Alan Mollohan's last term in Congress?

As Congressman Alan Mollohan’s problems continue to mount many are speculating that this me be his last term as West Virginia’s Congressman from the 1st Congressional District. Last week the U.S. Justice Department told the US House ethics panel to stop its investigation of Congressman Mollohan. Federal investigators had also asked the House ethics committee to suspend its investigation of former Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson shortly before his arrest. Last month the Congressman’s Bald Head Island property was sold at a foreclosure sale according to the Daily Mail and the Politico reported Mollohan was one of the Democrat incumbents having trouble raising campaign money.

Smelling blood in the water, five Republicans have announced they will be seeking the GOP nomination for the 1st Congressional seat, but Mollohan might just not be facing a General Election opponent. Rumors are they he may have a strong primary challenge from 46 year old State Senator Michael Oliverio II of Monongalia County.

Oliverio would set well as a choice with West Virginia’s conservative Democrat voters. He is a favorite among many in the business community and would likely pull a lot of primary support away from Mollohan. It would also give state Democrats a better chance of holding the seat should Mollohan be forced to resign should allegations prove true. But with voters looking for change as referenced by this weeks strong wins by the GOP in neighboring Virginia and New Jersey, the only way for the WV Democratic Party to hold the 1st Congressional seat maybe to pick a new candidate like Oliverio no matter what happens with Mollohan.

WVGOP Launches New Underwood Institute Initiative

Republican Party Program Seeks to Circumvent Democrat Majority's Stranglehold on West Virginia Government

Today the West Virginia Republican Party is announcing the launch of a new initiative by the Underwood Institute. The Cecil Underwood Fellows Program is designed to honor our former governor, as well as encourage participation in the political process by younger West Virginians.

"Fundamentally, this initiative should be unnecessary," said WVGOP Executive Director Troy Berman. "If the levers of power weren't so egregiously and willfully manipulated by Speaker Thompson and Senate President Tomblin to undermine the legislative proposals of West Virginian Republicans than there wouldn't be a need for the party to step in. Compared to neighboring states the allocation of staff to the minority in West Virginia isn't just unfair it's downright undemocratic."

"Of course the Democrat party has long since passed the point where they've been able to compete on the merit of their ideas so they're willing to do whatever it takes to win. With that kind of leadership at the capital, is it any wonder that the people of West Virginia are the ones that keep getting shafted?"

The Underwood Fellows will provide logistical support and ground presence for the Republican Legislative Caucus and the West Virginia Republican Party, grow new ideas, future Republican leaders and publicly demonstrate an active, growing, and civic minded party. Fellows will develop leadership skills, and gain valuable work experience and an opportunity to interact with party leaders on an individualized basis. Fellows will be paired with Republican senators and delegates for the purpose of aiding them with research, community outreach, special projects, and other duties. Legislators will mentor fellows by teaching them about the legislative process, giving them substantive responsibilities, and encouraging them to become engaged with the mechanics of governing.

"Our hope is that by helping to bridge the gap created by the partisan and disproportionate allocation of taxpayer resources we can aide our elected Republicans in communicating the vision of a conservative and prosperous West Virginia free of the negligence and mismanagement of generations of Democrat rule."

WV GOP kicking "Ass" in fund raising

State Democrats lag far behind in fund raising

With 675,305 registered Democrats in the state and only 353,437 Republicans in the state, the fund raising shows Republicans are on the right side of the issues that matter to West Virginians.

WV Republican Party Individual Contributions: $95,752
WV Democrat Party Individual Contributions: $66,434
(FEC filings through July 31, 2009)

The WV GOP is raising 28 cents per every Republican in the state, while state Democrats are only raising 10 cents for every Democrat in the state.

Out numbered nearly 2 to 1 in voter registration in the state, but people are realizing that the Democrat Party is more often siding more with Liberal San Francisco Democrat Nancy Pelosi than the people of our own state, and they don't like it.

