Big Schools Bad for Students

Ironically I maybe one of the youngest people in West Virginia to go to a one room school house. It was only for kinder garden and shortly after the county closed the school for a modern open class room design that went K trough 8. What I do remember most is everybody knew everybody else, and that is a great learning environment.

Now statistics support my kinder garden experience. Nearly every study ever done says small schools breed better students. Across the state you will usually find the highest average test scores in small schools. When a student is not a number, they have a better learning experience.

The state and county have to achieve a balance between the money they have for schools and the needs of the students. Unfortunately the money has been winning out for years. We have gotten large nondescript buildings that end up being more a place to warehouse kids that to provide them a good learning experience. As we try to compete in the modern global market place we must provide a better place to learn.

We know the solution to provide a better education. That answer is small schools where the students have more one on one interaction with their teachers. Learning problems and special abilities can be identified early. This allows special attention to be given when needed.

The excuse for building large schools has been economies of scale, but we must look beyond that. In many cases increase maintenance may lower cost by keeping our older schools in good shape longer. When it comes to educating our next generation our money should go into best education experience, not the most cost effective building.

The Event of the Year

You’re invited to

The Event of the Year

The 30^th Annual Birthday

Of

Christy Barnett

Saturday November 17^th, 2007, 6:00 PM

At

HC 72 Box 230, New Creek, WV 26743

No Cover Charge

RSVP by Calling (304) 813-5746 or (304) 788-5095

Kicking It Off Right

Last Saturday the Potomac Highlands Republican Club kicked off its existence with an exciting dinner in Romney. The event featured Secretary of State Betty Ireland. Our Secretary of State is easily the most charismatic and energetic member of West Virginia's executive branch and last Saturday she definitely did not disappoint.

Her speech emphasized Republican unity and focus going into the 2008 election year and she presented it in her usual "take no prisoners" style. Ireland always challenges state Republicans to do more to support candidates as well as the party organization. Additionally she endorsed the idea of regional clubs such as the PHRC as models for the future. Ireland had strong praise for club president Christy Barnett's organizational skills and energy.

Senator Dave Sypolt handled the master of ceremonies duties with his usual grace and good humor. Apart from Ireland, he also was able to introduce GOP strategist Gary Abernathy who gave the assembled guests an update on the state presidential nominating convention. Following Abernathy's explanation of the convention process, Sypolt presented three presidential candidate representatives. Tom O' Neil described the ideas of Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney while Senator Vic Sprouse endorsed former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Finally Abernathy explained the virtues of former United States Senator Fred Thompson.

Senator Clark Barnes gave the final talk of the night. The feisty Barnes opened fire on critics of the administration of George W. Bush, reminding the guests of the president's many successes over the past seven years.

This dinner served as a key event to introduce the public to the PHRC. The club's most important goal lies in strengthening Republican involvement even in off years. Supporting candidates also remains an important function. Secretary Ireland emphasized the benefits of an organization that crosses county boundaries. Such a group can better assist those candidates who seek to represent multiple counties.

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The club wished to thank those who helped to sponsor the event: Bob Adams, candidate for governor; Gary Howell, candidate for state senate, Chris Wakim, the Grant County Republican Executive Committee, and two unnamed Democrats who decided to support the conservative values many of us share regardless of party. Of course one of the main themes of the night could be expressed in two words.

BEAT HILLARY!

Free Markets Work!

Recently, Del Nancy Guthrie (D-Kanawha) has made a few comments regarding her views on free market policies. She is under the misconception that free market policies do not work. She is wrong; the free market is working nationally, but their benefits come to a screeching halt at the West Virginia border.

She says that wages are down, we are losing the manufacturing industry, we in violation of the US Constitution’s Commerce Clause, and that we need more government intervention in order to fix this “crisis”. She is wrong on all four counts.

In fact, according to the National Bureau for Labor and Statistics, “More Than 8.1 Million Jobs Created Since August 2003 In Longest Continuous Months Of Job Growth On Record”.
They went on to say, “110,000 jobs created in September. 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” and thanks to 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.

