Congressman Nick Rahall: Honoring our Nation’s Promises to its Veterans

On Memorial Day, many in the Mountain State and across our Nation spend time in somber poses – remembering those who have given their lives in behalf of our country and in the name of protecting our freedom and democracy.
West Virginians proudly fly their flags and solemnly visit cemeteries, war monuments, and battlefields, laying wreaths in memory of family and friends lost in past and present wars.  We honor their patriotism and final sacrifices by supporting our troops serving around the world, as well as those who have returned home.
In Congress, I have always strived to ensure that our veterans know the heartfelt appreciation we hold for them and their service.  I am therefore very concerned about the backlog of disability claims at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Currently, there is a backlog of almost 850,000 claims, forcing veterans to wait, on average, up to 305 days for their benefits to be processed.  It is outrageous that the men and women who have served and sacrificed in defense of our Nation are threatened by financial ruin and even death while waiting for their claims to be acted on.

I have consistently supported and voted in favor of additional resources for the VA to reduce the backlog.  I am encouraged by the VA’s increased focus and its recent announcement that it would require employees to work overtime as part of a renewed effort to get ahead of the problem.
Still, in part, because the number of new claims continues to increase as our service members return home, and, in part, because claims submitted are more complex than ever before, the backlog continues to be a serious, ongoing problem.
In order to help expedite the filing and adjudication of claims for our veterans, I have advocated increased funding and cosponsored legislation that would enable and require the VA to develop a better system of electronic measurements to track the backlog of claims, expedite disability examinations, and facilitate information sharing.
Most recently, I have urged passage of legislation that would require the VA to provide a course of action for each VA Regional Office with claims pending an average of 200 days or more.  With more funding must come increased accountability.
I also have cosponsored legislation that would require the VA to develop a system of electronic measurements to better track the backlog in order to quickly identify shortfalls and potential solutions.
Also, because lengthy wait times for a medical disability examination at a VA Medical Center is a common hurdle a veteran faces in filing for disability and adjudicating a claim, I have supported legislation that would extend the VA’s authority to contract with private facilities to expedite disability examinations.
I know that our VA employees in West Virginia care deeply about our veterans – especially since many of them are veterans themselves – and that they are on the front lines of confronting this crisis.  I want to ensure that the VA and the Department of Defense provide them with the necessary guidance and support they need to help.  That is why I cosponsored legislation that would require the Department of Defense to provide certified, complete, and electronic service treatment records within 21 days of military discharge or release.
Our wounded warriors deserve to have their claims processed accurately and expediently; not doing so unnecessarily prolongs the physical and mental suffering of those who have already sacrificed so much.  I will ardently continue to seek ways to address the claims backlog.
As a nation, we rightly thank our veterans by helping to ensure access to affordable health care, educational and job opportunities, and other benefits and services which I proudly support. 
On Memorial Day, as we strive to articulate what their service means to our country, let us begin by ensuring that we honor our promises to them, and remembering our world is safer and the ideals of democracy and freedom endure thanks to their service.

G-Comm™: Hoppy’s Commentary - Justice Delayed for School Principal

This week, a Mason County grand jury indicted Point Pleasant intermediate school Principal Cameron Moffett on charges of child abuse causing risk of injury. The charge stems from an incident 14 months ago where Moffett physically removed an 11-year-old student from a school bus.

The child had apparently been involved in a disturbance with other students and was told by a teacher to move to another seat.  Later Moffett ordered the child off the bus.  The bus security video shows Moffett grabbing the student.  The student appears to collapse and then Moffett rolls the boy a short distance down the aisle.

Once off the bus, the child was restrained by Moffett on the ground.

The parents of the child, who is classified as a special needs student, claim the principal used excessive force.  They have sued and Moffett has been removed from his principal’s job, with pay, until the issue is resolved, which brings us to the first issue in this unfortunate case.

Moffett’s attorney, Jim Lees, is furious that it’s taken over a year to even bring the criminal case against Moffett to the grand jury.

“Regardless of how you feel about the case… if somebody accuses you of something and you have witnesses to it, you want your day in court as soon as you can,” Lees said on Metronews Talkline Wednesday.

Lees theorizes that the former Mason County prosecutor, Damon Morgan, just didn’t want to deal with the controversial case.  Morgan did not run for re-election and the case was held over for the newly-elected prosecutor, Craig Tatterson, who finally brought it to a grand jury.

Still, Moffett has been in legal limbo for the last year, and it will probably be another few months before the case comes to trial.  The excessive delay is unfair, particularly to Moffett, but also to the family of the alleged victim, as well as the potential witnesses.

The charge against Moffett suggests the principal abused the child in a way that “creates a substantial risk of serious bodily injury or of death.” It’s a felony which could land Moffett in prison for five years, if convicted.

Meanwhile, the criminal prosecution has a potentially chilling effect on teachers and administrators who have the arduous responsibility of trying to keep the peace in schools.  If a teacher grabs hold of a misbehaving student a little too forcefully, do they have to worry about getting hauled away by the police?

The West Virginia school system’s manual detailing the expected behavior for students and how teachers and principals are supposed to administer discipline is about 70 pages long.  It’s hard to imagine how school officials are supposed to follow the letter of the law in every instance, especially when a situation escalates quickly.

But under state code, teachers and administrators do have the right to use “reasonable force” to restrain a misbehaving student.

Did Moffett go a little too far?  Maybe, and the Mason County School Board, which is elected by the people of Mason County, can decide that.  But dragging Moffett through the criminal justice system and dangling a felony conviction over his head is an injustice, and worse yet, a delayed injustice.

Legislative Update – by – Delegate Brent Boggs - House Majority Leader - 05.20.13

I want to thank the Braxton County High School chapter of the Quill and Scroll Society for inviting me to speak at their annual induction ceremony for new members last week.  Jean and I enjoyed the evening with parents, students, Board of Education officials and school faculty in attendance, including their advisor, Mrs. Brenda Gibson.  It was also my honor to present a legislative citation to Mrs. Gibson in appreciation for her longtime service and the many honors the BCHS Chapter and individual students have received over the years.  This is the 30th Anniversary of the BCHS chapter was a special milestone.

It was great to take time and personally meet these outstanding students in academics and journalism.  I know that whatever field they choose later in life, their writing, interviewing and communication skills will serve them well.

Last week brought the sudden and totally unexpected news that Speaker Rick Thompson was accepting a position with Governor Tomblin’s administration as Cabinet Secretary of Veterans Affairs.  I congratulate Rick on his new position, which will likely become effective sometime in mid-June.  While he still remains Speaker until he resigns to begin his new job, the abrupt announcement has set off a chain of events that may reshape the House.  Within ten days after he officially resigns, the Governor will issue a proclamation for the House to meet for the purpose of selecting a new Speaker.  Meanwhile, at least six members have expressed an interest in the position.  I have also informed members of my intent to pursue the office of House Speaker and have been speaking with colleagues on the subject.

First and foremost, I believe this needs accomplished with little disruption to the current leadership team.  Our state can ill afford a divided House of Delegates at a time when we have consistently had productive sessions, working closely with the Governor and Senate, working in a bipartisan manner as often as possible with our minority House members, and continue to keep the State in a fiscally strong and stable position without any tax increases.  In fact, state taxes have gone down.

In placing my name in consideration for Speaker, there certainly are no guarantees of the end result.  However, my first and foremost responsibly is to our area as an advocate and strong voice for the citizens of Braxton and Gilmer Counties.  Moreover, I believe that I can contribute in a positive manner to the House and our state as Speaker.  That being said, I want to make certain that we move forward with a plan for the greater good; not to benefit any one person’s personal agenda.  I’m proud and honored to represent each of you as delegate, first and foremost.

While all the speculation and rumors continue to run rampant regarding the Speaker’s vacancy, circumstances this week regarding two of our House members remind us all of what is truly important in life.  Delegate Bill Hartman’s wife, Mary, passed away this week.  Also Delegate Charlene Marshall’s daughter is in Ruby Memorial in ICU at this writing.  Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families in this difficult time.  It is a reminder of what is truly important in life: faith and family.

Please send your inquiries to the Capitol Office at:  Building 1, Room 224-M, Charleston, WV 25305.  Or, call the Capitol office at 304.340.3220; Assistant to the Majority Leader, Jennifer McPherson at 304.340.3942 or fax to 304.340.3213.  If you have an interest in any particular bill or issue, please let me know.  For those with Internet access, my e-mail address is: “Brent.Boggs@WVhouse.gov” .

You may also obtain additional legislative information, including the copies of bills, conference reports, daily summaries, interim highlights, and leave me a message on the Legislature’s web site at www.legis.state.wv.us/.  When leaving a message, please remember to include your phone number with your inquiry and any details you can provide. Additional information, including agency links and the state government phone directory, may be found at www.wv.gov. Also, you may follow me on Facebook at “Brent Boggs”, Twitter at “@DelBrentBoggs” , as well as the WV Legislature’s Facebook page at “West Virginia Legislature” or on Twitter at twitter.com/wvlegislature.

Continue to remember our troops - at home and abroad - and keep them and their families in your thoughts and prayers.  Until next week – take care.

Manchin’s Message from the Hill to the Mountains: SALUTING OUR VETERANS AND THE HONOR FLIGHT NETWORK

I am filled with so much pride every time I meet our military veterans.  They remind us just how patriotic West Virginia is.  We are a state of people with courage, nobility and valor.

This week, I met with 31 veterans from West Virginia, representing three generations of warriors, who came to the nation’s capital to see the memorials that commemorate their sacrifice and courage.

I am so deeply grateful to these special Americans who helped keep this nation free and made the world safer for liberty-loving people across our country and beyond our borders.

I also am grateful to the Honor Flight Network, which arranges for World War II, Korea and Vietnam veterans from all over America to visit the memorials in Washington – free of any cost to the veterans.

In West Virginia, the driving forces behind the Honor Flight Network are the Denver Foundation and Little Buddy Radio in Princeton.  They have arranged three Honor Flights for West Virginia veterans so far, and I look forward to many more.

The veterans I met this week ranged in age from 63 to 94.  And while their step has slowed, their spirit is keen, their pride is undiminished, and their patriotism is unbridled.

These brave West Virginians served this great country in a wide variety of ways – as a B-24 pilot over Italy in World War II; in a heavy mortar company at “Heartbreak Ridge” in Korea; as a helicopter door gunner in Vietnam.

They stitched up wounds in hospitals; they assembled bombs; they inspected combat aircraft; they operated radios and radars; they cooked; and they built roads through jungles and bridges over rivers.

They won the Bronze Star, the Soldier’s Medal, the Purple Heart and Presidential Citations. Some were lieutenants, some sergeants, some corporals. Some served abroad, some stateside. But every one of them answered this country’s call in its time of need.

These heroic West Virginians came to Washington to tour our beautiful Capitol, the World War II Memorial, the Korean War Memorial and the Vietnam War Memorial. But this tour included a special “Flags of Our Heroes” ceremony to honor World War II veterans who passed away before they could visit the memorial commemorating their service. Sadly, we are losing World War II veterans at the rate of approximately 800 per day – members of what we have come to recognize, and rightly so, as the “Greatest Generation.”

This generation of Americans was united by a common purpose and by common values – duty, honor, courage, service, integrity, love of family and country.  And their triumph over tyranny will be remembered forever.

This Memorial Day, when we honor all of America’s fallen warriors, let us offer a special salute to the “Greatest Generation” of warriors who inspire us still with the physical and moral courage that made them heroes.

May it ever be so, and may God always bless the United States of America and all the men and women who keep Her free.

G-Comm™: Hoppy’s Commentary - Musical Chairs Among House Democrats

Four Democratic members of the West Virginia House of Delegates could be considered front runners to succeed Rick Thompson as Speaker.  Thompson announced Thursday that he’s stepping down next month to take a state job as Secretary of Veterans Assistance.

The four are House Judiciary Committee Chairman Tim Miley from Harrison County, House Finance Committee Chairman Harry Keith White from Mingo County, House Majority Leader Brent Boggs from Braxton County and Delegate Doug Skaff from Kanawha County.

The Thompson announcement took House Democrats somewhat by surprise and the candidates for his replacement have not yet had time to fully flush out the leadership race.  However, Miley, White and Skaff did gather last night in Charleston for a meeting.  It’s notable that Boggs was not invited.

That meeting may produce a decision among the three as to which will be the candidate for Speaker, with Boggs in the race regardless of what Miley, White and Skaff decide.  With that in mind, here are four possible scenarios:

–Miley as the Speaker with Skaff as Majority Leader and White staying at Finance and Boggs as the odd man out.  That also opens up the Judiciary Committee Chairmanship, which could go to Marion County’s Tim Manchin.  It also likely takes Miley out of a 2014 challenge to state Senator Sam Cann.

–Skaff as Speaker with Miley as Majority Leader and White at Finance.  Again, that leaves Boggs out of the top tier, but Skaff would be inclined to find a leadership spot for him, possibly as Judiciary Chairman.

–White as Speaker and Skaff as Majority Leader with Miley staying at Judiciary.  That opens up the Senate Finance Chairmanship.  Under this scenario, Miley would more seriously consider running for the state Senate in 2014.

