YR Press Release

For Immediate Release Contact: Lisa Peana
Friday, March 13,2009 (304) 730 - 4599

YR’s Chair: Drug Testing for State Benefits “Just Makes Sense”
Asking supporters to contact Legislators

Kenova, WV - Delegate Craig Blair, R-Berkley recently introduced a bill in the West Virginia Legislature requiring drug testing for state benefits garnering attention from groups across West Virginia, including the WV Young Republicans.

"Delegate Blair's bill is common sense legislation that West Virginia needs,” said Ashley Stinnett, chairman of the WV Young Republicans, “ The problem with government give-a-ways is that nobody is ever held accountable."

The bill would require individuals accepting welfare, food stamps and/or unemployment benefits would be susceptible to random drug testing.

"There are a lot of dishonest individuals who take advantage of the government at the taxpayers expense. It just makes sense to expose these frauds," said Stinnett.

The bill has been referenced to the judiciary committee and then to the finance committee. The Young Republicans are urging supporters to contact judiciary chairwoman, Carrie Webster, D-Kanawha to express there support and urge the passage of the bill out of her committee.
"Hopefully our Democrat lawmakers who care so much for the well being of West Virginians will pull their head out of the sand and vote for this,” added Stinnett.

WV Legislators contact information can be found at http://www.legis.state.wv.us/. Delegate Webster can be contacted by calling (304) 340-3252.

Information about the bill can be found at http://www.notwithmytaxdollars.com/

For information about the West Virginia Young Republicans, email acscj1980@aol.com

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Ford Motor Company: A Bright Spot in Tough Times

Ford Motor Company, unlike many of the world's corporations, is riding high.

Criticized for low profit margins during the past decade, Ford's conservatism seems to be paying off. Unlike its American and Japanese competition, it lost less market share as auto sales crashed everywhere. Not long ago, experts wondered if the company would survive. A few months ago it confidently refused government assistance (also avoiding federal interference in its operations.)

This month USA Today and Car and Driver announced that Ford's hybrid midsized outperformed the Toyota Prius in almost every category. It has more passenger and trunk room as well as better handling while sacrificing nothing in fuel economy.

Last week Ford called a news conference to announce the reopening of its Cleveland Engine Plant Number 1. Built in 1955, it was shut down to undergo a $55 million renovation. Its opening will initially bring 250 employees back to work.

Even better, the plant will turn out next generation engines that improve fuel economy by 20% and cut emissions by 15%. This demonstrates that someone, somewhere in industry is still using good old American innovation to produce better products that consumers desire. And they are doing it without the federal government's help or advice.

Kudos to Ford. They remind us that the private sector remains the most effective source of real and effective changes.

Defending the Indefensible: Pork

In this video the Utah Senator is trying to defend why we should be paying to kill crickets in his state. Please watch.

An Article Written About West Virginia By A Connecticut Journalist With a Reply By Yours Truly

Lessons learned in West Virginia
By Christina Cio cca
Posted: 02/19/2009 08:17:54 PM EST

"West Virginia? WOOF."

This blunt and biting phrase is representative of my friends' response when I told them I'd be away for a couple of days on business in Charleston, W.Va.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," is another.

And so, with a heavy heart, I boarded my Delta shuttle at LaGuardia. My dejection came less from leaving the New York metro area, where a deathly pallor has descended on Park, Madison and even Greenwich avenues, but more because we're talking about West Virginia. For business. In my mind, there were few things further from the definition of "fun." Call me short-sighted, but the only things I have associated with West Virginia are mountains, coal mines and Habitat for Humanity.

But 24 hours later, I was encountering a different emotion. This time, it was that small euphoria that awakens when you realize that some of your deepest preconceptions are dead wrong, that you just have been taught something you didn't even know you needed to learn. These lessons are worth sharing.

First and foremost, Charleston reassured me it's possible to maintain a friendly manner, a peaceful demeanor and a low-stress lifestyle even when the country is facing "some of the largest challenges since the Great Depression," as we've heard. Speaking with some of West Virginia's business and political leaders, as I had the good fortune to do, it became clear that this news is not enough to erase a sense of optimism and hope for the future -- qualities that are
going down the drain in Washington, D.C., and the New York metro area.

