West Virginia

The Greatest Rockefeller In Public Office, With The Least Fanfare!

Ronald 1 Comment

A long unsung hero in American politics and the US Senate is West Virginia’s former Governor Jay Rockefeller, who is retiring as Senator after thirty years of service at the end of 2014.

The only Democrat in the Rockefeller family political history has been an outstanding Senator for one of the poorest states, and will be remembered for how much he has done to promote the economic future of his state.

Jay Rockefeller could have replaced Senator Robert F. Kennedy by appointment of his uncle, Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York, in 1968, but refused the opportunity and moved to the poor state of West Virginia, with the intention of bringing reform and change to his adopted state. He also refused to allow his father in law, Illinois Republican Senator Charles Percy, to use his influence in any way.

Instead, Jay Rockefeller worked his way up the political struggles to become a member of the West Virginia state legislature, Secretary of State, Governor of the state for two terms, and now finishing five terms in the US Senate.

Unlike his more famous uncle, Nelson Rockefeller, who sought the Presidency three times and was Vice President under Gerald Ford, Jay Rockefeller was satisfied to have an influence on his state, and to promote liberal Democratic ideas. He is now also actively engaged in investigation of the Chris Christie scandal, and is unafraid of challenging the status quo and the establishment’s leaders, always having supported and promoted progressive causes.

Jay Rockefeller has turned out to be more significant in many ways than his uncle Nelson, hard to believe, and certainly more so than his other uncle, Winthrop, Republican Governor of Arkansas in the late 1960s and early 1970s. And his career has been much longer, without any interest in seeking the Presidency in his younger years.

So Jay Rockefeller will be much missed when he retires from his distinguished career in the Senate at the end of this year!

West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin: A True “Profile In Courage” And Model For Public Service!

Ronald 2 Comments

It is extremely frustrating to see politicians who sell their soul to hold on to their jobs as Congressmen and Senators, unwilling to take a principled stand on anything!

And then we have West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, former Governor of the state, a lifelong member of the National Rifle Association, who fought for a “background checks” bill, which failed to overcome a filibuster, because of fear of Senators to alienate the NRA and its monstrous leadership, that does not give a damn about the thousand or more people killed by firearms each month. These cowardly Senators, and also Congressmen, are afraid of Wayne La Pierre and the NRA, and care more about keeping their seats and power than anything else!

But Manchin fought against the NRA, and continues to defy them, and this morning on MORNING JOE, after the NRA put out commercials against him, he responded with his own commercial, and made it clear that IF the people of West Virginia were unwilling to back “background checks” on firearms, and wished to send him home by defeating him in the next election, so be it!

And if that happened, he said, he would be blessed to spend his life in the state he loved, instead of Washington, DC!

What a refreshing way to look at it, as NO ONE who serves in Congress is poor, struggling, and NEEDS the job as most Americans need their job!

This is what we need—members of Congress who are there to promote what they believe in, and do NOT allow any pressure group to sway them, and willing to give up their position and power on principle, rather than kowtow to corrupt influences!

If only there were more Joe Manchins, and he is, indeed, a true “Profile In Courage”, and a model for public service!

Loss Of Two Progressives In 2014–Senators Tom Harkin And Jay Rockefeller

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It is sad news that two leading Democratic progressives in the US Senate—Tom Harkin of Iowa and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia—have decided to retire in 2014, leaving a major gap that could affect the Senate balance, although both would have come under fire from Tea Party Republicans for sure if they had run, each for a sixth term.

Both have served since election in 1984, and Harkin had been in the US House of Representatives for ten years previously, and Rockefeller had been Governor of his state for eight years previously.

So both have served their state and nation for approximately 40 years, and are leaving in their mid 70s, a good time to leave, and an opportunity for fresh blood to come into the Senate.

Both were great public servants, and Harkin was this blogger’s personal favorite for President when he ran in 1992 in a field including Bill Clinton.

Both will be missed, and it will be hard to replace them with men or women with their commitment to principle, decency, and humanity!

Pockets Of Opposition To Barack Obama In Democratic Presidential Primaries: What Does It Mean?