New Common Sense West Virginia Ad

Singing the Blues With West Virginia Red

As of this writing, when you Google "Doug McKinney" and "Hatch Act," you only come up with a handful of left wing blogs and West Virginia Red. Only one of the above has launched a serious crusade to split the West Virginia Republican Party by ousting Chairman Doug McKinney, and it is not one of the Democratic or Socialist ones.

For the second time in a row, West Virginia Red has tried to unleash a bombshell against McKinney on the eve of a major state Republican gathering. What was shocking has grown predictable, what is predictable will soon become boring. I asked the question before when discussing this issue with a couple of those ranging themselves against Dr. McKinney, how on earth do you think that a supposed major violation of a well known election law escaped the attention of Secretary of State Betty Ireland, much less the West Virginia Democratic Party? There is no answer to that question unless you believe that state election officials and the Democratic Party willfully ignored a major oversight. Yes it is not Ms. Ireland's job, nor is it the obligation of the Democrats to quote federal laws to the West Virginia GOP Chair. Then again both, for obviously different reasons, would be very inclined to do so. It would be within their interest.

What is the interest here for the cadre in and around West Virginia Red? Sun Tzu's Art of War says "trust in self-interest." Theirs is to tear down Doug McKinney, but why? The 2009 meeting season has ended and it is extremely doubtful that, barring a massive rise in debt or the uncovering of criminal activity, that the West Virginia GOP will remove him prematurely next winter only months before the end of his natural term. If their interest lies in removing Dr. McKinney before the end of his term, that ship has sailed.

Is it someone's interest to capture the chairmanship for themselves? If so, what can be gained by firing torpedoes into the side of the ship? Who wants to be captain of a boat that they themselves sank? Leadership turmoils spell trouble for any candidates running for election next year. Instead of answering questions about their issues, candidates will face a barrage of inquiries about the state party that they neither can nor want to answer. Forget financial or any other kind of support.

With Obama polls falling and the country witnessing the slow collapse of his presidency, Republicans across the land have slowly started to believe again. The evil of socialism and the death of American foreign policy also are a tremendous concerns. Republicans need to attack Democrats and their failed vision, not each other!

I will say something very unfaddish. I love the Republican Party. Behind God, family, and country it has my allegiance. Throughout history from day one to today, it stands for freedom and opportunity. Very few groups can say that, ever. It does not approach our ideal of perfection, but nothing on this earth does. Nothing is perfect and we all have different images of what is ideal. Republican principles have stood the test of history and remain the reason why we care. Our state Republican Party has overcome many obstacles in the past few years in spite of an unfavorable tide. Now we have a chance to ride the tide if we can only get all our oars out and moving in the same direction.

If anyone at West Virginia Red wants to gain the chairmanship, by all means take the next year and lay out your vision. Contact delegates, form a campaign, convince people to vote for your program for positive reasons. This weekend's summit should give the present and future leaders a chance to propose constructive plans. Tearing down what we have does no one any good, except the fellas in blue quietly sitting off to the side chuckling to themselves.

Why some officials get elected in West Virginia

Bob Hope learns why some officials get elected in West Virginia despite their voting records.

Cost Benefit Analysis of Excluding Independents From GOP Primaries

Anytime an individual or a group is agonizing over an important decision, it's time to use a cost-benefit analysis to tally up the pros and cons of doing or of not doing something.

The issue of the day is whether or not to allow independents to participate in the GOP primary voting.

Both sides have good points. Arguments for excluding independents are many. It forces fence sitters in voter registration who lean Republican to register that way. Also it reduces the chance that Democrats could change registration to manipulate a key election.

However, consider the costs? The liberal press will certainly bash Republicans for being a small state party that finds a way to exclude people who would otherwise show interest. Conservative outlets may even join that chorus for reasons of their own. Bad press represents a cost even though ideally it should not serve as a factor.

Also, how often do we have a situation where we have close primary races between one very electable candidate and one extremely awful candidate? Not many Democrats in West Virginia would drop their registration at this point to intentionally smack down an electable GOP alternative.

Finally, how many registrations would we pick up to offset the costs? A few hundred? Maybe.