Why? Perhaps because West Virginia is one of the few states that still maintains a budgetary surplus, retains a greater sense of commonality among its citizens, and borders on being "small." But I also have the feeling, after asking some questions, that it's a result of leaders joining together and approaching their state's challenges as a rational, involved, tightly knit community, one that would like to conserve what many described to me as "low-stress corporate and political life." I admit I have been working in corporate America for approximately 1 1/2 years. But I already strongly believe that this "low-stress" mentality is worth deep consideration and preservation where it already exists.

Another lesson: Leadership goes a very long way. One of my stops while in Charleston was a "viewing party" for Gov. Joe Manchin's State of the State Address. Again, I approached the experience somewhat tentatively -- how much detail did I really want or need to know about the state of West Virginia?

But as I watched the popular Democratic governor report on his state's progress, I found my mind engaged and my spirits uplifted. Here was a leader still capable of celebrating his state's achievements and laying out a series of forward-thinking, long-term goals, even while recognizing the vast challenges and sacrifices ahead. Not only was the speech delivered with energy and inspiring rhetoric, but the governor really was rooting for his state, from the lowest wage earners to those teachers responsible for raising the state's dismal educational performance to the top executives running key industries. He even gave a tribute to a University of West Virginia football player just drafted into the NFL.

Looking around the viewing party, I was struck by the number of smiles dotting the room. West Virginians were on board. A sense of possibility still seemed to exist in full force, as did my own feeling that West Virginians actually may join together to tackle the numerous challenges the governor outlined. And this is from a state that consistently has ranked among the lowest in U.S. business development.

Sadly, I am unsure that I can make similar statements about President Obama's first major press conference, where we saw not even a small glimmer of hope that our great country will come out of this crisis stronger, better and no worse for the wear. As a young American, this is a message I long to hear.

One final lesson: Friendliness goes a very long way. Walking the streets of New York City, ill humor and scowls get the gold and silver medals, respectively. Even the quaint streets of Fairfield, where my family now lives after spending most of my childhood years in Darien, have developed a bit of an edge: I recently had the door of a local retailer closed directly in my face by a disgruntled shopper. Granted, both New York City and Fairfield County are facing significant economic challenges bound to throw us all off-kilter.

Yet it was so refreshing in Charleston to have jovial conversations with cab drivers who own blueberry farms, to learn the state's political history from a camera operator while accompanying a client to a TV news interview, and to be greeted by a woman suffering from bronchitis because, "We've had such nice telephone conversations, I just had to meet you in person." These very basic elements of human kindness are not to be underestimated, especially considering today's dismal realities.

So there you have it. West Virginia in fact was one of the best times I've had in weeks. Who would've guessed?
------
Christina Ciocca is a former resident of Darien and a graduate of Greenwich Academy, Georgetown and Oxford. She now lives in Manhattan, where she works in strategic communications and public relations.

Here is my reply, posted on her newspaper:

Much of this is typical condescending Northeastern crap that West Virginians have grown accustomed to reading over the past several decades. Having spent time in Connecticut researching at Yale, I am at a loss to see where you get your heightened sense of superiority. To get there I had to run the gauntlet of the Cross Bronx Expressway, woe unto he who rolls down his or her window. Pheeewww!!!

The writer is dead on about Joe Manchin. I was in Charleston on business during his address as well. The next day I attended a gathering in his reception room where he again spoke. His emphasis on individual responsibility, his criticism of government handouts, his insistence that no one receive any help from the government unless they could prove that they had started helping themselves first were floodlights in a generally gloomy political time. I wished that, if the Democratic Party were destined to win the White House, that they would have nominated someone with experience and rock solid American economic ideals as Joe Manchin has expressed. I am sick of hearing about what I need to fear. We need to hear again that Americans have nothing to fear and will prevail. That is the difference between Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama on one hand and Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan on the other.

Please. Do not send any more young and enlightened journalists to West Virginia for personal learning experiences. Instead we will export people to your state and others to explain concepts such as the balanced budget and restrained government spending. Maybe then, the ethic of good old fashioned common sense and hard work, courtesy of your friends in the Mountain State, will help bring you out of the quagmire you all find yourselves in.

Oh, and enjoy Senator Countrywide while you are at it.

Is Hyper Inflation coming?

Glenn Beck does a good job explaining how the US money supply has changed over the years. This is worth watching.

WVGOP Think Tank coming to the Potomac Highlands

The WVGOP Think Tank is the official think tank of the West Virginia Republican Party, and is visiting the Potomac Highlands to get your input. The WVGOP Think Tank is dedicated to gathering and sharing the ideas and visions of Republicans across the state as we work to develop a plan for victory in 2010 and beyond.

It is dedicated to including the thoughts and ideas of all Republicans who wish to attend the meeting. Our energies will be devoted to working with all Republicans, and increasing Republican influence in government.

Republicans can, and will, legitimately disagree. The goal of finding common ground in battling our opposition and winning the hearts and minds of West Virginians.

We invite you to join us in those efforts. April 22nd, 2009 at 7:00 at Grand Central Business Center, 2nd Floor Meeting Room, 1 E Piedmont St. Keyser, WV 26726. Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP by calling (304) 788-6554 or (304) 788-2513

We Have Met the Enemy, And It Is the Federal Government

The basic problem driving the economic crisis, at least in the United States, is the mortgage crisis. This was combined with the fuel spike and a few other problems, but generally the housing market crash reverberated throughout the economy.

Some blamed bank mismanagement, but the federal government ponied up money anyway. Banks are the engines of capitalism. If they fail, we have serious problems. But why did they fail?

Last year the media gave us their answer. The simple greed of banks and individuals trying to turn a fast buck. Banks give questionable loans to questionable investors. Middle class greed was blamed; families spending too much on things they don't need. The whole issue became a homily on the evils of capitalism.

If only we had stuck to capitalism! In 1993 the federal government decided to enforce laws that the Reagan and first Bush administrations chose to ignore. These laws required banks to make an effort to find non traditional targets for loans. The idea was to expand home ownership among populations who generally could not afford them or who had poor credit. Banks had to prove that they made an effort to locate bad credit risks and give them loans.

Banks complied with the law. So long as the economy went very well, the industry could absorb losses and many credit risks could continue to pay. When a glitch in the system developed, up to 8% of the mortgage holders in the nation fell behind, some badly. Some folks truly hit hard times. They had jobs they expected to keep, made sound decisions, and were hit by unforeseen issues. Many were undisciplined, made poor decisions, and found themselves in trouble. Banks now held massive amounts of bad debt because of federal government policies that forced them to take it on in the first place.

The banks had the government by the you know whats. They get no money? Fine. They explain to the nation just exactly who got them into trouble in the first place. Instead of disavowing this nice little bit of socialism, we gave out the money and stabilized the system.

Now THE WON (kudos to whoever thought that one up, referring to the arrogant pronouncement to congressional Republicans that "I (Obama) won!" as if that means that Republicans should stop doing their jobs and kowtow) wants to compound the problem by sending many more billions to help people who never should have been homeowners to begin with. Some people responsibly went to their banks, worked out new arrangements, sacrificed, and got their bills paid up. Obama does not want to distinguish between those who sacrificed and those who are still just waiting around for the government to help them. Enough already!

Time for the honest taxpayer to take a stand. Massive federal interference in the market is what intensified a recession and turned it into the Great Depression. Back then it was the Smoot-Hawley Tariff. Now it is Obamiac spending plans. Let's get a grip here and think for a second before tossing more money away. After all, it is generating the disturbing trend of rising inflation during a contracting economy. Obama is transforming a recession into stagflation.

At least we know how to deal with that. Elect a conservative Republican as president. The way things are going, we ought to see one replace WON in a few years.

Tax Cheat Congressman Charlie Rangle (D) Cornered

Stimulus should have applied the KISS Principle

Everyone from engineers to sports coaches says it. Keep it Simple, Stupid.

The huge spending plans proposed by Obama and the Worst Congress in History do anything but. They have money for STD prevention and abortions across the world, yet Keyser is still waiting on its dangerously decayed water treatment plant and dilapidated US 220 bridge to get replaced. Hampshire, Mineral, and Grant County drivers must contend with the dangerous and unimproved sections of US 50.

