Columns

Gadov. Bob McDonnell released this week 20 ways in which he wants to see the state government become less burdensome on local governments. Some of those are good ideas and should be addressed. Some, however, are simply an ongoing attempt to hide what government is doing and should be rejected.
    When it comes to having the government’s actions open to the public, any attempts to hide those actions is a step backward. That’s why including two references to the public’s right to know in the mandate proposal is not acceptable.

    I suspect that the outcome of this fall’s elections won’t revolve around which party the American electorate likes the best. It’s more likely that the party, with which Americans are least disgusted, will come out on top. Neither “Democrats” nor Republicans came out of last year’s legislative Chinese fire drills looking good.

As you read this, I’m betting that Mitt Romney won the Iowa caucuses, or at least finished very strong for a guy who barely campaigned there until the last week.
    Many Republicans seem to be coming to their senses and ready to pick the guy who can offer them the best chance of victory, and that’s always been Romney.

In the 2008 presidential election, the word “change” became the operative description of what both campaigns were promising. Barack Obama started it, and John McCain then tried to adapt it to his own purposes.
    As we approach the New Year, it seems apparent that America is at the beginning of many profound changes in the years and decades to come. Most of these changes won’t be the kinds of things a politician would campaign on.