And as far as the Commerce Clause in the U.S. Constitution and the rights of government to regulate International Commerce, it does that already through the Department of Commerce and the International Trade Administration. Their roles are to improve economic conditions, promote growth and trade with foreign states. The government further regulates trade by imposing customs, import/export taxes. The federal government also sets quotas. It states the amount of trade that is permissible with other countries.The only crisis here is that we are not seeing this growth within the boarders of the Mountain State .

The changes needed for West Virginia to become a thriving and prosperous state, begin with our legislature. Our businesses need a free-market environment in order to thrive; unfortunately, I do not think that a legislature where Delegate Guthrie’s point of view prevails will enact the prescribed reform.

The reason that we are losing the manufacturing base in our state is because of the poor business climate - just ask the owners of Weirton Steel and Fenton Glass. When you add the costs of regressive taxes and the worst legal climate of the 50 states, businesses simply smother and close their doors resulting more lost jobs.How are businesses expected to have capital to invest to improve their facilities, add more jobs, and raise wages if they are taxed so heavily on profit, on their inventory, and on the machinery and equipment which are necessities in order to make their product?

More taxes are not needed, instead we need a repeal of the Business and Occupational Tax, a repeal in the Business and Franchise Tax, and a repeal in taxes on inventory, machinery, and equipment.

In addition to our atrocious tax policies, our legal climate leaves much to be desired for in regards to attracting any form of business.

How do you expect a business to come to WV and invest when they know the vulnerabilities that await them the first day they open the door? Businesses simply do not trust our judicial system to be fair and balanced.

Our pro-plaintiff judicial system drives up the cost of liability and workers’ compensation insurance. Both high priced liabilities reduce our wages, and they threaten the survival of our employers.

We do not need more government “protectionism” advocated by Delegate Guthrie. We need to abolish Joint and Several liability to replace it with straight liability. The only people that should be forced to pay for damages done are those that are directly responsible for the actions that harm the victim.

We also need to eliminate lawsuits that can be filed without proof of injury. Anyone can enter into a place of business and file a lawsuit of injury without any proof that an actual injury occurred. This has turned our legal system into a lottery.

We have to stop taking baby steps to improve our business climate, and rather take leaps and bounds to attract business, create jobs, and allow current companies to grow creating even more jobs.

The government managed economy advocated by Del Guthrie and her colleagues in the ruling party has failed us for the past seventy-four years. We will never feel the effects of free markets in West Virginia until our government ceases to over regulate and over tax our people. The only alternative to the free markets is government control, which failed in Eastern Europe, and has failed West Virginia .

I'd like to thank President Eisenhower!

I recently completed a business trip to Nevada for the annual SEMA trade show. That is the largest trade show in the world and it just happens to be in the industry that I am in. Unlike most people that flew to the trade show, I chose to drive.

Yes you read that right. I drove from Keyser, WV to Las Vegas, NV. 2300 miles out in 35 hours, and 2300 miles back in 36 hours. We switch off drivers and drive non-stop. That would not have been possible just 40 years ago.

In 1919 a then Lt. Eisenhower was involved in a military experiment. A convoy left Washington, DC in route to San Fransisco, CA. It took over 2 months to drive across the nation. The roads were horrible. An excellent book American Road by Pete Davies chronicles the trip. I highly recommend reading it. Today you can drive that same trip in 48 hours by switching drivers.

In 1945 then General Eisenhower saw the Autobahns in Germany and how easily it was to move transport. The combination of those events in Eisenhower's life led to him signing the Defense Highways Act in 1956, which created the Interstate Highway System we enjoy today.

While we complain about the road construction, we have one of the best highway systems in the world. Sometimes we tend to take that for granted. During my trip of close to 5,000 miles I encountered very few problems. On they way back Interstate 44 through Oklahoma City was probably the worse piece of road. West Virginia actually had some of the best sections of Interstate.

It is easy to see that roads are essential to commerce when you drive the nations interstate system. At night across Kansas and Colorado on the way out, and across New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma the road became almost the exclusive domain of heavy trucks. While the travelers mostly stop at night, commerce keeps right on rolling.

