I dislike living in West Virginia… but I’m stuck!

I have to admit I’m not crazy about living in West Virginia (although, fortunately, the Eastern Panhandle is so little like most of West Virginia that it makes being here almost tolerable.) We have, yes, two Democratic Senators… one a Rockefeller (which means more like a Progressive Republican like brother Nelson was) and the other, just elected, was a “conservative” Democrat Governor and got elected by advertising his conservativeness, his NRA alliance, his opposition to Cap and Trade and his remarkable connection with the coal industry (fortunately his opponent was a loony who really lives in Florida.) When people ash what kind of state WV is, to comment is usually a “Republican State.”

I mentioned that the Eastern Panhandle was somewhat different. It is fairly Progressive and has a population with a higher academic background than most of the state. It often carries for Democrats when the rest of the state goes Republicans… and it has a fairly large number of long-distance commuters who work in Washington DC.

We are a distinctly polluted state… between coal pollution from blowing the tops off our mountains, to Chemical Pollution from big DuPont plants which are, essentially, unregulated… and avoid stopping the large corporations (whose officers do not live in the state for the most part) from polluting us further.

When you look for a job in this state you find that there is not the kind of availabilty you find in the DC area, or the NYC area, or even in the Hartford, CT, area. Oh, there are some construction jobs that won’t last given the economy. There are some retail slots, if you can afford to work for Wal-Mart. There are a few Federal Jobs (National Parks, NCSC and others) which have hard-to-get-into rules. And there are some teaching jobs… but these don’t turn over quickly and are fairly low paying. I suppose, given the outrageous number of churches, there are some religious jobs too… just found your own church and hold your hand out for dough. Not sure how, as an atheist, I could do that in good conscience.

I’m here, however, and it doesn’t look like I have a way out, given the economy, my age and my general health. It’s a good thing I can escape to the Internet.

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People for the American Way presents: Meet The Freshman Class:

Won’t January bring in the ideas that will make us great?

I doubt it.

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Quote of the Day – What in Hell is Obama Doing?

While Obama still has a Democratic majority for the Lame Duck Session, it appears that he has decided to cave into the Republicans on the Bush Tax Cuts extensions and give the rich the cuts they…deserve? That’s why someone like MaryScott O’Connor hits the nail on the head:

MaryScott O’Connor  Commented 3 hours ago

“I’m shocked, SHOCKED to find this Administration bending over for the Republicans again. And by “shocked” I mean… totally unsurprised. What a total WIMP this man has turned out to be. Or… I guess I should say… next to Clinton… Obama is the best Republican President we’ve ever had? What a desolation.”

I guess I have to say that my support for Obama is slipping rapidly. I don’t so much care that he gives in, but that he DOES NOT FIGHT for the things we know to be necessary. In fact, I’d rather be taxed as a member of the Middle Class and help us get away from the deficit than to make sure the rich take out infinitely more than any of the bottom 99%.

What is this man doing? Does he not talk with liberals or progressives? Does he not hear even old guard Repubs like David Stockton who made a statement last Sunday that it was time to back away from the “cut taxes” mentality he introduced under Reagan?

Doesn’t Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi stick a nose in here and vow to get the changes we all hoped for?

I’m utterly pissed!

Conason’s column in Salon should be read…

…he focuses on Darrell Issa and the House Oversight Committee which will go after Obama with a vengeance.

Here’s part of the column…go into Salon.com and read the rest:

clipped from www.salon.com Meet the leader of the Obama witch hunt Darrell Issa How Darrell Issa will conduct the vital business of the House Oversight Committee when he takes over as chairman isn’t clear yet. When the California Republican describes his plans in the mainstream media, he strives to sound reasonable, bipartisan and public-spirited; but when speaking with media outlets and personalities, such as Rush Limbaugh, he sounds like a hard-line right-winger aiming to revive the paranoid partisan style of the Gingrich era — He displayed the fugue state that preoccupies him when he denounced President Obama on CNN as “the most corrupt” occupant of the Oval Office in modern times – and then withdrew that accusation with an apology. Now Issa has announced that he expects the Oversight committee and its subcommittees to hold nearly three times as many investigative hearings over the next two years as Henry Waxman, an active and successful chairman, ran during the final years of the Bush administration.

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