Ronald 2 Comments

Barack Obama may be popular among most Democrats, and is ahead in many polls nationally against Mitt Romney, but there certainly are areas where he is extremely unpopular, a lot of it based on his race, but also on cultural issues affected by religious beliefs, including gay marriage, abortion rights, and the role of women, and also based on backing of gun rights in the hinterland of the nation, with fear that Obama is out to take away one’s guns.

So we saw Oklahoma and West Virginia strongly against him earlier, and last night, we witnessed Arkansas and Kentucky also having strong opposition against him.

However, this must all be seen in perspective, as the lowest percentage Obama has received is the 57 percent in Oklahoma. Obama gained 58 percent in Arkansas and Kentucky and 59 percent in West Virginia.

If anyone running for any office gains between 57% and 59% of the vote, that is considered a landslide by any measure. The fact that the next lowest percentage was 76 percent in Louisiana, 79 percent in North Carolina, and 80 percent in Alabama tells us Obama has nothing to be worried about.

With only seven states yet to vote in Presidential primaries, the likelihood of any of those states voting lower percentages than these seven states mentioned above is extremely low.

So, yes, Barack Obama is opposed in portions of the country, primarily the South and Appalachia, but that is not a measurement of his overall popularity nationwide!

West Virginia Joins Oklahoma As Most Anti Obama State

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Yesterday, in the West Virginia Democratic Primary, President Barack Obama was challenged by a federal prison inmate, Keith Judd, whose name was put on the ballot by anti Obama forces in the Democratic Party in that state.

Amazingly, Judd was able to gain 42 percent of the vote against Obama’s 58 percent!

Some might say this is “democracy in action”, but actually, it is totally ridiculous, disrespectful of the Presidency, and reflects badly on the state of West Virginia.

So West Virginia joins Oklahoma as the most anti Obama state, not that it is just those two states that are enemies of the President and his agenda.

It should be pointed out, however, that both Oklahoma and West Virginia are among the poorest, most socially backward states of the Union, and many would see both states as living in the 19th century, rather than the 21st.

Both, heavily white and Ku Klux Klan oriented in their past, demonstrate just how much progress is needed to bring modernization, but it is going to be a long haul before either state can gain the respect of the rest of the nation.

This is not a laughing matter, but rather something of serious concern for the future progress of our country!

The Sectionalism And Regionalism In America’s 50 States

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An interesting part of American history and contemporary America is the reality of sectionalism and regionalism in many American states.

One classic example was the case of West Virginia, a breakaway from Virginia of areas of the state that were anti slavery, occurring during the Civil War in 1863. Therefore, the site of John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859, which had been part of Virginia, became probably the most famous site in the new state of West Virginia, and remains a fascinating historic site today, which the author has visited.

But also, there have been desires in many states to have secessionist movements and the creation of new states.

So when observers look at the 50 states, they realize that in many of them, there are real rivalries and divisions, and a different state of mind about politics and the economy.

It is well known that upstate New York has little in common with New York City and Long Island and the counties just north of New York City.

Also, downstate Illinois is totally different in mentality than Chicago.

Central and North Florida are totally alienated from South Florida, and particularly, Miami.

Upper and Western Michigan are a different world than Detroit.

Central and Western Pennsylvania are a world apart from Philadelphia.

Central and Southern New Jersey are vastly different than Northern New Jersey, just across the George Washington Bridge from New York City.

Central and Southern Virginia are another planet from Northern Virginia, which is the Washington DC suburbs.

Central and Southern Ohio are totally different than northeastern Ohio, around Cleveland.

Central and Southern Missouri are a different world than Eastern Missouri, the area of St. Louis.

Texas and California are the best examples of sectionalism and regionalism, particularly with being the second and third largest states in area.

So Texas has the “Panhandle” centered around Lubbock; the area around Dallas and Fort Worth; the capital of Austin in the center of the state; the largest metropolitan area around Houston; and the area around San Antonio and further south to the Mexican border. It could easily be five or more states.

California has the traditional split between north and south, between San Francisco and Los Angeles. But now it is recognized that California also has a gap between East and West, between the coastal areas and the interior areas, with the interior being very different economically, and very much conservative and Republican, as compared to the rest of the state. There has even been a movement to separate interior areas in the south from the rest of the state, creating a 51st state, but the chances of its success are seen as highly unlikely.

