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Editorial

IRA a mixed bag, but seems to be worth it

Sen. Joe Manchin’s support for the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 has given the general populace hope for progress on climate change, health care and tax reform, though Sen. Kirsten Sinema, D-Ariz., could still potentially sink the bill. (The Koch network is lobbying both Manchin and Sinema to change their minds.) However, climate activists decry that it is not enough. The compromise bill pulls back on the more ambitious climate measures and the price of Manchin’s support was to funnel government money to fossil fuels. But, the legislation offers incentives to individuals and ...

W.Va. in trouble with ignorance at the helm

There’s nothing quite like the chill of terror that runs down your spine when you realize the people dictating the laws that constrain your life are a bunch of ignoramuses. This, of course, in reference to some of the stunningly stupid comments West Virginia senators made on the final day of the special session. (We’ll leave our discussion of how the whole effort was a waste of taxpayer money for our Sunday edition.) Sen. Robert Karnes, R-Randolph, posited that he couldn’t support an amendment to allow an abortion for rape/incest victims who report the abuse to a mandatory ...

GOP stunt during PACT Act vote may backfire this fall

We’ve said it before, but we’ll say it again: When it comes to government, intention often takes a back seat to appearances. And the appearance of denying veterans health care has left Republican lawmakers scrambling to do damage control. For context, the controversy surrounds passage of the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act. The PACT Act has two major features: It instructs Veterans Affairs hospitals to provide patients with a greater benefit of the doubt when veterans report that certain injuries or illnesses, ...

Don’t feed the troll anymore

Troll (verb) — to intentionally do or say something annoying or offensive in order to upset someone, or to get attention or cause trouble (Cambridge Dictionary); to harass, criticize, or antagonize especially by provocatively disparaging or mocking public statements, postings, or acts (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). There are a few unwritten rules of the internet — “don’t feed the trolls” is one of them. You can’t beat a troll by giving it attention. This is a lesson that Protect Morgantown needs to learn. For those who have missed all the hub-bub, Protect Morgantown ...

Legislature dragging us back to the 1800s

On the off chance one needed further confirmation the current Legislature is dragging West Virginia backwards, one need to look no further than the attempts to “clarify” West Virginia’s abortion laws. Because instead of repealing the 1800s statute that criminalizes all abortions (with an exception for “good faith” efforts to save the woman’s life), the Legislature is looking to repeal all other abortion rules and leave that one in place, only clarifying that the mother can’t be prosecuted. It would make more sense to strike the archaic law and work with the new laws ...

Here’s how to lower prescription costs

In rejecting the pared down Build Back Better Act, Sen. Joe Manchin made clear that the only provision he still supports is codifying Medicare’s ability to negotiate prescription drug costs. Such a law would undoubtedly help hundreds, if not thousands, of West Virginians to contain the ever increasing cost of necessary medication. But there’s no reason to stop at only helping Medicare/Medicaid beneficiaries. The joke is that America is the only country where patients tell doctors what to prescribe them. And this is mostly true — only the U.S. and New Zealand allow ...