–Boggs as Speaker with perhaps Randy Swartzmiller from Hancock County as Majority Leader.  Since it appears to be Boggs vs. Miley/Skaff/White, this scenario leaves Boggs in a position to build support by promising the chairmanships of the powerful Finance and Judiciary Committees.

This will play out over the next several weeks.  Thompson will resign June 15th, and the House must be called into session within ten days to choose a new Speaker. No doubt allegiances will shift many times between now and the end of the June.

It’s also possible that if a majority of the four cannot come to some agreement and hard feelings develop that they’ll have to go to another House Democrat as a compromise candidate that everyone can agree upon.

Meanwhile, the Republicans will watch with interest, hoping the selection devolves into a battle that splits the majority party.  That could make it harder for the Democrats to maintain their 54-46 advantage in the 2014 election.

A Republican surge in the next election means all the maneuvering currently underway by Democrats will be moot, since it will be the GOP that will have to make key leadership decisions.

But for now, all the drama is with the House Democrats.

Where are the Nonviolent Alternatives to the Nine Proposed Military Bases in Afghanistan?

Earlier this week, Hamid Karzai confirmed that the United States will build nine new military bases in Afghanistan, including a strategic base at the border with Iran, with Whitehouse spokesman Jay Carney assuring us that these nine new bases will not be permanent. Their role will mainly be to strengthen and train the Afghan military; our only question is whether they even entertained any non-military options? With our media, it’s hard to tell.

One of the disservices done to the American public by the corporate media is the framing of this recent decision. As in numerous other reports, we are fed a series of top-down decisions like this one with language suggesting that they are in the best interest of American families and the strength of the nation, and that they are not open to discussion. As usual, the implicit bias from the top is that we citizens are ignorant and powerless; if they do not provide a violent, armed, militarized solution, the US has nothing else to offer. But it is their ignorance and powerlessness that we are seeing, not our own.

There is a Zen saying about a reed in the wind, how it bends while a ‘strong’ tree can break. This truth is echoed by the prolific folksinger, Ani Difranco when she notes in her inimitable way that “buildings and bridges are made to bend with the wind/ what doesn’t bend breaks.” It’s practical wisdom, and very pertinent. As more everyday citizens become interested in exploring nonviolent solutions worldwide, this short-sighted and deadly dichotomy between violence or passivity of the U.S. government exposes its fatal flaw—an inability or an unwillingness adapt and evolve with the growing consciousness of people around the world. Structures simply have to evolve as people grow in consciousness if they do not want to face obsolescence; we created them to serve us, after all, and we are an adaptive species. In other words, if our systems are rigid and violent, it is our responsibility to see that they adapt, or step aside. There is a growing consciousness of a co-creative, life sustaining spectrum that encourages empathy and solidarity and makes everyone safer. Our growing awareness of our interconnection, if only through technology and climate/ecological understanding, points a way out to us from destruction to restoration, from harming to healing, and from profiteering to peacebuilding. Acting on this consciousness of nonviolence, and creating institutional structures to serve it will be a major step forward for everyone; and it is more than just a reprioritization of our values: it’s a rediscovery of who we are.

Just as the consciousness of separation and force is embodied in military systems, with their ever more fantastic equipment and trained (that is, unfortunately, desensitized) men and women, the consciousness of peace and human solidarity is beginning to be embodied in cross-border ‘peace teams’, truth and reconciliation commissions, international courts, peace communities (like the few who are holding on right now in Colombia), peace research institutions, and more. If you haven’t heard about them, we are not surprised—they are not the stuff of today’s media. Or today’s policy.

But they are working. Behind the scenes, peace teams, for example, are bringing children abducted by paramilitary units back to their families, protecting the lives of threatened individuals or whole villages, monitoring historic peace agreements (as recently in Mindanao), and stanching rumors—those prolific causes of intercommunal violence. What if our government were instead to set up nine peace operation centers in Afghanistan, at a cost of just nine percent of the proposed bases, with training and jobs available for nonviolent conflict intervention? What if it were to create nine centers for women’s empowerment instead of forcing many Afghan women into prostitution, as inevitably happens around military bases? They could happily employ retrained military people who sense this far nobler use of their courage along with the veteran peacekeepers of Nonviolent Peaceforce, Peace Brigades International, and the other groups—all still at a small fraction of the cost of the proposed bases. What if, with the rest of those resources, we were to set up nine high-tech, free hospitals, nine Afghan-centered universities and libraries, and throw in nine hundred village schools into the bargain, still totaling less than nine military bases with US arms and trainers?

Economist Kenneth Boulding was one of the great pioneers of peace research, and he often communicated his important findings with a sense of humor. According to Boulding’s First Law, “if something exists, then it is possible.” Our privilege and responsibility as citizens is to uphold the possible and bring these alternatives to the attention of the media, of policymakers, and everyone we can get ahold of. It is our duty to our country—if not to the rest of humanity—to make it perfectly clear that if our key institutions do not bend in this direction they will surely break.

~~  Stephanie Van Hook & Michael N. Nagler ~~

G-Comm™: Hoppy’s Commentary - Tomblin’s Window of Opportunity

A recent survey by Republican pollster Mark Blankenship found that Governor Tomblin is riding a remarkable crest of popularity.

Tomblin’s job approval rating is at 69%, unchanged from March.  That’s higher than Senator Joe Manchin (63%) and Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito (54%).

Perhaps more importantly, voters don’t blame Tomblin for the state’s economic problems, and the Governor can thank President Obama for that.  When asked who is most responsible for job losses in West Virginia, nearly half said the President.  Fifteen percent said the West Virginia Legislature, ten percent said Congress and only three percent blamed Tomblin.

That’s amazing, especially since West Virginia has lost jobs over the last year and Republicans criticized Tomblin and the Democratic majorities in both houses for not doing more this past session for job creation.

So, Tomblin has this bank of political capital.  What’s he going to do with it?

One challenge for the Governor is to figure out a way West Virginia can take full advantage of the enormous Marcellus Shale reserves.  The gas boom has cooled a bit because of over-supply and the drop in prices, but West Virginia is going to be pumping gas for years to come.

The key to maximizing the economic benefit to the state is to make sure that industries that use natural gas as a feedstock locate here.  How do we do that?  Tax reform?  Tort reform?  A better infrastructure for natural gas shipping and storage?

The state has made progress on the tax front in recent years with the lowering of the corporate net and the elimination of the business franchise tax, but there is still work to be done.  West Virginia has an onerous personal property tax on the inventory machinery and equipment of a business that could be eliminated (Republicans have been pushing for that).

Tomblin could tackle the state’s crumbling roads and bridges.  The state’s gas tax no longer keeps up with highway construction and repair needs.  Taxes and/or fees would have to be raised.  Tomblin may be reluctant to go there, especially in 2014 since many Democrats, who are most likely to support an increase, will be up for re-election.

The Governor will also face pressure next legislative session to raise teacher salaries.  The teacher unions believe they are due, especially after they compromised on the Governor’s major education reform legislation this year.

The trick will be finding money for a raise, while also paying the rest of the state’s bills, including rising Medicaid costs.  Tomblin has kept in his back pocket a cigarette tax increase.  West Virginia’s per pack tax (55 cents) is among the lowest in the nation, and sin taxes are usually the easiest to raise.

Tomblin had a couple of significant accomplishments in the last session, including education reform and a new law to relieve prison overcrowding.  He has an opportunity to do more, but that window will close quickly.

Next year, politics will play an even bigger role under the capitol dome because it will be an election year and Republicans believe they have a chance to take over the House of Delegates.

And it won’t be long afterward that lawmakers will begin to see Tomblin, who cannot run again in 2016, as a lame duck.

A Minute with Jay: National Police Week

Senator Rockefeller marks National Police Week, a time to honor the men and women who serve our communities as police officers, thank them for their hard work, and remember the families of those who have lost loved ones.

G-Comm™: THE OVERCRIMINALIZATION OF AMERICA

G-Comm™: Hoppy’s Commentary - The IRS Scandal Undermines Trust

We don’t trust the federal government much anymore.

Since 1958, Pew Research has being asking the question, “How much of the time do you trust the government?”  Fifty-five years ago, 73 percent of Americans said they did just about always or most of the time, while 23 percent said some of the time or never.

In 2013, the numbers are reversed.  Only 26 percent trust the government, while 73 percent are distrustful.

The precipitous decline in trust began during the Vietnam War and continued through Watergate.  We briefly regained our confidence in the federal government after 9/11 as Americans rallied together, but that has faded.

The developments of the last few weeks will add to the cynicism.

Yesterday, I wrote about Benghazi and the apparent failure of the Obama Administration to level with the American people about the attack that left four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, dead. Now, in an unrelated story, we’re finding out that the IRS targeted conservative groups for greater scrutiny.

The IRS scandal has resonated with Americans perhaps even more than Benghazi because anyone who gets a W-2 and fills out a tax form can relate.  We all live with a certain amount of fear that we’ve made a mistake on our taxes that will trigger an audit.

Our expectation is that the IRS has no agenda; that as the powerful collector of taxes, as well as the arbiter of the meaning of a byzantine tax code, the IRS will carry out its responsibilities fairly and impartially.

But an investigation by the Treasury Inspector General for the Tax Administration found that the IRS gave particular scrutiny to conservative groups applying for 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status.  The finding reinforces complaints that Tea Party groups had been making for some time.

According to a timeline from the Treasury Inspector, IRS Tax-Exempt Organizations Division Director Lois Lerner, was told in June 2011 that the unit was more closely scrutinizing groups that had the words “Tea Party” or “Patriots” in them.

However, then-IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman, a Bush appointee, vehemently denied to Congress at a March 2012 hearing that organizations with conservative political leanings were being singled out.

Even liberal columnist Maureen Dowd of the New York Times had to concede, “Maybe some of the paranoia is justified.”

The outrage is bipartisan, as it should be.  From West Virginia, both Democratic Senator Joe Manchin and Republican Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito called the IRS’s actions “un-American.”

President Obama, during a news conference Monday, called the scandal “outrageous” and said he learned about it the same time everyone else did.

According to the IRS website, the agency’s mission is to “Provide America’s taxpayers top quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsibilities and enforce the law with integrity and fairness to all.”

The disconnect between the latter portion of that mission statement and the conduct of the IRS means that the next time Pew Research asks the trust question, the numbers may be even more abysmal.

G-Comm™: Hoppy’s Commentary - Bungling Benghazi

Abraham Lincoln, regarded as one of America’s greatest Presidents, said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”

We ask much of our Presidents.  We want people of character who possess a strong will.  They must also be charismatic individuals who challenge and inspire.  Above all, they must be leaders.

Even great leaders will fail, but we can forgive them if we know that they did their best, that their sense of duty was greater than personal safety, popularity or political expediency.

What we don’t like is deception.

President Richard Nixon is the poster child for deception at the highest levels.  He put himself above the law during the Watergate scandal and obstructed justice.  Indeed, the cover-up was worse than the crime and the duplicity and obfuscation forever changed the way we view the presidency.

President George W. Bush did not set out to deceive about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but in hindsight we know there was an unhealthy disregard for legitimate questions about the evidence.  The confidence with which the Bush Administration pushed the war, combined with the failure to prepare adequately for post-Saddam Iraq, caused many Americans to question his leadership.

Now we have the September 11, 2012 attacks in Benghazi that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.  Gregory Hicks, Stevens’ deputy in Libya, testified on Capitol Hill last week that they knew immediately that the attack was a coordinated terrorist assault, not a spontaneous demonstration triggered by a YouTube video.

Yet the Administration adopted and perpetuated the video explanation.

We now know, via reporting by ABC News and The Weekly Standard, that the State Department extensively edited the talking points from the CIA to take out any references to the Al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group Ansar al-Sharia.

When “the-video-caused-it” explanation crumbled, the Administration blamed the CIA.  When questioned during the Vice Presidential debate, Joe Biden said the Administration attributed Stevens’ death to the video because “that was exactly what we were told by the intelligence community.”

As Michael Gerson wrote in the Washington Post, “In some cases, the fog of war is initially thick, then it dissipates… (in the Benghazi attacks) the fog was a later addition.”

But why?

Was the Administration worried that a resumption of terrorism would damage President Obama’s chances of being re-elected in two months?  Gerson suggests it was “an effort to obscure negligence and incompetence, not criminality.”

One of the great mistakes people in power often make is that they become too clever by half; they allow perceptions of their own importance to beguile them into thinking the truth can be managed.

Now Americans must sort out the controversy, and that task is made even harder by the hyper-partisan atmosphere in Washington that is fanned by talk shows and cable channels.

Deception, obfuscation and ineptitude undermine the institution of government and breed mistrust.  The truth in the beginning would have been simpler for all. Americans can handle it, and they deserve it.

G-Comm™: Round the Clock Surveillance: Is This the Price of Living in a ‘Free, Safe’ Socie

Immediately following the devastating 9/11 attacks, which destroyed the illusion of invulnerability which had defined American society since the end of the Cold War, many Americans willingly ceded their rights and liberties to government officials who promised them that the feeling of absolute safety could be restored.

In the 12 years since, we have been subjected to a series of deceptions, subterfuges and scare tactics by the government, all largely aimed at amassing more power for the federal agencies and extending their control over the populace. Starting with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, continuing with the torture of detainees at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, and coming to a head with the assassination of American citizens abroad, the importing of drones and other weapons of compliance, and the rise in domestic surveillance, we have witnessed the onslaught of a full-blown crisis in government.