The Interstate system lead to the huge growth in the US Economy since World War II, and for the most part that system is working well. In West Virginia we face a crisis in roads and we need to solve the problem. As we go deeper into the 21st Century we will need to look at new ways of funding our highway system. We need make sure the WVDOH is properly funded, but we must also make sure they are spending funds wisely.

Presidential Prerogatives

Secrecy versus the right to know has grown into an important debate in terms of the restriction of presidential papers.

During the Watergate hangover years, lawmakers sought to reduce the aura of secrecy that existed around presidential papers. After Richard Nixon's administration, zealously guarded secrecy was seen as a catalyst for presidential misdeeds. Perhaps if presidential communications saw more scrutiny, they might themselves act in a more transparent manner. Additionally historians rejoiced in the idea that they could access crucial records more quickly.

The last two presidents have come under fire for restricting access to their papers. The New York Times recently blasted President Bush for adhering to a family "mania for secrecy." Five years ago he wrote an executive order placing many of his personal papers under restriction for the immediate future. During recent Democratic debates, Hillary Clinton's competition of stuffed shirts blasted her refusal to release her personal correspondence between herself and her husband. Historians despise both measures because they want access to these documents as soon as possible.

Historians may be hurting their own efforts. Our record of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia was locked up for fifty years so that the participants could speak freely. What if they believed their thoughts would appear in print within a few years? This would alter what was communicated and written down. Future historians will not have those rare finds of politicians actually communicating their real unguarded thoughts. Because Franklin D. Roosevelt did not trust that his papers would remain inviolate, he communicated everything through speaking. We rarely have any idea what was really on his mind at any given point.

Additionally personal papers, especially those between a husband and wife regardless of position, are personal. Hillary Clinton and her husband wrote things to each other on important issues that I personally would be interested in seeing. However these are personal communications and so long as no criminal investigation exists, these papers ought to remain private for the time being. They especially ought not be fodder during a presidential campaign.

George W. Bush's communications come during wartime, something that liberals and the media seem to haver perpetual ammnesia about. They reflect strategies and ideas that could help our enemies if released, even after his term is over. Again, this is a situation where historians want to write their books and political folks want mud to smear.

Bush and Clinton both deserve the right in the short term to limit access to their personal papers so long as there is an eventual date that everything end up in the public eye. It may be years, it may be decades, but that is the price we pay so that these people can feel free to record their thoughts.

Holding Taxes Down

It seems that politicians always want to raise taxes. The reason is they like to spend money. It is easy to spend money when it is not your own. What we need are laws to control spending for those politicians that forget they should take greater care when spending other peoples money.

The way to do it is to limit revenue. If government gets an increase in revenue, they just spend it. In Mineral County personal property taxes have increased substantially, and the government just spent it all.

I would suggest that any budget increases within the county be limited to the previous years budget plus inflation and population change. The government doesn't need to grow any faster than inflation. This limits government to its current size. Allowing for increases based on population also is reasonable. Any increase in population will require an increase in services, but not an increase that is greater than the growth rate.

Now if the government receives more money than the increase from inflation or population allows, then government will be required to give that money back to the tax payer in the form of refunds. After all it is our money they are taking, they should be giving the access back.

This has worked in other states and should work here to control out of control tax increases and government expansion. It is only common sense to not take to much from the taxpayer.

Septimus Severus

The 100s AD were a good time to be a Roman (unless you were a Christian.) For most people in that empire, times were good. Rome enforced peace with liberty throughout its realm. Prosperity reigned everywhere because the government did not exercise large amounts of influence in the economy relative to other societies at the time. Roman citizens often did not suffer from a heavy tax burden but had the freedom to make economic choices. From the 100s BC until almost 200 AD, Rome enjoyed a society where class distinctions did not inhibit the material movement of most citizens.

It is true that Rome did lose its republican government in the century before the birth of Christ, removing the right of the people to choose the government. For most of the first century AD Rome's political leadership ruled in turmoil. Only in the 100s did this stablilize. Despite these problems, the economic freedom of Romans continued.

