How to kill a deal

I have  good friend from southern West Virginia who used to say that when politicians wanted to kill a bill they didn't like they wouldn't come right out against it. Instead they'd love it to death. I think that's just what we've witnessed in the senate finance committee, where Republican leaders pretended to care so much about public employees that they derailed a bill that would easily have reopened schools across the state.

These guys could have done the right thing and made all this go away the easy way. Anything can happen (obviously!) but it looks like we're going to do it the hard way. The level of cynicism is pretty hard to fathom. I'm guessing it would take some deep drilling to get to the bottom of it, but that shouldn't be a problem since they're in the pocket of the gas industry.

I'm almost kinda sorta starting to get mad.

My last word for now is a positive one-major shout out to WV's school superintendents, who have been real heroes in all this.

Easy action alert to protect WV

If you live in WV and want to do a good deed for the day, here's your chance. Call Gov. Jim Justice's office at 304-558-2000 and tell whoever answers that you want the governor to veto the bad budget passed by the legislature and fight for one good for WV kids, families and seniors. Don't forget to thank him for his work on this so far.

Also, if you're around Charleston, which I won't be, show up to support a decent budget tomorrow (Thursday, April 13) at 2:00 in the lower rotunda of the capitol. The governor is expected to make an important announcement about the budget at that time.

You can read more here,

Smoke and mirrors

One of the many bad ideas under consideration at the WV legislature is a bill that would replace WV's income tax with a tax on consumption. This would mean a huge cut for the wealthiest and a major tax increase for everyone else. It would also blow yet another hole in the state budget. We discuss this on the latest Front Porch.

Last time around, we discussed marijuana legalization, both chemical and recreational. My position is rather nuanced:

*if alcohol was good enough for my old man it's good enough for me; but

*considering all the ill **** that's legal, marijuana is pretty small potatoes; and

*medicinal marijuana could really provide relief for people dealing with several diseases; and

*it could be a much needed revenue generator if it was legalized, taxed and regulated.

A step in the right direction

I don't know about you, but I listened to newly elected WV Governor Jim Justice give his first state of the state address last night.

I tried to watch it on television, but public TV hasn't come in very well ever since we had a dozen or so of our free range turkeys roost on the antenna. But that's kind of off topic.

WV is no doubt in a budget crisis and nobody that I know had any idea which way Justice would go. I'm glad to say that he recognizes we can't just keep cutting but need to raise revenue. I didn't agree with all the specifics of his plan, which, for example included zeroing out WV Public Broadcasting, which is not cool.

(Obviously, if he was a Front Porch listener, the thought would have never crossed his mind.)

Of course, Republican leaders, who control both legislative houses, don't want any kind of revenue increases, so we're in for a game of chicken. More cuts now would be terrible and would likely include shutting down colleges, selling state parks, gutting libraries, ditching seniors, etc.

It's going to be interesting. And I'm getting tired of interesting...

Please don't call it a you-know-what

This op-ed of mine ran in today's Gazette-Mail.

I’m not terribly superstitious, aside from certain basic scientific precautions, like knocking on wood, throwing spilled salt over the left shoulder, not rocking an empty chair, not wearing a race T-shirt until I cross the finish line, and making sure to sit down before leaving if I forgot something.

One superstition I will own up to, however, is about a phrase that nearly always brings bad luck to people trying to improve things in West Virginia.

The dreaded phrase, which I have often begged people not to use in my presence, is “It’s a no-brainer.” I’m not sure what this says about us as a state, but it seems like the no-brainers are the hardest things to get done.

Here’s an example. It is known that:

 Educational attainment at every level is associated with higher earnings and lower rates for unemployment.


 West Virginia ranks at or near the bottom among states in educational attainment.

 We are also at or near the bad end of the scale on things like poverty, low median incomes, unemployment and such.

In a rational world, if such existed, policymakers here would make raising the level of post-secondary education a top priority, which would involve supporting public higher education institutions and working to make access to them more affordable. It would be a ... no-brainer.

