PALO ALTO, CA — Local woman and self-proclaimed feminist Brandy Sidwell expressed frustration this week over the fact that all the men she hates refuse to date her.

The thing about gambling is that you convince yourself that the truism “The House always wins” doesn’t apply to you. This is what gets gamblers in trouble. This is why the house always wins.

That is until the house starts losing.

Virginia has tied an awful lot of its future tax collections to gambling and marijuana sales.

On the latter, there are states like Colorado that have been selling marijuana for more than a decade and have always fallen short of the promised tax collections, which have been on the decline since COVID-19. The costs of treatment and law enforcement have continued to go up.

Will Virginia suffer the same fate? History may not repeat itself, but it rhymes.

Such may be the case with casinos. Las Vegas is having big problems with tourism. August saw a 4.3% decline in visitors from August 2025, and 136,700 fewer visitors than in July. A Tuesday report from Harry Reid International Airport showed airport passenger counts dropped by 9% compared with August 2025. Let’s not even talk about Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Here in Danville, though, city leaders are already sweating as the owner of their brand-new casino, Caesars Entertainment, has already been sold to Fertitta Entertainment.

The tale of the tape is the $11.9 billion in debt Caesars is carrying as part of the $17.6 billion all-cash transaction.

That’s a lot of times that the house lost.

City Manager Ken Larking told Cardinal News that there will be no impact from the change of ownership regarding the city’s agreement with Caesars. “I’ve been told that all the leadership at Caesars that I work with will remain the same.” The same ones that were part of losing $11.9 billion? Comforting.

The caution here and from Colorado is that the promised tax largess that the voters believed would be coming when they approved these dens of inequity doesn’t materialize, while the cost of maintaining them and helping those who can’t handle their addictions keeps going up.

The people we elect tell us that additional sales taxes levied by our local governments should be sufficient to fix our schools. Cigarette taxes should pay for healthcare. Gaming taxes will pay for what, schools? The Virginia Lottery already tells us it takes care of that, partially. Police? Lowering the gas tax?

In a previous column, we detailed how much more money Virginia has this year than last year (14% more) and how the billions ($40 billion) of dollars that Virginia has in its budget are way more than when the state used to take care of maintenance at the schools. So the question remains, where did the money go?

If you are running a casino, the explanation is the cost of entertainment, the cost of insurance, the downturn in tourism, discount hotel apps, and that’s in a place known for tourism and big shows and glitz like Las Vegas.

If you work your way through the Las Vegas scene, you realize that there are ostensibly two companies that own most of the Strip: Caesars and MGM. So again, the question is, how do they lose money?

Analysts say that some of it is attributable to taking for granted that the gamblers will always be there. Ironically, very much like a state government looks at taxpayers.

Take a short walk down the Strip in another, much closer, location, Atlantic City, New Jersey, and you’ll see what was warned about at the beginning of Virginia’s fixation with gaming would quickly be our future.

What goes into the Danville Caesars when Caesars leaves? I’m sure it will be a casino of some sort, or maybe a skills-game parlor. Even if the Sadler family buys it, you know that the tax collections that the city and state had counted on (read: “already spent”) won’t be realized.

What about the money that’s promised through all the smartphone-based gambling apps? Just last month Delegate Tom Garrett (VA-56) told us that, “the patron said, we already have cell phone gambling in Virginia. We’re just looking to tax and regulate it. Well, you know, we’ve already got human trafficking in Virginia. We’ve already got rape, murder, and firearm robbery here in Virginia. Should we tax and regulate those too?”

Garrett added that one member explained his support for the plan by saying, “I’ve voted for skill games, so I have to vote for this” to which the Goochland Republican responded, “Really? Is there a skill game on your bedside table? Is there a skill game in your pocket?”

It doesn’t say anything good about a community that counts on its citizens to do things that damage their ability to live and prosper, cause families to be broken up and businesses to close, in order to collect tax revenue. One could call it almost counterintuitive since it causes more people to need government services.

