Where have all our friends and family gone?

In 1950 West Virginia made up 1.3% of the US Population, now 0.6%. If we had kept pace with the US growth there would be about 2.1 million more West Virginians than their are now. We are half the state we were just 58 years ago. In a generation we have been cut completely in half.

The poor economic conditions of the state are to blame. Of my graduating class of over 200, there might be 50 left in the area. Many of those drive to Winchester for work everyday. I have family that now lives in Northern Virginia instead of West Virginia. I have class mates that are scattered around the US. If you do a search on Myspace for people that went to Keyser High School, you find a large portion live outside the Keyser area.

I do not know of any family that has not been touched by having loved ones move from the area. In in most cases it is not because they wanted to move, but because they were unable to find suitable work.

John Barnett pointed out in his recent editorial that Change is what is needed. If we continue down the same path, then we will continue to get the same results. We must change the economic policies that keep businesses (and their jobs) out of our state. Our friends and family should not have to loose loved ones for economic reasons.

Thanksgiving in WV tells the Economic story

Last week in my travels I ran into a lot of friends in for the holiday's. It was good to see old friends, but at the same time it was kind of sad. The reason I only see these old friends on the holidays is because they had to leave the area for work.

Driving last week I saw a lot of out of state tags. For the most part those tags tell the story of West Virginia's economy. Each one of those tags represent the failure of the states economy to provide for our own. Since 1950 the West Virgina population has dropped from 1.3% of the US population to 0.6%. That represents the state being cut in half.

For over 60 years the state has been making the wrong economic decisions. It is time for a change. We can no longer afford to make the same choices. We need to get away from government intervention in the economy and more to the free market. How bad does it have to get before we make the necessary changes?