Still Americans have gone along with these assaults on their freedoms unquestioningly.

Even with our freedoms in shambles, our country in debt, our so-called “justice” system weighted in favor of corporations and the police state, our government officials dancing to the tune of corporate oligarchs, and a growing intolerance on the part of the government for anyone who challenges the status quo, Americans have yet to say “enough is enough.”

Now, in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, we are once again being assured that if we only give up a few more liberties and what little remains of our privacy, we will achieve that elusive sense of security we’ve yet to attain. This is the same song and dance that comes after every tragedy, and it’s that same song and dance which has left us buying into the illusion that we are a free, safe society.

The reality of life in America tells a different tale, however. For example, in a May 2013 interview with CNN, former FBI counterterrorism agent Tim Clemente disclosed that the federal government is keeping track of all digital communications that occur within the United States, whether or not those communicating are American citizens, and whether or not they have a warrant to do so.

As revelatory as the disclosure was, it caused barely a ripple of dismay among Americans, easily distracted by the torrent of what passes for entertainment news today. Yet it confirms what has become increasingly apparent in the years after 9/11: the federal government is literally tracking any and all communications occurring within the United States, without concern for the legal limitations of such activity, and without informing the American people that they are doing so.

Clemente dropped his bombshell during a CNN interview about authorities’ attempts to determine the nature of communications between deceased Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his widow Katherine Russell. In the course of that conversation, Clemente revealed that federal officials will not only be able to access any voicemails that may have been left by either party, but that the entirety of the phone conversations they had will be at federal agents’ finger tips.

“We certainly have ways in national security investigations to find out exactly what was said in that conversation,” stated Clemente. “All of that stuff [meaning phone conversations occurring in America] is being captured as we speak whether we know it or like it or not.” A few days later, Clemente was asked to clarify his comments, at which point he said, “There is a way to look at all digital communications in the past. No digital communication is secure.”

In other words, there is no form of digital communication that the government cannot and does not monitor—phone calls, emails, text messages, tweets, Facebook posts, internet video chats, etc., are all accessible, trackable and downloadable by federal agents.

At one time, such actions by the government would not only have been viewed as unacceptable, they would also have been considered illegal. However, government officials have been engaged in an ongoing attempt to legitimize these actions by passing laws that make the lives of all Americans an open book for government agents. For example, while the nation was caught up in the drama of the Boston bombing and the ensuing military-style occupation of the city by local and federal police, Congress passed a little-noticed piece of legislation known as the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA). The legislation, which the House of Representatives approved by an overwhelming margin of 288-127, will allow internet companies to share their users’ private data with the federal government and other private companies in order to combat so-called “cyber threats.”

In short, the law dismantles any notion of privacy on the internet, opening every action one undertakes online, whether emailing, shopping, banking, or just browsing, to scrutiny by government agents. While CISPA has yet to clear the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the spirit of it is alive and well. In fact, officials in the Obama administration have for some time now been authorizing corporate information sharing and spying in secret through the use of executive orders and other tactics.

The Justice Department, for instance, has been issuing so-called “2511 letters” to various internet service providers like AT&T, which immunize them from being prosecuted under federal wiretapping laws for providing the federal government with private information. Despite federal court rulings to the contrary, the Department of Justice continues to assert that it does not require a warrant to access Americans’ emails, Facebook chats, and other forms of digital communication.

While it may be tempting to lay the full blame for these erosions of our privacy on the Obama administration, they are simply continuing a system of mass surveillance, the seeds of which were planted in the weeks after 9/11, when the National Security Agency (NSA) began illegally tracking the communications of American citizens. According to a Washington Post article published in 2010, the NSA continues to collect 1.7 billion communications, whether telephone, email or otherwise, every single day.

The NSA and Department of Justice are just two pieces of a vast surveillance network which encompasses and implicates most of the federal government, as well as the majority of technology and telecommunications companies in the United States. For the past two years, the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has approved literally every single request by the federal government to spy on people within the United States. There have been some 4,000 applications rubberstamped by the court in the past two years, applications which allow federal officials to monitor the communications of any person in the United States, including American citizens, if they are believed to be in contact with someone overseas.

These government-initiated spying programs depend in large part on the willingness of corporations to hand over personal information about their customers to government officials. Sometimes the government purchases the information outright. At other times, the government issues National Security Letters, which allow the government to force companies to hand over personal information without a warrant or probable cause.

Some web companies, such as Skype, have already altered their products to allow government access to personal information. In fact, government agents can now determine the credit card information and addresses of Skype users under suspicion of criminal activity. Aside from allowing government agents backdoor access to American communications, corporations are also working on technologies to allow government agents even easier access to Americans’ communications.

For example, Google has filed a patent for a “Policy Violation Checker,” software which would monitor an individual’s communications as they type them out, whether in an email, an Excel spreadsheet or some other digital document, then alert the individual, and potentially their employer or a government agent, if they type any “problematic phrases” which “present policy violations, have legal implications, or are otherwise troublesome to a company, business, or individual.” The software would work by comparing the text being typed to a pre-defined database of “problematic phrases,” which would presumably be defined on a company-by-company basis.

The emergence of this technology fits in well with Google chairman Eric Schmidt’s view on privacy, which is that “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.” Unfortunately, this is not just the attitude of corporate benefactors who stand to profit from creating spy technology and software but government officials as well.

Additionally, police officials throughout the country have become increasingly keen on monitoring social media websites in real time. Rob D’Ovido, a criminal justice professor at Drexel University, has noted that, “The danger of this in light of the tragedy in Boston is that law enforcement is being so risk-averse they are in danger of crossing that line and going after what courts would ultimately deem as free speech.”

For example, Cameron Dambrosio, a teenager and self-styled rap artist living in Metheun, Massachusetts, posted a video of one of his original songs on the internet which included references to the White House and the Boston bombing. While the song’s lyrics may well have been crude and ill-advised in the wake of the Boston bombing, police officers exacerbated the situation by arresting Dambrosio and charging him with communicating terrorist threats, a felony charge which could land him in prison for twenty years.

Unfortunately, cases like Dambrosio’s may soon become the norm, as the FBI’s Next Generation Cyber Initiative has announced that its “top legislative priority” this year is to get social media giants like Facebook and Google to comply with requests for access to real-time updates of social media websites. The proposed method of encouraging compliance is legal inquiries and hefty fines leveled at these companies. The Obama administration is expected to support the proposal.

The reality is this:  we no longer live in a free society. Having traded our freedoms for a phantom promise of security, we now find ourselves imprisoned in a virtual cage of cameras, wiretaps and watchful government eyes. All the while, the world around us is no safer than when we started on this journey more than a decade ago. Indeed, it well may be that we are living in a far more dangerous world, not so much because the terrorist threat is any greater but because the government itself has become the greater threat to our freedoms.

~~  John Whitehead ~~

G-Comm™: Rotten to the Common Core

Common Core, an education program developed with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to improve academic standards in public schools, will fall far short of its stated objective.

Its promoters tout it to be a “state-led effort to establish a single set of clear educational standards for English-language arts and mathematics…” to provide teachers, parents and students with a set of well defined expectations and “[h]igh standards that are consistent across states…”

Underlying these statements is the proposition public schools are not performing very well or completely failing to educate students to a necessary standard.

Based on the fact SAT scores, since 1962, have twice been adjusted downward to artificially depict higher scores among students taking the exam but have continued to decline and national literacy scores continue to decline as a percentage of the United States population it is difficult to refute the dysfunctional public school proposition. Their solution to this very real problem, however, is like putting a gangrene infected band aid on a gangrenous open wound.

Common Core is just another Johnny-come-lately, one-size-fits-all national standard that attempts to fix a problem created by the original national standard; our public school system.

America’s modern public school system is the manifestation of its founder’s vision, the father of American public education, Horace Mann. Horace Mann, a Unitarian Massachusetts school board member in the 1840s, wrote twelve annual reports on public education that was to become the foundation of every public school in America. Mann prototyped his “Common Schools” in his reports on the Prussian school system.

Prussia was the first European state to institute public schools, from which every other country in Europe modeled their public schools. So it is no coincidence Mann modeled his “Common Schools” off the ones he observed in Prussia while visiting schools in Europe.  Neither is it a coincidence Prussia, known for its autocratic and dictatorial society that ultimately unified the other German states under its control, would impose an uncompromising uniform standard upon its population.

In his seventh report, Mann ironically claimed, “we do not desire to copy or to study the systems of foreign nations, usually so different from our own,” but then he went on to say “surely we may copy his [the Prussian school system’s] modes of teaching these elements, without adopting his notions of passive obedience to the government[.]” Evidence of Mann’s lack of success in adopting the Prussian model without instituting its passive obedience to the government is found in America’s modern myopic obedience to the national government.

That America has become passively obedient to the national government can be seen throughout the 20th and the 21st Century in that Americans sit passively by or actively cheer when: Congress passes laws violating the Constitution, Presidents exceed their limited authority by issuing orders not supported by any law passed by Congress and the Supreme Court, when asked to interpose on behalf of we the people, uphold these things through the most ridiculous, convoluted, humanistic and illogical arguments a human mind can conjure. One only need compare the grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence to similar modern occurrences to see contemporary American society does not have the political will of its forefathers.

For America, that was founded on and has celebrated its diversity of ideas, extensive government control and standardization of any kind seems counter intuitive. The framers of the Constitution were careful to preserve the independence of the States by only delegating finite powers to the national government. This allowed the citizens of each State to preserve their cultural diversity and pursue their own happiness.

Now, control over students in what and how they learn has been institutionalized in America by Mann via public schools. Mann, through his Common School system, was able to undo what so many sacrificed in the War of Independence to acquire and the founders carefully guarded in both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. This centralized control over public school students continues to grow and its latest adaptation is the voluntarily imposed Common Core curriculum.

Strips parental oversight of what children should be taught

Common Core is rotten to the core, because no one can justify its expense by any potential gains in scholastic improvement, it strips parental oversight of what children should be taught, and it is a one-size-fits-all program that will not serve any child to their maximum potential.

First, according to the Pioneer Institute and the American Principles Project, which conducted a state by state comprehensive cost analysis[1] of implementing Common Core, in Pennsylvania alone the extra cost of implementation was estimated to be $645 million.  As of January 2012, Pennsylvania was set to receive only $40 million in Obama’s Race to the Top funds, which were contingent upon adoption of Common Core standards, student Longitudinal data collection, and a teacher evaluation program.

Adding this up, for the adoption of a national standard, Pennsylvania might receive up to 6% of the extra costs from the government, but will have to foot the bill for over a half a billion dollars on their own. None of this makes fiscal sense when considering if Pennsylvania did not adopt any other new program their education costs would remain relatively constant.

Second, if parents allow the government or any other entity to dictate how their children must be educated or what they must learn, the parents might as well just give their children to the government or entity to raise. Even now, parents have limited control over what children are taught in public schools and everyone has to pay for public schools whether they have children or not. Common Core will add more of the same to an already burdensome tax system through another layer of bureaucracy whose standards, if history is any indication, have limited hope of being achieved.

Third, children are not ginger bread men to be cut out of common dough; they are unique individuals with unique learning talents, interests and needs. A common standard may fit everyone, but it will not fit anyone very well and its results will be as disappointing as the results from the public schools system, which the program is intended to fix.

Furthermore, children in America do not belong to any government, community, business, or labor consortium. They belong to their parents and to them alone. Parents, therefore, must decide the values, morals and information from which their children will most benefit to live in society. To abdicate this responsibility is to allow someone else to make decisions that will not always be to the benefit of the children or the parents.

Like every other aspect of life, the Bible provides guidance on whose responsibility it is to teach children. Any government; national, State, or local that dictates what children must be taught and extorts money through taxation to pay for their vision has overstepped the bounds of their biblical jurisdiction. Romans 13:3-5 describes the purpose of government: to wield the sword of justice against evil doers, but nowhere in the Bible will you find education as one of its functions.

In Proverbs 22:6, one will find the Bible giving responsibility of a child’s education to parents. The Bible also states in Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,” and since public schools have completely pushed Christ out of the classroom it is no wonder their academic performance has gone with Him.

Mann’s utopian pursuit of standardized universal “free education” was the European totalitarian bridgehead into America and it has turned into the coercive failed public school system America has today. Like all utopias, the only way to achieve them is through coercion.

This coercion is nearly absent from non-publicly funded schools and these schools most always cost less to operate and produce better educational results in nearly every measurable way than their publicly funded counterparts. A 1997 study[2] found home schooled children, on the average, outperformed their public school counterparts by 30 to 37 percentile points on all subjects. These findings were further supported by Dr. Lawrence Rudner who found children that were homeschooled all their school aged years had the highest academic achievement.

Since uniformity and top down imposed standards have not worked, the solution to deteriorating performance in America’s public schools is simple, return responsibility for education to parents by defunding public schools and restoring parents’ right to decide where and how to educate their children.

Some may argue defunding public schools would deprive many “under privileged” children of an education, but considering what they receive now, it might actually be an improvement. Besides, violation of property rights, through taxation for public schools, or any other violation of the rights specifically mentioned in the Declaration of Independence is never justified, no matter how noble the cause. Additionally, it is an individual’s responsibility to be charitable to the under privileged, because when a government does it through taxation it is called theft or extortion, not charity.

