Panhandle Progressive

An Open Letter to Dante on the Great Man’s Place in Hell

In 14th Century Italy, Dante evaluated the sinners of his time. In his great poem The Inferno, Dante placed them in the appropriate circle of hell. The worst sinners were closer to Satan and their punishments fit their crimes. But the political and other crimes of our Great Man could not have been imagined then. This letter explains all to Dante and asks for his opinion on where the Great Man might be found for the rest of eternity.
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Land Ownership Rights Threatened by the Legislature

Land in America is generally owned in “fee simple,” meaning that the owner possesses every aspect of ownership and every possible use. But recent efforts around the country by extractive industries and their legislative allies are threatening one aspect of this historic type of land ownership. Industry wants to prevent land protection agreements by which the landowner voluntarily chooses not to develop his property. How a landowner chooses to use -- or not use -- his property should be up to him not the Legislature.
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Making Sense of the Religious Exemption Dispute in West Virginia

At least five lawsuits are underway in West Virginia challenging the state mandate requiring vaccination of schoolchildren, which allows no religious exemptions. Protection of religion from government intrusion is a fundamentally serious matter, not a culture war issue. But so is the protection of our children against serious and sometimes fatal diseases. The problem is that Governor Morrissey has tried to create religious exemptions where none exist in the law, and a judge in Raleigh County appears headed in the same direction. Protecting schoolchildren from disease should be at the top of our list, and the vaccine mandate has done an admirable job of that for 120 years. What is happening here?
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Let’s Revive West Virginia’s Future Fund

Several states with economies dependent on natural resource extraction have had the foresight to create sovereign wealth funds. These are investments funded by a set percentage of severance taxes or royalties collected by the state. West Virginia had a sovereign wealth fund called the Future Fund, but it died in 2023 with a whimper, not a bang. Legislators did not have the discipline from year to year to build and preserve the Fund. The answer is a constitutional amendment that removes from the legislature any discretion not to make deposits into the Future Fund. The political value of solving this problem with a constitutional amendment is plain.
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West Virginia Desperately Needs A Higher Minimum Wage

West Virginia's minimum wage has been stuck at $8.75 for a decade. The minimum wage worker today has taken a 35% pay cut compared to the same worker in 2016 because of inflation. Raising the minimum wage will bring many workers and their families out of poverty, reduce deaths of despair, improve the health of newborns and enhance the attractiveness of working. It would be a powerful economic and social policy costing the taxpayer nothing.
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Donald Trump, The Occupier

Trump's deployment of National Guard troops and Marines in Los Angeles is unauthorized by the circumstances, and unlawful under the Constitution and federal laws. Using government troops against civilians has been hated in this country since the Boston Massacre in 1770. Trump is wildly out of his lane and, once again, it will require the courts -- or the people -- to stop him.
Read more

An Open Letter to Dante on the Great Man’s Place in Hell

In 14th Century Italy, Dante evaluated the sinners of his time. In his great poem The Inferno, Dante placed them in the appropriate circle of hell. The worst sinners were closer to Satan and their punishments fit their crimes. But the political and other crimes of our Great Man could not have been imagined then. This letter explains all to Dante and asks for his opinion on where the Great Man might be found for the rest of eternity.
Read more

Land Ownership Rights Threatened by the Legislature

Land in America is generally owned in “fee simple,” meaning that the owner possesses every aspect of ownership and every possible use. But recent efforts around the country by extractive industries and their legislative allies are threatening one aspect of this historic type of land ownership. Industry wants to prevent land protection agreements by which the landowner voluntarily chooses not to develop his property. How a landowner chooses to use -- or not use -- his property should be up to him not the Legislature.
Read more

Making Sense of the Religious Exemption Dispute in West Virginia

At least five lawsuits are underway in West Virginia challenging the state mandate requiring vaccination of schoolchildren, which allows no religious exemptions. Protection of religion from government intrusion is a fundamentally serious matter, not a culture war issue. But so is the protection of our children against serious and sometimes fatal diseases. The problem is that Governor Morrissey has tried to create religious exemptions where none exist in the law, and a judge in Raleigh County appears headed in the same direction. Protecting schoolchildren from disease should be at the top of our list, and the vaccine mandate has done an admirable job of that for 120 years. What is happening here?
Read more

Let’s Revive West Virginia’s Future Fund

Several states with economies dependent on natural resource extraction have had the foresight to create sovereign wealth funds. These are investments funded by a set percentage of severance taxes or royalties collected by the state. West Virginia had a sovereign wealth fund called the Future Fund, but it died in 2023 with a whimper, not a bang. Legislators did not have the discipline from year to year to build and preserve the Fund. The answer is a constitutional amendment that removes from the legislature any discretion not to make deposits into the Future Fund. The political value of solving this problem with a constitutional amendment is plain.
Read more

West Virginia Desperately Needs A Higher Minimum Wage

West Virginia's minimum wage has been stuck at $8.75 for a decade. The minimum wage worker today has taken a 35% pay cut compared to the same worker in 2016 because of inflation. Raising the minimum wage will bring many workers and their families out of poverty, reduce deaths of despair, improve the health of newborns and enhance the attractiveness of working. It would be a powerful economic and social policy costing the taxpayer nothing.
Read more

Donald Trump, The Occupier

Trump's deployment of National Guard troops and Marines in Los Angeles is unauthorized by the circumstances, and unlawful under the Constitution and federal laws. Using government troops against civilians has been hated in this country since the Boston Massacre in 1770. Trump is wildly out of his lane and, once again, it will require the courts -- or the people -- to stop him.
Read more