I’m not just talking about four-year colleges and beyond. Community college and vocational training are just as important. Harper’s Magazine recently reported in its Index that the average change in annual earnings for students who attend a vocational program at a public community college was $1,544, while it fell by $920 for those who attended one at a for-profit college.

Instead, we’ve gone the other way. Tax cuts enacted since 2007 would have been more than enough to provide free in-state tuition and fees to all students — with some to spare. The tax cuts were intended to help create jobs that never came. But with a more highly educated population, who knows what might have happened in terms of entrepreneurship and attracting outside investment?

We’ll never know.

As if that wasn’t enough, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reported in May that “West Virginia has cut funding for higher education by 42.4 percent since 2008 when adjusted for inflation, a decrease of $2,060 per student.” During that time, the average tuition per student has risen by $2,135, or about the same percentage. Growth in incomes or aid hasn’t come close to closing that gap.

It gets worse.

Given the state’s budget woes, many of which were self-inflicted, it’s likely that higher education and those who would benefit from it are likely targets for more cuts. Some Republican legislators have proposed privatizing state institutions, such as the School of Osteopathic Medicine. During the budget special session, it was even proposed to zero out Fairmont State University and the WVU Institute of Technology.

Such proposals ignore not only the need for a more highly educated workforce, they also ignore the significant role of public higher education institutions in driving the state’s economy.

The WVU Bureau of Business and Economic Research recently investigated the economic impact of these institutions, collectively and individually. The methodology included factoring in direct university expenditures on goods and services; payroll and benefits; and out-of-state student expenditures, all of which circulate through local communities.

While some institutions have more of an impact than others, they found that collectively:

 The $401 million invested in state appropriations helped generate $2.7 billion in economic activity. That’s a return rate of $7 for every $1 of state funding.



 These institutions directly and indirectly supported more than 24,000 jobs statewide. These jobs had compensation of around $1.4 billion and generated around $60 million in revenue.

I’m a bit at a loss to choose an appropriate metaphor to express how bad an idea further cuts to higher education would be for all these reasons. My three top contenders would be cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face, killing the goose that laid the golden aid, or, for the biblically minded, selling our birthright for a pot of stew, like Esau did in Genesis.

In any case, cutting back on what we need more of is a bad idea.

That’s a ... nevermind.

On a lighter note

Last week's Front Porch podcast featured an interview with WV's official folklorist Emily Hilliard. Catch the podcast here.

And, if you could use a little good news, Medicaid expansion in Louisiana, which took effect June 1, seems to be a huge hit. Already over 200,000 low income working residents have signed up and the total may reach 375,000 or more.I  hope this nudges other southern states to step up.

Finally, WV's budget goat rope is finally over for a few months. I guess it could have been worse. It probably will be again. At least a shutdown was avoided. The game will begin again in earnest in January if not before.

Not another no-brainer!

It's no secret that WV's budget is a hot mess. The majority-Republican legislature didn't pass one at the end of the session and there's still no deal.

Hardliners oppose any new taxes, even extremely reasonable ones like a $1.00 increase in the cigarette tax, which would both raise needed revenue and have a positive public health impact. Instead, they are talking about slashing budgets, laying off public employees, and even privatizing public colleges and universities and the Public Employees Insurance Agency.

There are some voices of reason, including this Gazette editorial, this op-ed, and  this bit of myth busting about the budget. A number of groups came together Thursday at a press conference calling for higher tobacco taxes.

It's not clear if the ideologues in the legislative majority are listening. One of the speakers at the press conference said that raising this kind of revenue was a "no-brainer." I'm not sure what this says about WV, but in my experience the no-brainers are the toughest fights of all.

