginia’s GOP leaders to ask the State Board of Elections to rescind its ruling that voters, before taking part in the March 6 Republican presidential primary, must pledge in writing that they intend to support the party’s White House nominee in the Nov. 6 general election. “Ironically, requiring a loyalty…

FEMA approves funding for Louisa following quake

Chris Graham

The Federal Emergency Management Administration has approved federal disaster assistance for individuals and business owners in Louisa County who experienced damage as a result of a 5.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Virginia on Aug. 23 and caused more than 40 aftershocks.  Gov. Bob McDonnell had appealed FEMA’s initial decision to deny federal disaster aid to Louisa…

Ken Plum: Virginians leading the nation

Ken Plum

In the late 1990s the state teachers’ organization distributed a hopeful poster. With scenes from Monticello and colonial Virginia printed in the background, the text proclaimed that “Virginians led the Eighteenth Century, Virginians can lead the Twenty-first Century.” There is a plentiful supply of documentation of Virginians providing leadership in the Revolutionary period through the…