The point is that there tends to be stereotyping of our 50 states, labeling them as having a particular economic and political structure, but the reality is much more complicated, and could, some day, lead to the breaking up of a few states, creating a few new additions to the Union!

The “Old South” A Century And A Half After The Civil War: Still The Poorest Section Of America!

Ronald 6 Comments

Here we are 150 years after the Civil War era, and still, the “Old South” remains the poorest section of America.

It is astounding to realize that seven of the top ten poorest states are from the “Old South”–in ranked order from poorest forward being Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, and North Carolina, with two Borders states (West Virginia number 4 and Kentucky number 8) also on the list, along with the western state of Montana (number 6 on the list).

The only “Old South” states that are prosperous are Virginia, Georgia, Florida and Texas. Virginia (at least in the Northern part) is part of the Washington DC suburbs; Georgia has Atlanta as its major modernization motivation; Florida has the Northeastern influence in its Southern section; and Texas has major cities in Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin, and is, of course, a major oil state. But even all four of these states have major areas of poverty that are unacceptable!

It is a sad state of affairs that the South remains an area way behind the rest of the nation, and that race prejudice and anti-Yankee sentiment remains so strong, major factors in their continued inferiority!

Bad Health And “Well Being” Found In Republican Leaning States Against Health Care Reform!

Ronald 2 Comments

As the Obama Health Care legislation gets ready for the legal challenge in the Supreme Court on March 26, with six hours of arguments scheduled, the longest presentation in many years, a new study demonstrates that in Republican leaning states that are strongly opposed to the health care reform, we find much worse general health conditions, a much lower state of what is called “well being”, and a growing problem of sleeplessness!

Why is this so? Clearly, when one suffers from great poverty and lack of health care, it undermines “well being” and promotes sleeplessness.

One would think such states would support health care reform, but that is not so, and particularly in the top three states on this infamous list: West Virginia, Oklahoma, and Mississippi!

Enough said, would you agree?

American “Exceptionalism”: Life Expectancy In America Decreasing In Many Sections, And What It Says About America

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A new study by the Institute For Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington demonstrates that life expectancy in America varies widely by region, and is decreasing in some locations in the country.

Eighty percent of American counties fell behind in standing as against the average of the ten nations with the best life expectancies in the world.

The US is only 36th in life expectancy overall, with an average of 78.3 years, with overall increase in expectancy by about two years for men to 75.6 in 2007, and one year increase in expectancy for women to 80.8 in the same year.

But areas of life expectancy that are declining or lower than the average are most common in West Virginia, through the Southern Appalachian Mountains, and west through the Deep South into North Texas.

The oddity is that certain states have areas of growth in life expectancy in sections near others that are in decline, as in Virginia, Colorado, Minnesota, Utah, California, Washington State, and Florida.

Factors involved in differences in life expectancy seem to be obesity and smoking, along with poorly controlled blood pressure and a lack of primary care physicians.

The state, overall, with the worst life expectancy is Mississippi, not all that surprising, whether white or African American population. Mississippi falls behind such countries as Honduras, El Salvador, Peru, Brazil, Latvia, and the Philippines.

This study makes it clear that we have a long way to go as a nation to improve the health care of our citizens, particularly those who are poor, whether white or minority background. But instead, the emphasis is on cutting back on health care, because of the claim that America is “exceptional”, and that we have the best health care system in the world, a totally inaccurate statement, as that is only true for those who are rich and fortunate, not for wide swaths of American society!

Census Revelations: Upper New England And West Virginia Replace Florida As Oldest Population

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The 2010 Census reveals that Upper New England and West Virginia have replaced Florida as the oldest population states.

Maine is now the oldest state in average age, followed by Vermont, West Virginia and New Hampshire.

What this also reveals is that these four states, all of which are among the most “Anglo white” states, have aged due to lack of reproduction by whites in the general population nationally. This is connected to the reality the country at large is becoming less Anglo and white as a whole, with the reproduction rate of minorities much higher, along with the immigration of people of Hispanic and Latino heritage seeing a dramatic increase.

America is becoming more diverse every year, and by 2040-2050, the Anglo white population will be less than a majority.

All this affects the Republican Party in a detrimental way, and if they continue their present policy stands, they will be “dinosaurs” in thirty years, as the Democrats will have the edge in most states, although maybe not in these states that are less diverse!