'THE BEST CHOICE FOR GOVERNOR: BOOTH GOODWIN'!

(#118) 03 April 2016, Vol.3, No.5 > ‘THE BEST CHOICE FOR GOVERNOR: BOOTH GOODWIN’!

The POCAHONTAS CRIER

‘When the Righteous succeed the people rejoice,

But when the bad govern, men groan!’ – Proverbs 29:2

‘THE BEST CHOICE FOR GOVERNOR: BOOTH GOODWIN’!

For those that have taken the time to look at the candidates running for GOVERNOR, one look at the thieving low-life casino-mogul, Jim Justice, is enough to make anyone SICK since he has RIPPED OFF hundreds & thousands of his fellow workers & employees & material suppliers in his years ‘in business’!  It’s a wonder Justice is not rotting away in jail where he belongs – and his very candidacy is an INSULT to the Citizens of West Virginia since we’ve had so many carpet-baggers & scalawags like him in the past – both locally as well as statewide!  Of all the candidates for GOVERNOR, only one jumps out as worthy of consideration, and that’s BOOTH GOODWIN, who has been a federal prosecutor for enough years to know POLITICAL CORRUPTION & POLITICAL CROOKS like Jim Justice for certain! 

HERE IS WHAT BOOTH GOODWIN WOULD LIKE TO SEE FULFILLED HERE IN WEST VIRGINIA:

FIGHTING DRUG ABUSE

West Virginia has a drug abuse epidemic.  West Virginia must be clean and sober before we can be healthy, happy and prosperous.

Booth Goodwin has met many West Virginia families ravaged by

the scourge of drug addiction.  Working with local, state, and federal law enforcement, Goodwin has locked up hundreds of drug dealers bringing their poison into West Virginia.  He has locked up more than a few of our own peddling drugs to feed their addiction.  But, addiction is powerful and fuels demand for more and more illegal drugs.  As Governor, Goodwin will continue to see that drug dealers are taken off of our streets, but he will work to see that addicts get the help they need to be productive citizens.

Goodwin has a detailed plan to identify addicts including screening every arrestee for drugs, requiring treatment of those jailed and offering treatment to those who stay on the street.  He will encourage employers to keep workers who test positive if they agree to immediately seek treatment and continue to be drug tested at their own expense.  He will ask the legislature for new statutes similar to our current mental hygiene system for the purpose of involuntary commitment of those who overdose.

Importantly, Goodwin will establish and increase the availability of treatment centers and treatment protocols to address this problem, which affects a huge number of our citizens.

As governor, Goodwin will establish partnerships with communities, educational institutions, churches and civic groups to provide workable and tested help to families and friends of those addicted.

CLEAN WATER AND ENVIRONMENT

On January 9, 2014, thousands of gallons of a little-known

chemical were criminally allowed to spill from a rusty tank into the Elk River and poison the water supply of hundreds of thousands of West Virginians.  As United States Attorney, Booth Goodwin convicted the corporate executives responsible for the leak.  This will act as a deterrent to others who would put our water sources at risk.  But that’s not enough.  We must make our drinking water infrastructure safer and we must do it now. Too many communities and public service districts struggle to supply adequate, clean water to local residents.

West Virginia has an abundance of pristine water.  We must keep it that way.  We must hold accountable those who would exploit or foul it, but we must be careful not to punish those who consistently do the right thing.  In just a few years, water will become much more precious than our fathers and mothers ever imagined.  It is a legacy for our children that Goodwin will protect.

PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN

As United States Attorney, Booth Goodwin has seen first hand the community problems affecting our children: trauma, bullying, abuse and neglect.  He prosecuted and locked up those who would abuse children and trade in child pornography.

Goodwin also led the development of what is now a national model for dealing with schoolchildren who have been subjected to a traumatic event.  That program, ‘Handle with Care’, was created by the development of a partnership between law enforcement and educators.  Briefly, police identify children encountered by them in drug raids, domestic violence incidents and other traumatic situations.  They then convey that information to the child’s school before the student arrives the next day.  The school is then ready to handle that child with care and support and intervene as necessary.  That program will be expanded.  Kids exposed to trauma often need mental health care and Goodwin will work to make it available on-site at every school.

EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN

Educating our children is the most important component of a better future for West Virginia.  We can’t attract businesses without an educated workforce.  The decision-makers will not move a business to a state with bad schools.  We have some great schools, but we have some that are literally falling down.  Our school system mandates curricula.  They then scrap that curricula.  They test and test some more.

As governor, Booth Goodwin will insist that education policymakers focus on students not policies and bureaucratic reports.  He will insist that we empower our teachers, pay them better and expect excellent results.  Education affects everybody in West Virginia.  If your home is in the neighborhood with a good school then it is worth more money.  Better jobs require better educated workers.  We have to start thinking every day about every tomorrow.  We can’t afford not to have the best schools with the best teachers.

ROADS, BRIDGES AND HIGHWAYS

West Virginia will receive a substantial increase in federal funds

for highways next year.  We must spend those monies strategically to create jobs and preserve and protect our critical transportation infrastructure.  Booth Goodwin is committed to repairing and replacing dangerous bridges and deteriorating highways, but knows we must also invest substantial amounts of highway dollars to promote and enhance growth in our communities.

BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE

West Virginia is woefully behind in broadband infrastructure. Over half of all residents lack access to true, high-speed broadband as defined by the Federal Communications Commission.  Fortunately, broadband is now cheaper and faster and easier to deploy.  Booth Goodwin will work hard to make sure every area in West Virginia has access to affordable broadband.  He will leverage state resources to encourage better broadband coverage and will push telecommunications companies to invest more in that effort.

TOURISM, AN INVESTMENT IN THE FUTURE

In West Virginia, 46,000 people are employed in the travel and

tourism industry.  Tourism means more than $5 billion per year to the economy of the Mountain State.  For years people have talked about how to attract businesses to West Virginia without focusing on the fact that businesses don’t choose where to locate—people choose where to locate.  West Virginia is the safest, most beautiful, most inviting place to live in the world. The challenge we face is that people do not know about all that we have to offer.  Every dollar invested in tourism returns seven. But that’s just tourism dollars.  We have failed to realize that if we are able to get people here for a week—or even a weekend—we have a good chance at being the place to which they relocate or retire.  We must invest in making our communities attractive to people and promote all that we have to offer as a state.

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Booth Goodwin worked every day for the past 15 years with law

enforcement officers.  He recognizes them to be professionals of the highest order.  Lately, people have been kicking the police around.  That has to stop.  We will respect our law enforcement officers.  They keep us safe at the risk of their own lives.  They need the best equipment, training and pay that we can afford.  An unsafe neighborhood is a low value neighborhood.  Houses in high crime areas can’t be sold.  The safest areas are the places people most want to live and the homes there are the ones they will pay the highest price for.  Most importantly, we can’t put a price on the safety of our children.  The police protect them from predators and peddlers of drugs.

POLITICAL CORRUPTION AND CORPORATE CRIME

No community in West Virginia can thrive where the politics 
and local institutions are corrupt.  Booth Goodwin has spent many years holding corrupt government officials and corrupt executives responsible.  Our government officials owe us transparency and integrity.  Our businesses owe us honesty and a commitment to their workers safety.

Goodwin knows how to root out corruption and how to hold

criminals of all stripes accountable.  He will see to it that state law enforcement makes clean government and safe workplaces top priorities.

PROTECTING OUR SENIORS

First and foremost, Booth Goodwin will see to it that our West

Virginia government treats our senior citizens with the highest respect.  They have earned it.  He will work, as he did in the US Attorney’s office to protect them from scams designed to steal their hard-earned money.

Goodwin knows that we need to listen to our seniors more and remove the bureaucratic barriers which make it most difficult for them to get help when they need it.

Goodwin believes that our seniors deserve the very best medical care.  The quality of that care should not depend upon your ZIP Code.  Telemedicine, and rapidly developing medical technology will make that possible for every West Virginian.

NATURAL GAS AND COAL

New technology has made West Virginia the Saudi Arabia of

natural gas.  We must take full advantage of this remarkable opportunity.  We must assist in building out the infrastructure necessary to exploit this vast resource but we must do it in a way that protects West Virginia both economically and environmentally.

Coal continues to be an important part of our economy and our

nation’s power supply, however, a combination of worldwide economic pressures, cheap natural gas, federal regulations and thinning seams have led to unemployment in the coalfields and a decline in state and local revenues.  We need to be sure we capitalize on the resources we have and treat the coal miners and the businesses that support mining fairly and with respect.

We need to use the energy rich resources of West Virginia to

develop jobs and industries within our boundaries.  We are not going to go another century where we ship all of our wealth out-of-state and get too little in return.  Coal mines close.  Coal miners are laid off.  Companies go bankrupt.  Steel companies and chemical companies run away.  Yet, somehow, the top executives remain filthy rich and invest nothing in the people and communities they leave behind.  We’re not going to take it anymore!

Tomorrow is a new day and coal and gas will be an important part of our future.  But, let there be no mistake, Booth Goodwin will see that the people of West Virginia govern their own destiny.

THE BEST CHOICE FOR GOVERNOR IS BOOTH GOODWIN!  VOTE on 10 May!  GOODWIN IS A GOOD WIN FOR EVERYONE!

ONE WAY OR ANOTHER…WE ALL REAP WHAT WE HAVE SOWN…& then some!

 

“The Gray Riders are gone, yet they remain asleep in our soil,

and alive in our veins.  Untouched by fire, untouched by frost,

they whisper within us: ‘OUR CAUSE IS NOT LOST!’”

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

The Pocahontas Crier is an independent, free, non-subscription, Internet News Service providing in depth reporting on important issues directly affecting the Citizens

of Pocahontas County, West Virginia, and meant for entertainment in the true ‘muckraking’ & ‘iconoclast’ tradition of questioning authority, challenging corruption, exposing impropriety and the appearance of impropriety, and offering Common Sense Alternatives for

THE GREATER COMMON GOOD BEFORE SELF…

or any Special Interests! 

We fight for Social Justice on all fronts and are an integral part of The Crier Coalition of Internet News Services comprised of  The Pocahontas Commentator, The Pocahontas Crier,

Signal Fires of WV, & Rolling Thunder in association with Echoes from the Holl’r.  

Email comments & suggestions to:  

pocahontascrier88@gmail.com