Margaret Barthel

Here's why concerns about an AI bubble are bigger than ever Tech companies are pouring billions into AI chips and data centers. Increasingly, they are relying on debt and risky tactics. Financial analysts are worried there's a bubble that will soon pop.

AI financiers are swatting away bubble talk, just as the industry is on track to spend $400B on the hope of fantastical revenue. Companies are investing in each other to prop up demand. Spending is being kept off balance sheets. A look at these bubbly times www.npr.org/2025/11/23/n...

Full letter: subramanyam.house.gov/sites/evo-su...

Screenshot of text that reads: The AI bubble could also have an impact on my community in Virginia which is over reliant on data centers for local revenue. As billions of dollars are poured into building new data centers, an AI bubble could mean these data center projects are built and unused in the future, leaving huge stretches of abandoned buildings in communities like mine across the country.11 The effects of an AI bubble could result in ballooning unemployment and a recession.

.@repsuhas.bsky.social has a new letter out to the Federal Reserve and the SEC asking for information about the impact of an AI bubble on the U.S. economy. Includes this possible vision of a Northern Virginia with empty data centers:

Democrats sweep Virginia's statewide offices, expand House majority Voters sent Abigail Spanberger, Ghazala Hashmi and Jay Jones to the Capitol.

Big thanks to @jahd.bsky.social and @deanmirshahi.bsky.social for letting me crash the VPM news election night post party - always love a public media co-byline.

Btw VPM is a treasure and their coverage of the election this year was the gold standard www.vpm.org/elections/20...

Oh, I see! Sorry to be dense, been a long night. My original post was more meant as a joke than comprehensive political analysis or a summary of the stories I had on NPR this morning. Obviously a range of factors contributed to last night's results. Curious to hear what you think all this tells us

Statewide Election Results | Virginia | 11/4/2025 Track results from all statewide elections held on November 4, 2025. Updated live by the Virginia Public Access Project.

Broad strokes, Democrats improved their performance in every county in the state over 2021. If there's something specific you're looking for, VPAP may have it: www.vpap.org/electionresu...

Up First: not just a podcast, a ~lifestyle~

The number of times I've said "Virginia is home to hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors" on NPR national this morning

Democrats sweep Virginia’s statewide offices, expand House majority Voters sent Abigail Spanberger, Ghazala Hashmi and Jay Jones to the Capitol.

Democrats swept Virginia's top three statewide offices and flipped about a dozen seats in the House of Delegates Tuesday, according to unofficial results from The Associated Press.

More from @jahd.bsky.social and WAMU's @margaretbarthel.bsky.social on a big night for Dems in the commonwealth:

In Virginia, Voters Head to the Polls Hot Over Data Centers, Solar Facilities and Rising Electric Bills - Inside Climate News Virginia, birthplace of the Internet, has more data centers than anywhere else in the world, bringing in billions in tax revenues. But continued data center development is forcing electric rates up, a...

Virginia voters will hit the polls tomorrow with electricity bills, data centers and renewable energy front of mind.

One potential outcome? A Democratic triefcta control with questions over a commitment to the state's decarbonization law.

insideclimatenews.org/news/0311202...

VA's got to spend $3.2 bn more on Medicaid than it has currently budgeted over the next 3 years, according to a DMAS document I obtained.

$410 mn this year (FY26), $1.1 bn in FY27, $1.7 bn in FY28. This isn't HR1 related, but its another cost that piles onto federal changes

How this week's elections in Virginia became about ... everything Earlier this year, "quiet" was one word to describe the Virginia race for governor. Then came DOGE, a text message scandal down ballot, a redistricting surprise, the government shutdown and more.

Earlier this year, "quiet" was one word to describe the Virginia race for governor. Then came DOGE, a text message scandal down ballot, a redistricting surprise, the government shutdown and more.

The breakdown you need from @jahd.bsky.social @margaretbarthel.bsky.social @bradkutner.bsky.social

How this week's elections in Virginia became about ... everything Earlier this year, "quiet" was one word to describe the Virginia race for governor. Then came DOGE, a text message scandal down ballot, a redistricting surprise, the government shutdown and more.

How this week's elections in Virginia became about ... everything. By your four favorite public radio reporters @margaretbarthel.bsky.social @theshabomb.com @bradkutner.bsky.social www.npr.org/2025/11/02/n...

Health Hub: Virginia voters head to the polls as health insurance premiums rise Health care has been a consistent talking point in the campaign for governor in the commonwealth.

Premium increases with a side of politics wamu.org/story/25/10/...

Pulse Check Archives • Virginia Mercury This series examines the state of health care in Virginia

I traveled the state this summer exploring how federal funding changes affect Virginia's hospitals, clinics, nonprofits, and the state health department. The three-part series launched this week. 🧵 1/4
virginiamercury.com/category/pul...

Reporter Roundtable: How the D.C. region is navigating federal cuts and a shutdown The D.C. region has been preparing for an economic slowdown. But surprisingly, the outlook isn't all bad, and there may even be some bright spots, including for defense contractors in Northern Virgini...

