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Letters to the Editor

Looking forward in a new direction in W.Va.

Every day the climate crisis worsens, and economic inequality grows. Conservative politicians, aided by the Supreme Court, are rolling back basic human rights across the country. In West Virginia, as soon as Republicans took control of our State Legislature they rolled back mine safety 50 years or more. What’s shocking is how little urgency elected leaders have shown in response. With each new development, it seems as if this is time, surely, those in power will recognize the severity of the challenge, and act accordingly. Equally important is our involvement and persistence ...

State must pursue new technolgies

Rep. Alex Mooney is holding out false hope to the people of West Virginia. Coal mining jobs in the U.S. now stand at 38,000; the lowest number in the past 125 years. Coal can no longer compete with wind and solar in most of the U.S.; it peaked at 317,600 MW in 2011 and has declined every year since. West Virginia would be smart in pursuing new technology such as electric vehicle production. Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia are taking this route. Progress is hard to overcome. AT&T had 350,000 telephone operators in the 1940’s, not ...

Manchin may regret deal with Schumer

Consider this an addendum to Robert Ware’s letter in last Saturday’s The Inter-Mountain. I suppose by now most of you know about Sen. Manchin’s “deal” with Sen. Schumer; a deal that adds billions to Joe Biden’s inflation and very little to the working man’s pocket. There is plenty to suspect here. I’m sure we haven’t been told the whole story. Like the other Joe named Biden, the more Manchin tries to explain this deal the worse it gets. Appearing on WV Metro News, Manchin told Hoppy Kercheval that the Mountain Valley Pipeline is a great deal for West ...

Reader: West Virginia women deserve better

I don’t know about you, but I know some amazing women here in West Virginia. They are hard-working, generous, thoughtful, funny, intelligent, and simply make my life better for knowing them. Some are quiet in their strength as they deal with their partner’s cancer; some show up to volunteer at the schools; others walk dogs at our local shelters; they bring you big care baskets and food when your parent dies; and they ask how your family is doing. These women are one of the reasons West Virginia is a wonderful place to live. Unfortunately, our legislative leaders in Charleston ...

Reader: Manchin has made a mistake

I’m really sad for West Virginians who mistakenly voted for Joe Manchin in the last election, believing that he was a different kind of Democrat. Now the entire country will pay the price for your mistake. Joe Manchin caved to the pressure he was under to vote in favor of a multi-trillion dollar spending craze, overdrawing not just West Virginia’s future but the entire nation by hundreds of billions of dollars. Surely West Virginia has finally begun seeing Joe Manchin for what he is. I can’t place all the blame on Mr. Manchin. Joe bowed to the pressure that ...

Who will benefit most from income tax cut?

It seems to me that the proposed 10 percent across-the-board cut in the state income tax is the least efficient way to give the average West Virginian much-needed tax relief. The biggest winners will be those comparatively well-off persons who have incomes high enough to require the payment of significant income tax. People on the opposite end of the income spectrum, those who most need an economic break, will receive little or no benefit. Given the state’s current large budgetary surplus, a fairer approach would be to lower the state sales tax which is one of the most ...