Letters to the Editor

Medicare Advantage Works

Editor, News-Register: Inflation may be forcing some of us to sacrifice the things we like to enjoy, and even more so, the things we regularly need. Health care is one of those necessities. That’s why, in these times of financial uncertainty and instability, I feel additional gratitude for my Medicare Advantage health care plan, which has always stayed consistent. I have never doubted that my Medicare Advantage plan would stay within my budget. The premiums have always been predictable, and this year the average premium is down an additional 10%, coming out to just $19 per month. ...

Don’t Weaken Mine Safety Laws

Editor, News-Register: (Editor’s note: the bill in question, House Bill 4840, sponsored by Delegate Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh, did not advance before crossover day). In one of the more brazen acts of political disgrace, West Virginia Republicans are seeking to take the teeth out of laws that protect coal miners. Coal mining remains a dangerous job which few of us could or would perform. The profession has been made safer over the years, but only as one mine calamity after another has occurred which has taken the lives of miners. A key facet in making the job less dangerous ...

Accountability Will Be His Priority

Editor, News-Register: A false narrative regarding Ohio County Schools was recently posted on social media. “A voter in Ohio County would be crazy to vote for any school board candidate who is a former employee of Ohio County Schools. These people bring zero accountability to the office and will maintain the dysfunctional status quo of the administration. Right now the board has a 3-2 majority of former OCS employees.” First, let me clarify that there are only two former school system employees serving on the board. So if I am elected, there will still be only two former OCS ...

Don’t Legislate Morality in W.Va.

Editor, News-Register: West Virginia lawmakers: you must stop trying to legislate morality. You are setting a dangerous precedent if law is made of HB 4011, on “Divisive Acts.” No, wait — not a precedent: we’ve already seen how these mandates turn out, being ourselves educated in the history that you are so blatantly threatening. We, the people, “in order to form a more perfect union” (borrowing from a rather important document), have the privilege of deciding what’s right and wrong — for ourselves and for the children we care about. Your intent, in HB 4011, is ...

Disabled Vets Need Compensated

Editor, News-Register: Our disabled veterans are grossly under-compensated and have been for generations. This is most especially true for our totally and permanently disabled veterans. Our disabled veterans have been asking Congress for fair and adequate compensation since the end of WW I (1918). That was a 103 years ago. Where is it? In 2022 a totally disabled veteran with no dependents is compensated at the ridiculous rate of $39,984.72 annually. The National Average Wage Index for 2020 was $55,628.60 per annum and the median income for 2020 was $67,521.00. The per capita GDP in ...

The Sad Degeneration of Ted Cruz

Editor, News-Register: How sad it is to witness the self-induced public degeneration and humiliation of Sen. Ted Cruz (Republican, Texas), recently on display on the “Tucker Carlson Tonight” program on the Fox News Channel, when he incredibly discounted his earlier verbiage, which appropriately, had described the violent insurrection that took place on January 6, 2021, at our nation’s capitol as “a violent terrorist attack,” in response to which host Carlson claimed that Senator Cruz had “lied about the insurrectionists and had slandered all Trump supporters,” which ...