A better plan lies in remembering our free market ideals. We have competition from the Democratic, Independent, and in some races, Mountain brands. Instead of finding ways to reduce the competition for registered voters, let us embrace the system as it is and create a product that voters will choose. An exciting, energetic, innovative GOP will attract registrations and voters come election day. Building up the party is the answer.

PEIA Rate Hike Announcement Well Timed

West Virginia's Public Employees Insurance Agency plans to raise employee premiums 9% and retirees 11% while also expanding the copays on vital necessities such as prescription drugs. The plan also proposes a built in financial burden placed upon members that go to out of state hospitals.

A plan only a bureaucrat or a state hospital could love.

It is true that private sector premiums are rising higher. It is also true that salaries in the private sector also go up more quickly. Some state employees, even with raises, make the same now as they did three years ago because of the last rate increase. Factor in inflation and they are doing worse. Union officals cite the 1/3 of a billion dollar budget surplus as a reason why increases may not be necessary.

The Potomac Highlands region will suffer more than others. The major hospitals that serve this region are located in Cumberland and Winchester. For significant health problems, people in these areas would have to travel to Morgantown to save money. What sense does that make?

As bad as the proposals will seem to a state worker, the timing of this announcement was interesting. Doing it after Election Day means that the political blowback on legislators and the governor would be minimal. Would state workers have supported their local Democrat if they knew this was in the pipeline?

Of course rate increases cannot take place without public hearings. Conveniently, most of these meetings take place during the workweek, minimizing the ability of employees to attend.

It's not so much the increases, although state workers are being squeezed by inflation and infrequent raises, because these happen to everyone. It is the way this announcement was made and how the meetings are scheduled. I would suggest that all state teachers and other workers call off sick one day to travel to the Charleston or Morgantown meeting en masse. Of course state workers and teacher unions will gripe and complain, yet continue to vote for the same Democrats that run this kind of show when we hit 2010.

Lenin, Stalin, Casey?

Last week the word was out. The State Democratic Party, in their perpetual function as "ruling party" of West Virginia, blasted Clark Barnes, Craig Blair, Kelli Sobonya, and other GOP legislators. The horrible crime committed? Not being team players. The goal? To use every device necessary to get voters to expel them from the Legislature.

In the 1920s Vladimir Lenin imposed upon a session of the USSR's Communist Party Congress a no faction rule. Not content with operating a secret police that stole property while torturing and massacring many, Lenin hated disagreement within his own party. The rule was that once agreement was made, no more opposition could exist.

This same attitude pervades the "not a team player" approach taken by West Virginia Democrats. Maybe they are surprised that Republicans and their voters have a different idea of how to run this state. Then they have the gall to disagree with the Ruling Party! Of course the Democrats, assuming the people are always in their corner, call upon the voters to get rid of what little opposition they have to their schemes.

This smacks of arrogance. In most states each party must respect the other because at some point the outs will be in and vice versa. West Virginia Democrats cannot even imagine a day when their grip on power will be reduced, much less rejected, by the voters. Gains will come this year and more hereafter. Voters must make all state politicians more accountable by showing that Democrats can lose.

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.

Who Is Truly Ready to Make a Difference in West Virginia?

West Virginia received some good news today. Beth Walker's run for State Supreme Court has impressed exactly half of the state's voters. The most recent polls show that the race between Walker and the second place Democratic opponent remains too close to select a leader. In a state where 2/3 of the voters register with the Democratic Party, this is good news to anyone looking to change our anti-business climate.

A Walker victory means a shift away from our state's "judicial hellhole" reputation. She can join others on the bench who join many West Virginians in being tired of crackpot lawsuits and their damaging effect on our economy. Why would anyone want to do business in a state that does nothing to discourage the most ridiculous claims against honest business owners while allowing benefits to the friends of the powerful? We need rule of law in West Virginia, not rule of lawsuits.