Much of the resistance to defunding public schools comes from the fact most people living today, who grew up in America, are a product of a public school, have known no other system of education, and cannot imagine how another system would work. Those who think this way are oblivious to the fact that prior to 1840, all American schools were non-public, biblically based, and produced the founding culture, which in turn established the most successful nation in the history of the world. The secularized standardization of Common Core, by contrast, is rotten to the core just like the seed of “Common Schools” from which it was germinated that produced the culture who voted for the politicians America has today. If people were to take the time to compare the results of the two systems they too would see for themselves what Mann has done to education.

[1] Pioneer Institute and American Principles Project, National Costs to Aligning States and Localities to the Common Core Standards, No 82, February 2012.
[2] Dr. Brian Ray, Strengths of Their Own: Home Schoolers Across America.

~~  Matt Shipley ~~

G-Comm™: Standards of Conduct

In 1974 a young female attorney help draw up the rules under which Richard M. Nixon would be tried by the Congress for impeachment.

“Impeachment,” she wrote, “did not have to be for criminal offenses – but only for a “course of conduct” that suggested an abuse of power or a disregard for the office of the President of the United States.”

She wrote, “that a person’s ‘course of conduct’ while not particularly criminal could be of such a nature that it destroys trust, discourages, allegiance, and demands action by the Congress.”

She wrote that “the office of the President is such that it calls for higher level of conduct than the average citizen in the United States.”

This young female attorney who helped write the standard under which Presidents are to be judged by the House of Representatives has a unique perspective about the present situation in the White House.

You see, that female attorney who said that an unethical “course of conduct” could overthrow a president was the First Lady for two consecutive terms with her husband Bill Clinton,

Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Truth IS stranger than fiction.

Unknown – 1999

~~  Submitted by a Reader ~~

Congressman Nick Rahall: Celebrating Trains in our State and Nation

In May, National Train Day serves to remind us that just as trains have helped fuel our Nation’s history, they are poised to help forge our future.

Southern West Virginia knows firsthand the importance of passenger- and freight-rail to our local and national economies.  In recognition of that fact, Amtrak made the former Chesapeake & Ohio passenger station in the City of Huntington one of twenty national designations to celebrate all things train-related on National Train Day.

Amtrak and our State have had a long, happy, and fruitful association for 42 years – except, as my train encyclopedic friends at the Collis P. Huntington Railroad Historical Society reminded me, in late 1981 and early 1982, when budgetary troubles interrupted service for 100 days.

Thanks to the efforts of the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd, Cardinal service was restored to its current three-day-a-week schedule, enabling West Virginians now at eight stops in the State to travel to every point in Amtrak’s national network.  And with continued passenger growth, thanks, in part, to the Boy Scouts of America’s new reserve, we hope to see daily Cardinal service.

Passenger rail is as essential to our Nation’s economic health as is freight rail.  With the $1 million I announced in 2011, West Virginia is designing a statewide rail plan.  It will not only focus on freight and passenger rail coexisting in a productive partnership, but it will fully explore the advantages of connecting rail to roads, rivers, and aviation.  A seamless transportation system saves time and money, making us more competitive in the world market.

National Train Day serves as a grand opportunity to thank the corps of dedicated volunteers who work tirelessly to preserve and promote our State’s rail history and heritage.  These individuals create and sustain all manner of annual events to celebrate our roots in the railways.

The dedicated members of the Collis P. Huntington Society have operated the popular New River Train excursion every October since 1995.  Bringing to trackside as many as 4,400 tourists from around the world to ride through the scenic New River Gorge, the Train aims to enrich Amtrak’s bottom line and boost our region’s economy.

Besides the Society activities, among southern West Virginia’s offerings are: Hinton’s Railroad Days, Talcott’s John Henry Days, and the Pocahontas National Railway Historical Society Model Train Show.

Want some additional scenic time on the rails?  Try the Cass Scenic Railroad, the Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad, or the Ridge Runner.  Our historic train stations in Alderson, Prince, and Bramwell, just to name a few, recall the graceful, charming architecture of times past.  And they make great tourism hubs for our future:  train and railroad workers’ memorabilia and collections, from museums to home garages, abound along our rail lines and many points in between.

Train Day is a great time to recognize the contributions of Amtrak and all of its 19,000 employees to our State.  As well, CSX and Norfolk Southern are two dynamic engines in our economy.  Both are committed to tomorrow’s research and training through the Rahall Transportation Institute and Marshall University and committed to keep driving our economy.  The Heartland intermodal project at Prichard, a major $12 million federal investment, is just one example of engaging the rail industry’s cutting-edge opportunities with container freight to serve existing and future key markets to generate jobs.

Congratulations to everyone for helping mark the history, heritage, and promise of trains to our State and Nation, not only on National Train Day, but all year round.   

G-Comm™: Hoppy’s Commentary - The Miscalculation of ‘Climate Justice’

Last month, several Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a resolution with a rather unique take on the environmental debate.  According to a report in The Hill, the resolution stated that climate change is hurting women more than men.

“Food insecure women with limited socioeconomic resources may be vulnerable to situations such as sex work, transactional sex, and early marriage that put them at risk for HIV, STIs, unplanned pregnancy and poor reproductive health,” read the resolution.

And so we have the latest absurdity under the relatively new and ever broadening category of “climate justice.”

The radical environmental movement is in transition.

Chris Foreman, a progressive writing for The Breakthrough Institute, says the more leftist environmentalists have taken a cue from advocates of the social and economic justice movements.  This incarnation of environmentalism links the impacts of climate change with global poverty.

The theory goes that if the effects of global warming create an even greater hardship on the worlds’ poor, there is an even more critical moral imperative to replace carbon-based energy with green alternatives, while imposing a more even global economic playing field.

Foreman quotes Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo from South Africa as saying, “Look, 1.6 billion people have no access to energy and yet live in regions that are blessed with an abundant solar, wind, wave and geothermal energy.  If we can address that problem, we can alleviate poverty and create jobs and move into a green energy future.”

Foreman says the logic is dubious. “Demands for climate justice too often ignore basic practicalities of energy, poverty, and climate change,” he writes.

Foreman isn’t alone.  Two more progressives at The Breakthrough Institute, Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus, say the climate justice movement disregards history and the successes of carbon-fueled capitalism to bring people out of poverty.

“Hundreds of millions of desperately poor people went from burning dung and wood for fuel (whose smoke takes two million souls a year) to using electricity, allowing them to enjoy refrigerators, washing machines, and smoke-free stoves.”

In short, those who truly care about the impoverished of the world should be worried more about how to get cheap, reliable electricity to a remote village rather than using the plight of the poor to advance the nebulous notion of “climate justice.”

Don’t get Foreman, Shellenberger and Nordhaus wrong; they’re environmentalists, but they’re also realists who are interested in practical solutions to global poverty and climate change.  In doing so, they avoid the pie-eyed convenience of extremist groups who have co-oped the justice movements.

The great miscalculation of the climate justice movement is that it is rooted in reparations and redistribution, and based on the concept that the industrialized world has benefited at the expense of the rest of the planet, which still has to pay the environmental cost.

What they miss entirely–which Foreman, Shellenberger and Nordhaus get–is that what the world really needs is more development with the cheapest, best available fuel, to help elevate people out of poverty.

Now that would be justice.

Legislative Update – by – Delegate Brent Boggs - House Majority Leader - 05.13.13

Mid-May is already here and Mother’s Day was celebrated last Sunday.  I hope each of you either took the time to visit your mom, call or show your appreciation.  If that was not possible, take the time to remember all the good and wonderful things that only a Mom can provide.  I was blessed to spend Sunday with my Mom and I appreciate beyond words all the positive lessons learned – and continue to learn – from her. 

It was great to be home after several days away on work related business.  We arrived home Wednesday evening after spending the afternoon at the Capitol on the way home and review some of the Governor’s bill signing.

One of the saddest moments of the session came as we were debating a bill, sponsored by Delegate Charlene Marshall and of which I was a co-sponsor, duly named Skylar’s Law.  HB 2453 was named after 16 yr. old Skylar Neese, a Morgantown teenager that was reported missing and later found deceased in Pennsylvania.  According to recent news reports, she was apparently killed by teenage classmates from her school.

However, when the bill was introduced, Skylar was still reported missing.  At that time, the Amber Alert was not issued because she was initially thought to be a runaway by law enforcement.  The law modifies the extremely effective Amber Alert system to include any child, age 17 and younger, which has disappeared and is believed to be in danger.  Amber Alerts in West Virginia are issued through a partnership between State Police, the West Virginia Broadcasters, the West Virginia Emergency Alert System and the National Weather Service.

Skylar’s parents were at the Capitol earlier this year to ask legislators to support the bill, which passed the House by a unanimous vote.  After passage in the Senate, Governor Tomblin signed the bill, effective July 11, 2013.

I cannot imagine the sadness of the Neese family but I truly appreciate Skylar’s parents working with legislators to seek a law that may be of assistance so other parents may not have to go through this horrific nightmare they have experienced.  If only one child can be saved by expanding the Amber Alert with the passage of Skylar’s Law, it will be worth any cost.

Periodically, the office of State Auditor Glen Gainer conducts audits of counties, municipalities and other local governmental entities as required by law.  During the most recent session, I worked closely with the Auditor on HB 2851, which Governor Tomblin signed into law May 1, 2013.  Many of the entities did not have the funds to pay for the audits are delinquent and in reality, have no means to pay.  Therefore, the bill will have the chief inspector establish a one-time audit cost amnesty program to be conducted during the 2014 fiscal year.  The amnesty program will apply only to: (1) Audits conducted by the chief inspector; and (2) Audit costs that are for fiscal years prior to the two most recent audits completed or in progress as of July 1, 2013.  The chief inspector will establish procedures and forms for processing applications to the program.  An entity is not eligible to participate in the amnesty program unless fees related to its two most recent audits completed or in progress as of July 1, 2013, have been paid in full prior to its request for amnesty.

Hopefully, this will assist many local or county entities that need some modest fiscal assistance.  I appreciate working with Auditor Gainer on this and other issues.  Glen does a great job for our citizens.

Another bill, important to our military personnel - SB 460 - relates to exempting active duty military pay for resident individuals serving thirty or more continuous days on active duty in the armed forces of the United States, National Guard or armed forces reserves for the taxable year in which the individual has separated from active military service; and providing certain limitations.  This bill was also signed by the Governor.

Please send your inquiries to the Capitol Office at:  Building 1, Room 224-M, Charleston, WV 25305.  Or, call the Capitol office at 304.340.3220; Assistant to the Majority Leader, Jennifer McPherson at 304.340.3942 or fax to 304.340.3213.  If you have an interest in any particular bill or issue, please let me know.  For those with Internet access, my e-mail address is: “Brent.Boggs@WVhouse.gov” .

You may also obtain additional legislative information, including the copies of bills, conference reports, daily summaries, interim highlights, and leave me a message on the Legislature’s web site at www.legis.state.wv.us/.  When leaving a message, please remember to include your phone number with your inquiry and any details you can provide. Additional information, including agency links and the state government phone directory, may be found at www.wv.gov. Also, you may follow me on Facebook at “Brent Boggs”, Twitter at “@DelBrentBoggs” , as well as the WV Legislature’s Facebook page at “West Virginia Legislature” or on Twitter at twitter.com/wvlegislature.

Continue to remember our troops - at home and abroad - and keep them and their families in your thoughts and prayers.  Until next week – take care.

Manchin’s Message from the Hill to the Mountains: TIME FOR THE FDA TO STOP STALLING ON PAIN KILLERS

Fourteen years is a long time to wait for anything.  When you need help, 14 years is a really long time to wait. And yet 14 years is how long it’s been since drug experts first asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for help in stopping an epidemic of prescription drug abuse in America.

And still we wait.

Well, I’ve waited long enough.  So have other Members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike.  This week, nine of us sent a letter to the FDA urging immediate action to combat an epidemic that is devastating families and communities all across the country, including West Virginia.

Specifically, we urged the FDA to tighten restrictions on some of the most powerful, addictive narcotics on the market, which have fueled the epidemic we see today – hydrocodone painkillers, such as Vicodin and Lortab.

It’s not like we came up with this idea overnight. And it’s not like we came up with it on our own.

The petition for greater restrictions on hydrocodone was originally filed with the FDA in 1999. The petition suggested that hydrocodone be reclassified from a Schedule III drug, the category for less addictive drugs like barbiturates and amphetamines, to Schedule II, the category for opium and morphine.

For over 14 years, the FDA has refused to make this commonsense change, even as hydrocodone abuse has taken its toll on our country, reaching the point where police officers in our home state speak today of a “lost generation” of Americans – lost to the lure and easy access to these prescription drugs.

But last January, things started changing dramatically.

After listening to days of testimony from witnesses, including mine, and after reviewing all the evidence, the FDA’s own panel of experts recommended – for the first time – that hydrocodone be reclassified a Schedule II drug.

Under federal drug laws, the FDA is granted “a reasonable time” to respond to recommendations from its own advisory panel. But winter has turned to spring and summer is just around the corner. It seems to me, and to the Members of Congress who joined me in writing the FDA this week, that the federal agency charged with the safety of our food and drugs has exceeded the “reasonable time” requirement.