This is not to say that hard(er) times aren't on the way; for one thing, the economic data doesn't yet fully account for the federal deferred resignations program, which took effect Oct. 1.

Regional look with @alexkoma.bsky.social and @jennyabamu.bsky.social

wamu.org/story/25/10/...

Virginia's economy is showing initial impacts from cuts to the federal government and the shutdown, but it's been more muted than some analysts initially expected.

One reason: the defense industry.

What Medicaid cuts could mean for one day program for disabled adults in Manassas The Bright Center was already operating on a shoestring. Now the program's sustainability is even more in doubt.

"I don’t even know how we’re staying open. Sometimes I think it’s God, or I think it’s my late wife, just watching over this place."

A day program for disabled adults in Manassas grapples with coming cuts to Medicaid: wamu.org/story/25/10/...

Youngkin administration keeps details of paused federal grants under wraps The governor's office has twice cited "working papers" in response to records requests.

Youngkin administration keeps details of paused federal grants under wraps from me and @margaretbarthel.bsky.social www.vpm.org/news/2025-10...

Natural gas prices are relatively low now, but residential gas utility rates are nearing record highs. Customers are paying more for infrastructure, construction, utility costs and taxes than they are for the actual fuel. My @npr.org story: www.npr.org/2025/10/13/n...

A good piece on HD-22 in middle Prince William County

Harris narrowly carried it but tends to be more red down ballot

Article has interviews with GOP Del. Ian Lovejoy and challenger former Del. Elizabeth Guzman

Type of NOVA seat where shutdown could have impact

statenavigate.org/voters-utili...

Dem AG Nominee Jay Jones Fantasized About Shooting Former Virginia GOP Speaker: ‘He Receives Both Bullets’ | National Review NR has obtained a string of disturbing text messages sent by the former state lawmaker in 2022.

I think they've now made it available publicly. I don't get a paywall when I click into it. www.nationalreview.com/news/dem-ag-...

Dem AG Nominee Jay Jones Fantasized About Shooting Former Virginia GOP Speaker: ‘He Receives Both Bullets’ | National Review NR has obtained a string of disturbing text messages sent by the former state lawmaker in 2022.

It's a measure of how siloed the information environment is that this story is all over my X feed but has not yet surfaced over here.

www.nationalreview.com/news/dem-ag-...

Including a teensy tiny bit of analysis about what a federal shutdown could mean for the race -

GOP districts take early lead in Virginia’s first week of early voting • Virginia Mercury Early voting in Virginia began just last week, but the first wave of ballots already shows Republican-leaning House of Delegates districts pulling ahead of their Democratic counterparts.

NEW: GOP-leaning House of Delegates districts are outpacing Democratic ones in Virginia’s first week of early voting.

Of the 20 districts with the highest turnout, 11 are strongly or lean Republican, 5 strongly Democratic, 4 are competitive. #VALeg

virginiamercury.com/2025/09/23/g...

Republican Lt. Gov. candidate John Reid addresses press and supporters outside Fairfax Government Center. Photo shows Reid speaking and gesturing with his hands, with supporters standing in the background.

Photo shows a crowd of Moms Demand Action volunteers in red shirts waving Abigail Spanberger signs.

Photo shows Abigail Spanberger smiling as she speaks to press. Her supporters hold signs in the background.

Snaps from the first day of early voting at Fairfax Government Center, where voters got to hear from John Reid and Abigail Spanberger.

It was sunny, it was hot, it was bustling: a good beginning to our annual festival of democracy in Virginia.

Thoughtful opinion piece in the Times-Dispatch from Miyares advisor Shaun Kenney on engaging in good faith:

richmond.com/opinion/colu...

James Walkinshaw is trying to get seated ASAP

Will have to turn to government funding deadline in 20 days

He has a lot of Federal workers in VA-11

But also a Dem base that wants to take a stand

Will there be a deal or does a shutdown actually happens this time?

In special election, Democrats easily hold Northern Virginia congressional seat Fairfax County Supervisor James Walkinshaw said his win in the safe Democratic seat was a mark of building resistance against the Trump administration.

Full story here: wamu.org/story/25/09/...

Screenshot of text of a news article that reads: Walkinshaw will arrive in Congress a few weeks before funding for the federal government runs out, a situation that offers Democrats an opening to demand their priorities be included in a spending bill — or shut the government down if they are not. Walkinshaw said he didn’t want a government shutdown, but said he’d consider withholding his vote if the funding bill was not bipartisan. “If they’re looking to have my vote on any government funding there needs to be a real bipartisan process in negotiation,” he said. “I’m not going to vote to extend cuts to health care that kick people off their health care. I’m not going to vote to extend DOGE.”

Democrat James Walkinshaw is headed to Congress, having won about 75% of the vote in the #VA11 special election this evening.

Once he's there, what are his thoughts on the looming federal spending bill deadline? I asked -