On the other hand, Nancy Guthrie has swallowed the Obama change mantra hook, line and sinker. She has adapted it to her own political campaign, albeit clumsily according to Vic Sprouse's Change West Virginia blog. How West Virginia Democrats can run on a change platform is beyond my comprehension, unless they tell the whole state to do something it has rarely done in the past seventy-five years, vote Republican.

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They may have reached that decision anyway. With Democrats putting signs for Gary Howell, Dan Greear, Russ Weeks, Beth Walker, and others in their yards, maybe our state is finally fed up with seventy-five years of misrule.

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Has anyone else noticed the change in Obama lately? Mean spirited, sarcastic, no longer confident and pleasant looking. We may be seeing the real Obama here folks. As was said so eloquently on the movie Super Troopers, "desperation is a stinky cologne." The weird inability to stay on message is also a telling sign that the wheels fell off some time ago.

As for Biden, has anyone seen him at all lately? Do the Democrats have a bunker that they stuffed him into? What an inspired choice for them. It is almost as if they saw Biden as Obama's Dick Cheney. Taking pages from the Bush victory story is something I never thought I would see a Democrat attempt. Maybe they ought to listen to the Republican experts that say personally attacking Palin is a horrible idea. I can honestly say that Uncle Joe would have done that campaign a lot more good than Biden.

Personally I would almost bet that the Democrat power brokers have privately folded their tents. They will return to do penance at the Temple of Hillary, and wait for the next favorable time to unleash her on the electorate.

Sheep and Wolves

One of Blackstone's most memorable legal maxims is that the sheep ought not be left in the care of the wolves. This idea drives much of our legal thought and policy because it represents common sense. You cannot leave the vulnerable to the whims of the predator.

Which brings us to Charles Minimah. The Republican Party selected Charles Minimah as its nominee to ensure that West Virginia elections remain as fair and free of corruption as possible. Minimah has a strong track record as an effective businessman and community leader. State GOP laders know that he will continue Betty Ireland's zealous commitment to fair state elections. Minimah also wants to make voting as accessible as possible to the handicapped, elderly, and others.

If Charles Minimah is the shepherd to our more corruption free election process, the Democratic Party represents the wolf. They selected a young anchorwoman with an attractive face, name recognition, and a commitment to the Democratic Party as their nominee. Certainly some of them long for the bad old days before Secretary of State Ireland took office and elections were easier to manipulate. She has in four years erased almost all of the cometary vote and Minimah will continue to prevent West Virginia's deceased from playing a role in the political process. Put the inexperienced candidate with close ties to the Democratic machine into office and our clean elections will be placed in jeopardy.

Elect Charles Minimah because we must not allow our elections to be in the hands of predators that want to manipulate them.

Democrat Showdown Looming

We're not just talking about Clinton versus Obama either.

The West Virginia Young Democrats called for a complete halt on the assigning of permits for mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia. This certainly cannot sit well with traditional supporters of the West Virginia Democratic Party such as the United Mine Workers of America. It also shows that many liberal Democrats do choose to live in some sort of bubble world where reality strikes about as often as the tooth fairy.

Did they not watch the news last night? Shortages of energy around the world have helped spin off a rise in food prices. Coal is a vital part of America's energy solution and West Virginians are heading off to good paying jobs in coal related operations. In the long term, coal must replace oil entirely as an energy source for power plants. The explosion of electric car use will place even more strains on our grid. We need to use our coal, corn, wind, natural gas, and water resources.

That's where the West Virginia Young Democrats don't get it. Like most liberals they believe energy comes from some sort of magical place. In the real world that some Democrats and most Republicans inhabit, we realize that the needs of people must be balanced against our desire to preserve nature as it is. In the real world we need to mine more coal, we need to drill for natural gas, we need to build hydroelectric stations on some of our rivers, we need to put windmills on some of our ridges. You can put West Virginians to work and put a dent in our nation's oil demand at the same time. We can't leave all of nature unspoiled in the process, but we cannot ask Americans to sacrifice their standard of living either. Not only do we rely on energy, but the world relies on us to produce many of its necessities for it.