A little justice or a slap on the wrist:

Federal legal memos don't always make for the most interesting reading, but this one on the sentencing of former Massey CEO Don Blankenship is an exception:

It shocks the conscience that in the 21st century, knowing all that has been learned from decades of grief in our nation’s mines, the CEO of a major coal company would willfully conspire against the laws that protect his workers’ lives. One struggles for words to describe the inhumanity required for a mogul like Defendant to send working men and women into needless, mortal jeopardy for no purpose other than to pile up more money. The law, as it stands, offers no adequate punishment for his crime. But what the law does allow, the court should impose: a year in prison and the maximum fine. Don Blankenship owes at least that much to the men and women who worked at UBB. 

The Gazette-Mail's Ken Ward has more to say on that here.

A HOT MESS. West Virginia's state budget is in pretty much disaster mode. Programs and services have already been cut to the bone and are facing more. One perennial target of cuts is higher education, which is perverse in a state with the lowest educational attainment in the nation. A friend of mine offers some common sense solutions here. The legislative purse string, however, are held by the tax cut crew.

Another civilized state?

One result of yesterday's election is that 400,000 low income residents of Virginia may become eligible for health coverage. The race was a close one between a strong supporter of Medicaid expansion and an ardent foe of anything associated with the Affordable Care Act. It's still a long way from happening there but the odds have definitely improved. I hope Virginia joins the civilized states.

Meanwhile, over 61,000 West Virginians have signed up for Medicaid since Oct. 1, which effectually reduced the number of the state's uninsured by 1/4 in a little over a month.

WHAT DID THEY EXPECT? State tax revenues are dropping and higher education is just one victim. Quite a few people are calling for raising revenue. Let the record show that these wounds are self inflicted. WV slashed corporate taxes a few years back and eliminated the regressive food tax without thinking about other sources of revenue.

TWO TO PONDER. Here are a couple interesting items from Alternet. The first tries to plumb the thinking of the Ayn Rand-type one percenters and the second ponders whether the ruling class needs anybody else these days.

PREDICTING THE UNPREDICTABLE. Can chaos theory do it?

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

"...freedom only after countless pains"

Heracles would eventually liberate Prometheus. Image courtesy of wikipedia.

Goat Rope these days is taking a tour of ancient Greek tragedy (but you'll find links and comments about current events below). This week the theme is Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus.

Why Greek tragedy? I'm convinced the tragic lens often is the one that applies best to current problems. In an earlier post about coal and Appalachia, I argued that we too often tend to view the world through a simplified action movie lens, with clear good guys who are all good and bad guys who are all bad (see former President Bush) and a happy ending. Would that it were so.

But back to the story at hand.

It is easy to see Prometheus as the archetypal rebel against tyranny and to view Zeus as an evil usurper. But Aeschylus was concerned with a deeper matter: how excess can be tempered and holy moderation can be achieved. He was all about avoiding excess and calling for moderation.

We only have the first play of his trilogy, but we know it ended with the release of Prometheus, who would aid Zeus with information that would allow him to remain in power.

Zeus, after violently overthrowing the old order, was excessive in his punishment and use of power. Prometheus, though he benefited humanity, was excessive in his pride and defiance, as some of his sympathetic visitors suggested.

Totalitarianism and the rule of force must give way to restraint and the rule of law. Prometheus and Zeus are symbols of forethought and reason on the one hand and power on the other--and these must be reconciled.

Too bad we can't see how Aeschylus got there. Too bad we haven't figured out how to get there ourselves.

Y'all have a good weekend and try not to get chained to any rocks.

SPEAKING OF BEING CHAINED TO ROCKS, this essay hopes we'll be liberated soon from the rock of market fundamentalism.

HEALTH CARE COSTS exceed wage gains in El Cabrero's beloved state of West Virginia (and elsewhere in the US too). Meanwhile, it looks like the health care industry, after making a show of supporting reforms, is trying to sabotage President Obama's health care plan. Their main target is a public option which many see as the key to moving towards universal coverage.

REASON # 42949 why we need the Employee Free Choice Act here.

NOT COOL. WV's proposed state budget includes cuts in legal services for domestic violence victims.