Economic freedom is vital to the strength and resilience of the economy. People must enjoy the freedom to make choices with their money. When the government restricts these freedoms through taxation or burdensome regulation, it reduces the dynamic nature of the system. Emperor Septimus Severus in the late 100s and early 200s AD chose to drastically reduce Roman economic freedoms. He raises taxes considerably and passed restrictive laws. Just as the modern United States, Rome constructed public works and maintained a welfare state. Often these issues went beyond practical necessity and became political debates. Septimus Severus passed laws enforcing an idea that those in the lower class must stay in their status, restricting their opportunities to better themselves.

Modern America faces these same problems. Hillary Clinton and Congressional Democrats make a political issue out of President Bush refusing to let the government pay for middle class children to have health insurance. Not poor as the local and national media insist, but middle class! Poor children already receive insurance coverage. Only through much higher taxes will an initiative such as this become law. Local liberals want to pass laws that will increase the power of the government to harass and dispossess people of property if some other individual for whatever reason shows disapproval over how it looks.

Lower taxes and sound protections for property are two major pillars of a dynamic economy. Liberals around the country fear an economy left to its own devices and seek to introduce restrictive planning. As in 200s AD Rome or the Soviet Union, excessive planning only ensures that the poor stay poor.

How did Rome fare after Septimus Severus? For the next hundred years it experienced economic decline and political turmoil. Emperors rose and fell, trade dropped, and the stage was set for even more restrictions on liberty and the final fall of Rome. Citizens lost their faith in their country because opportunity declined. In Rome at its height and the United States today, any citizen enjoyed the opportunity to better themselves provided they were willing to work and make good choices. We need to band together to make sure we do not elect our own Septimus Severus Clinton in 2008.

Potomac Highlands Funding Presidential Candidates

The following information is from official public records of the Federal Election Commission


Democrats

• Hillary Clinton has received contributions from the following persons in the Potomac Highlands

• Amy Carpenter, Romney Employer: American Woodmark Contribution: $75
• Kermit Garrettson, Keyser Employer: Keyser Inn Contribution: $350
• Robin Dolly, Moorefield Employer: Mountain Medical Contribution: $1000
• Joanne Webster, Mathias Employer: Information Requested Contribution: $500
• Victor Wulf, Baker Employer: Retired Contribution: $250

• John Edwards has received contributions from the following persons in the Potomac Highlands
• Robert Mayhew, Romney Employer: Information Requested Contribution $2300
• Barack Obama has received contributions from the following persons in the Potomac Highlands
• Robert Erber, Baker Employer: Information Requested Contribution $200
  

• Bill Richardson has received contributions from the following persons in the Potomac Highlands
• Robert Alcock, Lost City Employer: Lost River Woodworking Contribution $250

Republicans

• Mitt Romney has received contributions from the following persons in the Potomac Highlands
• Jeffery Hott, Franklin Employer: Hott's AG Service Contribution $350
• Edith Shankle, Bloomery Employer: Retired Contribution $1250
• Fred Dalton Thompson has received contributions from the following persons in the Potomac Highlands
• David Maher, Milham Employer: Self-Employed Contribution $250
• John McCain has received contributions from the following persons in the Potomac Highlands
• Carl Smith, Moorefield Employer: Retired Contribution $300
• Ron Paul has received contributions from the following persons in the Potomac Highlands
• Jack Mullen, Keyser Employer: Starcast South Contribution $800
• James Landis, Peterburg Employer: Conquest Publishing Contribution $1000
• James Gillmore has received contributions from the following persons in the Potomac Highlands
• David Bookman, Romney Employer: Retired Contribution $500

All records are public and on file at the Federal Election Commission

Thank You Secretary of State

I recently converted to a new type of business. I must say that I was thoroughly impressed with how easy and FAST the entire process was. I have my new certificates in hand in under 5 business days. I was notified via email of each approval from the various departments involved. The website was fairly simple to navigate and use. Overall, I was very impressed...I guess we are Open For Business!!!



For more information on business registration visit http://www.business4wv.com/

Drought Response: Are we ready?