The fact that we’ve already waited 14 years for the FDA to do the right thing makes this latest delay that much more intolerable.

Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control underscores the urgency of action by the FDA. The CDC reports that drug overdose deaths increased for 11 straight years since 1999. Sixty percent of those deaths (22,134) involved pharmaceutical drug products.  And prescription drug products containing oxycodone, hydrocodone, methadone and others represented three-quarters of those deaths (16,651).

Our great state is not immune from this epidemic. In 2010 alone, 512 West Virginians died from drug overdose – a 353 percent increase since 2000.  And painkillers now result in more deaths than heroin and cocaine combined.

Ignoring this drug abuse epidemic is unacceptable.  A lot of families, doctors, law enforcement officers and public officials have been on the front lines battling this crisis for years.

The time has come for the FDA to stop stalling and step up to give us a hand. This is one of those fights that is going to take everybody’s help to win.

Caring for Our Mothers Just as They Care for Us

Throughout our lives – whether as children or adults – our mothers look out for us.  They help us take our first steps, send us off for our first day of school, and watch over us as we grow up.

When we get a cold, twist an ankle, or have a more serious illness, they are the ones right by our side, taking our temperature, bringing us chicken soup to make sure we feel better, and calling to find out what the doctor said.  And Mother’s Day is the perfect time to thank our mothers for all that they have done and continue to do for us every single day.

Just as our mothers care for us, they also deserve to be cared for.  I fought for the health reform law so that we could get more affordable health care to more families.  As part of that goal, this law also makes long strides to better protect women’s health and make it a priority.

Too often, when women go to the doctor regular exams aren’t covered and they have to pay out of pocket.  These expenses add up and have a real impact on families working hard to get by.  The health reform law fixes many of these problems by offering women free annual checkups.  These visits include crucial preventive services to protect women’s health, such as free mammograms to test for breast cancer, cervical cancer screenings, screenings for high blood pressure and diabetes, prenatal services, and much more.  The law allows women to go to an obstetrician/gynecologist without a referral, and they are free to choose their children’s pediatrician.

For too long, the majority of health plans charged women higher premiums than men for the same health benefits, increasing costs on families, individuals, and single mothers.  But the health reform law is changing that and making premiums the same across the board.

Health insurance companies often discriminated against those with pre-existing conditions, such as asthma or diabetes.  And many insurance companies specifically discriminated against women by treating pregnancy, Cesarean sections, and medical treatment for domestic violence and sexual assault as pre-existing conditions.  Because of the health reform law, starting in 2014, insurance companies will no longer be allowed to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions.  We need to help women and mothers when they need it most, not turn them away.

And just over a week ago, I was incredibly proud to stand with our Governor as he announced that West Virginia will expand Medicaid eligibility – a key piece of the health reform law that is up to each state to approve.  This means that 91,500 more West Virginians are expected to get affordable health care, and 67,000 women in West Virginia could be eligible for coverage.  These are women and mothers of all ages who too often have to choose between seeing a doctor when they’re sick or putting food on the table for their families.  The health reform law means they don’t have to make that awful choice – they can have both, as they deserve.

Mother’s Day reminds us how important our mothers are in our lives and it’s a moment thank and celebrate them, maybe with a handmade card or breakfast in bed.  West Virginia’s own Anna Jarvis understood that when she created Mother’s Day to recognize her mother’s lifesaving work to treat Civil War soldiers.

On Mother’s Day this year, I give thanks for mothers across West Virginia making countless sacrifices every day for the families they love – and for the difference I know a strengthened health care system can make in their lives.

A Minute with Jay: Preventing Diabetes

Senator Rockefeller talks about his bill to reduce the prevalence of diabetes in our state, and help many West Virginians avoid it altogether.

West Virginia has some of the highest rates of diabetes in the country, as more than 1 in 10 West Virginia adults have this disease.

G-Comm™: Hoppy’s Commentary - Poll Numbers Show Manchin, Capito, Tomblin, Tennant Strength

One of the persistent political questions over the last couple of months has been whether Democratic Senator Joe Manchin’s push for more gun control has cost him in his home state.  A just-released poll by Republican strategist Mark Blankenship finds that Manchin’s overall approval ratings have dropped from 70% last March to 63% now.

The simplistic conclusion is that Manchin’s advocacy for expanded background checks for gun purchases has dug into his substantial support in a strong gun rights state.  However, Blankenship insists that a closer look at his numbers doesn’t necessarily bear that out.

First, Blankenship maintains that a swing of five to ten points in approval, particularly at a time when there’s no campaign underway, may just be a temporary blip.  The true test will be if the next poll shows Manchin’s approval numbers continuing to slide.

Additionally, Blankenship says that Manchin’s approval to disapproval ratio remains at nearly three to one, and there’s been no notable rise in the percentage of voters who strongly or somewhat disapprove of the job he’s doing.

Meanwhile, 67% of those questioned either strongly support or somewhat support Manchin’s gun control legislation, while only 30% somewhat oppose or strongly oppose.  Blankenship believes the high approval numbers in West Virginia for additional background checks mean Manchin does not appear to be paying a high political price.

“It’s a scratch,” Blankenship told me. “You can’t use these numbers to conclude that gun control hurt Manchin.”

The poll also found a ten point drop (64% to 54% from March to now) in the approval rating of Republican Congresswoman and U.S. Senate candidate Shelley Moore Capito.  Again, Blankenship is reluctant to attach too much significance to the shift.

“Capito should be cognizant of the dip, but her disapproval (number) is not dramatically higher,” Blankenship said.  Both Capito and Manchin show a “consistency of strength.”

For the first time, Blankenship included Democratic Secretary of State Natalie Tennant in his questions about the 2014 Senate race.  The MBE numbers show a 40% plurality for her in that race with state Supreme Court Justice Robin Davis getting 12%.  Neither Tennant nor Davis has decided whether to run for the Senate.

Charleston attorney Nick Preservati and Wheeling attorney Ralph Baxter each picked up only 1%, but that’s not surprising.  Neither is very well known, even in tight political circles, nor has either entered the race yet.

If anybody should be doing the victory dance after the MBE poll, it’s Earl Ray Tomblin. The Democratic Governor has a job approval rate of 69%, unchanged from the March poll.

Even more comforting to Tomblin is that West Virginian’s don’t blame him for the state’s economic challenges.  When asked which elected officials are most responsible for job losses in West Virginia, only three percent said Tomblin.  49% blame President Obama.

On Target Pressure Points: Militarized Police

Wednesday, May 08, 2013 Marked a Monumental Day for McDowell County Schools

It has taken more than a decade but on Wednesday McDowell County regained full control of its school system. To a cheering crowd, the West Virginia Board of Education voted unanimously during its monthly meeting to accept the Office of Education Performance Audits’ (OEPA) recommendation to hand over full control to the county board of education. The board also supported the OEPA’s recommendation to continue to employ the current county superintendent, Nelson Spencer.

“The McDowell County School System has faced challenges but today teachers, parents and students should be proud of what they have accomplished,“ said state Board President Wade Linger. “I am confident this school system will thrive and continue to grow stronger each day.“

State Board Member Gayle Manchin added, “I am so honored to be part of this vote to return control to McDowell County Schools. It is never easy to answer all the issues in any county. One lesson that we have learned is that no one can do it alone. Improving a school system is truly about a community building capacity. It is about teachers, parents, businesses, the faith community and health care outlets all saying the children are the most important priority so how can we join together to provide them the best opportunities.“

In October of 2001, the WVBE intervened in the operation of McDowell County Schools due to extraordinary circumstances that resulted in major barriers to providing education programs and services to students.

The OEPA team returned to McDowell County in December 2005 and January 2006 to determine progress in correcting the definiencies that resulted in state intervention. Substantial progress had been made in correcting most of the original findings related to finance, curriculum and transportation however, many personnel and facility issues remained.

A full education performance audit was conducted in November 2009, with findings presented to the WVBE in January 2010. At that time, the state board issued McDowell County conditional approval status, initiated an exit agreement between the McDowell County Board of Education and the WVBE, and returned partial control to the McDowell County Board of Education in finance, curriculum, transportation, the establishment and operation of a school calendar, and other decision-making authorities.

However, because of deficiencies that remained in personnel, the lack of resolve to update county policies, and facility issues, the WVBE continued intervention in those areas.

In January 2013, an OEPA audit of the McDowell County School District was conducted as recommended in the Exit Strategy for Returning Control to the McDowell County Board of Education document. The audit was a thorough review of the entire school district. Based on findings of the audit, the OEPA determined the following:

•  The McDowell County Board of Education has completed all tasks set forth in the Exit Strategy Document.

•  Previous deficiencies that emerged in the January 2010 OEPA report in personnel, policy development, and facilities have been resolved in an exemplary manner.

•  The school system is moving forward and showing progress.

•  The superintendent is providing sound leadership and the schools are progressing.

G-Comm™: West Virginia Celebrates Teachers During Teacher Appreciation Week

Psychologist Theresa Grimm once said “Without teacher appreciation there can’t be any student progress.“ As we celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week, May 06-10, and National Teacher Day, May 07, it is appropriate to take time to express my gratitude to you for your contributions both in and out of the classroom.

When you decided to become teachers, you chose a profession unlike any other. On a daily basis you wear many hats: educator, mentor, disciplinarian, advocate, psychologist, conflict manager, classroom manager, community organizer, recruiter, fund raiser,  and more. It is precisely the multifaceted roles that we take on that make teaching both challenging and rewarding. I began my career as a high school history teacher, and I can say that I never worked harder or felt more rewarded than I did during that time. We as a state must make sure that we celebrate outstanding educators like you every day for the important work you do with our children.

Research tells us that you are the single most important factor in how much a child learns at school. Your role in the classroom is ever more critical as we work to revamp our educational system statewide to improve student achievement. As teachers today, you must do more than teach basic skills. You must use quality teaching techniques to push students beyond mastery of basic skills to become tomorrow’s better educated worker, who can manage complexity, solve problems and think critically.

Your charge is not just to ensure that your students can live in the world as it is, but to ensure that they have the skills, knowledge, and dispositions that will enable them to succeed in the world that awaits them. Your challenge is to help students create their own visions for a better future in the 21st century. Thank you for your daily efforts to meet this challenge.

As a former teacher, I know first-hand the challenges you face in the classroom on a daily basis. Likewise, I firmly believe all of us, no matter the role we assume, have an obligation to prepare students with the skills they will need to become college and career ready to compete and succeed in this global society.

The days are long and the work is hard, and I encourage you to find ways to support each other and to respect each other’s work. While evidence of your teaching success may not be revealed until years after your students leave the classroom, I applaud you for your commitment and thank you for the work you do on a daily basis. You deserve it.

~~  James B. Phares, Ed.D., State Superintendent of Schools ~~

G-Comm™: Hoppy’s Commentary - Finding a Place for the Skylar Neese Story

Reporters will tell you that after a few years on the job, stories tend to fall into categories;  one late night shooting outside of a bar is similar to another.  Politicians say the same kinds of things at ground breakings and car accidents have common themes.

The names change, but the circumstances can be remarkably similar.  However, occasionally a story comes along that is a shock to the system.

When Skylar Neese disappeared from her Star City home last summer, I quickly put that story in a convenient place. I figured it was another instance where a 16-year-old girl had run away with a boyfriend.  I didn’t give it much more thought.

Rumors about her disappearance swirled on social media.  That was to be expected.  But as the months passed and the gossip and innuendo continued, it became more evident that the child was the victim of foul play.  That was confirmed when her body was discovered last January about 20 miles west of Morgantown.

Still, for nearly three months, no one was charged.

And then last Wednesday, one of Skylar’s University High School classmates, Rachel Shoaf, 16, quietly slipped into Monongalia County Circuit Court, where she pleaded guilty to second degree murder.  The plea agreement said she stabbed Skylar to death.

We posted pictures of Skylar and Rachel on the Metronews website.  Were it not for the headline, you would have thought it was a story about two attractive teenagers who had received some honor or were named to the homecoming court.

The reason Shoaf pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second degree murder is that she will, if necessary, testify against a second defendant.  Authorities have not released her name, but she’s believed to be a fellow classmate.

Skylar’s father, David, is very familiar with both suspects.  They were frequently at his house visiting his daughter.  He thought they were all friends.  Neese says the unidentified suspect even went door-to-door immediately after Skylar’s disappearance to help search for her.

The grieving father is haunted by a lingering question:

“I want to know why it happened.  I don’t want to hear ‘because we were mad at her.’  There had to be another reason why,” Neese told me.  “The police can’t find it.  It hasn’t come out yet.  Tell me why.”

A stunned community also wants to know why.

These were apparently bright students… teenage girls who should be enjoying the benefits of youth and contemplating life’s bounty.  Now one child is dead, another is off to prison for up to 20 years, and a third teen is expected to face charges. Three families are destroyed.

It’s hard to get your hands around this crime, perhaps because there does not seem to be—or at least we don’t know of—a rational explanation.  If there were one, we could put the murder of Skylar Neese in one of those convenient places with other similar crimes.