MONKEY BRAINS aren't all that different from ours.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

THIS MOUNTAIN IS LIKE NO OTHER

We're heading down the home stretch of Goat Rope's Fun With Dante series. That's been the main item on the menu this week and last, although there are also daily doses of links and comments about current events. If this is your first visit, please click on earlier entries.

After Dante and Virgil have gone through hell (literally), they come up on the other side of the world at an island which is the site of Purgatory, a place where souls destined for salvation atone for sins before they rise to Heaven.

Here's a little background on the idea of Purgatory for the catholically impaired. Medieval theologians wrestled with the problem of what happens to people who died in good standing with the church but still had unabsolved sins and the idea of Purgatory, a sort of cleansing place for the soul, provided a neat solution.

Those who die "in friendship with God," i.e. free from mortal sin, but who were still tainted with venial sins were believed to undergo a temporary period of purgation or cleansing that was generally imagined to involve suffering. It was also widely believed that prayers and masses offered by the living as well as the intercession of the saints would speed the passage of the soul through Purgatory.

This is the site of the second volume of the Divine Comedy. Purgatory is a seven storey mountain (hence the title of Thomas Merton's autobiography) where the taint of the seven deadly sins are removed. There are some striking things about Dante's Purgatory:

*First, the drill sergeant in charge is the Roman Cato the Younger, who was a pagan opponent of Caesar who committed suicide, i.e. not what you would expect to find. Purgatory and Heaven have other surprises too, which are probably meant to remind us that while the divine Mind isn't irrational, it is beyond our ability to comprehend.

*Second, some people get a major time-out before climbing the mountain. These are those who delayed repentance or "made God wait."

*Third, unlike in hell, people are nice to each other here.

*Fourth, Purgatory is all about time. Souls are told "Think that this day will never dawn again."

*Fifth, unlike many mountains, Purgatory gets easier the farther you go. Dante is told in Canto IV,

This mount is such, that ever
At the beginning down below 'tis tiresome,
And aye the more one climbs, the less it hurts.90

Therefore, when it shall seem so pleasant to thee,
That going up shall be to thee as easy
As going down the current in a boat,

Then at this pathway's ending thou wilt be;
There to repose thy panting breath expect;
No more I answer; and this I know for true.

Still, it's no cakewalk. As in hell, the punishment fits the crime. The sin of pride, by which we lift ourselves too high, is purged by carrying heaving stones and facing the ground. Dante, who goes through it in the flesh, at one point has to go through a fire so hot that he says he would have gladly thrown himself into molten glass to cool off.

At the beginning of his ascent, Dante receives seven P's (from peccatum, the Latin word for sin) on his forehead. These are removed as he purges the sin in question. It is at this point that Dante comes to his own and stops relying on Virgil. Virgil for his part as a pagan is out of his league now.

As Dante matures spiritually, Virgil declares his independence by saying "I crown and mitre you lord of yourself." Virgil becomes more silent and eventually disappears at the upper level. This means that reason and human effort can only take you so far and divine grace is needed to ascent closer to God.

At the summit, when his sins are cleansed, he is told he can do whatever he wishes since his will is now aligned with God's. He reunites with Beatrice, whose prayers made his journey possible. Before beginning the journey to Heaven, he drinks from two river: Lethe, the river of forgetfulness so that he will no longer remember his sins and bad tendencies, and Eunoe (from the Greek for "good mind.")

Next stop: Heaven.

MORE ON THE COST OF THE IRAQ WAR: It's worse than we thought.

PRISON NATION. Here's an item on the growing costs of our prison-industrial complex.

TORTURE. It's more common than we'd like to think. Here's more than you wanted to know from Mother Jones.

WEST VIRGINIA ITEMS OF INTEREST. A report by the WV Center on Budget and Policy about the impact of proposed state corporate tax cuts made USA Today yesterday.

Here's the latest on the WV Supreme Court mess, the Megan Williams torture case, and the surprising success (so far) of a bill that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. The bill passed the state Senate, the House Judiciary Committee and now moves to the full house.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED