FXBG ADVANCE FRIDAY 7/10/26 NEWSLETTER
Ten Things I Learned as a First-Time University Instructor. Why Is a Hungry Child's Lunch a Moral Hazard? When a Defense Spending Bill Hit the Sausage Grinder.
Ten Things I Learned as a First-Time University Instructor
By Paul Cymrot, SPECIAL TO THE ADVANCE
I paraded through the iron gates of my university with a degree in hand 30 years ago exactly. That same summer I started my own business and have been running it ever since. The degree was in English and American Literature and the business is a used and rare bookstore here in Fredericksburg. Whether the first was the best possible preparation for the second is a matter of debate during quiet afternoons in the store, but there’s never been any doubt that my love for books and book-people has fueled it all, and made a happy life.
This past spring I was invited to teach an upper level English seminar called Adventures in Rare Books at the University of Mary Washington. They offered me a cozy classroom with an antique seminar table, a polyester polo shirt with university logo, and $175 for each 75 minute class, (not including preparation and grading), to teach on this subject that has been both my avocation and occupation. All this plus the lofty sounding title of Adjunct Instructor. Who could resist?
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Why Is a Hungry Child’s Lunch a Moral Hazard, but a Millionaire’s Crop-Insurance Check a Sacred Tradition?
By Phil Huber, ADVANCE COLUMNIST
We are told to worry about welfare. About people who lean too long on the public dollar, who need work requirements to nudge them off the rolls. So let me pose an uncomfortable question to my fellow taxpayers: If dependence on government checks is the measure, who in America is more on the dole right now—a family receiving food stamps, or a thousand-acre farming operation collecting a six-figure check with no income limit?
The numbers answer plainly. This year, direct federal payments to farmers are on track to reach roughly $55 billion—about a third of all farm income, the highest share of government support since 2001. A third. Let that settle. We are not talking about a modest safety net for hard times. We are talking about a sector in which one of every three dollars of income now arrives courtesy of the Treasury.
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When a Defense Spending Bill Hit the Sausage Grinder, It Wasn’t Pretty
By Hugh Lessig, ADVANCE MILITARY WRITER
Last month, we wrote about federal legislation that created blueprint for U.S. defense spending. It would help thousands of military families, service members and defense contractors in the Fredericksburg area. The bill had cleared committee and was set to wind its way through Congress.
Until it wasn’t.
The defense bill became intertwined with the SAVE America Act. That’s the voter reform bill – or voter suppression bill, depending on your view—which is very big deal for President Trump. House Republicans twisted themselves into legislative knots trying to pass both the voter bill and the defense bill at the same time.
Ultimately, they failed and took an extended July 4 vacation.
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New News from Around the State
VaNews/VIRGINIA PUBLIC ACCESS PROJECT
Virginia rises to No. 3 in ‘Top States for Business’ ranking
By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)
Virginia rose to No. 3 in the new ranking of “Top States for Business in America” on Thursday, advancing a spot in the annual CNBC survey despite continued uncertainty over the state’s economy and a divisive debate over state incentives for the data center industry. Ohio ranked No. 1 for the first time in the 20-year history of the cable network competition ... Virginia was No. 1 in the ranking two years ago, but fell to No. 4 last year because of its economic vulnerability to deep cuts in federal jobs and spending under President Donald Trump.
Spanberger’s efforts on college governing boards get mixed grades
By SOPHIA SOLANO, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
On the day she took office in January, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) issued an executive order seeking changes to how members are appointed to the governing boards of the state’s public colleges and universities. It was a move that aimed to help reverse what some Democrats criticized as the politicization of higher education under her Republican predecessor. But six months later, Spanberger has been accused of executive overreach by some Republican lawmakers after she removed the head of Virginia Tech’s governing board and other efforts they say amount to the politicization she claims to oppose. And while she and her Democratic colleagues in the General Assembly agree that the system for filling college board seats needs fixes, some disagreements remain on how exactly to do it.
Despite the rain, drought conditions continue in Virginia
By DAVE RESS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)
Recent rains haven’t ended Virginia’s drought, the worst since 1941. With rainfall several inches below normal, almost all of the state is officially under a drought warning, which means the onset of a major drought is imminent, the Department of Environmental Quality’s latest drought map shows.
Friday Read Arthur Ashe’s statue turns 30 today. It wasn’t an easy road to Monument Avenue
By RICH GRISET, The Richmonder
Visit the intersection of Roseneath and Monument avenues and you will be greeted by a champion. It’s here, near the northwest corner of the Museum District, that the Arthur Ashe Monument resides. Comprised of a 12-foot-tall bronze statue of Ashe atop a 16-foot granite pedestal, the monument celebrates the Richmond tennis great, humanitarian, activist and author. ... But when a memorial for Ashe was proposed for Monument Avenue shortly [after his death], it was cause for controversy. Until that point, only white Confederates had been honored on the thoroughfare, and the idea of placing a monument to a Black man stirred up a heated debate.
Articles from newspapers throughout the Commonwealth and Washington D.C. Firewalls will block you from reading some, but you’ll at least have some idea about what’s going on from the headlines and summaries. CLICK HERE.
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