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Editorial

Taxpayers spent a lot for special session flop

The Legislature’s special session that concluded Friday, July 29, was a massive waste of taxpayers’ money — at $35,000 a day for five days for a grand total of $175,000, to be exact. You likely don’t need us to tell you what that kind of money could have paid for, other than a week of legislators squabbling and producing nothing of value. Even with wasteful spending put aside, the special session was a total flop. Legislators had been clear that Gov. Jim Justice’s income tax cut proposal was virtually a nonstarter. And then, to throw instructions for the Legislature to ...

Tax holiday is your opportunity to save

If you need to do any kind of back-to-school shopping, this is the weekend to do it. As of yesterday and extending through Monday, West Virginia is having a sales tax holiday on back-to-school related items, which means you won’t be charged the 6% (or 7% within certain municipalities) tax on certain items. The hope is to encourage people to shop at local businesses. Broadly, the tax holiday covers clothes, school supplies and instructional material, sports equipment, computers and tablets. The specific list of what is covered is extremely long, but we’d like to make your ...

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 ...