Second West Virginia Legislator Switches to Republican Party

Former US Senator Zell Miller complained in 2004 that he did not leave the Democratic Party.  It left him.

Two members of the West Virginia Legislature in the past year have come to the same conclusion.  Months ago, State Senator Evan Jenkins of Cabell County switched and announced a run for Congress.  Now, Delegate Ryan Ferns of Ohio County has done the same.

Ferns' home district in Ohio County resembles what Washington insiders call "Hillary country."  Wheeling has a long industrial history that has faded in the past twenty years.  Its blue collar roots have been supplemented by the luring of major retail outlets on the Interstate 70- corridor.

A "Hillary country" Democrat going red is a bad omen for Clinton in West Virginia. It shows that Obama's tenure has alienated a great deal of the blue collar bases depended upon by the Clintons.

Also interesting are the long standing ties between the Ferns family and Senator Joe Manchin.  Delegate Ferns' father and Manchin are reputed to be close friends.  Manchin family ties with Republicans are not unusual.  Governor Arch Moore worked closely with A. James Manchin, for instance.

This, however, invites scrutiny because of the increasingly isolated position in which Manchin finds himself.  In October, a Roll Call article described a centrist senator regretting leaving the Governor's Mansion.  Last week, he defied Senate leadership on a pivotal vote which removed minority filibuster power on nominees.

Manchin's discontent as a Senate Democrat seems clear.  His home state drifts toward the Republican Party by staying true to its traditional values. Manchin's few clashes with his base quickly, if temporarily, eroded his popularity.  Following the example of Ferns and Jenkins is one option.  Abandoning all party identification, like former Senator and vice presidential nominee Joe Lieberman, is another.

Clearly Manchin, Ferns, Jenkins, and many of their traditionally Democratic brethren in West Virginia share the same dilemmas.  Switching to the GOP means breaking with generations of tradition in a state where party identification ranks a close third to family and denomination.  But how long can such ties remain when the national Democratic Party stokes hostility with values held dear by most West Virginians?

And what will this mean politically for the state in the next few years?

Congressmen Targeting Paper Mills

Last night I attended the wind energy meeting at, appropriately enough, the Wind Lea Conference Center. US Windforce representatives broke down for us the pre construction steps that needed to be taken before the turbines can go up, along with reviewing what they had done in the last six months to get this far. I came away thinking that if I had money to invest to actually build a new industrial concern, I would probably do it in China. Why would anyone want to jump through all of these regulatory hoops to build in the United States? The process is so difficult, expensive, and time consuming that it is not worthwhile to manufacture here. Since we have chosen to make new manufacturing as difficult as possible by electing leaders that pass these laws, if we want good jobs, we must keep what we have.

Around here, that means The Mill. In an economic downturn, our paper mill's employees are always worried about layoffs or even a shut down. They have to worry because it is their family's livelihood. Even more importantly is the ripple effect from employees. They can afford to surface their driveways, put in pools, and do other things that employ local small businesses. I know of one small business whose entire customer base last summer was mill employees.

That is why the new efforts to slip cap and trade back into relevance are so menacing. Joe Lieberman (I) CT, Lindsay Graham (allegedly R) SC and John Kerry (D) MA are trying to refashion the cap and trade bill to go after specific industries. Going after everything at once was too controversial. Going after industries piecemeal might not get as much negative attention.

They want to go after electric utilities first. That, of course, means coal fired plants. We are familiar with the War on Coal. However, among the next list of targets are paper mills. In both cases they want to introduce costly regulations that will have the effect of driving away jobs and perhaps entire establishments.

Clearly if this new assault on mining and manufacturing is allowed to pass, Mineral, Garrett, and Allegheny Counties will be economically devastated. Each relies so heavily on the mill at Luke for jobs.

Lindsay Graham has broken from an otherwise solid GOP stance against this further assault on manufacturing. Otherwise, Republicans by and large support the businesses and workers in mills, mines, and other traditional blue collar fields.

Mill workers and miners in this area need to get their unions active on this issue. Tell them to blast Congress with demands that they stop attacking the American worker in the name of a global warming theory based on the fraud of lying scientists. In the past, unions protected labor against company policies that sometimes neglected workers' interests. Now it is clear that labor unions and business have the common interest of keeping jobs here. They need to work together to fight legislation that kills jobs.

If the mill goes away, what will replace it? Who will employ these people? Where will they go? What will they do? John Kerry, Lindsay Graham, and Joe Liebermann should come to Luke and answer those questions personally.

The New Stamp Act?

In 1763, Americans were confident and proud citizens of the British Empire. They had little complaints about a government that protected them in the most extensive war ever fought.
Then came the deluge. Britain, hurting from severe deficits, started creating and enforcing tax laws. Some of these taxes were not unreasonable, nor did they represent a major burden upon most of the people. Howeverm they represented a fundamental attempt to revolutionize the relationship between the government and the governed. Parliament sought to impose its will and its vision of government upon the people without respecting their natural rights.
Americans responded. Within two years rioters marched through the streets, burning those who defended the hated taxes in effigy. By 1775 they once again took arms, changing their country and changing the world.

The Obama/Pelosi plan to revolutionize America has come at breathtaking speed. Leftists in the Pelosi led Congress want to put GPS trackers in every American automobile. Obama wants to place heavy taxes upon electricity consumption that will hurt all Americans. Consumers will make difficult choices about whether or not to keep their home heat at a healthy level while producers, including our West Virginia coal miners will suffer. All of this comes due to a global warming theory that researchers and events have now thoroughly discredited.

