Friday, September 26, 2008

Students Suffer When Schools Lack Funds

Schools across the state have had to look for ways to tighten their belts due to the higher cost of energy. Prices across the board rose in the past year and schools depend in many ways upon fuel to function properly.

Preston County limited each sport to a single bus trip. Parents must figure out how to get their children to the games themselves. This means car trips to places such as Lewis County and Elkins for families that cannot afford to fill their own gas tanks. In Grant County, athletic costs have risen to the point that Petersburg High School's athletic department can no longer share funds with the band. Away game and competition performances could be in jeopardy.

Right now the costs have hit athletics first. Most consider this a "luxury" item anyway, but few parts of modern schools teach real life lessons about hard work and sacrifice in quite the same way as extracurricular activities. Sports, band, chorus, and other activities teach about the real world and are sometimes a better learning experience than the classroom. Field trips, already limited, could be phased out across the state. Too many children never get the chance to travel and learn first hand about other places except from these trips.

First the school system must halt all consolidation. Bigger schools with bigger fuel bills that require more bus runs to supply them are no longer something our state can afford. Put money into maintaining the small schools where they still exist. Also administrative cuts must be made where possible. Students have taken enough hits. Finally, salary increases ought to be looked at in terms of how they will affect the scarcity of current resources. If they cannot be afforded, then they should be deferred. Any educational retreats ought to be cancelled and money put into student needs and activities.

Students seem to take a backseat in most budgetary decisions. It is time to put them first when making budget decisions.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

New advertisement spotlights Obama/Biden's anti-coal stance

You can watch the new McCain ad here or read the transcript below.

For Immediate ReleaseSeptember 24, 2008
Contact: Press Office
McCain-Palin 2008 Launches New Web Ad: "The Coal Miner"
ARLINGTON, VA -- Today, McCain-Palin 2008 released its latest web ad, entitled "The Coal Miner." The ad highlights Joe Biden's recent comment that the Obama-Biden ticket is anti-coal and anti-clean coal. While John McCain supports an "all of the above" energy policy to achieve strategic energy independence, Barack Obama and Joe Biden continue to take options off the table, including now coal. VIEW THE AD HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT12O9bWUQw Script For "The Coal Miner" (Web :40) CHYRON: Obama + Biden CHYRON: They'll tell you they support coal. BARACK OBAMA: We're the Saudi Arabia of coal. CHYRON: Then for a vote. Say no way. JOE BIDEN: No coal plants here in America. Build them if they're going to build them over there. CHYRON: For it here... BARACK OBAMA: I actually mentioned in my speech, my convention acceptance speech, the need for the development of clean coal technology. CHYRON: Against it here... WOMAN: Solar, are flourishing here in Ohio, so why are you supporting... BIDEN: We're not supporting clean coal. CHYRON: That must be why he said. CHRYON: "I'm a hard-coal miner, anthracite coal, Scranton, PA." CHYRON: Obama + Biden CHYRON: Ready to Pander? Yes. Ready to Lead? No. AD FACTS: Script For "The Coal Miner" (Web :40) CHYRON: Obama + Biden. They'll tell you they support coal. BARACK OBAMA: We're the Saudi Arabia of coal.
Barack Obama: "We're the Saudi Arabia of coal." (Barack Obama, Remarks, Duryea, PA, 9/5/08)CHYRON: Then for a vote. Say no way. JOE BIDEN: No coal plants here in America. Build them if they're going to build them over there.
Joe Biden: "No Coal Plants Here In America. Build Them, If They're Going To Build Them Over There Make Them Clean Because They're Killing You." (Joe Biden, Remarks, Maumee, OH, 9/17/08)CHYRON: For it here... BARACK OBAMA: I actually mentioned in my speech, my convention acceptance speech, the need for the development of clean coal technology.
Barack Obama: "I Actually Mentioned In My Speech, My Convention Acceptance Speech, The Need For The Development Of Clean-Coal Technology." (Barack Obama, Remarks, Duryea, PA, 9/5/08)CHYRON: Against it here... WOMAN: Solar, are flourishing here in Ohio, so why are you supporting... BIDEN: We're not supporting clean coal.
Joe Biden" "We're Not Supporting Clean Coal." WOMAN: "Senator, Senator, wind and solar are flourishing here in Ohio, so why are you supporting clean coal?" BIDEN: "Say ... I didn't hear what you said." WOMAN: "Wind and solar are flourishing here in Ohio, so why are you supporting clean coal?" BIDEN: "We're not supporting clean coal. Guess what. China's building two every week. Two dirty coal plants. And it's polluting the United States. It's causing people to die." (Joe Biden, Remarks, Maumee, OH, 9/17/08)CHYRON: That must be why he said. CHRYON: "I'm a hard-coal miner, anthracite coal, Scranton, PA." CHYRON: Obama + Biden. Ready to Pander? Yes. Ready to Lead? No.
Joe Biden: "I Hope You Won't Hold It Against Me, But I Am A Hard-Coal Miner, Anthracite Coal, Scranton, Pa." "In his first visit to Southwest Virginia, Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden, speaking at the United Mine Workers' annual fish fry here on Saturday, was quick to tout his ties to coal. 'I hope you won't hold it against me, but I am a hard-coal miner, anthracite coal, Scranton, Pa.,' Biden said. 'It's nice to be back in coal country. ... It's a different accent [in Southwest Virginia] ... but it's the same deal. We were taught that our faith and our family was the only really important thing, and our faith and our family informed everything we did.'" (Debra McCown, "Biden: 'It's Nice To Be Back In Coal Country,'" Bristol Herald Courier, 9/21/08)

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Out of touch

In the latest issue of Time magazine, Joe Klein has an article about the Sarah Palin phenomenon. I expected criticism of Palin, but he steered clear of that and focused on the fact that in his mind "Sarah Palin appeals to nostalgia for a county that no longer exists". What country is that, it is the America of small town, traditional values Americans. While his point that we don't live in an America of "Pleasantville's" is true, he fails to understand why we small town conservatives are so up in arms about the "America of the future" that he describes Democrats as representing.