The spending plan should have been for simple, basic American needs. Small towns and big cities everywhere have the same issues with infrastructure. Roads need attention. In some areas, the sewer system has lasted a hundred years without a major overhaul. Bridges need replaced. Schools are crumbling. West Preston Middle School not too far from here is an extreme example. Repairing basic needs projects in every state puts people to work and generates revenue in the all important construction industry. It's hard to argue against basic infrastructure repairs because they benefit everyone.

When Obama first pitched the stimulus bill, he emphasized shovel ready projects. Less than 5% of the money is headed for such improvements. The entire bill should have gone towards the repair or replacement of roads, bridges, sewers, and schools. No new projects, just the maintenance on structures already in place or replacement of structures too badly decayed to be repaired. This would have prevented the problem that GOP governors and Manchin cited, the creation of programs with no permanent funding.

Had Obama and Congress addressed those needs rather than tossed money at abortion doctors in places where family planning means eliminate all female babies, they might have restored economic growth and invested funds into items the country needs for decades in the future instead of wasting it on foolishness.

Should have kept it simple. Now we all pay the price far into the future.

Keyser needs to look at helping downtown traffic

The fire that destroyed a downtown business on Friday night shows the need for alternative traffic patterns in the downtown area. One suggestion that is common sense is to make Water St. 2-ways between Armstrong and Piedmont Streets.

With all houses on Water Street between Armstrong and Piedmont now having close off street parking, parking can be eliminated to make 2-way traffic possible. This would allow traffic a different route to WV 46 East. While we hope there are no more fires on Armstrong Street this route would have allowed traffic to flow much better around the effected area. Also when Main Street is block for festivals in the summer this route will be available to improve traffic flow.

Also consider that with the upcoming replacement of Memorial Bridge traffic patterns on Armstrong street will be come a major problem and the simple act of making Water Street 2-ways for 2 blocks can be common sense solution to the problem.

Clinton adviser uses Alan Mollohan as an example of Earmark Corruption

On Fox News's, On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, former Bill Clinton adviser Dick Morris was talking about how earmarks can lead to corruption and used West Virginia Congressman Alan Mollohan (D) as example.



This illustrates how West Virginia constantly looses with Alan Mollohan has our Congressman. When the Congressman earmarks money to his friends as Dick Morris points out, that money doesn't help the people of West Virginia. That is why it is unethical, but most people don't see how it actually hurts us.

Consider that if the Congressman earmarks $3 million dollars to his friends at Vandalia, then he used his efforts for the wrong reason. It would have taken the same effort to earmark $3 million dollar to fix Doresy's curve on US 50 in Mineral County where 8 people have been killed over the past several years and our school buses travel everyday. What is more important to the Congressman the lives of school childern or funding his friends? There are countless projects in each county across the West Virgina 1st Congressional District that need funded, but the Congressman ignores them in favor of his personal interest.

We are going to have to ask ourselves this next election. Do we want a Congressman that puts the interest of the people of West Virginia first or his own person gain first?

Where Is the Media Now When Robert Byrd Is Criticizing a President?

They are there. Maybe it does not lead the broadcast or make the front page, but the story did spread across the country. Senator Robert C. Byrd compared Barack Obama to Richard Nixon in blasting his use of policy czars. Byrd's fear is that these officials are not subject to the same supervision as Cabinet officials.

Byrd also compared Obama to George W. Bush, a figure that most liberals seem to think is worse than Richard Nixon. Bush operated, like Franklin Roosevelt, to prosecute a war and enhance national security. Obama wants to use such officials to oversee the auto industry and attack coal companies.

Byrd notes that this contradicts the campaign promise to be the most transparent administration in history. Bush made no such promise.

Still one wonders about the process of story placement. Whenever Senator Byrd breathed an anti-Bush word it led the news, sometimes for days. When the defender of the Constitution trains his guns on Obama, the story selection process is slightly different.

Needless to say, the reporters and analysts have tried to do their job. They have done well pointing out the problems and inconsistencies of the Won. Republicans are skillfully staking out their position while playing divide and conquer between the antagonistic presidential and congressional Democrats.

I just keep saying, two more years, two more years. The good ol' USA needs to hang in there. Help is on the way.

If only Senator Byrd would add some useful action to his criticisms. Abandon those people who evicted him from his chairmanship and join the next GOP filibuster. He's will lose nothing, but he can protect his principles.