Through the WV Looking Glass

As if these times weren't trippy enough, I decided to listen to Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass. Although taken as a whole it didn't seem to hang together as tightly as Alice in Wonderland, it does contain some of my favorites from the master of trippiness, including The Jabberwocky, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the walrus and the carpenter and such.

A little trippiness these days may be necessary in order to follow West Virginia politics, from the impeachment hearings about the WV Supreme Court mess to state senate president Mitch Carmichael's bizarre twitter storm accusing WV teachers of supporting an "Obama-styled socialist agenda. "

Among the items on this alleged pinko agenda were universal health care, child care for working parents and debt-free higher education. More than one commentator has pointed out that Carmichael himself was leading the charge on a free community college bill earlier this year.

I'm not sure what Carmichael was thinking since he didn't gain a whole lot of popularity points during the WV teachers' strike--and then had the gumption to claim credit for the pay raise he tried to squelch.

My friend and twitter warrior Sean O'Leary had this to say about that,

"Just woke up from a terrifying nightmare where all West Virginians had health insurance, could go to college without going into debt, and all children had quality childcare while their parents worked."

All told, things are pretty brillig here and the slithy toves are gyring and gimbling in the wabe.

And this little piggy had roast beef...

Not to name names but Delegates Fast, Higginbotham, Foster, McGeehan, Kessinger, Westfall, Martin, Ambler, Butler, Queen, and Sypolt were the proud sponsors of House Bill 4001 the bill that limits West Virginians’ access to food benefits provided by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). 

These delegates must believe that not only does taking food away from people help them secure good-paying jobs, but that daily SNAP benefits are too generous.  And like all WV legislators, these Delegates are eligible for a per diem of $131 per day while the legislature is in regular session. 

So out of idle curiosity, how about we contrast their generous legislative per diem with the paltry SNAP benefits by issuing them the #WVSNAPCHALLENGE?

By taking this challenge, these delegates will see if they are able to make their $131 per diem stretch for an entire month (since the average monthly SNAP benefits are $126).  If they think people receiving SNAP are living too high on the hog, maybe they should challenge themselves to survive one month spending $4.20 a day on food. 

Just sayin'.

And while we are talking SNAP (still), hop on the bus to DC to Save SNAP! on July 10th.

It's still on

I hate to say it but it's still on. If you live in WV and care about things like schools, teachers, school service personnel, parks, higher education and such now and for years to come, please let your legislators know about it. Here's a quick link to help you do just that. It helps if you personalize your message.

Time is running out on avoiding a state shutdown, which could affect health, public safety, education, and basic services. We need a fair and simple solution to the budget woes, and one that won't come back to haunt us in the years to come.

Believe me, I'm as tired of all this as anyone is and want the mess to be over, but over in a way we can live with.