News from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Chris Graham

Friday, July 17 – Press briefing by Tony Blinken, national security advisor to Vice President Joe Biden, on the vice president’s upcoming trip to Ukraine and Georgia Thursday, July 16 – Press gaggle with Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton – Vice President Biden highlights Recovery Act progress in Virginia – Statement from the president on…

The new man in charge at Blue U.

AFP

Story by Chris Graham The world has turned over several times at least since John Downey first stepped foot on campus at Blue Ridge Community College in 1992. Few had heard of the Internet by then, for example. And the handful of us who had cell phones had to leave them in their cars, except…

Slight dip in gas prices in advance of the Fourth

Chris Graham

I would caution against getting too excited, but good news on the gas-price front is good news on the gas-price front.  “After nearly two months of daily gas price increases, we are finally seeing a little relief at the gas pumps, which motorists are welcoming just in time for the holiday weekend,” said Martha M….

Letter | It’s time to do something about poverty other than study it

Chris Graham

We read news reports that Gov. Tim Kaine appointed Arlington State Del. David Englin to yet another commission to study poverty in Virginia. While we certainly welcome that the governor’s and the General Assembly’s desire to measure the extent of poverty in Arlington and Virginia, we’re puzzled by the call to “study” what census data…

Susan F. Feiner | Let’s make a new New Deal

AFP

FDR realized that, “People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.” Why do most economic policies run counter to this basic point? Faith in markets leads economists to believe that full-employment is impossible, government intervention is destructive, deficits are bad, and planning is futile. That is…