Prior to the recent rains the Potomac Highlands had been heading for a drought according to NOAA. The graphic explains how bad it was beginning to get here.

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue has been on TV asking the Federal Government to stop the release of water from Federal dams and reservoirs . It seems that even though the area is in an extreme drought the government is releasing water faster than it is flowing into the dams. The reason is Department of Natural Resources and US Fish and Wildlife is still maintaining flow rates based on requirements for wildlife instead of people.

At what point do the people begin to be more important than the wildlife? The Potomac Highlands is in a drought right now. Ours has not been as long as the one in Georgia, but according to NOAA the short term is bad.

The state should have a mechanism in place that says to our DNR, when water resources become critical the people take priority.

Potomac Highlands Republican Dinner

The Potomac Highlands Republican Club is hosting a dinner in Romney on Saturday November 3rd at 6 PM at the old Bottling Works.

Secretary of State Betty Ireland will be the keynote speaker and Senator Dave Sypolt will host the event. Senator Clark Barnes and GOP strategist Gary Abernathy will also speak on Republican issues. Guests include elected and party leaders from across the region and the state. Representatives from the office of Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito and the major presidential campaigns will be on hand.

All are invited regardless of party to share in a good time and to meet state leaders. Tickets are $25. Please contact Christy Barnett at 304-790-0522 or Stephen Smoot at 304-788-1573 or smoot.stephen@gmail.com

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The dinner kicks off the creation of the Potomac Highlands Republican Club. This new organization will try and mobilize Republicans in Pendleton, Grant, Hardy, Hampshire, and Mineral counties. The club's goals are to strengthen the party and support candidates. Many voters care about certain issues but do not get involved for a variety of reasons. The club wants to involve everyone who has an interest whether they can help out for a few hours per week or a few hours per month. Vast potential exists in the growing Potomac Highlands to become a key part of Republican success in West Virginia.

Some Presidential Candidates may not be legal Candidates in WV

Presidential Candidates must be registered as members of the party that nominate them according the West Virginia state code. Since the code was amended in 1991 it has not been enforced. This means that presidential candidates George Bush Sr, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and H. Ross Perot were all illegally placed on the ballot.

Secretary of State Betty Ireland believes that the law is unconstitutional, but has no choice but to enforce it until it is declared unconstitutional. The Mountain Party of West Virginia plans to challenge the law in the courts.

If the law is not found unconstitutional, then some presidential candidates names may not appear on the ballot in May. This could include Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee, and others.

Shush!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last week the Mineral County Republican Executive Committee voted on a resolution. Very rarely does this body make a specific statement on county policy. However it did encourage the Mineral County Commission "to oppose any additional requirements placed on building construction in Mineral County." This included additional fees and regulations above and beyond the state code.

They did not sacrifice a cat on the courthouse lawn, or anything similarly outrageous but you would not have believed it by the response of the county commissioners. Janice LaRue responded responsibly by saying she would look out for the good of the county rather than simply one political party. Fair enough.

However Cindy Pyles registered her extreme disappointment over the resolution and aimed her comments at two Republicans in particular. "I am really very disappointed in Bob Harman's signature, as a former commissioner," she said. Pyles then named who she thought was the true malefactor of this horrific deed when she stated, "This has the hand writing of Gary Howell all over it."

Horror of horrors and right before Halloween at that! Imagine the gall of Gary Howell, Bob Harman, or the Republican Executive Committee expressing an opinion! It must have been so disappointing for Cindy Pyles to hear a Republican organization expressing its own party's principles of less government and less financial burdens on citizens.

The problem with liberals is that they often see their views as the truth. They feel that if a person just uses their faculties of reason, that they will also arrive at the same conclusions. No room exists for rational disagreement in this world view. If a conservative disagrees they are either uninterested in progressive government, or selfish, or stupid. There is no thought that a conservative could have a valid and reasonable objection.

Conservatives have principles based on reason, logic, and American tradition. They should not let the disappointment of liberal county commissioners dissuade them from speaking their minds on what is right.