But this story doesn’t fit neatly.  It stands incomprehensible because of the age of the girls, the brutality and the hollowness of it all.  We may learn more later that will help us understand what happened, but for now the murder of Skylar Neese rests in its own category.

WV Governor: Doing What’s Right For West Virginia

As your governor, it’s my job to ask the tough questions on complex issues. One of the most complex issues we’ve dealt with since I took office is Medicaid expansion. For more than a year, I have asked many questions, diligently sought answers, researched options, and closely analyzed the Supreme Court ruling regarding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Although we do not agree with every provision of the Act, I worked hard to find the best approach for West Virginia.

Throughout this long process, my goal has been to do what is best for all West Virginians. Members of my administration, community leaders, health care experts and many West Virginians have reached out to me during this process. I’ve done all the research and listened to all the concerns, and I believe expanding Medicaid is the best choice for West Virginia.

By expanding Medicaid, we are helping working West Virginians receive affordable, preventative health care. We anticipate the expansion will allow us to provide insurance coverage to approximately 91,500 working West Virginians, significantly reducing the number of uninsured West Virginians. In a state where heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic health conditions occur at levels far too high, this expansion has the potential to provide meaningful improvements to the health of our citizens. We will also require personal responsibility for Medicaid participants by mandating co-pays, much like private insurance.

There are costs associated with this expansion. For the first few years, the federal government will cover almost all costs, and in the long-term the federal government will provide almost nine dollars for every dollar we spend. There’s no doubt this is a lot of money. But if we made the decision not to expand, the cost would be significant-for our families, our businesses, and the health of our state. In fact, our tax dollars would pour into other states that expand while our businesses would be subject to additional taxes and our hospitals would lose significant financial resources. And most importantly, our people wouldn’t have the health care they need.

This decision is merely the beginning of this process. There’s much to do before enrollment opens in October followed by coverage that’s scheduled to begin in January. In the coming months, we will continue share with you how this process will unfold as there remains a number of issues to be addressed by the federal government. But I want all West Virginians to know my administration will continue to ask questions, obtain information, and make sure we are doing what is right for the people of West Virginia.

G-Comm™: Hoppy’s Commentary - Tomblin’s Medicaid Gamble

At first glance, the Tomblin Administration’s decision last week to sign up for the Medicaid expansion portion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) seems like good deal.  Almost 92,000 West Virginians who don’t have health insurance and make up to 138% of the poverty level will get Medicaid coverage and Washington will pay for it.

But as with every deal, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

First, there are legitimate financial concerns for the state.  The federal match will drop to 90% of the total cost by 2021, with West Virginia taxpayers picking up the rest.  The state share will be $66 million by 2023.

West Virginia, and all the other states buying into the expansion, have to be concerned that the federal government’s share will drop even more as Washington faces increased pressure to get its budget under control.

Governor Tomblin said during last week’s announcement that if Washington doesn’t hold up its end of the bargain, then West Virginia may be forced to cut benefits.  But that’s much easier said than done.  Can you imagine the political outcry if the state tried to eliminate a health benefit for the poor?

That leads to another problem with expansion.  None of the participating states knows what all the rules are.  The Obama Administration is running behind on crafting many of the specifics that will ultimately impact the bottom line.

As Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam (R) said, “Every day we find out a different way that our numbers are going to be impacted.”  Tennessee decided against expansion.

Tomblin says West Virginia will try to get waivers from the federal government for “maximum flexibility” to run Medicaid.  The Governor has some good ideas, such as expanding managed care for Medicaid and adding co-pays.

Those moves and others would be helpful, but typically the more money Washington provides, the more strings that are attached and the less likely Washington is to let states go their own way.

Also, it’s possible the entire ACA will just be too complicated to work.  Even a few strong supporters of the law are now expressing concerns.

West Virginia’s Jay Rockefeller recently criticized the sluggishness in putting the new law in place saying, “The law is so complicated and if it doesn’t get done right the first time, it will simply get worse.”  And Senator Max Baucus called implementation a “train wreck.”

The Tomblin Administration did its due diligence.  An independent actuarial report produced enough arguments in favor of expansion to tilt Tomblin in favor of it.  It’s also worth noting, however, that Tomblin will be out of office by the end of 2016.  If Medicaid expansion turns out to be a fiscal and regulatory nightmare, another governor will have to worry about it.

G-Comm™: Pete Seeger: Changing the World One Song at a Time

Before the Beatles or the Rolling Stones, Jim Hendrix, Bob Dylan and others, there was Pete Seeger. With his five-string banjo in hand, Seeger helped to lay the foundation for American protest music, singing out about the plight of everyday working folks and urging listeners to political and social activism. In fact, Pete Seeger is one of the most important musical influences of the 20th century.

Born in New York City on May 03, 1919, Seeger, whose father was a pacifist musicologist, was plunged into the world of music and politics from an early age. He studied sociology at Harvard University until 1938, when he dropped out and spent the summer bicycling through New England and New York, painting watercolors of farmers’ houses in return for food. Looking for but failing to get a job as a newspaper reporter in New York City, he then worked at the Archives of American Folk Music at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. In 1940, Seeger met Woody Guthrie at a Grapes of Wrath migrant-worker benefit concert. Seeger, Guthrie, Lee Hays and Millard Lampell joined together to form the Almanac Singers, which became known for its political radicalism and support of communism.

In 1942, Seeger was drafted by the U.S. Army and sent to Saipan in the Western Pacific. After the war, he helped start the People’s Songs Bulletin, later Sing Out! magazine, which combined information on folk music with social criticism. In 1950, Seeger formed The Weavers with Lee Hays, Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman. Targeted for the political messages behind some of their songs, the group was blacklisted and banned from television and radio. 

In 1955, the House Committee on Un-American Activities subpoenaed Seeger to appear before them (read his testimony at www.peteseeger.net/HUAC.htm). During the hearings, Seeger refused to disclose his political views and the names of his political associates. When asked by the committee to name for whom he had sung, Seeger replied, “I am saying voluntarily that I have sung for almost every religious group in the country, from Jewish and Catholic, and Presbyterian and Holy Rollers and Revival Churches, and I do this voluntarily. I have sung for many, many different groups—and it is hard for perhaps one person to believe, I was looking back over the twenty years or so that I have sung around these forty-eight states, that I have sung in so many different places.” He was sentenced to one year in jail but, quoting the First Amendment, successfully appealed the decision after spending four hours behind bars. However, he has been blacklisted most of his life from normal radio and television work.

During the 1960s, Seeger traveled around the country, continuing to play his folk songs for the peace and civil rights movements. Deeply offended by the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, Seeger, along with other folk singers such as Joan Baez, led many protests.

“Wherever he was asked, when the need was the greatest, he, like Kilroy, was there. And still is,” said his long-time friend, Studs Terkel. “Though his voice is somewhat shot, he holds forth on that stage. Whether it be a concert hall, a gathering in the park, a street demonstration, any area is a battleground for human rights.”

In 1963, Seeger recorded the now-famous gospel song “We Shall Overcome.” In 1965, he sang it on the 50-mile walk from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, with Martin Luther King, Jr. and 1,000 other marchers. That song would go on to become the anthem for the civil rights movement and be translated into many languages. Seeger also turned his attention to cleaning up the Hudson River that ran past his home. In 1966, he helped form Clearwater, an organization dedicated to educating the public on environmental concerns such as pollution and protecting the river. The group offers educational programs for children on a 76-foot replica of a traditional Hudson cargo sloop and holds a two-day festival on the banks of the Hudson River every June.

Seeger was awarded the Presidential Medal of the Arts and the prestigious Kennedy Center Award in 1994. In 1996, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his contribution to music and to the development of rock and folk music. In April of that year, he received the Harvard Arts Medal, and after decades of creating songs, in 1997, Seeger won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album for his album, Pete.

Seeger, however, has not always been so lavishly praised. Often chastised for his “communist beliefs,” Seeger has dealt with criticism and misunderstanding. “I say I’m more conservative than Goldwater. He just wanted to turn the clock back to when there was no income tax. I want to turn the clock back to when people lived in small villages and took care of each other,” he says.

While many of the legendary men and women Seeger associated with are gone, he continues his political and environmental endeavors. He still seems to subscribe to the same philosophy he held to four decades ago, when he advised young people to follow their hearts and take initiative: “Well, here’s hoping all the foregoing will help you avoid a few dead-end streets (we all hit some), and here’s hoping enough of your dreams come true to keep you optimistic about the rest. We’ve got a big world to learn how to tie together. We’ve all got a lot to learn. And don’t let your studies interfere with your education.”

At 94 years old, Pete Seeger is still speaking out. Indeed, in an interview I conducted with Pete Seeger several years ago, I asked him whether he had found an answer to the question “When will they ever learn?” which he repeatedly posed in his song, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone.” Seeger’s response is one for the books:

We will never know everything. But I think if we can learn within the next few decades to face the danger we all are in, I believe there will be tens of millions, maybe hundreds of millions, of human beings working wherever they are to do something good. I tell everybody a little parable about the “teaspoon brigades.” Imagine a big seesaw. One end of the seesaw is on the ground because it has a big basket half full of rocks in it. The other end of the seesaw is up in the air because it’s got a basket one quarter full of sand. Some of us have teaspoons and we are trying to fill it up. Most people are scoffing at us. They say, “People like you have been trying for thousands of years, but it is leaking out of that basket as fast as you are putting it in.” Our answer is that we are getting more people with teaspoons every day. And we believe that one of these days or years—who knows—that basket of sand is going to be so full that you are going to see that whole seesaw going zoop! in the other direction. Then people are going to say, “How did it happen so suddenly?” And we answer, “Us and our little teaspoons over thousands of years.” But I don’t think we have forever. I now believe that all technological societies tend to self-destruct. The reason is that the very things that make us a successful technological society, such as our curiosity, our ambition and determination, will also cause us to fall.

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson corresponded for 13 years before they died on the same day. They asked, “How can one have prosperity without commerce? How can one have commerce without luxury? How can one have luxury without corruption? How can you have corruption without the end of the Republic?” And they really didn’t know the answer. Today I would ask, “How can one have a technological society without research? How can one have research without researching dangerous areas? How can one research dangerous areas without uncovering dangerous information? How can you uncover dangerous information without it falling into the hands of insane people who will sooner or later destroy the human race, if not the whole of life on earth?” Who knows? God only knows!

~~  John W. Whitehead ~~

G-LtE™: Gilmer County It is Time to Act

Well Gilmer County, here we are.  Our school system is still under State intervention and we still have unanswered facilities issues.  For the second consecutive year the Superintendent’s request for SBA consolidation funding was denied.

The plan, one elementary school to be located on Little Crooked Run is an attempt to bring all students in to one central location.  Once more a plan that fails to meet the transportation timeline requirements established in W.V. Code and greatly increases the cost.  This is a plan to build a school that will have no gymnasium, no library and no auditorium. Is that what you really want?  Do we really want to have to drive the children from a secondary to a main road in order to catch a bus? Don’t even think about the “hollers”.

I write this letter to discover if it is fact that the Parents, Grandparents, Caregivers and Tax Payers really want just one elementary school in Gilmer County.  Will that meet the needs?  We know it cannot meet the laws. President Simmons reports on the desire of every citizen he has spoken to and has reported to our Board of Education that they speak in favor of this one school.  Is this reality or, given the fact there is no project started, would you like to see Gilmer County have the opportunity to vote on a bond issue to be used to construct a second school? Would you like to see a vote on that? One funded by Gilmer County Taxpayer bonds to run concurrent with funding for a second to be requested from the W.V. School Building Authority. If we are ever going to do this the time is now.  Another funding cycle and it will be too late. Permission has to come from the State Board of Education to even try. We are quickly reaching the point of now or never.

Fayette County school district has been under state authority for quite some time but was recently granted approval to vote for bonds and avoid unwanted consolidation through WV State Board of Education.  Fayette County was given the legal right and opportunity for their citizen’s voice to be heard no matter what the outcome.

Why shouldn’t Mr. Blankenship and State Board of Education Superintendent James B. Phares restore that same right to the people of Gilmer County?  It is a question some feel should be asked and can be pursued if that is the will of the people. SBA Director Manchin has indicated to both the Democrat reporter and Coalition Facilitator they would look favorably on such an effort. It was the original deal.

If our right to vote is returned we can debate whether one should be located close to town but toward Sand Fork (already SBA approved) and possibly one at the also approved Letter Gap site, maybe one for 240 students and one for 155 to accommodate our remaining 395? Or discuss any other possibilities you want. Gilmer County can come to an intelligent consensus if given options and the opportunity to hear proposals and be part of the decision making process. Surely this is food for thought for all concerned Gilmer County citizens?  If we funded a bond and consolidated to two schools would there be reason for the large excess levy that supported four?

Most know we don’t need 79 acre sites for an elementary school.  A future high school was projected by Superintendent Blankenship, Principal Butcher and President Simmons in public meeting not to be needed for at least 15 years.  A high school must meet the centralized need of the students for Glenville State College and Calhoun/Gilmer Career Center access and, given a greater amount of time by law to transport the older students, can be done.  That must be for future discussion at a more relevant time. Today, the needs of our youngest are on the table.

