By Kyler Hood |Watchdog.org
ALEXANDRIA — It’s been a week of political contention in Virginia for voters, educators and lawmakers, as reformers try to remove regulatory weaknesses and candidates work to gain an advantage in a tight Senate race.
Expert says Virginia has huge potential for election fraud
Hans Von Spakovsky
Virginia elections are vulnerable to voter fraud unless the state checks voter rolls against federal databases, says one expert at the Heritage Foundation.
The presidential race is close, according to legal expert and former Federal Election Commission member Hans von Spakovsky, so every vote matters. And until Virginia can check its rolls against Department of Homeland Security and federal criminal records, voter fraud is fair game.
VA: Kaine and Allen try to win with same strategy
The U.S. Senate race between Republican George Allen and Democrat Tim Kaine is one of the nation’s tightest, with no clear leader according to a Rasmussen Reports poll taken Aug. 7.
Given Virginia’s swing-state status, candidates hope to gain voters by offering a unique vision — but their messages are strangely similar.
Report shows “Soviet-style” Amtrak system is ineffective
Amtrak should use a privatized commuter rail in Northern Virginia to save taxpayers millions of dollars, according to a recent U.S. House Transportation Committee report.
The Virginia Railway Express, which connects Fredericksburg andManassas with Washington, D.C., is posting record ridership and its best on-time performance under private contractor Keolis America.
Keolis took over VRE operations in July 2010 after beating Amtrak in a competitive bid. And House Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica said more rail lines should follow Virginia’s example.
“Amtrak is a highly subsidized, Soviet-style rail system, but despite every ticket being underwritten nearly $50 by the taxpayers, Amtrak is an absolute failure in competing with the cost-effectiveness and level of service provided by the private sector,” said Mica, R-Fla.
Occupational licensing requirements for many occupations in Virginia can add hurdles to opening a business.
Those hurdles may heap costs on entrepreneurs, slowing the employment growth, says Emily Washington, associate director of state outreach at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center in Fairfax.
“(Deregulation) is the right thing to do, because it will benefit consumers through increased competition in those industries and will take a step forward toward giving people the right to earn a living,” she said.
For now, barbers, interior designers, mixed-martial artists and myriad other professions will have to keep paying the government for the right to hang an “Open for Business” sign in Virginia.
Reformers push for ‘value-added’ teacher model; unions push back
Education reformers want to get serious about upping teacher evaluation standards to keep ineffective instructors out of the classroom.
The National Council on Teacher Quality gave Virginia a flat-out F for its inability to identify and remove ineffective teachers. But one education analyst says a “value-added” formula that rates instructors on student learning will put Virginia on the path to reform. Unions don’t like the idea.
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