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Blue dot in a Red state [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-09-18
Somebody sent me a youtube video of Bernie Sander’s visits to West Virginia a short while ago.
It featured roomfuls of Trump supporters agreeing with a lot of what he said.
They all agreed on at least two things: Billionaires don’t deserve tax breaks, and everybody deserves decent healthcare.
It made me sad to think of what we COULD have had versus what we have NOW.
What we have in West Virginia right now:
Poor workplace participation: Politicians love to say their motives include creating jobs. Well, honey, that would be great if people here were actually working. We have a 55% workforce participation rate, making us the worst in the country for that ranking! And there are reasons for that including poor health, no access to childcare, distance to travel.
Poor health Our people are either coping with one (or more!) of our common health conditions: COPD, lung cancer, diabetes, and substance abuse problems. We have one of the lowest life expectancies in the country. We have the lowest ranking for health AND access to healthcare.
Poor educational outcomes: People who want to and are able to work may not qualify for positions that require training/education. In 2022, only 46% of us had college degrees. WV actually has the highest rate of high school student graduates (really! it does! Almost 95%!), so what’s happening to these students?
We have an aging population, and it’s just going to get larger as baby boomers retire.
Environmental factors affect West Virginians: More than half of our counties rank the worst in the nation for drinking water. Coal-fired power plants contribute to air and water pollution.
Limited job opportunities: The state has struggled to create enough well-paying jobs, especially for younger, skilled workers, leading to economic stagnation. The state still depends on traditional industries, many of which are declining. Young people can’t get away from WV fast enough — there are plenty of jobs in neighboring states like Maryland and Pennsylvania that pay better. Teachers living in border counties are leaving for better pay in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland.
What did West Virginia legislators do to help last session?
They worried about defining men and women and where they could and could not use a bathroom or locker room. Eliminated DEI programs. Passed legislation to favor natural gas and coal, struggled over whether to exempt vaccines for religious reasons (they didn’t pass it, but Governor Morrisey issued an executive order anyway. They passed a cell phone ban for students, and made it easier to get rid of disruptive students, but they did not address the low salaries of our teachers.
In other words, they followed Trump’s lead, which they will always do. Despite being heavily Democratic in the past, ever since 2000 when George Bush won WV over Al Gore, it’s been a downslide: our governor, State Senate, and House of Delegates are all heavily Republican. — out of 100 Delegates, only 9 are Democrats, only 2 State Senators out of 34.
How will we ever get out of this mess? West Virginians think Trump is God. I love West Virginia and can’t really imagine living anywhere else, but it does get harder and harder since Trump has been in office. The neighbor up the road with his “I voted for the convicted felon,” the other neighbor who still has “Fuck Biden” sign on his lawn…. Maybe someday…...
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