It’s hard to believe that we are nearing the end of another year. 2007, to say the least, has been an eventful year all around.
Riding their wave of 2006, Democrats brought new leadership on the national level in 2007. The faces were new, but the Democrats turned out to be the same tax and spend party that still can not stand up to our nation's enemies.
Nancy Pelosi was selected to be the first female Speaker of the House and together with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid; they have managed to make history – by achieving all-time low approval ratings. Never had there been approval ratings lower than what we see in Congress today.
The Democrats believed that they had a mandate to end the Iraqi front of the Global War on Terror. Fortunately for our nation, they have failed to deliver on that campaign promise, along with many others.
Thanks to our nation's resolve, President Bush has changed course in Iraq, by sending a surge of military personnel to the area. The result was lower violence, safer neighborhoods and refugee Iraqis returning home again.
Back home at the national level, we have been enjoying continuous economic growth.
According to the National Bureau for Labor and Statistics, more than 8.1 million mobs have been created since August 2003.
This past September alone, our economy created 110,000 jobs. September 2007 is the 49th consecutive month of job growth, setting a new record for the longest uninterrupted expansion of the U.S. labor market.
With an $8.3 billion reduction in the trade deficit, our exports and Gross Domestic Product have grown 14.8 percent and 3.8 percent respectively. Thanks to the President's tax cuts; we have seen this record job growth, while we continue bringing in record revenues to our nation's treasury. Tax cuts do work.
What we have not seen is the growth coming into West Virginia.
Forbes Magazine recently released their 2007 rankings of states' business climate.
West Virginia dropped to 50th, last in the nation. In 2006, in wake of Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana was able to keep us at 49th. But that state's recovery efforts brought them up out of the basement in 2007, leaving West Virginia in last place once again.
According to the US Chamber of Commerce, West Virginia ranked once again 50th in Legal Climate, landing us #1 once again as a judicial hell-hole for the 2nd year in a row.
You would think with ratings such at these, that our new legislature would go to the statehouse and work to make our state business friendly, bring real civil justice reform, and improve our business climate. They did not.
Because Bob Kiss did not run for re-election in 2006 the House Democrats selected a new Speaker: trial lawyer Rick Thompson of Wayne County. Under Thompson's leadership, we continue to see broken promises by the Democrats during the 2007 Legislative session.
On the campaign trail in 2006, many Democrat legislators claimed that they were pro-life and pledged to support parental notification legislation. But with abortion on demand activist Carrie Webster handed the gavel to the powerful House Judiciary Committee, parental notification never saw the light of day.
In 2006, West Virginia House Democrats argued that they supported the parental notification bill, but were protecting the committee process by failing to discharge it from then House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jon Amores' desk.
Twelve current House Democrats failed on their promise to fight for parental notifications by voting with former Speaker Kiss and Chairman Amores to prevent consideration of parental notification on the House floor last year. "Protect the Committee Process" was their mantra.
The committee process didn't seem as important with 2006 Mine Safety Bill demanded by Governor Manchin in the wake of the Sago tragedy. It passed in 6 hours and completely bypassed the committee process altogether - the same process they were so adamant about protecting when pro-life members were trying to protect the unborn. In 2007, the parental notification bill and all other pro-life bills were pronounced dead on arrival. The "pro-life" Speaker will not stand up to his Judiciary Committee Chairwoman.
In 2006, Democrat Doug Reynolds of Cabell County had promised that he would vote against renewing a temporary gas tax. In 2007, Freshman Delegate Doug Reynolds broke his campaign promise and voted to keep the gasoline tax increase permanent.
Another item on the Democrat agenda was the expansion of gambling in West Virginia to include Las Vegas-style table games at the racetracks.
This arguably unconstitutional vote allowed only four counties to have a voice in what affects the entire state. There are people who live within sight of the Tri-State Greyhound Park in Cross Lanes who were denied the right to decide if they wanted table games in their backyard, because they lived on the wrong side of the Putnam-Kanawha county line. However, people over forty miles away on the Kanawha side Montgomery had a vote.
The residents of the Putnam side of Nitro were let down by their legislators: Delegates Dale Martin and Brady Paxton. Both Democrats both voted for passage of the table games bill and in the process allowed their constituents to be disenfranchised.
The legislature also deemed necessary that our cities and municipalities in West Virginia would be allowed to pass home rule ordinances. A five-year pilot program will soon be in place for five cities. Home Rule will give these cities power to create their own taxes to be imposed on citizens and businesses, the same citizens and businesses that are over taxed as it is..
Nowhere in this legislation was the requirement that citizens within these city limits would have a vote to permit these changes. Officials will soon have the power to impose yet more taxes on working families that already face one of the highest total tax burdens in the nation.
Instead of shifting some of the power to tax to the local level, the Democrats simply are planning on allowing another government hand in your pocket, without reducing your tax burden at the state level.
In a futile attempt to appear to be "pro-business", the Democrats enacted a reduction in the Business Franchise Tax - by a whopping quarter of one percent (.25%). Small businesses nibble on the crumbs handed down by the ruling party, and real tax reform is once again forgotten. With the Democrats running the legislature, we can forget about eliminating regressive business taxes that are in place such those levied on inventory, machinery and equipment.
Other bills that the legislature spent their limited sixty-day session on were: allowing the transportation of roadkill across state lines, building prison nurseries for inmate mothers, and clarifying that fish feces were not sludge.
As another year end draws near, we hold our glasses high and hope that 2008 and the election that it carries will bring the changes we desperately need.
