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At a press conference this morning, Gov. Joe Manchin announced that the West Virginia Housing Development Fund a new mortgage program that offers a 30-year fixed rate loan as low as 3.5 percent, plus a zero percent down payment and assistance with closing costs. The rate is the lowest the fund has offered in its history.

“I am so pleased with the diligent work that the West Virginia Housing Development Fund has done to bring this tremendous housing opportunity into fruition for so many West Virginians,” Manchin said.  “This mortgage rate is unprecedented and is the lowest in the Housing Development Fund’s history.  I am confident that this new mortgage program will be a win-win for both our citizens and the state’s housing industry.”

“We are extremely pleased with this interest rate and realize that it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for 280 qualifying West Virginia families who wish to purchase a home and realize their dream of homeownership,” said Joe Hatfield, Executive Director of the Housing Development Fund.

The Development Fund was able to offer the 3.5 percent mortgage rate thanks to a $35 million bond issue and special bond refunding. Those wishing to apply for the mortgage rate can go to www.wvhdf.com for a list of participating lenders or call 1-877-WVADREAM. Applications will be taken on a first-come-first-served basis.

To date the Housing Fund has helped finance 108,000 homes with $3 billion in tax-exempt bonds since the agency’s founding in 1969.

So while I bury my head in government documents and FEC reports, I’ll be posting various studies and reports by some of the nation’s leading think tanks. And no, I won’t be posting anything from the Competitive Enterprise Institute; I learned my lesson there.

The first report I’m posting concerns the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. You know it as the health care reform bill that was passed back in April. Both Democratic Reps. Nick Rahall and Alan Mollohan voted for the bill while Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito voted against it. Both Sens. Jay Rockefeller and the late Robert Byrd supported. Even Gov. Joe Manchin gave his reluctant support for the bill.

Whether you supported the bill or opposed the bill, both sides are asking whether the bill will truly do what it set out to do. The libertarian Cato Institute took a look at the bill’s claims and found them to be lacking. They recently published a report, titled “Bad Medicine: A Guide to the Real Costs and Consequences of the New Health Care Law.”

Author Michael D. Tanner makes the following points (direct from the report):

• While the new law will increase the number of Americans with insurance coverage, it falls significantly short of universal coverage. By 2019, roughly 21 million Americans will still be uninsured.
• The legislation will cost far more than advertised, more than $2.7 trillion over 10 years of full implementation, and will add $352 billion to the national debt over that period.
• Most American workers and businesses will see little or no change in their skyrocketing insurance costs, while millions of others, including younger and healthier workers and those who buy insurance on their own through the non-group market will actually see their premiums go up faster as a result of this legislation.
• The new law will increase taxes by more than $669 billion between now and 2019, and the burdens it places on business will significantly reduce economic growth and employment.
• While the law contains few direct provisions for rationing care, it nonetheless sets the stage for government rationing and interference with how doctors practice medicine.
• Millions of Americans who are happy with their current health insurance will not be able to keep it.

I think the points above should concern conservatives and liberals alike. Whether we need the bill repealed or we need to fix the bill so it works as advertised is something I’ll leave up to you to decide. You can read the full report below:

Cato Publishes Handbook on Recent Health Care Reform Bill

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West Virginia Watchdog

Dr. Doug McKinney, the incumbent, is being opposed by Mike Stuart, President of the West Virginia Conservative Foundation. McKinney, a 2004 Republican primary candidate for governor, was first elected as chair in 2006.

We will be providing real-time updates of the vote in order to provide greater transparency to the process. There is already efforts under foot to disqualify voters in order for McKinney to maintain his chairmanship. The voting starts at 1 p.m.

UPDATE (1:25 p.m.): The meeting is running 25 minutes behind schedule, but as you can see there is a full house.

UPDATE (1:38 p.m.): WVGOP Chair Doug McKinney just called the meeting to order. He claimed credit for bringing the party out of debt, even while putting it back in debt over $10,000. He also claimed credit for growing county committees. When leading the Pledge of Allegiance they forgot to bring an American flag. Secretary Rocky Peck took a roll call.

UPDATE (1:50 p.m.): There are 131 committee members present and nine absent for today’s meeting. former 1st District Congressional candidate Mac Warner, now a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, was a member of the credentialing committee. Committee Vice-Chair Bob Fish was brought to the podium to deal with rules regarding the chair elections.

The candidates have to be nominated by members of the WVREC senatorial committee. Candidates get a certain amount of time for speeches. A roll call vote is taken and the winner becomes the new chair.

Vacancies on the WVREC were filled, including vacancies on the 6th, 9th, 12th, 14th REC senatorial districts. One woman who was nominated had issues involving the Secretary of State’s Office and wasn’t on the May ballot. The other, nominated by committee woman Christy Barnett, was unable to make the meeting, but wanted the job.

UPDATE (2:15 p.m.): Now the WVREC is electing officers. McKinney recused himself, and Vice-Chair Fish is running the meeting now. McKinney and Stuart are the two candidates, and committee member Rick Snuffer was also nominated.