WV Slogan

Governor Manchin's slogan of "Open for Business" has proven immensely unpopular. I'll admit that it is a little goofy, but There is now a site to vote on the new slogan. I had noticed that "Open for Business" never made it onto the license plates of West Virginians, so I guess it is not going to make it. The choices offered are

Almost Heaven

The Mountain State

Wild, Wonderful

http://www.wva.state.wv.us/wv_slogan/default.aspx

The questions that I have is this, how much is all the moving and shaking of the signage/ slogan changing going to cost the people of WV? And, is it worth the effort?

WVGOP Convention Format Favors.......Ron Paul?

Much has been written (much less has been understood) about the West Virginia GOP's new convention format for selecting at-large national convention delegates. I won't try to explain the entire process right now, but basically each county (based upon a formula) is allocated a certain number of delegates to the state convention. Those delegates to the state convention, in turn, will meet in Charleston on Tuesday, February 5, 2008 to cast votes for one of the 10 Republican candidates that have elected to participate. The winning campaign will then name 18 individuals to serve as West Virginia's at-large delegates to the Republican National Convention.

For purposes of this post, the important thing to understand about the state convention is that victory will go to the candidate best able to mobilize and turnout its supporters. Fund raising doesn't matter. National polls matter even less.

The winning candidate will identify the number of "public" delegates available to each county, and will find (through e-mail lists, coalition groups, or other networks) enough people to fill those slots. There will likely only be a handful of counties where there are competitive elections in the races for Delegate to the State Convention; in most of the counties, anyone who files to be a delegate will likely be a delegate. In that scenario, whichever campaign recruits delegates to file for the state convention can just rack up those votes. The very serious campaigns will even consider paying the $25 filing fee for their people to run.

In addition, I suspect that most counties will end up forgoing the county caucus process and select county "public" delegates strictly online. In this way, the Ron Paul campaign may have an advantage. It is becoming a recurring storyline through the campaign how Ron Paul is a phenomenon on the Internet; he has a network of very dedicated followers who flood message boards and online polls. If he has enough people in the state to put up some delegates (which is a monumental "if"), I would suspect that he also has enough people to show a significant online presence for purposes of voting.

I have a feeling that we'll have a good idea who will be the winner of this convention on November 30. That's the last date to register to run for delegate, and its the last day to register to vote online. In counties where there is no county caucus (which will likely be most counties), that's the end of the game.

We might just see that this new experiment has provided a golden opportunity for a dark horse.

Brickstreet needs Repaving

One of the main things, and one of the things we can actually fix, keeping businesses from locating in West Virginia is our high workers comp rates. Let's face it when you choose a place to locate your business you go to the place with the lowest prices.

I can look out the window across the river into Maryland, and about 2000 feet away is substantially lower workers comp rate for my business. However I believe in keeping everything in my home state, so I stay, even at a competitive disadvantage.

Now July 1, 2008 Brickstreet will no longer be the only game in town, but their is an issue tied to that. I will get to that in a minute. Right now Brickstreet is a government created monopoly, and most businesses in West Virginia have been receiving increasing rates from Brickstreet. We have no choice, but to pay them or cease operations. It is nothing more than government sponsored extortion.

What upsets most of us business owners is the fact that Brickstreet is advertising. Why? Nobody can compete with them by law. Why do you need to advertise when you're the only game in town by law? That is just wasting money of the owners of Brickstreet and hurting its clients. We pay higher rates to cover needless advertising!

Now on July 1st, 2008 other companies are allowed to offer workers comp insurance, but their is a catch. The competitors are only allowed to price 5% lower than Brickstreet. This is nothing more than price supports for insurance.

Price supports do nothing more than cost consumers more money. Only the Free Market gives the consumer the best price. These price supports are nothing more than corporate welfare for Brickstreet. They will keep wages lower in West Virginia, because if they company has to pay more for insurance, then that is less they can pay the employee.

We must open up Workers Comp up to real competition in the state, so that we can all benefit and not just the fat cats running Brickstreet.

Commissioner's Report

One of our County Commissioners, Cindy Pyles, spoke to the Lion's Club about the various goings on in the County on Thursday, October 18, 2007. A lot seems to be happening, but two specific items troubled me and I am hoping to get some clarification.