In small towns, we believe in smaller government and looking out for one another. We understand that the word retirement isn't in the bible and that the government isn't responsible for everyone over age 65. When our parents can't take care of themselves, we are to step in and help. When our children make mistakes, we show them unconditional love and support.

He believes that the Palin appeal is based in the myth of the republican party that

Mr. Klein states that we are a nation of suburbs and cities.

Obama/Joe Biden "No Coal Plants Here in America"

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Gary Howell Releases New Commercial

Jefferson-Jackson Dinners and Mexican Trucks

This year, the guy that Democrats probably should have selected as their vice presidential nominee will speak at their state Jefferson-Jackson Dinner. A moderate from a southern state that shows the possibility of swinging Democrat should have been a better choice than an old timer from a blue state.

Tim Kaine is not the issue today. You have to wonder why they still hold Jefferson-Jackson Dinners when neither man has much to do with the modern Democratic Party philosophy.

In the 1850s leaders of the new anti-slavery party called themselves "Republicans" because they identified with Thomas Jefferson's stand against slavery in the Northwest Territories. Although his party eventually took the name Democrats, they called themselves "Republican" in the 1790s. Jefferson was far from perfect. His stand against slavery conflicted with the fact that he owned slaves until his death. As president he deprived political opponents of land through eminent domain. However, his principles reflected a belief in limited government that modern Democrats, especially Obama, loathe. To them government answers all questions. Jefferson would be the first to disown such a movement.

Andrew Jackson also had considerable flaws. His war against the Bank of the United States ruined the economy while the "spoils system" of federal patronage encouraged widespread corruption and incompetence. Worst of all, Jackson forced peaceful Cherokee Indians to abandon their ancestral lands promised to them in perpetuity by President John Adams and Congress. Jackson, however, is identified with the ideals of individual freedom and the right of every citizen, no matter how humble their beginnings, to pursue their opportunity. People have the right to work hard to pursue their dreams and the responsibility to live with the choices they make as well as the risks they assume. Jackson's followers feared big business, but not as much as they hated big government. Jackson also believed in aggressive defense of our nation's security.

Certainly some of the stains, especially on Jackson's reputation, would not lead me to advocate the Republican Party hosting Jefferson-Jackson Dinners. However, there is nothing in the positive ideals or achievements of either of these men that identify them with the Big Government, freedom diminishing tendencies of Barack Obama and today's liberal Democrats.
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Leave it to the Charleston Gazette to publish all the liberal news that is fit to print.

The House of Representatives voted to end a pilot program allowing Mexican truck firms certain access to American soil. Shelley Moore Capito and the Mountain State's two other congressmen voted to end teh program. While Charleston's morning paper ran extensive statements by Rahall and Mollohan, apparently they forgot that their own congressional representative, Capito, also had an opinion on the matter.

The Gazette will not only endorse Capito's opponent, they will actively slant the news to try and unseat the Republican congresswoman. This is part of a four decade feud launched by the newspaper against the Moore family. Responsible journalism takes a backseat to hate when it comes to the Gazette.

Monday, September 22, 2008

American Solutions Day September 27th



Click Here for additional information

Natalie Tennant Supported By Crackpots

A crackpot fringe group calling itself the Center For Public Integrity has pledged to help elect Natalie Tennant through its Secretary of State Project.

This site repeats the most exaggerated claims possible, such as the idea that Republicans are poised to challenge hundreds of thousands of votes in Ohio in upcoming elections and even that the GOP has taken people's homes. It asserts that Republican secretaries of state suppress rightful voters. The Secretary of State Project itself appears to be a blog manned by a writer slightly influenced by e.e. cummings' crusade against capitalization. It does claim to have secured five victories for Democrats somehow, but its writing focuses almost exclusively upon Ohio.

It's true, even in our state, that the Republican Secretary of State does suppress voting. Betty Ireland suppresses voting by corpses, by people who already voted, and by others who attempt to get around the laws that keep our elections fair. Suppressing illegal votes is part of the job, as many Democratic secretaries of state in our history have failed to realize. Across the nation, Republicans have fought the attempt by Democrats to suppress the votes of servicemen deployed abroad. Are they afraid that these soldiers will once again vote Republican and keep them out of the White House?

Of course part of this groups claims are that Republicans are racist in their selection of whom to "suppress." I doubt that even they could levy that charge against the GOP nominee in West Virginia, Charles Minimah. He has pledged to keep our state's elections as clean as possible while expanding access to the disabled. West Virginia needs Charles Minimah in the secretary of state's office to maintain the reforms started by Betty Ireland.