Posted on 07/18/2003 6:47:08 AM PDT by samanella
Don Surber July 11 2003 When Democrats win, W.Va. loses In just 15 words, Jay Rockefeller explained it all
In 15 words, Jay Rockefeller explained the failure of 70 years of Democratic stewardship of the state. He was railing against a Republican plan for health insurance. But the truth spilled all over his argument.
"Private companies don't come to West Virginia. They know they can't make any money here," he told an audience on Monday.
He had eight years as governor and has had 19 years in the U.S. Senate to fix that.
Union-friendly labor laws and courts that cater to trial lawyers chased away most capitalists.
Those who stay are punished for their bravery. Weirton Steel is listed in bankruptcy court, not the New York Stock Exchange.
The state might as well join its fourth-largest employer in bankruptcy court. Democrats racked up billions in unfunded liability by making promises they cannot keep in workers' comp.
West Virginia has many dangerous jobs. But eight other states have higher rates of work-related deaths. Their workers' comp programs are not bankrupt.
Those states attract insurance companies to handle their workers' comp. Ours is run by Justices Joe Albright, Warren McGraw and Larry Starcher.
Instead of seeking capitalism, Democrats roll out the pork barrel polka.
All pork does is get the politicians re-elected. We have elected only three U.S. senators in the last 45 years.
When Bob Byrd and Jennings Randolph joined the Senate in 1959, West Virginia was 39th in income.
Thirty years later, the state was 49th.
West Virginians traded their birthright for soup and beans. We replaced democracy with political fealty.
Serf West Virginia. The House of Mollohan controls the northern congressional seat. The House of Gainer controls the auditor's office. The House of Manchin controls the secretary of state's office and hence, elections.
The House of Staggers lost its congressional seat to population loss, not an angry electorate, as our delegation shrank from four seats to three in 1992.
Ah yes, the population loss.
Democratic Party policies led to an exodus of biblical proportion.
The economic colander drains away young taxpayers, leaving behind the old and the infirm for the rest of us to tend.
Civic boosters try to gloss over the pain of poverty. They erroneously claim the state has the lowest crime rate.
That title belongs to North Dakota. Sixteen states have a lower violent crime rate.
West Virginia appears to be safe because its property crime rate is third-lowest. That is not a sign of virtue. Democrats left little worth stealing.
The cost of housing is a cruel illusion. Sure, houses can be had cheap.
But the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight reported that since 1980, the value of houses in West Virginia rose a mere 92 percent. That is half the national average.
The difference in appreciation means homeowners pay dearly when they sell -- if they can find a buyer.
Cheap housing is part of the myth of a lower cost of living.
When I bought my new Mustang, I did not get a West Virginia discount. Ditto my computer, my TV and my furniture.
This may explain why we lag behind the nation in using computers. Let us not confuse a lower standard of living with a lower cost of living.
The final myth is that, well, we have a less stressful lifestyle than those city slickers. If so, why is our rate for heart disease so high?
We have the highest mortality rate in the land. Poverty is killing us.
Political freedom leads to economic freedom. Under Democrats, West Virginians have neither.
Gov. "Studmuffin" Wise, the entire Supreme Court, most circuit judges and a good part of the Legislature are puppets of the trial lawyers. Here's the alternative to a high-tax, govern-by-soundbite governor.
But I have some serious issues with how Mountaineers vote. I'd charactarize the behavior as the Populism of Resentment. This is how the people of WV have been exploited--by their own attempts to exploit. And they're too contrary to give up the habit!!
(g)
Have you also visited upstream to the headwaters? That's the stomping ground of my ancestors, Euro and Indian.
Drive carefully in WV. They're shutting down and crippling the ERs--losing trauma teams.
Don't forget Vermont. Loony Dean's legacy is that he has turned Vermont into a welfare state.
So do I. I moved back here for a number of reasons but it's a lovely spot.
The near-reverence for Byrd here really torques my gut, though. People actually think he's a respected national figure rather than a contemptible bad joke.
What's the Mississippi stae motto? Thank God for West Virginia
Hey, I know some IT elites in Texas that are always quoting Senator Sheets against Prz Bush. So he deludes a lot of folks...
The people are ready for a change. Several Republicans are running for the gubernatorial nomination (I've already indicated my choice), and the GOP party is actively seeking candidates for the Legislature in 2004. There's room for hope!
Byrd is addled by dementia; his anointed successor (whenever he pegs off) is likely Alan Mollohan. A friend of FR, Jay Wolfe, may run for Congress against Mollohan.
If it didn't sound literally true, it isn't. It's a joke based upon a stereotype.
It's also not literally true that the crime rate is so low here because any potential robber of a liquor store is related to the cashier.
It's also not literally true that "This here's mah sister-cousin-wife Mary Lou" is a common introduction.
Front porches have been known to collapse here without killing even one blue-tick hound.
To my own knowledge, we can't all give skin grafts that take permanently.
We can't all count to twelve without taking our shoes off because of the 6-fingered hands.
I could go on, but you get the idea. It was a joke.
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