Entries by

SNAP Benefits, Work Requirements and West Virginia’s Hungry

September 19, 2018 in , , /by

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the centerpiece of the nation’s food security safety net. In FY 2016 SNAP benefits, formerly called food stamps, provided $500 million in nutrition assistance to low income West Virginians. On average, 358,000 West Virginians received benefits each month, roughly 20% of our population. These benefits amount to about $1.29 per meal. Yet our state government seems determined to cut recipients from the SNAP rolls. Governor Justice recently signed a law imposing tighter work requirements on under-employed individuals, justified entirely by the old “welfare Cadillac” myth about recipients taking advantage of public benefits. These new state restrictions will reduce the number of SNAP recipients among the vulnerable low-wage population. Furthermore, the 2018 federal Farm Bill is proposed to do much the same. In the next several weeks, conferees from the U.S. House and Senate will meet to work out whether the Farm Bill will impose not just temporary disqualification for certain under-employed people, but actual penalties. This harsh approach was favored by House Republicans, including Congressman Alex Mooney, for the emptiest of reasons.

Making Sense of the Rockwool Controversy

August 28, 2018 in , , , , /by

Plans by Rockwool (formerly Roxul USA, Inc.) to construct a 463,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in the City of Ranson have recently met with a firestorm of opposition. The facility, to be constructed on the old Jefferson Orchards property, will manufacture mineral wool insulation used in home and commercial construction.  Opponents argue that the plant will emit huge amounts of toxic air pollution in close proximity to schools, and claim that the approval process was intentionally under-publicized to avoid opposition. Proponents argue that this is the single largest development project in Jefferson County since the Penn National Casino, and that it will create 150 well-paid manufacturing jobs, boost ancillary business and generate tax revenue for a substantial future period. To a large extent, this has become a contest of values.

Immigration and Our Prosperity

August 6, 2018 in , , /by

With so much heated rhetoric about building a wall at our Southern border and the cruel separation of families who seek asylum, it is easy to overlook what is perhaps the fundamental question in the immigration debate. That is whether immigration has a positive or negative effect on our collective prosperity.  Are we are better off with more immigration or less?

The Environmental Disaster of Mountaintop Removal Mining

June 28, 2018 in , , /by

Coal has contributed substantially to the development of civilization over the last 250 years. The steam engine was designed and first used to pump out flooded coal mines.  The railroad was first commercially used to move coal from mines to towns and river transportation. Coal powered the industrial revolution in England and the United States.  But burning coal produces the greenhouse gasses chiefly responsible for global warming. It also produces noxious particles that cause heart and lung disease and many deaths. And in West Virginia the search for cheap coal has led to mountaintop removal mining, a practice with an entire catalog of harmful environmental effects.

Coal Is Killing Us

June 13, 2018 in , , , /by

On June 1, 2018 President Trump directed Energy Secretary Rick Perry to take all necessary steps to stop the closure of coal-fired power plants on national security grounds. This directive was issued simultaneously with a draft memo arguing that the reliability of the nation’s power grid will be threatened if coal-fired plants are allowed to disappear through market forces that now make them the most expensive method to generate electricity. Trump’s directive was roundly criticized by many as an unprecedented intrusion into the market for electricity that “picks winners and losers,” something Republicans have long criticized Democrats for doing. But none of the debate about Trump’s directive has focused on the undeniable fact that small particulate matter emitted from coal-fired power plants is killing thousands of Americans each year.

What Campaign Contributions Tell Us About Congressman Alex Mooney

June 3, 2018 in , , /by

The Federal Election Commission recently published the 2018 First Quarter campaign contribution filings by candidates for federal office. Among these was the filing of our own Congressman Alex Mooney. Mooney has been very successful in raising money, both for the primary just past (he was unopposed) and for the general election coming up in November. Running for Congress is expensive and anyone who hopes to be elected must raise money. But the sources of Mooney’s contributions for this election cycle raise substantial doubt that he will be much interested in the welfare of West Virginia and her citizens.

The Left, the Right, and the Center

May 23, 2018 in /by

Socialism, or its less incendiary cousin, Progressivism, conjures up in the minds of some people images of dysfunctional societies doomed to decay through inefficiencies, corruption, restrictions on business, and constraints on freedom. But then when you look at the “happy socialist leaning” countries of Denmark, Norway (one of the President’s favorites), Canada, and so on, you have to wonder what’s there to be afraid of? I’m personally more frightened that the prevailing and dominating conservative politics we have in government today is turning us into a mean, uncharitable, and violent society. Aiming to be richer and more powerful than the rest is not a way to be better than the rest. And, because it alienates and denigrates so many of our own people, neither is it a pathway to continuing prosperity.

If You Voted in the Primary, You Probably Did Something Irrational

May 11, 2018 in /by

May 8 was primary election day in West Virginia and several other states. Typically, a primary election picks the candidate who will bear one party’s standard in the November general election against the other party’s candidate. The expectation is that the candidate with the more attractive qualities or the better policy views will be able to persuade a majority of voters in the general election. Perhaps this winning candidate will even be able to attract a substantial number of voters from the other party. Of course, this is the storybook version of democracy. It is based on the fiction that voters behave in a rational way, voting for a candidate only after thoughtful evaluation of the contenders. This is simply not what happens.

Trump Administration Abruptly Changes Migratory Bird Enforcement Policy

April 27, 2018 in , , /by

For 100 years, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) has protected nearly 1000 bird species in the United States against being “taken” or killed except under prescribed circumstances. This statute prohibits hunters from intentionally killing birds without a permit, but has also been interpreted by courts and the Interior Department to prohibit incidental taking – the unintentional destruction of birds or nests through some instrumentality or activity like creating open waste oil pits or erecting wind turbines. Now the Trump Administration has reversed this long-standing interpretation and effectively prevented enforcement of the statute against oil companies and others who cause large scale bird kills.

The Future of West Virginia’s Severance Tax

April 16, 2018 in , , /by

In West Virginia a 5% tax is imposed on those engaging in the extraction of coal, oil, gas and other natural resources from the lands of the state. This is the “severance tax.” While the tax is ostensibly on the privilege of engaging in the business of extraction, the tax is calculated based on the volume of production. The state’s oil & gas industry is now booming even though coal is in the midst of a long-term decline. Most analysts believe both these trends are likely to continue for decades. So the future is bright for the state’s budget if we manage our oil & gas patrimony carefully.