That is the solution that Republicans and real world oriented Democrats favor. The Young Democrats are completely out of touch. Their advocacy for a halt to coal permits pits them against their elders. It also shows locally the growing rift in the Democratic Party. Older voters and industrial workers who understand the world as it is have less and less in common with the young Obama supporting intellectuals who see the anti-American George Soros as their guru. We are seeing Democrats battle over the soul of their party nationally, and now at the state level as well.

The Good and the Strange

West Virginia University president Michael Garrison found his way into the newspaper twice last month for remarkably different issues.

The first earned him real kudos. Standing up to a popular coach with the best winning percentage in university history showed that he had backbone. Garrison's priorities lay in the university above that of the football team. After all, he is not the GM of a pro sports outfit, but the leader of an academic institution.

The second incident is a little stranger. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette while researching the promotion of Heather Bresch by Mylan uncovered something strange. She claimed to hold an MBA from WVU, but the records indicated otherwise. University officials claim that old records did not make it onto the new digitized system, so recently they gave her credit for six courses and awarded her the degree. Newspaper investigations have not yet turned up evidence that she attended the classes she claimed to pass. Why all this attention? Ms. Bresch is the daughter of Governor Manchin and her employer is one of WVU's top financial supporters, in case you have not noticed the new name of the football stadium.

Likely this is all an honest mixup. However, the Charleston Gazette today called for a thorough investigation. Hopefully all parties concerned will submit to a fair examination of what precisely occured. If nothing else, there may be other former students out there with the same predicament and the problem needs recitfied. Again, it is probably an honest bookkeeping error. However the worst case scenario of corruption in the state's flagship university could play a major role in the 2008 election.

Even more interesting is the Gazette's reluctance to accept the official explanation despite the fact that such things happen frequently. A multitude of small things, almost insignificant in themselves, are adding up to indicate a brewing conflict within the West Virginia Democratic Party between Manchinites and the ultra left. This represents the latest in a series of developments that include the possibility of top Manchin aide Carte Goodwin running to unseat Attorney General Darryl McGraw for the Democratic nomination.

WV Democrats set up the WV Republican Executive Committee?

One Sunday afternoon I had a long political conversation with Tommy Phillips about the direction of the Republican Party in the state. We were just throwing around ideas about what had worked in the past, and what might work in the future to bring the Republican Party back to power in the state to benefit all West Virginians. During the conversation I asked Tommy, "Do you realize the WV Democratic Party set up the structure of a major part of the WV Republican Executive Committee?" Tommy asked if I was serious. I said yes, and began to explain.

68 members of the Republican Executive Committee are all based on the states senatorial districts. Those 17 districts were drawn by the Democratic controlled legislature. They were gerrymandered to limit Republican power in the state. Think about that for a minute. The WV Republican Party is using districts designed by Democrats to limit the power of Republicans as a basis for a large portion of the Republican Executive Committee. Does that make any sense?

It goes further. Under the Republican party platform; I The Government, O. Providing legislative reapportionment with no gerrymandering by the majority leadership, with 100 single-member House of Delegate districts and 34 separate State Senatorial districts that respect community boundaries for increased accountability. OK that is our position, but because we are using the Senatorial Districts drawn by the Democrats we have the very overlap in the 8th and 17th Senatorial Districts we are taking a position against. Does that make any sense?

The Senatorial Districts drawn by the Democrats do not even represent equal numbers of Republicans. 4 Executive Committee Members in some districts represent a large number of the states Republicans, and in others the 4 only represent a few. Does that make any sense?

Our goal as Republicans is to make the state a better place for all West Virginians. Should we look at implementing our own values and our own ideas in our own executive committee?

• 17 Separate - 4 member executive committee districts
• Equal number of Republicans in each executive committee district
• or County Districts with members allocated by Republican Population
  
• No overlapping executive committee districts
• No use of districts designed by the Democratic Party

People fear change. Some may see the idea as radical, some will only see it as common sense. Some may fear loss of power, while others will see opportunity. I only put the ideas on the table to create discussion, for through discussion we will find solutions to challenges.