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.
Guess what kind of people the Democrats want more of? (This is not rocket science.)
And the Democrats would love to do for the nation what they have done for West Virginia so they will do everything in their power to sabotage the economy and prevent an upturn. Because the more losers and parasites there are, the more Democrat voters there are. (No, this is definitely not rocket science.)
The percentage of Republicans elected to both the House and Senate doubled in 2002.
I know for sure. Your hypothesis is complete BS.
The main reasons WV voted for Bush is that: 1) Gore took the state for granted, while Bush visited several times, something unheard of in West Virginia, with only 5 EVs. As a result, Bush got tons and tons of gushing media coverage from local writers and TV reporters who had been pretty much ignored by all presidential candidates since JFK in 1960. 2) Gore was anti-gun in a strongly pro-2A state. 3) Captain Ecology Gore scared the hell out of people whose entire livelihood revolves around coal mining and chemical plants.
In Logan, in southwest WVA it's hard to find a young man between the ages of 18 and 30. They all left the state for school or the army. Plenty of young women on the stoop with a baby drawing food stamps.
In NYC we toured the Fricke museum. Fricke owned coal mines. He gave the money to NY charities and bought ecpensive paintings for his home, now a museum. Great man in NY, raped WVA. The stories of the coal mines and the wealth going out of state, while the companies owned the capitol city, is the real story of WVA.
Same thing happening in California as we speak. CA will just be the hippie version of WV.
You're welcome hon! Call on me when you need me.
Considering how many limousine liberals live here, yes. (You should see the early morning traffic into NYC with morning TV stars getting the first application of makeup in the backs of limos.)
A wealthy state based on income from those who have escaped living in NYC but still work there Not as in the past when textiles, brass, firearms, etc. provided income and employment for the entire state.
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