For those of you not quite clear on what it is that I do, you might be interested in an article that I wrote for the Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute, explaining The State Decoded and its application to laws and regulations. The project is more than halfway done, and I’m pleased with its …
Author Archives: Waldo Jaquith
Neither Cuccinelli nor McAuliffe can win. And yet one of them must.
When a candidate is described as “divisive,” generally it’s intended to mean that while his own party loves him, the other party can’t stand him. In what’s shaping up to be a race between Terry McAuliffe and Ken Cuccinelli for the Virginia governorship, there are two wildly divisive candidates who are perhaps more divisive within …
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Michigan’s filmmaker tax break boondoggle.
In a long piece, the New York Times looks at Michigan’s efforts to persuade Hollywood to make films there through enormous subsidies. It didn’t fail—worse, it succeeded. The state lost money hand over fist in the process. Paying businesses to relocate to your state or city is a huge waste, 99% of the time. →
Top Florida Republicans admit that “voter fraud” laws are about suppressing turnout.
The prior chair of the Florida Republican Party (2006–2010) and former governor Charlie Crist (2007–2011) have both told the Palm Beach Post that they didn’t push voter ID laws and the like in order to reduce fraud (there is none)—they did it to suppress turnout. The more people voting, the better Democrats do. They invented …
Just a coincidence, one assumes.
We have gone 332 months in which every month has been above the historical average temperature. There hasn’t been a single colder-than-average month since 1985. →
Obama’s secret UN-led mind-control plot revealed.
So says Republican leaders in Georgia. The UN! Agenda 21! Rural broadband! RAND! Obama’s 2008 election yielded the Tea Party. His reelection may breed an even stupider brand of nutjobs. →
Government can’t create jobs. Except when McDonnell does it.
A press release from Gov. Bob McDonnell’s office one year ago contained this quote: If we’re going to lead America’s economic recovery, we have to remember that small business, not big government, creates jobs. That’s a familiar refrain, heard often during the recent election, most frequently uttered by people seeking a job leading that very …
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George Allen says he’s done running for office.
Thank God. What an embarrassment it would have been for Virginia if this casually vicious racist had won. He fashioned himself in the image of the unreformed old southern racists of the 1960s, and never bothered to update his mindset, only how to fake it for brief stretches. In the meantime, Virginia—and the whole US—changed …
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What’s next for the Republican Party after last night’s many defeats?
Barack Obama reelected by an overwhelming electoral vote. Both Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan lost their home states. All the rah-rah-rape U.S. Senate Republicans defeated. George Allen defeated by Tim Kaine. Scott Brown defeated by Elizabeth Warren. Tommy Thompson defeated by Tammy Baldwin, the first openly gay member of the U.S. Senate. Gay marriage approved …
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On the proposed constitutional amendments.
A lot of people have been asking me what the deal is with the two proposed constitutional amendments that we Virginians will be presented with Tuesday. Here’s a brief explanation of each. Amendment 1: Eminent Domain Shall Section 11 of Article I (Bill of Rights) of the Constitution of Virginia be amended (i) to require …
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