Why Manchin voted ‘yes’ on Kavanaugh

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin waited until the very last minute Friday to cast his “yes” vote for cloture to advance the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, and then followed up with another “yes” vote. Manchin stands out as the only Democrat to support Kavanaugh. There are a number of ways to

America’s Ugly Divorce

I wonder how many of you have been, like me, deeply disturbed by the events surrounding the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. Perhaps you are on the side of Kavanaugh and you think a qualified man has been treated unfairly, or maybe you are on the side of Dr. Christine

Justice surprises teachers, legislators with pay plan

Governor Jim Justice likes to go big, and he clearly did this week when he announced plans for another five percent across-the-board pay raise for school teachers, service workers and state employees and pledged another $100 million dollars to the Public Employee Insurance Agency. The pay raise, if approved by the Legislature, will mean salaries will

McElhinny: Circle this week in your WV Supreme Court calendar

If you are keeping your whiteboards up to date, prepare to scribble frantically as the maladministration really hits the fan this week on West Virginia’s Supreme Court situation. I know, I know. You’re thinking I should be impeached by suggesting this could get any crazier. What I really mean is, this is the moment we’ve

West Virginia scores well in Tax Foundation report

The Tax Foundation has released its annual State Business Tax Climate Index and, once again, West Virginia does pretty well, but still has room for improvement. The Foundation says its index “enables business leaders, government policymakers, and taxpayers to gauge how their states’ tax systems compare.”  The report is not based on how much money

What if Dr. Blasey and Judge Kavanaugh are both telling the truth?

We are expected to hear today from Professor Christine Blasey Ford about how she was sexually attacked by U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh 36 years ago when they were both teenagers. The story has become even more complicated, however, now that a third woman has said she attended parties with Kavanaugh where there

West Virginia needs another surge of immigrants

In the early years of statehood, West Virginia needed workers—people willing to move to the new state to cut timer, build railroads, homes and barns, and perform jobs requiring specific skills.  Joseph H. Diss Debar, who had emigrated from France and settled in Parkersburg, was appointed the state’s first Commissioner of Immigration to try to

Morrisey hopes for Trump bump, and he needs it

President Trump is coming to Wheeling Saturday to campaign for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Patrick Morrisey.  This will be Trump’s second visit to West Virginia in the last five weeks to stump for the Attorney General. And Morrisey can use the boost. When I talk to Morrisey—on and off the air—he remains supremely confident in

Impeachment web becomes more tangled

The sticky web that is the Legislature’s impeachment process for three current members and one former member of the state Supreme Court has now become even more tangled.  The attorney for Justice Margaret Workman has filed a motion with the state Supreme Court challenging the legality of the impeachment proceedings. First, consider this conundrum: The

New House of Delegates leaders face tough re-election battles

Clay County Republican Roger Hanshaw is the new Speaker of the House of Delegates and he has chosen Jefferson County Republican Riley Moore to be his Majority Leader when the House begins the 2019 session. However, their ascendance to power is fragile. First, Republicans have to maintain control of the House.  They currently have a

The no-show problem in West Virginia public schools

It has been said, in one form or another, that 80 percent of success is showing up—if we can just overcome inertia and force ourselves to get to work, school or the gym, we improve our chances of reaching a favorable outcome. That is particularly true in education. The education think tank Attendance Works says

SoS Mac Warner rolls the dice on firings

Mac Warner has been a hard-working, productive Secretary of State.  Under his leadership, the office has made significant improvements in the state’s business registration process, worked with county clerks to clean up voter rolls, added technology so military personnel overseas can vote via app, and focused on election security. Warner and his team have actually

Kavanaugh allegation changes dynamic for Manchin, Capito

Judge Brett Kavanaugh was headed toward likely confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court, despite the best efforts of a number of Democrats to derail the nomination.  In fact, several red state Democrats, including West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, were probably going to join Senate Republicans in support of President Trump’s nominee. However, that scenario has been

WV Senate pushes for the political guillotine with Supreme Court trials

French revolutionaries cut off the heads of the nobility. They used the guillotine to execute King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, but it didn’t stop there.   During the Reign of Terror, between 1792 and 1793, revolutionaries beheaded thousands of people. (Officially, 16,594 received the death sentence.) As time went on, the “crimes” for which a

Failing grades for many WV public schools

The state Department of Education has released the first report card grading every public school in West Virginia, and in many cases it is not one you would want to take home to your parents.   I’ll get to the findings in a moment, but first some background. The DoE developed the “Balanced Scorecard” to provide

Should the state Senate put former Justice Robin Davis on trial?

Among the many questions swirling amid the ongoing impeachment proceedings of current and former State Supreme Court Justices is whether it is necessary to put Robin Davis on trial in the Senate. Davis, who is named in four of the eleven articles of impeachment, announced her retirement last month and immediately left the bench. Senate

The long strange trip of Supreme Court impeachment

The historic and controversial impeachment of three current and one former member of the West Virginia Supreme Court has taken another strange twist. Tuesday’s pre-trial motions in the Senate for Chief Justice Margaret Workman, Justice Beth Walker, suspended Justice Allen Loughry and former Justice Robin Davis opened with what amounted to a plea bargain proposal.

The lost silver lining of 9/11

The terrorist attack 17 years ago today was one of the darkest moments in the country’s history. Four coordinated attacks using commercial airplanes killed nearly 3,000 people, destroyed the World Trade Center twin towers and severely damaged the Pentagon. We were horrified and afraid there might be subsequent attacks.  9/11 left lasting physical and emotional

Justice administration struggles with turnover in the Commerce department

Governor Jim Justice’s frustration with his search for a new Commerce secretary was evident during an appearance with me on MetroNews Talkline last week. “We’re probably not as close and I’d like to be,” Justice said. “To tell you the truth, if you would be interested, I’d surely love to sit down and talk with

An economic rising tide that is not lifting all boats

The economies of the United States and West Virginia are both showing improvement.  The U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 4.2 percent in the second quarter, while in West Virginia revenue collections are running substantially ahead of estimates. There’s no question the economic news is positive. However, the full story is more complicated.