A Progressive Revolt Is Brewing in West Virginia

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

There is a revolt brewing in West Virginia politics. Last Friday Lissa Lucas, an author and celebrated backyard chicken farmer from Cairo, in the northwestern part of the state, brought the fight to the floor of the state capitol. The House of Delegates Judiciary Committee was hearing comments on House Bill 4268, legislation that would enable oil and gas companies to drill on private property as long as three-quarters of the mineral rights owners okayed the operation. The bill, which critics like Lucas have called an effort by "our government…to allow corporations to steal our property and trespass on it without our permission," also grants the oil and gas industry a number of other measures its lobbyists have long sought from the legislature.

"I'd…like to point out that the people who are going to be speaking in favor of this bill are all going to be paid by the industry, and the people who are going to be voting on this bill are also often paid by the industry," Lucas said from the podium on the house floor last Friday. "I have to keep it short simply because the public only gets a minute 45 [seconds] while lobbyists can throw a gala at the Marriott with whiskey and wine and talk for hours to the delegates."

"I'd…like to point out that the people who are going to be speaking in favor of this bill are all going to be paid by the industry, and the people who are going to be voting on this bill are also often paid by the industry," Lucas said from the podium on the house floor last Friday. "I have to keep it short simply because the public only gets a minute 45 [seconds] while lobbyists can throw a gala at the Marriott with whiskey and wine and talk for hours to the delegates."

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/a-progressive-revolt-is-brewing-in-west-virginia-w516647?utm_source=rsnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=daily&utm_campaign=021318_12

[Gabi Hayes]

1. What a great, heartening story

A leftwing candidate was ejected from the capitol for calling out corporate influence – is this the start of something big for the state's democrats?

WVA is such a beautiful state, for the most part (you can imagine what happened to the areasthat no longer remain that way)

I’ve spent a lot of time at this wonderful spot:





http://www.hangingrocktower.org/



Once watched a bald eagle sail past on the current, about 30 feet away — eye level, barely flapping its majestic wings

[Gabi Hayes]

2. OK, maybe not all that heartening, at least in the short run.....

The House of Delegates Judiciary Committee was hearing comments on House Bill 4268, legislation that would enable oil and gas companies to drill on private property as long as three-quarters of the mineral rights owners okayed the operation. The bill, which critics like Lucas have called an effort by "our government…to allow corporations to steal our property and trespass on it without our permission," also grants the oil and gas industry a number of other measures its lobbyists have long sought from the legislature.

.................



House Bill 4268 is expected to pass in both West Virginia’s House of Delegates and Senate, and be signed into law by the Republican governor, Jim Justice. The bill would take effect this July.

[appalachiablue]

4. Such wonderful sites & photos of West By God Virginia. Thanks much!

[calimary]

8. Such splendor in those photos.

Nice-Nice-NICE.

Thank you for posting these, Gabi Hayes!

[Gabi Hayes]

10. Cant tell youhow beautiful these spots are. You can see at least four ridges in each direction from

the old Fire Tower, often more, depending on the haze factor. King of the world! Some dipshit kids burned the place down a few years ago, got caught, and had to haul the materials up by hand (NOT an easy climb, burdened like pack mules) as part of their punishment

The pictures don’t do the location justice

Not far from there is Mountain Lake, which is, unfortunately drying up (last I’d seen it); that’s where Dirty Dancing was shot. Golf course up there is often overrun by aggressive wild turkeys.

[calimary]

11. Wow - what a great story about the punishment for those young arsonists!

I bet they never make that kind of mistake again.

[appalachiablue]

3. Lissa Lucas is now running for the WV House of Delegates, 7th District

Lissa Lucas Donate Website:

https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/holler

[calimary]

12. "...and yet, she persisted."

You ROCK, Lissa!

[RandomAccess]

5. You skipped the best part

including a very apt reflection on Joe Manchin:



Vickers says she was electrified by the Bernie Sanders movement, and spent much of 2016 organizing for his campaign. "Bernie invited me to a revolution, and I showed up," said Vickers, in a video she made about the experience. She provided a list of some 31 progressive democrats running for congress at the state or national level this year in West Virginia, including Richard Ojeda, a veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan, Kendra Fershee, a law professor, Sammi Brown, a former AFL-CIO field organizer, James Cameron Elam an openly gay candidate running for House of Delegates and Paula Jean Swearengin, a passionate West Virginia social justice and environmental organizer who is running to unseat the state’s powerful, and notoriously unreliable Democratic senator, Joe Manchin. “We’ve ended up with politicians like Joe Manchin in West Virginia because we’ve been told that’s the best Democrat we can have, and we vote for them out of fear,” says Chris Pennington, a father of three from Oak Hill, West Virginia, who also campaigned for Bernie Sanders in 2016 and is presently running for the state’s Democratic Executive Committee. "People here in West Virginia just didn’t have the inspiration to run before," says Pennington. "Now a lot of them do."

[KelleyKramer]

6. Wow! Now THAT needs to be in the OP

Thanks for posting

[williesgirl]

7. Sounds very hopeful. Thanks for posting.

[appalachiablue]

9. *LISSA LUCAS, WV HOUSE CAMPAIGN WEBSITE: Info., Donate, District 7 Photos

LISSA LUCAS WEBSITE:https://lissalucas.com/

~ HOLLER FROM THE HOLLERS!

Lissa Lucas - WV House - 2018

Why I'm Running

From both sides of the aisle, politicians are representing their own interests. Data shows that the rich and powerful have nearly complete influence over public policy, while average people have virtually zero impact. Has this country become an oligarchy? There is some debate.
However you would characterize it, it’s clear there are some serious problems, and that those problems have to do with the fact that money buys power.
Well, I’m just fed up with that. In fact, I’m so mad I’m running for office.
If elected, I’ll represent tax paying West Virginians, not just special interests. I want to make sure our government is putting The People first.

Here’s what I’m focused on:

Priorities: Because we want good jobs, good roads, good I-net, good schools.
Common sense: Because we can’t keep paying for more than we get.
Property rights: Because we want good neighbors, not corporate invaders.
Money out of politics: Because working hard shouldn’t make you second class.

I’ll represent you—and not just when your needs happen to coincide with the needs of these special interest groups. Essentially, that’s why I’ve decided to run: They’re not hearing us. We want jobs—AND we also want clean water and air. We want our property rights protected, AND we want a better future for our kids.
And you know what? Those things are not mutually exclusive; we don’t have to choose between them.
So let’s Holler from the Hollers about it!

I won’t be taking money from SuperPACs and other corporate interests. I don’t care if I offend the people who are working for those interests by telling them, “No, I’m not abandoning my neighbors just so you can line your pockets.” And I don’t care if I offend party elites by saying, “No. I’m not putting this party over the interests of the people.”
Let’s get beyond the partisanship, and focus on our shared vision for West Virginia; let’s focus on issues that will actually help people.
We’ll have a choice to have our voices heard this time, to “Holler from the Hollers!” Let’s do our best to make sure all the money on the other side doesn’t drown us out.

Vote Lissa Lucas in District 7 (Ritchie, Pleasants) in 2018.
_________________________________________________

- Overview, West Virginia District 7, Statistical Atlas
https://statisticalatlas.com/state-lower-legislative-district/West-Virginia/District-7/Overview