Keyser Fire Department - When I moved to Keyser in April 2006, I knew precious little about the new bridge, except that it would take out the fire department and the building that housed the business I had just purchased. I assumed, wrongly, that the new fire hall near Airport Addition was to be the "new" home of the Keyser VFD. Apparently that is not the case as the Keyser VFD will be relocated to a new facility somewhere. I came from a town about 5x the size of Keyser that had 1 fire hall and a superb paid fire department. I was confused as to why Keyser needs two separate stations 1 mile apart? Several county fire departments are rated better than Keyser for insurance purposes (New Creek and Fountain as two examples). That means that your insurance in Keyser is rated higher than if you had the same house in the New Creek District or Fountain District. Confused as to why the fire department would use their resources to fund two separate houses I asked a fellow Lion why this was. The explanation was that the City owned the building downtown, but the fire department owns the one up by airport...? I don't get it, so I probed, if my house in Airport Addition (Keyser City Limits) catches fire...who comes to put it out? Well, apparently both fire houses would respond??? They are approximately 1 mile apart. The volunteers at one likely pass the other fire hall to get suited up and on the truck then backtrack to my house. Why don't we go to one fire hall, use the excess funds to pay a full time staff member or two, boost the fire department rating, and save everyone some insurance money? Keep in mind I am paid as an insurance agent a percentage of the cost of your policy, so this plan would result in a pay cut for me. But I feel that it makes sense. Can anyone better explain the need for two fire halls.

Second, talk turned to the 911 response center. I was still trying to get answers on the fire department, so I may have missed something, but it seems that the 911 center is being built up by Keyser High School. Commissioner Pyles was asked if this is being built on a cemetery. It was the one time I saw her transform into a politician and "To the best of her knowledge the only cemetery was down the road and not the site for the 911 center". I smiled. Then the question became, who owns that land. Obviously, the county, right...wrong! The response indicated that the county is building a county services building on land that they do not own and are not intending to acquire. huh? I am sure that with a 99 year lease and some other legal provisions this could make perfect sense. A lease would not require a capital investment for the purchase of land, it could save up front costs, it could be the difference in the need for a levy (tax) or a bond issue, if the county has enough to build a building but not to acquire land and build a building. It could be a lease with a purchase option to delay the need for purchase capital. A whole slew of possibilities, but no one pursued this, no answer came, and I did not feel the need to pursue the question. It could be the only way to locate near the school which likely already has the infrastructure needs to support a call center. Here's to hoping that the commission has done their due diligence before selecting this spot.

Overall, I will say that I was impressed by my first meeting with Cindy Pyles. She was knowledgeable about all of the projects going on, she held the attention of the room, was political when needed, and (despite a lack of sleep and teaching young minds during the day) seemed to be genuinely interested in the projects that were going on.

God Bless.

Ted Kennedy to Introduce Legislation Condemning Italy

Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy's spokesperson announced this morning that he will introduce legislation condemning Italy for an act of genocide in its past.

In the mid 100s AD, the Roman Republic launched an aggressive war against the militarily vulnerable city-state of Carthage. Its armies marched into the city, destroyed every building, murdered every civilian, and even sowed salt into the surrounding fields so nothing would grow in them. Rome's brutality marked the largest single massacre of a civilian population until World War II. Neither the Roman Republic, nor its successor the Roman Empire, nor the current Republic of Italy have acknowledged or apologized for this act of brutality. Kennedy said that it is time to redress the wrongs of history. Italy can start with an apology to the current government of Tunisia, then negotiate reparations.

Obviously this is a sham article, but it is not too far off the mark from a real issue. Democrats in Congress have proposed a statement of condemnation against the current Republic of Turkey for atrocities committed by the Ottoman Empire. Turkey rightly refuses to apologize for the actions of another government. President Bush would rather Congress not antagonize one of our few real Muslim allies that is also a long standing democracy.

