All the news that’s fit to holler!
Donald Trump, at a primary debate in August of 2015, explained: "I was a businessman. I give to everybody. When they call, I give. And you know what? When I need something from them two years later, three years later, I call them and they're there for me." Later, he said it more bluntly, "When I call, they kiss my ass, okay?"
WV's forced pooling bills of 2017 propose a real-life game of Othello. Only regular folks don't get any pieces.
We could be a state of gurgling trout fishing streams, clean swimming holes, and vast nature and hunting preserves. We have so many hiking, biking, riding, and cross-country skiing opportunities that, given this state's natural beauty, we should be a top vacation destination. Plus, we can foster real opportunities that will improve WV in the long term.
This year, they've wasted time repealing a film tax credit and looking at increasing the speed limit. Also, they want to open state parks to commercial logging. Are these really the things we want our legislators to prioritize right now?!! Of course not.
They're having a tea party and serving us cups of air, telling us we're not really thirsty. They seem to be more concerned with saying the right things than with doing the right things...
Seven steps to fight for WV that you must take NOW. Ignore the wave of populist anger at your peril.
Understand, freight trucks do about 99% of non-weather-related damage. And they only pay for an average of 35% of maintenance costs. In fact, "One fully loaded 18-wheeler does the same damage to a road as 9600 cars." So nearly all of the road damage is being caused by corporations shipping goods over roads that we are paying for.
Some courts have addressed this issue. For instance, the NH Supreme Court has noted that "The obstruction by a custodial parent of visitation between a child and the noncustodial parent may, if continuous, constitute behavior so inconsistent with the best interests of the child as to raise a strong possibility that the child will be harmed." But others, including our courts here in WV are inconsistent. And by and large legislators have failed to act.
No longer do Robber Barons need to plunder villages with swords and arms. With regulatory and/or judicial complicity, the extraction industry can jab a siphon into our veins and drain our lives away. They simply appropriate our air and water, and transform them into wealth for themselves. In essence, Extraction Debt is the modern weapon of corporate pillage. Launch it at a community, and watch the fiscal destruction that follows.
"Right to Work" laws have nothing do with ensuring your actual right to work. It's one of those terrible doublespeak names that enshrines its strawman argument conveniently within the name of the legislation. The truth is that laws like these could just as easily---and perhaps more accurately---be called "Right to Freeload."
Subscribe now to The Appalachian Oracle:
You can unsubscribe at any time.
The Appalachian Oracle 