Hope to see community comments to this letter, It will also be taken to the Glenville Democrat/Pathfinder as well. Mr. Ramezan, Mr. Corcoran, will you please run a public opinion poll asking whether Gilmer County feels the need of one elementary school or two and if they would vote for a bond issue to fund a second school? The time is now. This is the last chance to even try.  After one school is funded it will be too late. The subject must be broached to the State before time runs out to try and make it possible.  Neighbors, your consideration and feelings on this important issue would be appreciated.

~~  Author on File ~~

G-Comm™: Refurbishing Education

There is nothing like taking a vintage vehicle and refurbishing it back to perfection. When I bought a 1957 Chevy Nomad it needed a little help- okay, a lot of help. The paint was chipping, there were a few dents and the upholstery was damaged. With attention, dedication and a clear vision, the car was reborn. Why do I share this story? As a car guy, I see similarities to the recent renovation of the state’s education system.

Our education system has good working parts but, as a whole, it hasn’t been reaching peak performance. You have heard the statistics before – students underperforming on national assessments, fewer students graduating from high school, poor grades when compared to other states, etc. These statistics are a future snapshot of what our state’s education, economic and health outlook will be if the West Virginia Board of Education (WVBOE) sits idle. So, in recent months, the board resumed its constitutional role in mapping the future of education in our state. We have a new relationship with Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin; we are cooperatively working with the Legislature; we have a new working rapport with the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE); and we have renewed partnerships with higher education, the business community and other education groups.

Perhaps most importantly, members of the state board have refocused to establish one single goal and what I call our non-negotiables. During a recent work session the board rolled up its sleeves and dedicated its best thinking to its non-negotiables so that students exiting high school are successful whether enrolling in college or other career opportunities. Our non-negotiables include increasing student achievement and graduation rates; honoring decision making at the local level; supporting educators while also setting high expectations; building a foundational link between public education and industry work force needs; establishing an early learning system that results in third grade literacy for all students; and enhancing the involvement of parents and the community.

We have a lot of work ahead of us as several challenges were placed in our path by the governor and the legislature. Restructuring professional development for teachers, repurposing the WVDE, developing a new accountability and accreditation system, and focusing on personalized learning through technology are but a few of the challenges we must address in the months ahead.

As our new role is evolving, I know the board is not alone in this journey. As a matter of fact, we can only complete this journey with the help of teachers, students, parents, business leaders and others. I will be the first to admit that change often causes discomfort, and that should be expected. The WVBOE has a job to do and we must move forward even if some are disquieted by the board’s new role. After all, most would agree that our refurbished system is necessary if students are to reach their final destination – success in family life and in work life.

~~  L. Wade Linger, Jr. - WVBOE President ~~

G-Comm™: Hoppy’s Commentary - Good News in Gasland

April was a pretty good month for the natural gas industry.

Prices are finally rebounding.  After dropping below $2 per BTU last year, they’ve now rebounded to over $4 as cold weather lingers and stockpiles diminish.

The price of natural gas is notoriously volatile, and the initial boom associated with the Marcellus Shale deposits and hydraulic fracturing has cooled, but the long-term outlook remains promising.

A Duke University study released last month concluded that tougher environmental regulations on coal and lower natural gas prices will continue to drive utilities toward gas for electricity generation.

Meanwhile, natural gas production and hydraulic fracturing came out ahead in two separate environmental findings.

First, the Environmental Protection Agency determined that there is much less methane coming from drilling sites than first believed. Methane is the second most common greenhouse gas. (Carbon dioxide is the first.)

The EPA says the drilling industry’s pollution controls have brought methane releases down 20 percent below projections.  The Associated Press reports that the decline means natural gas operations generate slightly more methane than “belches from cows and other animals.”

But perhaps the most significant development came in Franklin Forks, Pennsylvania. That has become “ground zero” in the fight over fracking.  Some local folks along, with celebrities such as Yoko Ono and Susan Sarandon, have been making the case that fracking has contaminated water wells with methane.

However, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection says a 16-month study has determined that drilling did NOT contaminate three families’ drinking water.

“The water samples taken from the private water wells were not of the same origin as the natural gas in the nearby gas wells,” the DEP found.

The findings are in line with what the industry has said about the drilling process; that there have been no confirmed cases of fracking contaminating a water supply.  That assessment is shared by the EPA.

West Virginia is an important player in the natural gas industry.  Our state sits on top of the gas-laden Marcellus Shale.  The economic benefits will extend well beyond drilling.  Chris Guith, Vice President of Policy at the Institute for 21st Century Energy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, predicted that gas-related employment will expand from the current 12,000 jobs to 30,000 jobs by 2020.

The industry knows it has to get the environmental part right.  A serious mistake would help validate the claims coming from opponents, and that could lead to an overly restrictive regulatory climate.

G-comm™: Birmingham to Boston

Last week marked the fiftieth anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham City Jail.” This letter is now a classic document in American history and compelling testimony to the power of nonviolence and the struggle for equality. The start of last week was also marred by the horrific events at the Boston marathon. At first glance, it may seem there is very little to connect the two: what does a document dealing with civil rights have to do with a terrorist bombing?

We ought to remember that, for decades, African Americans lived under constant threat of terrorist violence at the hands of white supremacist groups such as the KKK. Those that were not victims of physical lynchings often had to live with the psychological scars of being treated as second-class citizens. Few people could understand, King wrote, how heartbreaking it is to explain to one’s own children why they can’t attend an amusement park because of segregation, or to try to come up with an answer to the question “Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?” that will not somehow harden that child’s heart forever.

In his letter, Dr. King tries to remind moderate white Americans who were concerned about marches and rallies getting out of hand that, in staging demonstrations around the country, civil rights activists were not trying to stir up trouble. Instead, they were trying to deal with the trouble that already existed in the United States and was overlooked by most people. In using nonviolent civil disobedience, the activists were not attempting to create tension, but to find a way to give expression to the anger and “hidden tension” that boiled underneath the thin layer of normalcy generated by racist segregation. He called upon people to deal with the underlying causes of violence and not traffic in “a superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects.”

Toward the end of his life, King taught us that our world is rife with various injustices—racism, militarism, poverty, and a culture of competitive materialism—that damage the flourishing of millions of people around the world and are the causes for much misery and anger. For many of those suffering those conditions, violence seems to be the only way to give voice to their frustrations. King did not mean to justify the use of violence, but only to explain why so many people in despair might be tempted to pick up the gun or the bomb.

Some of the first responders in Boston commented that the scene at the finish line looked like a war-zone. Media commentators pointed out that on the same day that the marathon bombings occurred there were several terrible explosions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Such observations ought not to diminish the pain and suffering of the victims in Boston, but to remind us, as King did in his letter, that there is but a thin veneer of civilization over a world plagued with misery. The task of people of good conscience, King would counsel, is not to dismiss the perpetrators of violence by pathologizing them as “crazy,” but to take a good, hard look at how the world’s institutions are structured to reward war and aggression. Terrorists ought to be brought to account and victims deserve compassion; but justice means more than punishment. It also means we have to consider how to think about building a world in which “in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine.”

~~  Jose-Antonio Orosco - Associate Professor of Philosophy and the director of the Peace Studies program at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon ~~

Congressman Nick Rahall: Preserving Prayer in the American Character

For the vast majority of us, prayer is an enduring trait of the American character, one which deserves all the protections our Bill of Rights guaranteed through the free exercise of our religion, but one which unfortunately over time, has been misinterpreted.

Throughout the country’s history, the Congress has sought to recognize prayer’s history, heritage and continuing role in American life.  In 1952, Congress set aside the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer.

National Prayer Day reminds us that as we enlist the power of prayer for our Nation, we must be mindful whether at home or church or in the public schools, prayer can fulfill that most fundamental right of American citizenship, the free exercise of religion.

This year, to coincide with our national day celebrating the gift of prayer, I have again introduced a Constitutional Amendment to ensure voluntary prayer in public schools.  H.J. Res. 42, reads: “Nothing in this Constitution, including any amendment to the Constitution, shall be construed to prohibit voluntary prayer or require prayer in school, or to prohibit voluntary prayer or require prayer at a public school extracurricular activity.”  In the past, I had jointly introduced this amendment with our late senator, Robert C. Byrd.

My efforts in the Congress have long been to preserve our Constitutional guarantees of freely exercising our religion, and not vanquishing that right from the public square. Since the earliest days of our founding, and in the hearts and minds of those landing on our shores to settle a new world, hope endured through prayer

Faith is fundamental in the history of our Nation – from the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, to ‘This Nation, under God’ in Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, to our national motto of ‘In God We Trust.’ Faith in our Creator has always sustained us as a nation and as a people.  Our Nation’s Framers clearly appreciated the value of religion, and I believe the Constitutional intent was to ensure its free practice unimpeded by government interference.

As people of faith, Americans have often turned to prayer – for comfort, for inspiration, for strength – in our daily lives.  As Christians, we know what a powerful tool prayer can be to heal and focus our national energies in common cause.

The father of our own State, Abraham Lincoln, himself declared, “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.  My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day.” 

In front of our State Capitol building stands a somber, head bowed statue of President Lincoln.  Based on the poem, “Lincoln walks at Midnight,” the statue gives added meaning of prayer for our Nation.  It represents the slain president brought back from his eternal rest to mourn a troubled world during World War I.  Old Abraham worries his good work for man will have been in vain, unless someone can bring a “white peace” to the World.

As Christians, we take great comfort in knowing that the Prince of Peace, our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ, will, in his Father’s time, bring the “white peace” of which the poet wrote.  Until that day and hour, until the moment of his return, it is incumbent upon the body of Christ to seek solace and guidance in this old world through prayer.

You have my pledge to help preserve these foundations for our future.  May the good Lord bless our families throughout the year and may He always bless America.

G-LtE™: Would Gilmer Free Help Us Out Too ?

Dear Gilmer Free Press Editor,

We read the about the difficulties that Gilmer County is having with the schools in your community.  We can sympathise with you.  There are many of us other school districts also experiencing similar issues.  Would it be possible for those of us having problems, to send our comments to you for publication, even though we are not of your community?
We have no voice and no one willing to hear our plea for help.

Thank you.
~ ~  author on file ~ ~

The Gilmer Free Press: Please keep in mind that The Gilmer Free Press Is for YOU and by YOU. Therefore, please do not hesistate to let you voice heard. Send us your concerns for publication.

CommunityConcerns™: Mounting Evidence of Gilmer County’s Failed High School

The world famous U. S. News and World Report organization published annual assessment data for the Nation’s high schools. Gilmer County’s high school fared poorly. Its math proficiency score was 37% compared to 27% for reading.

After the State’s seized our schools without warning it imposed what seems to be additional punishment by depriving top quality educations for our high school students. The students, through no fault of their own, are entering a highly competitive world at a distinct disadvantage because of insufficient math and reading skills.

Replacement of the high school’s principal should have occurred long ago as part of a comprehensive plan to upgrade the school’s educational performance.  Why has that not happened? Does the principal’s family wield fear over the State’s decision-makers, do any senior State officials including Ron Blankenship genuinely care about our children’s welfare, and what options do Gilmer County’s people have to get the high school’s performance improved while our elected school board is powerless to make improvements? When the highly touted Common Core Standards are implemented it is unlikely that they alone will improve academic outcomes for math and reading at the high school unless a new principal with proven leadership qualifications is installed.

An immediate change of leadership at the high school is critical. Based on interpretations of statistics in the State’s database the County’s grade schools perform well, but after students enter high school their proficiency in math and reading suffers. That underscores need for a new principal to help contribute to a better education for our children.

The high school’s substandard performance is enabled by inaction by Governor Tomblin, Dr. Linger, Dr. Phares, Mr. Heinlein, Mr. Mattern, and Mr. Blankenship. There is ample blame for Delegates Boggs and Walker too. Until these powerful individuals intervene a new principal will not be hired. A continuance of inaction by the officials will devastate the County even more because a principal is ultimately responsible for achieving favorable academic outcomes. A convincing argument cannot be concocted to refute that truism. Refusal by the State’s officials to act responsibly for the betterment of our children defies logic to promote spreading anger and disgust among Gilmer County’s concerned citizens.

Mr. L. Wade Linger, in your article printed in the Charleston Gazette on May 05, 2013, you advocate that the State Board of Education’s must act decisively to solve West Virginia’s daunting public school system problems. Why not heed your personal counsel by demonstrating that you mean business by using your authority as the president of the West Virginia Board of Education to provide Gilmer County with a new high school principal?

~~  Author on file ~~

Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito – 05.06.13

I know that many of you are concerned with the state of our economy, both in West Virginia and nationally.  I want you to know that I am fighting for pro-growth policies in Washington, D.C.

Unemployment Numbers Don’t Tell the Whole Story
Although it is positive news that employers added more jobs to the economy this month than last, Friday’s unemployment numbers don’t tell the whole story.  In terms of annual growth, we are still facing the worst economy in 83 years.  Our gross domestic product is in the midst of its longest sub-three percent annual growth rate since 1929, and labor force participation has remained the lowest it has been in 30 years.
The regulation nation that President Obama has created is stifling job growth.  Under his watch, businesses are facing an uncertainty that is so daunting it is prohibiting them from growing and creating jobs.  And with the full implementation of Obamacare looming, that uncertainty is only going to get worse.  Our economy cannot recover until the president gets the government out of the way and allows the private sector to do what it does best: create jobs.

