Dear Friend of TJI, “As a direct result of his decisions about Afghanistan, Americans are stranded, our allies are outraged, our reputation is diminished, and the Afghan people have been left once again at the mercy of a cabal of cut-throat tyrants. In response, Biden has insisted that all of this was inevitable, despite his having promised precisely the opposite beforehand….” -- Charles C.W. Cooke Meanwhile … 1.) Russell Berman in The Atlantic agrees (here). From the Right, National Review political columnist Jim Geraghty, a former foreign correspondent (and former Thomas Jefferson Institute speaker) has offered daily columns, detailing “What It’s Really Like on the Ground in Kabul” (here) and the Biden Administration’s abandonment of American allies (here). In the same publication, former assistant secretary of defense Bing West observes that on the 20th Anniversary of 9/11 the Taliban will fly over the abandoned American Embassy where a bit of the Twin Towers is buried, and asks the question “Who Will Trust Us after Afghanistan” (here). The “Forever War” will still be forever; just larger. 2.) Closer to home, Institute Senior Fellow Steve Haner reports on a lawsuit in Nantucket, Massachusetts challenging the approval of 100 wind turbines (to be followed by 500 more), asking “Could the Vineyard Wind Challenge Impact Dominion’s Virginia Project?” (here). The Thomas Jefferson Institute is part of a loose coalition of organizations challenging windtowers up and down the East Coast due to negative impact on the environment, economy, and ecosystem (here). 3.) Windfarms, along with the Virginia Clean Economy Act and the Transportation and Climate Initiative, will be just part of the discussion at a September 16 in-person and virtual conference hosted by the Jefferson Institute, Virginia Manufacturers Association, and the Virginia Energy Consumer Trust from 9:30 to 11:30 am. To register, click here. 4.) Virginia Alcohol and Beverage Control stores reported $1.4 billion in sales last year, an increase of $163 million over the previous year’s record sales. This translates into a $71 million increase into the state General Fund (here), derived largely from higher taxes imposed by Governor Ralph Northam and the General Assembly and creating a $2.6 billion General Fund surplus. The Jefferson Institute, of course has proposed that it be given back in the form of a doubling of the standard deduction (here). It is unlikely the current state leadership will do anything to reduce your taxes, which we suspect will lead to even higher liquor sales next year as taxpayers commiserate. 5.) The statewide Standards of Learning exam results came out last year. Not surprisingly, the scores tanked with a student population that did not have in-person classes. Over at Bacon’s Rebellion, Jim Bacon took a look at the data here, here, and here. In the same publication, John Butcher, who has looked at the data for years, does a deeper dive here. Regaining ground will take years, and those who suffered the worst learning loss were low-income students and those with disabilities. This is precisely why Republican legislators proposed using federal funds to provide grants to help parents help their children. The proposal was opposed by the teachers unions, and a lockstep General Assembly turned it down without debate. 6.) Teachers who disagree with the politics of the teachers union often belong anyway, in order to obtain liability insurance. There are alternatives, and the Thomas Jefferson Institute has re-started a campaign to let those teachers know their choices (here and here). 7.) There is an “ideal” population for each Congressional, State Senate, and House of Delegates District. The decennial census is intended to rebalance those districts more evenly. VPAP helpfully offers you the chance to see if your district needs more people, fewer, or is close to “just right” (here). 8.) “The bulk of the constitutional scholars say it’s not likely to pass constitutional muster,” said President Biden of his new eviction moratorium. Constitution be damned, he signed it anyway. At that point, unable to spend it fast enough, only $3 billion of a federal $45 billion relief package had gone to renters and the landlords they owe money to. Biden was buying time until the Supreme Court could strike it down (which it did last week). Virginia has one of the most efficient systems for distributing rent assistance, but the vice chair of Charlottesville’s Management Services Corp. says even repeated attempts to connect renters to the money have been unsuccessful (here). 9.) The result means landlords have gone without payments, even as their expenses (repairs, utilities, and taxes) continue. This especially hurts smaller landlords without the resources to drag renters to sign the paperwork – landlords like Raj Sookram, with 13 properties (here), Lincoln Eccles with 14 units (here), or Rebecca and John Faulkner with just one (here). Those of us who grew up in New York recall passing entire apartment buildings owners had abandoned after being crushed between rising costs, rent controls, and other “helpful” government programs. While much is made of renters who may be evicted, there will be even fewer places for them to live if the eviction moratorium were to continue. 10.) The “conventional wisdom” is that Texas, Florida and Georgia are states run by Republicans advocating white supremacist policies. Then why, asks Tim Carney, at the American Enterprise Institute, when Black Americans have a choice they choose those states over New York, Illinois, and California? (here) Finally … in a week of horrible news from the other side of the world, a bright note. Happy Sunday, Everyone. Sometimes you need to color outside the lines to succeed.
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