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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. 

The West Virginia Legislature Fails Its Budget Responsibility

April 10, 2018 in , , /by

“Do Your Job!” This was a constant refrain heard from the thousands of citizens, many of them teachers, who filled the halls of the state capitol in late February and early March. They were calling for investment in public education, and for decent salaries for themselves and thousands of other seriously underpaid public employees. The Legislature was dragged kicking and screaming into granting an average 5% raise. This raise was critically important. But there is another critically important job the Legislature failed to do.

Developing Your Fake News Detector

March 16, 2018 in /by

News comes at us every day from every direction, and from every imaginable source, as well as some we may not have imagined. To deal with this, critical thinking on our part is more important than ever. Given the amount of information that is shoveled our way, how do we tell if an article or news story is real news or manure?  

West Virginia Republican Legislators Propose “Death Star” Preemption Bill to Strip Counties, Cities and Towns of Power to Enact Progressive Policies

March 8, 2018 in , /by

State preemption of local government is all the rage among conservative legislators around the country these days. Here’s how it works. Suppose the Jefferson County Commission wished to pass an ordinance banning plastic bags at grocery stores as a threat to the environment. Or suppose the city of Beckley declared it unlawful for a private employer within the city to ask for information about race or sexual orientation on employment applications. State preemption seeks to strip local governments of the right to regulate certain matters within their own borders. Usually these matters are of concern to progressive cities but not conservative Republican-majority state legislatures. And preventing West Virginia local governments from adopting progressive policies is just what the Panhandle’s own Senator Patricia Rucker and her conservative Republican colleagues are now seeking to do.

Panhandle Legislators Lead West Virginia’s “Bad Idea Machine”

February 28, 2018 in , , , /by

Delegate Mike Pushkin, who represents Charleston’s East End in the House of Delegates, once quipped that the West Virginia Legislature is a “bad idea machine.” Our Eastern Panhandle delegation contains some of the leaders, if that is the proper term, in generating bad ideas. I have recently written that Sen. Patricia Rucker has sponsored a host of bills that advance her far right ideology and religious beliefs. Most notably, these include her sponsorship of Senate Joint Resolution 12 that would put on the November 2018 ballot a proposed amendment to the West Virginia Constitution declaring that nothing in that Constitution creates a right to abortion. Not to be outdone, her Panhandle colleagues in the House of Delegates have introduced pro-gun and anti-public school legislation that give Sen. Rucker a run for her money.

Sen. Patricia Rucker: Leader of West Virginia’s Far Right Fringe

February 15, 2018 in , , /by

In the 2016 West Virginia Senate election, voters in Jefferson and Berkeley elected Patricia P. Rucker over Stephen Skinner by a margin of 2,773 votes – 6.5% of the votes cast. Rucker is a stay-at-home mom from Harpers Ferry who home schools her five children. Voters in this area are usually moderate, and fringe views on either side of the political spectrum don’t attract much support. But by her activity in the Senate and the attention she has received from national far right political groups, it is clear that Sen. Rucker is no ordinary West Virginian.  Instead she has proven herself to be a leader in libertarian fringe politics to a degree that would shock most of the unsuspecting people who voted for her.

Blaming The Victim: West Virginia’s Flirtation With Medicaid Work Requirements

January 31, 2018 in , , , , /by

It was my intention when launching this blog to support economic policies in West Virginia that actually spread prosperity to all citizens. The wealthy don’t seem to need help ensuring they get a big plate full at the prosperity table. It is the less fortunate who need help. But in this long Republican winter, avoiding policies that hurt the less fortunate is really a full time job. The most recent example is West Virginia’s flirtation with work requirements for Medicaid.

West Virginia’s New Voter ID Law and the Myth of Voter Fraud

January 22, 2018 in , /by

Effective on January 1, 2018, West Virginia law now requires a prospective voter to present a valid identifying document to a poll clerk. The clerk will then verify that the name on the document conforms to the individual’s voter registration record. If the identifying document has a photograph, the poll clerk will determine that the photograph is “truly an image of the person presenting the document.” This new law is similar to voter ID laws passed by state legislatures around the country at the urging of Republicans. But voter impersonation fraud – the only possible fraud affected by the new law — is virtually non-existent in the United States and no cases have been identified in West Virginia.

The Rich Benefit Bigly From Trump’s Tax Reform

January 11, 2018 in , , , , , , , /by

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) has added mightily to the already serious income and wealth inequality in America. Yet our state’s Republican representatives in Congress seem oblivious that most people in this state are poor relative to the rest of the country. They have boasted about what amounts to the crumbs on the table that middle and lower income West Virginians gain from this Act. For example, Rep. Alex Mooney, who represents much of the Panhandle in Congress, announced that he voted for “tax cuts for all West Virginians.” Always obsequious when it comes to the White House, Mooney said “President Donald Trump has been a true leader on delivering tax relief for all Americans and I am looking forward to continuing to work with him to create more jobs and to keep our economy growing.” There is no other way to put it — this emphasis on the illusory benefits enjoyed by the broad middle of our society is just willfully deceptive. The true winners under the TCJA are the rich, who will benefit at the expense of the rest of us.