Standing Up for West Virginia Jobs
This administration is doing everything it can to destroy the coal industry.  From President Obama stating that he wants to “bankrupt” it to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) holding the permitting process hostage, this administration is standing in the way of economic growth and driving up hardworking West Virginians’ electric bills.
I recently joined U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky to announce our plans to introduce the Coal Jobs Protection Act in both the House and Senate.  This legislation aims to push back on the EPA overreach into the permitting process, which is negatively impacting coal-mining jobs in states like West Virginia and Kentucky.
It also reinstates the vital role that states play in finding the proper balance between jobs and the environment.  Additionally, this legislation puts the EPA on the clock by forcing them to make a decision on the issuance of new permits within a specified time.

Home in West Virginia
I love being home in West Virginia.  While I was home this week, I met with some of West Virginia’s job creators and the employees who work incredibly hard to make them successful.  With millions of Americans out of work or underemployed, it is imperative that we work together to get our economy back on track.
                                                       

Manchin’s Message from the Hill to the Mountains: EVERY DAY IS MOTHER’S DAY

The tradition of honoring our mothers is as old as the Scriptures.  But it was only a little over a century ago that America began observing Mother’s Day.  And I am so proud that this great tradition was born in Grafton, West Virginia.

It was Anna Jarvis who pushed our state to adopt an official Mother’s Day celebration in 1912 – four years after she had honored her mother’s memory with a special church service in her hometown of Grafton.

But she didn’t stop there.  She continued what she had done for years – writing letters to ex-Presidents, Senators, Representatives, clergy, business leaders, and women’s clubs, anyone she thought could help get Congress to establish a special day to honor all the mothers in America.

And she didn’t give up when, at one point, the Senate almost killed the proposed Mother’s Day resolution.  She didn’t let up for even a second.

Finally, in 1914, Congress rose to the occasion, passing a resolution and President Woodrow Wilson signed it, establishing Mother’s Day “as a public expression of love and reverence for the mothers of our country.”

Anna Jarvis is proof that one person can make a real and lasting difference in this world.

Anna Jarvis, explaining the reasons for her remarkable campaign to establish a Mother’s Day, recalled a moment in her life when she was just 12 years old.  She was listening to her mother teaching a Sunday school lesson on mothers in the Bible. She concluded the lesson by saying: “I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mother’s day. There are many days for men, but none for mothers.”

Those of us lucky enough to still have our mother with us should treat every day like it is Mother’s Day. And I count it a true blessing that I am so fortunate to be able to celebrate another Mother’s Day with my own mother.

I always look forward to Mother’s Day, to recall growing up in Farmington, surrounded by a loving family that included my mother and my grandmother, known to everyone in town as “Mama Kay.”

They gave all of us unconditional love.  Oh, they taught us right from wrong, and sometimes it could be a hard lesson.  But no matter what – they provided for us, they cared for us, and they loved us.

They left a tradition, a heritage and creed, which their life exemplified: “One family united in purpose, service and love.”  These words have guided me through my life

Mother’s Day is a time to celebrate the many mothers in our lives and to give thanks not only for our own mothers, but for our grandmothers and our wives, who have given us our beautiful children, and for our daughters, who have made us proud grandfathers.

These special women guide us and inspire us and shape our character with their love, hard work, compassion and dedication to their families.

This Mother’s Day – and every day – let us honor the mothers who are with us still.  This Mother’s Day – and every day – let us hold fast to the memories of those who live on in our hearts.

Senator Jay Rockefeller: A Dream Realized

Fifteen years ago, a young man from St. Albans, West Virginia carefully filled out a job application. He and his wife were just starting their family and working hard to make ends meet. She heard on the radio that Toyota was coming to Putnam County and encouraged him to apply. Matt Oliver was hopeful but cautious. He knew those 350 jobs would be in high demand.

He was right – 25,000 people applied. But through every step of the hiring process, his wife told him to just do his best.

That’s what he did, and that’s what he’s done every year since as the very first team member of Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia.

It’s because of Matt and so many hardworking West Virginians like him that the Toyota engine manufacturing plant has done nothing but expand since it opened in 1998. What started out as a $400 million project has grown into a $1.2 billion investment – the second largest industrial investment in our state in the last 50 years – with employment now at 1,200. And just this week, we marked an incredible milestone with production of the facility’s 10 millionth unit.

Back in 1986, all of this was just a dream. I knew I wanted to do something big for West Virginia. So I traveled to Japan in January of that year and met with Dr. Shoichiro Toyoda, Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation. For ten full years and through multiple trips to Japan, visits by Toyota officials to West Virginia and countless phone calls and meetings, I was determined to make this happen.

In 1996, we announced that Toyota had chosen Buffalo, West Virginia, as the site of its new engine plant to produce 4-cylinder Corolla engines. As local schoolchildren waved Japanese and West Virginia flags, we broke ground in a wide open cornfield in September that year. While the plant was under construction, Toyota announced it would build a second factory at the site to produce V-6 Camry engines, already doubling production.

In total, Toyota has expanded its West Virginia plant seven times. West Virginians from 47 of our 55 counties have worked there.

Team members are now making products for the Corolla, Camry, Matrix, Sienna, Rav4, Highlander, Lexus RX 350, Avalon and Venza. The plant was recognized by the Harbour Report as the most productive engine plant in the country for eight straight years. Hundreds of West Virginians are supplying products for Toyota at Japanese companies across the state, including Diamond Electric, Nippon Thermostat and NGK Sparkplugs, to name just a few.

And the company has made an inspiring difference in the community – with millions of dollars in donations to local schools and charities like the United Way and countless volunteer hours by team members.

That naturally Japanese and West Virginia way of giving back is something Matt Oliver passes on to his four daughters. He and his wife, Nikki, still live with their girls in St. Albans. They say they feel like they won the lottery – that they don’t think they could have stayed in West Virginia and raised a big family without Toyota.

I say this is a dream come true.

Legislative Update – by – Delegate Brent Boggs - House Majority Leader - 05.06.13

I write this week on the road from Detroit on a brief work-related trip.  It’s been nearly twenty years since I’ve been here and I’m renewing some old acquaintances from throughout the United States that I’ve made through the railroad over the past three decades.  We’re looking forward to traveling home in a couple days and back to the Capitol and work.

First, I want to thank the Braxton Ministerial Association for hosting the annual prayer breakfast last Thursday in conjunction with the National Day of Prayer.  Annually, the President issues a proclamation to recognize the first Thursday in May as a day of national prayer, reflection and remembrance.  Additionally, the focus this year regarding the needs of children in poverty fit perfectly with the “Feed to Achieve” legislation passed by the Legislature and signed into law in recent days.

I want to again express my appreciation to these dedicated pastors and to the community leaders in attendance for taking time to gather in thanksgiving and prayer for our nation, state and community.

The Governor has completed his review of legislation passed during the completed session.  In the end, Governor Tomblin exercised his veto authority on four bills.  They are:

SB 21 - Creating the Health Care Provider Transparency Act.

SB 65 - Exempting Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) retirement income of Division of Natural Resources police officers from state income tax.

SB 331 - Permitting Courthouse Facilities Improvement Authority to issue bonds.

HB 2738 - Relating to the Center for Nursing.

Otherwise, the Governor did not exercise his line item veto authority on any portions of the budget.  This is a rare event and one that demonstrates the close working relationship between the House, Senate and Tomblin Administration.  It also shows respect for the legislative branch of government having the “power of the purse”, as envisioned by our founding fathers.

In the past several days, nearly 150 bills were signed into law by the Governor.  As I write this week, the legislative website is down at the Capitol and I’m unable to give you the details.  However in coming weeks, we will be reviewing the major actions from the major committees:  Finance, Judiciary, Health and Human Resources, Government Organizations and Education, along with bills from Roads and Transportation, Senior Issues and other important committees.

Finally, I had the opportunity to spend last Tuesday in Huntington with Congressman Rahall, Senator Plymale, Delegate Craig and CSX Chairman Michael Ward at a briefing of current plans for transportation technology at the Rahall Appalachian Transportation Institute.  RTI has a reach far beyond Marshall University, developing new initiatives that have a positive impact on transportation by water, road and rail in West Virginia and across the nation.  In fact, RTI works on high tech and practical real-world solutions; they’re not just doing work and putting the concepts on the shelf.  On the other end, they have the resources for planning and are working on developing a feasibility study for an ATV trail system similar to the Hatfield/McCoy Trail that could be developed or extended in central West Virginia.

I’ve witnessed firsthand the millions in funds received and revitalization of many southern West Virginia communities by the influx of tourism dollars to restaurants, lodging, sales, rentals, and service facilities.  This also creates some good jobs.  If you couple this with the emerging efforts to take advantage of the Elk River for recreation and tourism, along with exciting development authority plans for Corp of Engineers Sutton Lake property, the future looks bright indeed – if we work together to make things happen.

Please send your inquiries to the Capitol Office at:  Building 1, Room 224-M, Charleston, WV 25305.  Or, call the Capitol office at 304.340.3220; Assistant to the Majority Leader, Jennifer McPherson at 304.340.3942 or fax to 304.340.3213.  If you have an interest in any particular bill or issue, please let me know.  For those with Internet access, my e-mail address is: “Brent.Boggs@WVhouse.gov” .

You may also obtain additional legislative information, including the copies of bills, conference reports, daily summaries, interim highlights, and leave me a message on the Legislature’s web site at www.legis.state.wv.us/.  When leaving a message, please remember to include your phone number with your inquiry and any details you can provide. Additional information, including agency links and the state government phone directory, may be found at www.wv.gov. Also, you may follow me on Facebook at “Brent Boggs”, Twitter at “@DelBrentBoggs” , as well as the WV Legislature’s Facebook page at “West Virginia Legislature” or on Twitter at twitter.com/wvlegislature.

Continue to remember our troops - at home and abroad - and keep them and their families in your thoughts and prayers.  Until next week – take care.

G-Comm™: Hoppy’s Commentary - Rahall Vote Gives Opponents Ammo

The leaders of the National Republican Congressional Committee couldn’t believe their luck.

The NRCC had already made up its mind to target long-time West Virginia Democratic Congressman Nick Rahall in the 2014 election. But then Rahall delivered up a softball, a vote that, while largely symbolic, played right into the hands of his opponents.

On March 30th, Rahall voted in favor of the Congressional Progressive Caucus budget plan.  Dubbed the “Back to Work Budget,” the proposal amounts to a traditional liberal wish list of higher taxes and more government spending.

But it was the coal-related provisions of the budget that caught the eye of the NRCC.

According to a release from the Congressional Progressive Caucus, its budget includes a carbon tax.  “The Back to Work Budget would impose on polluters a $25 per ton price on carbon dioxide (increasing at 5.6% a year), rebating 25% of all revenues as refundable tax credits to protect low income families.”

The document also called for a rollback of what it says are $112 billion in fossil fuel subsidies over ten years, while spending more money on renewable energy.

The coal industry, which is so vital in Rahall’s district, is already suffering.  A combination of greater competition from low-priced natural gas and increased regulatory pressure from the EPA has led to layoffs in the short-term and uncertainty for the future.

The liberal budget plan failed decisively 84-327, with more Democrats (102) voting against it than in favor of it.

Rahall’s vote in support of the Back to Work Budget is difficult to comprehend.  It was not a leadership vote where Rahall had to toe the line.  In fact, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi didn’t even vote for it.

“With his vote for the ultra-liberal ‘Progressive Budget,’ Nick Rahall has declared war on West Virginia’s coal industry and the hard-working West Virginians that depend on that industry to put food on their families’ tables,’” said NRCC spokesman Ian Prior. “Rahall needs to explain exactly why he decided to turn his back on West Virginia with this devastating and irresponsible vote.”

Rahall’s office stresses that he knew the non-binding budget would not pass, and that he wanted to make a statement against the budget of Republican Paul Ryan, which passed the House and which Rahall opposed.  The Ryan plan dramatically changes Medicare by turning it into a premium support system for anyone 55 and under.

“I voted to protect Medicare and the benefits seniors have earned and to move the budget toward balance in a reasonable way,” Rahall said in an email response to my questions.

The Congressman says he’s also aware that since he’s been targeted for 2014, the GOP is going to come after him no matter what he says or does.

“I know from years of experience that nearly any vote I cast can be fodder for attack—especially on big, wide-ranging package bills like the annual federal budget, the contents of which can be twisted and distorted in multiple says,” Rahall said.

Of course, for Rahall to truly be threatened, he needs a viable opponent.  So far no Republican is in the race, however the NRCC is pushing for first-term state Senator Bill Cole from Mercer County.  He told me on Metronews Talkline last week he’s seriously considering a run, but he has reservations.

“On the personal side, I still have two teenage daughters at home and I have to do what’s right for my family,” said the successful Bluefield car dealer.  “On the political side, I want to serve where I think I can have the most impact for West Virginia.”

If Cole decides not to run, Rick Snuffer may get in. He came within eight points of Rahall in 2012 (54-46) with little national help.

Republicans have been trying to write Nick Rahall’s political obituary for years and have come up short in 18 elections.  The odds still favor Rahall in his 19th, but his vote in favor of the Back to Work Budget gave an advantage to those who want to put him out of work.