Author Archives: matt ohern

Tax Reform is Key to Virginia's Future

As of March 2017, our state’s unemployment rate was over 3%. Granted, these numbers are not awful, but I would argue there is room for improvement. Many of these jobs are held by people who had better paying jobs just a few years ago. And we still have too many who have taken themselves out of the potential work force and this makes that 3% number look better than it really is.
Our state’s economy should be and can be much stronger. The most important thing we can do to make this a reality is overhaul the burdensome federal tax code. Continue reading

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Building on Virginia’s Data-Center Boom

Data centers are the hottest trend in Virginia economic development these days. But the state is only beginning to think through the implications.
Loudoun County, home to 75 facilities, has developed the largest cluster of data centers in the country (and perhaps the world), and next-door-neighbor Prince William County is rising fast. Continue reading

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An Unhealthy Obsession with Climate Change

On June 1 came the encouraging news that President Trump has decided the United States will exit the U.N. Paris climate agreement. The agreement imposes huge burdens while producing little or no impact on the global climate.
From the outrage shared by the media, one would think Trump has doomed the world to certain destruction. Signs are clear the noise will continue, in one form or another: In March, just two months after Trump took office, a “Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health” was launched to advise (alarm) the American public about global warming. Continue reading

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Is Capitalism Good for the Environment?

It has been said that capitalism works for a very simple reason – people can be counted on to do what is in their own interest. That has been the basis of human interaction since the beginning of time. One villager would catch fish and sell them to others, which helped the fisherman succeed, but also helped the others, who needed fish. In fact, the only way to make money in a free market is to supply others with something they need, and are willing to pay for. Selfishness does not profit unless it also helps others. Continue reading

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Study Says Farm Subsidies Distort Planting Decisions

This week I am addressing Heritage’s view on subsidies. It claims “Government intervention creates numerous problems and makes the status quo of agricultural subsidies an untenable situation. Subsidies distort planting decisions of farmers so that instead of responding to the market, they make decisions based on the incentives provided by the subsidies.” Continue reading

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