But then again, the empire created by the original Caesar managed to hang around for quite a while. But I don’t think it was great for most of the citizens. Just the ones with friends in the Senate.

We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of the Daily Signal.

It can be hard to know what to say to a pregnant lady, especially when you're the man she's depending on for love and support. Fear not, gentlemen.

The political experts at the Cook Political Report rate the race in Virginia’s 2nd congressional district as the closest in the state. It’s the only race listed as a “toss-up,” while each of the other 10 races is rated as either leaning toward or solid for one of the parties.

The district covers most of Tidewater, including the 19 military bases in Hampton Roads. The contest pits incumbent Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans against former Rep. Elaine Luria, the Democrat who won the seat in 2018 and lost it to Kiggans in 2022. Also in the race are Matt Baker and Bishop Staten, a pair of independent candidates who could pick off votes in a close contest.

Both women are Navy veterans, which is fitting for a district with approximately 100,000 active-duty military personnel and more than 220,000 veterans. The district has traditionally leaned Republican, although 53% of voters went for Democrat Abigail Spanberger in last year’s election.

Neither campaign responded to questions this week from the Daily Signal. Last month, Kiggans positioned herself as a problem solver during an interview with Norfolk television station WAVY. “I’m proud to have been ranked among the most bipartisan members of Congress. I don’t think people care whether a good idea comes from a Republican or a Democrat. They want us to bring people together, solve problems, keep our families safe, and make their lives a little easier.”

Luria told the same station that she would focus on local issues. “I want to make sure we have a representative who does what’s best for Hampton Roads, not just what’s best for her and for Donald Trump. And I want to make sure Washington ends the culture of corruption that allows politicians to use their offices for personal gain and profit off of their positions of power.”

Because the race is so tight, it is drawing in money from both sides. President Donald Trump’s PAC recently vowed to spend more than $800,000 on television ads in the district, part of the $138 million the president said he will spend to support Republicans nationwide this year.

The president also hosted a virtual town hall with Kiggans, Rep. John McGuire and Rep. Rob Wittman last month. “Jen Kiggans is a patriot who voted to ban insider trading by members of Congress, which I would totally support,” Trump said during that call. “But a radical left Democrat opponent, Elaine Luria, said she’s not gonna vote for that, and she’s part of the Pelosi corruption scandal that’s going on in Congress.” The president has also promised to campaign in 35 battleground districts, but it isn’t clear whether he will visit any of these three districts represented by Republicans.

The PAC spending would be Trump’s first investment in the commonwealth, and it is separate from the three ads that the Trump administration is already running, often during football games, and calls “public service announcements.” Those are being funded by a $20 million contract that the Department of Homeland Security signed with an advertising agency last month.

Money is flowing in to support Luria as well. This week, Democratic Majority for Israel PAC announced it will spend nearly $1 million on digital ads targeting Kiggans. “Elaine Luria has a proven record of putting her district first, standing up for our servicemembers and veterans, and being a strong voice for the U.S.-Israel relationship,” DMFI PAC President Brian Romick said. “We’re all-in to send Elaine Luria back to Congress.”

“We estimate that $15.77 million has been spent on this race over the last two years,” the group Quiver Quantitative wrote. “Democrats have outspent Republicans by $2.09 million over that time period, per our estimates.” Quiver, like Cook, calls the race a toss-up.

Other high-profile politicians may soon make campaign stops in the 2nd District. House Speaker Mike Johnson included Virginia on a list of 22 states he plans to visit before Nov. 3. “From coast to coast, I am leaving it all on the field to defend our House majority because the stakes have never been higher,” he told Axios. His complete travel schedule hasn’t been announced. Johnson made an earlier appearance in August alongside Kiggans in Virginia Beach.

No debates are scheduled between the candidates.

ABILENE, TX — Local 8-year-old Caden Maxwell came home from Sunday School sorely disappointed that "Sword Drills" turned out to be far different than what he expected.

