Standing for Opportunity

A Vision for Improving West Virginia

1.  Improve West Virginia's Infrastructure

In order to have economic growth West Virginia must have a first rate infrastructure.  Therefore, I will work to improve roads, schools, and hospitals.  We must work with federal officials in an effort to attain grants to complete such projects, which will create jobs for those who need them and give our poorest counties a chance to grow by making them more attractive and stimulating the economy.

2.      Build a Statewide Mass Transit Program

      If we are to create opportunities, we must have an efficient and affordable mass transit system.  Many American metropolitan areas and most of Europe have accomplished this through a train system.  I will work to start a pilot program connecting the Charleston-Huntington and Charleston-Parkersburg areas, eventually expanding to connect our state.  This will create jobs, reduce traffic congestion, and help make a cleaner environment.

3.      Invest in Local Economic Growth

       For far too long West Virginians have expected economic salvation to come from the outside.  Instead, we should be looking to our friends and neighbors to strengthen our economy.  For this reason, I will end the practice of giving “incentive packages” to out of state companies, because local entrepreneurs deserve a chance to compete economically on a level playing field.  Local owners will reinvest in the community, not in expanding to yet more franchises.  We are the ones who can make West Virginia prosper.

4.      Comprehensive Education Reform

Most education experts believe five years old is far too late to begin thelearning process. For that reason, I will pursue a system of pre-kindergarten education that will prevent children from slipping through the cracks.  This process will begin at age three to try to help readiness and determine whether a child should attend pre-school, stay at home, or start at a higher education level.With an increasingly international job market, knowing only one language is a disadvantage.  All evidence shows that the earlier someone begins learning a language the easier it will be.  Therefore, we must begin teaching a foreign language no later than third grade.

5.      Fully Fund Education

Too often when we experience budget shortfalls, education is the first on the chopping block.  I will do what I can to stop this self-defeating trend.  I will also fight to make sure the poorest communities get the help they need by filling in funding gaps for areas with an insufficient property tax base to fund education.

6.      Save for Hard Times

Rather than cutting needed spending during recessions, we must build a sufficient rainy day funding by having a tax revenue base that prepares for hard times.  By doing this we will be able to fund necessary programs and continue to invest in our long-term economic health.

7.  Bring Clean Campaigns to West Virginia

            In a visit to West Virginia last year, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) said that we have a choice between publicly-   funded campaigns and a government acting in the public interest, or privately-funded elections and a government    acting  in the private interest. I couldn't agree more, we must choose the former.  Clean Campaign laws, which fund candidates who opt-out  of spending private money and raise a few contributions to go towards a clean campaign fund, have been tried in six states (with Connecticut to become the seventh after the 2006 election cycle)and led to greater participation and fewer personal attacks.  West Virginia would benefit under the same system.  It does no good to have clean campaigns if we have no way to ensure that every vote is counted.  For that reason, I will propose that counties using electronic voting have a verifiable paper trail, and counties that use optical scanning votes have second-chance voting.

8.  Same day voting registration

           We can increase participation in the voting process by making it easier to vote.

9.  Invest in Alternative Energy

           With the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol in Feb. 2005 we can either refuse to adapt or we can create new opportunities for West Virginians.  The demand for cleaner, renewable energy will only grow in years to come.  West Virginia has areas that are perfect for wind and tidal wave energy, and we must invest in this technology now. Getting in on the ground floor will mean a tremendous boom to the economy in years to come and cleaner air. It is unthinkable that some counties in West Virginia have higher air pollution levels than Los Angeles County. The time to act is now.

10.  Fair Trade

           CAFTA has a clause that will allow states to become "trading partners" in this seriously flawed trade agreement.  I will vote against this and any attempts to gut workers rights, human rights, and environmental standards in the name of cheap labor.