This becomes a slippery slope. In all honesty we would have to condemn the United Kingdom for their Boer War concentration camps, France for some of their colonial practices, and many others. Condemnations and apologies for historical events make little sense. The current generation does not own the guilt of acts committed before they were even born. Yes this counts Japan and Germany as well. Our sense of justice is supposed to be individual. People commit crimes and need punishment; nations are not culpable to the end of time just because their history has some stain.

The proposed resolution against Turkey is tantamount to forcing an individual to apologize for the crimes of their great-grandfather. There is no point to it, nor fairness in it.

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Add this to the file of "if they had a gun, they would have been fine." In Great Britain, a family was attacked and beaten because they put details of their son's 16th birthday party on YouTube. Over 100 uninvited guests showed up at the residence and demanded entry. They attacked the father and beat everyone else while stealing food and champagne.

A shotgun full of rock salt or wood splinters would have dispersed that mob right away. It would not even happen in West Virginia.

The Fed, good or bad?

Even with a Finance degree I am just starting to learn about the monetary system in our country. Here are a couple of articles that I will be reading. The question I find fascinating is this: Congress is given the power to print, i.e. "create" money. However this is actually being performed by the Federal Reserve Bank (and I thought they just played with my interest rates...). So, instead of printing our own money, the government is outsourcing this task to the Fed, then selling bonds (think of this as getting a loan) from the same bank. That's all well and good, but those bonds (loans) come with interest. Who pays the interest accumulated? You and I pay it in the form of taxes. Some of what I read indicates that this is as much as 40% of your income taxes going to pay interest on these "loans".

Quick summary, the government needs money so it borrows money from the federal reserve that will be paid back with interest. The federal reserve then asks the government to print the money that they need to loan to the government. Then the Fed charges interest to the government which is paid by your tax dollar.

Wouldn't it be better to simply tell congress to print their own money and stop outsourcing this job for an interest based charge? If you were taught like I was, you were taught that this was done to avoid a conflict of interest on the part of a politician leading he/she to print a bunch of money shortly before election day. Everyone is happy in November, then the country faces huge inflation. Although this isn't much different from the Fed creating a bunch of money on behalf of that politician it does take the accountability off of the Fed and pass the interest on to some of our countries wealthiest families. Afterall, who do you think owns America's banks.

Two possible solutions, First, the Fed should charge a one time fee for its money printing services each year. The job should be left out to bid and awarded to the best company for the job. I am fully aware that this company will make money and they most likely won't be the lowest bidder, it is politics after all. Then again, it would be easy for Americans to find out that they were paying billions if not trillions each year for a private company to decide how much money we should print this year. Keep in mind that the actual printing is done by the government, the Fed is just getting paid for saying how much to print and what interest rate they will charge for that determination. That is the kind of clarity we need from our government right now.

Possible Second solution, get rid of the system. Congress, print your own money and face the people every two or six years if you screw this up! Don't whine that it is too touchy for elected officials to be involved with, so are tax increases, public health care, national defense, and a host of other topics but our elected officials seem to manage to get involved in those areas...what's one more? Roll up your sleeves and earn that lifelong paycheck.

This whole issue is just complex enough to ward off most nosy taxpayers that would question the system. Combine this with the fact that the Federal Reserve Bank, The IRS, and the income tax were founded in the same year, things are a little fishy. Tack on the fact that purchasing the bonds created in the system provides a tax incentive (perhaps a nice word for bribe) to investors who might question the system and we have all the makings of a nice conspiracy. I look forward to reading more about this topic. I hope it turns out to be the best possible solution to the difficult job of determining monetary policy, but it is our job to constantly question those that serve as our representatives and even those that they partner with. I have a few links to articles that I will be reading below. God Bless

http://www.maxexchange.com/ybj/chapter2.htm

http://www.justiceplus.org/bankers.htm

http://www.scribd.com/doc/63639/The-Federal-Reserve-is-Privately-Owned-by-Thomas-D-Schauf

http://batr.org/markets/federalreserve.html

http://www.reformation.org/federal-reserve.html

http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul53.html

http://www.bigeye.com/griffin.htm

http://www.maxexchange.com/ybj/chapter18.htm