U.S Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer, is attending the G20 Trade Summit in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and appars on Bloomberg News to outline some of the current issues and events being discussed during the assembly. Greer notes the U.S. energy team is talking to the European energy ministers about using part of their diesel reserve supply […]

The post U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer Discusses G20 Trade Summit from Milwaukee appeared first on The Last Refuge.

The new school year is well underway, but federal officials are looking ahead to next year’s school calendar and a new federal school choice option. This week, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released proposed and temporary guidance on the program to help state officials and families prepare.

As part of the One Big Beautiful Bill signed by the White House in July 2025, lawmakers included a federal tax-credit program for K-12 students that will take effect next year. The federal initiative is modeled after state education choice opportunities that make individuals and/or corporations eligible for tax credits on donations made to private school scholarship organizations.

The organizations then use the contributions to award K-12 private school scholarships to eligible students. Arizona lawmakers adopted the first such program in 1997, and policymakers in states across the country have approved similar provisions.

The federal tax credit only applies to individual, not corporate, tax filers and is capped at $1,700 per individual ($3,400 for married couples filing jointly). A unique—and troubling—provision in the federal program is that scholarship organizations can raise money for public schools.

Parents and taxpayers should wonder why this provision was included in a law modeled after private school choice laws. Today, the average per student spending in traditional schools has climbed to more than $20,000 per child even as reading and math scores in most grades have been on a steady decline since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, state private education choice options result in a cost savings to taxpayers.

Treasury officials are responsible for establishing rules for the new federal program, and this week’s announcement contains a proposed set of long-term regulations and a temporary set of rules under which to operate next year.

Under the law, students are eligible for scholarships if their household income is no more than 300% of the median gross income in their area. This broad eligibility provision will open the scholarships to more than 90% of K-12 students in the 30 states where lawmakers have agreed to participate.

The new guidance specifies that household income measures would not include indicators of net worth such as imputed return on home equity.

The rules also say that state lawmakers cannot add restrictions to participating scholarship organizations on top of the existing federal law. These rules should protect private organizations from regulatory creep that could otherwise hamper operations.

Treasury officials included more details on audits and financial transparency measures for scholarship organizations. These safeguards for taxpayers are welcome because the potential fundraising campaigns will be sizeable and run alongside public school spending formulas.

Traditional public school financing is notoriously complex and is composed of a dizzying array of funding streams, some related to decades-old court orders in some states that attempt to equalize spending levels across school districts. Public education spending formulas are already opaque and inefficient, which means any new funding sources deserve careful oversight.

Treasury personnel should review the new public school activity carefully. Fraudulent spending by public school employees is widespread, and the nature of audits only allows officials to capture misspending after it occurs. As a result, public school fraud can take place for years before being resolved.

Individuals in Minnesota defrauded taxpayers of $250 million in spending meant for meals for low-income students over the course of three years (2019-2021) before officials caught on to the scheme. Stories such as this are far too common across public schools, involving state, local, and federal taxpayer resources.

Treasury’s new rules for the federal tax credit are welcome and demonstrate attention to detail on issues such as student eligibility and scholarship organization operations, as well as financial transparency. But taxpayers should ask why public school administrators will have yet another way to raise money, when research finds higher levels of school spending does not lead to student success.

Treasury must consider rules for the law as written, which for now includes public school participation. U.S. Department of Education staff are in the process of closing their agency and downsizing federal education responsibilities overall to empower parents and state and local policymakers. So as Treasury and Education officials look ahead to the next school year and the years to follow, they should urge federal lawmakers to consider that access to still more spending is the wrong federal policy for assigned public schools.

Children's YouTube and Netflix star Ms. Rachel's political activism has sparked pushback from concerned parents, with one saying she serves as a mouthpiece for a false Hamas narrative, and puts activism ahead of education by exposing toddlers to ideas that erase basic sex categories at a stage when children first learn to organize the world that way.

The post Ms. Rachel’s Politics Sparks Pushback from Parents: A ‘Mouthpiece’ for Hamas appeared first on Breitbart.

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