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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.

Government by the Rich, for the Rich

December 29, 2017 in , , , , , , , , /by

The much maligned Tax Reform and Jobs Act (TJRA) is regarded by most Americans as a naked effort by the Republican Party to reward its key donors, among them the wealthiest of Americans. Public polling has consistently been negative for this “reform” legislation. The law’s modest temporary tax relief for the middle class is just window dressing. The public has simply disregarded this window dressing and correctly assessed the stink from what has been served up to them. This statute ought to be one of the first things on the agenda of any new Democratic majority in Congress to reverse.

Industrial Development in West Virginia

December 13, 2017 in , /by

In early November 2017, West Virginia economic development officials announced a memorandum of understanding with China Energy, said to be the world’s largest energy company. The deal would involve an $84 billion investment in various West Virginia energy projects over a twenty-year period. These projects would focus on power generation, chemical manufacturing and underground storage of natural gas liquids and derivatives. The potential for more fossil fuel and petrochemical development has set off the predictable debate between environmentalists and progressives on one side and business interests on the other. This debate mirrors the debate in the Eastern Panhandle about the Potomac River Pipeline.

High Crimes and Misdemeanors

November 26, 2017 in , , , /by

Impeachment of the President has occurred twice in American history and was preempted in a third case by the resignation of the President. This little-used mechanism of republican government has recently been on the lips of many, fueled by an unpopular President and a special counsel investigation into the conduct of his subordinates. If a President is impeached by the House of Representatives and convicted by the Senate, he or she is removed from office, but may be subject to later criminal prosecution. The constitutional grounds for impeachment are “Treason, Bribery or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Treason is defined in the Constitution itself and bribery has a clear legal meaning. But what are high crimes and misdemeanors?

Delegate Riley Moore and Business Tax Cuts

November 8, 2017 in , , , , /by

On October 19, 2017 Delegate Riley Moore, who represents the Shepherdstown District in the West Virginia House of Delegates, published an opinion piece in the Charleston Daily Mail. The piece urged Congress to pass the Trump “tax reform” bill for the sake of economic growth, particularly in West Virginia. Putting aside that Del. Moore could not have known the details of the Republican tax bill on October 19 because it had not yet been made public, he extolled the virtues of various tax cuts he expected the plan to contain. In particular, Del. Moore is fond of tax cuts for business. His logic is the following. The desirable end result is more economic activity and good jobs for everyone. So far, so good. The means of achieving that desirable end result is to give over a trillion taxpayer dollars to corporations — with no strings attached — and hope that they spend this money in productive ways. What could possibly go wrong here?