The fact is that electric prices are set to rise anyway. Caps on price rises have been in place in many areas since the 1990s. All the various governments have to do is remove the intervention, allow the free market to set the price, and take no action. Instead we will see both the price hikes and the taxes raised because the current left wingers are hell bent on revolutionizing the country and refuse to think through their actions.

Even Tip O'Neill, bugbear of Reagan era Republicans, would not advocate hurting average Americans to support a crackpot theory.

What will this bring, if all these plans are allowed to come into place? Eventually we will see our country transformed into the dull lackluster hues of George Orwell's 1984. Everyone exists at a certain standard, alive, but locked in one low standard of living. The government will follow you around in your car. Will we fight? Not if they can help it, because they will seize our weapons. Once they have our weapons, they will be free to do as they please, when they please. Medieval English kings understood that a government must remain accountable when the population is armed. Why don't some of us remember that?

It's time to remember our Founding Fathers. We do not need violence, but Americans conscious of their rights of all areas and parties must come together. It is time to remind the government who its employers are. People around the country need to keep assembling and demonstrating to their representatives how troubling these plans are. In 2006 we had a dynamic and powerful economy. Look what liberal Democratic control of Congress has done to our country. They won the vote, then kicked out the reasonable and experienced committee leaders, such as Senator Byrd and Joe Lieberman. This left only the most radical and dangerous in terms of their antipathy to the vision of the Founding fathers. It also follows the model of teh French and Bolshevik Revolution. Overthrow the system, then purge the moderates. All you have left are the radicals.

And they are not done yet. Not by a long shot.

Barnes vs Blair: Rhetorical Cagematch Between Good Republicans

Anyone paying attention to the news lately has seen the state GOP finally capture the headlines for something positive.

Delegate Craig Blair has used his aggressive rhetoric to outline a plan to drug test all applicants for welfare. He contends that the taxpayers are served poorly when their funds go to enable continued drug use by aid recipients. To those who argue that the plan is cost prohibitive, Blair argues that the savings created by drug users shying away from identification will make up for the price of drug testing.

Senator Clark Barnes contends that this violates the constitutional right to privacy as well as rights explicitly spelled out in the 4th Amendment. To Barnes, Republican ideals mean that government ought to stay out of the lives of individuals until they give an overt reason to bring the police power of the state upon themselves.

This debate has overshadowed Governor Manchin and the Democratic Legislature and at times has become heated. However, this debate demonstrates the strength inherent in the ties that bind Republicans together. At the beginning of the day, Craig Blair and Clark Barnes are good friends. At the end of the day they will remain friends despite disagreements. At the end of the day, the party appreciates the efforts and different strengths each man brings to the table.

Compare this to how the Democrats have responded to Blair's proposals. Delegate Sally Susman (D) Raleigh, openly ridiculed Blair in a transparent attempt to deflect the debate into the margins. Senator Barnes debates the issue on principles and merits. Democrats wish it would go away because they fear open and honest discussion.

The strength of the state Republican party lies in our ability to disagree and remain supportive of each other. Senator Barnes opposed the presidential nominating convention last year, but remains one of the most respected Republicans in the state. When Democratic United States Senator Joe Lieberman backed President Bush, his party essentially banished him. They tried to run him out of office with a primary opponent more loyal to the party line, showing a distinct intolerance for diverging points of view. The same is about to happen to Representative Heath Shuler, Democrat from North Carolina (yes the former Tennessee quarterback.) His opposition to Nancy Pelosi has earned him banishment to the political wilderness and most likely a well funded liberal primary opponent. That is the way Democrats operate. Thank God we in the Grand Old Party are different!

Republicans understand that sometimes we have to agree to disagree. Debates among different points of view, such as between Blair and Barnes, leave us stronger at the end of the day. Even when our party members respectfully disagree with the party itself, this is not a negative. Republicans gain a reputation for free thought and ideological tolerance. Think of our state party without Clark Barnes?

Respectful debates between free thinking Republican leaders create an atmosphere of excitement that will help recruit young people to be active in the cause. We need to recognize this buzz that Blair and Barnes are creating and continue to build upon it. Respectful, honest, and open public debates over issues always help our party and its image.

McCain Wins Nomination

As of Super Tuesday, the Republican Party received the news it had expected for some time. John McCain is the party's nominee for president.

A couple of months ago, this prospect unnerved many conservative Republicans. McCain does differ in opinion from conservatives on some issues. He, along with other Republicans in border regions, has a different idea about immigration than most. McCain's joke about being a "conservative liberal" probably did not help.

That being said, Republicans have not won elections by selecting doctrinaire nominees. Dwight D. Eisenhower campaigned on "compassionate conservatism" that sought to soften the edges of free market economics. Richard Nixon engaged in heavy handed economic controls to try and right the ship after the disastrous Johnson presidency. Neither George Bush could be called right wingers when one examines their policies. Ronald Reagan even evoked savage conservative criticism when he embarked on a peace path towards Mikhail Gorbachev's Soviet Union.

We are conservatives, but we also reason and speak freely. This is why the media loves to pick on conservatism, because we are never unified and our debates usually happen in public. Liberals have ousted their own free thinkers, such as Joe Lieberman (you could call him the Democratic version of John McCain.) Liberals started tearing away at Angelina Jolie's statement that US troops are needed in Iraq to prevent humanitarian disasters. They cannot tolerate deviations from their increasingly left wing agenda.

John McCain is not a 100% right wing conservative, this is true. Neither was any other GOP president. We win elections because we choose and support moderate candidates who think and act on their principles instead of the party line. McCain has sacrificed a great deal for his country and he is the only candidate left that America can trust in a crisis.

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Has Mineral County run out of water yet? Just checking. It would be best to keep any other businesses from coming in just in case.