The West Virginia Republican County Chair Caucus, headed by Joe Garcia, requested to read a resolution before the vote. The statement said the County Caucus would work with whoever became the next WVGOP Chair.

UPDATE (2:24 p.m.): Joe Garcia is McKinney’s nominator. In is speech, he says McKinney is responsible for helping county parties, bring the party out of debt, and putting the party in a nice headquarters. This speech leaves out the fact that the party is over $10,000 in debt, is in violation of McCain-Feingold due to using corporate monies for the lease of the headquarters, and McKinney has frequently attacked various county party chairs through phone calls and emails.

The nominator for Rick Snuffer is speaking. The likelihood for a win by Snuffer will be tough since McKinney and Stuart have had their hats in the ring for some time.

Mike Stuart had two people speaking on his behalf, former Kanawha County chair Melody Potter and Marty Gearheart. “Mike has personality,” said Gearheart. “Mike has the ability to give a tough message without tearing down who he gives the message to. He will hold our goals very high. The future is now…with the election of Mike Stuart as chairman.”

“Today is a special day in West Virginia history,” said Potter. “Mike Stuart is a family man.” She had 45 seconds.

UPDATE (2:40 p.m.): The candidates are speaking, starting with McKinney. He went on the attack against websites and fellow Republicans who have been tough on his chairmanship.

“The chairman’s first job is to get Republicans elected,” explained McKinney. “The chairman’s job is not to set policy, but to raise money. Some of you have expressed a desire for change. This country voted for change and look how well that turned out.”

Rick Snuffer was the second speaker. “I am under no allusions,” said Snuffer. “If you haven’t committed I would appreciate your vote. Don’t let what has happened to us since 04 happen again. Let’s pull together.”

Last to speak was Mike Stuart. Stuart read aloud the WVREC finance reports showing that the party is hemorrhaging money. He criticized McKinney for raiding the party’s CD that was set aside after the selling of the party’s South Charleston headquarters. Stuart said it’s time to fix these problems so the party can focus on the issues facing the state.

“We have to come together,” said Stuart. “Unity is important. We have to work much harder to get independents and conservative Democrats rolled over into our party. We have to do it as a team. I think it’s important we change horses at this time.”

UPDATE (3:05 p.m.): After an explanation of the parliamentary procedure, someone made a motion to close the meetings to only registered Republicans. The motion failed resoundingly, which means this reporter doesn’t have to leave.

After the roll call vote, Mike Stuart won 74 to 45.

The filing period for the special primary and election started Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. after H.B. 201 was signed into law Monday night after days of haggling and near failure. The filing period ends Friday at 5 p.m., leaving four days for candidates to file.

Candidates have to pony up $1,740 in order to file to run. “This fee is based on 1 percent of the salary for the office,” explains the West Virginia Secretary of State’s website. That 1 percent is set in West Virginia Code.

Typically the candidate filing period starts no earlier than the second Monday in January and no later than the last Saturday in January; just under a month. That filing time may not seem like much time, but candidates have plenty of time to save up the filing fee; House of Representative races occur every two years and U.S. Senate races occur every six years. In this case potential candidates had just under 12 hours notice.

The circumstances make it extremely hard for a candidate without financial backing or the ability to self-fund to run. Instead, the rules favor candidates, such as Gov. Joe Manchin, with a PAC and the ability to self-finance. The rules were also crafted to allow a candidate already on the general election ballot to run in the special election, favoring someone such as Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.). Capito declined to run yesterday.

Jake Glance, spokesperson for Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, said
the $1,740 filing fee is set in WV Code and never came up during the
special session.

“I do not believe the legislature discussed this issue,” said Glance.

Jesse Johnson of the Mountain Party is currently raising the money necessary to run for the U.S. Senate seat. He is a two-time candidate for Governor and ran against Sen. Byrd in 2006. He was also a Green Party primary candidate for U.S. President in 2008. Johnson had time to raise the filing fees for those races, but he says this special election was set up only for the privileged.

“It has made this an very elitist game tailor-made for those who can immediately write a $2,000 check. That is not accessible to the majority of citizens. That is not within their budget. The you have four days to find a constituency that si willing to donate nearly $2,000. That’s what I’m facing and anyone who would be a person of the people and not an insider and not a member of a wealthy family it’s just disenfranchising.”

Independents and fourth-party candidates have an even bigger hurdle to clear: gathering signatures. fourth-party candidates have to collect petition signatures equal to 1 percent – or 7,024 – of the total vote cast for that office in the last election and have them turned in by August 1. New rules put in place by the Secretary of State for the special election give independents until Aug. 23 to come up with .25 percent in petition signatures, or 1,756.

“The law lowered the petition signatures necessary to waive the filing fee from 6,960 to 1,740,” said Glance. “It used to be four signatures for every dollar. It was changed to dollar for signature. That’s how we have 1,740 signatures required.”

Democrat candidates to date include Gov. Manchin, former Congressman and W.Va. Secretary of State Ken Hechler, and former Del. Sheirl Fletcher. Republicans include businessman John Raese, former Republican presidential candidate Albert Howard of California, and Thomas Ressler.

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The group brought their concerns over environmental issues, including green jobs, cap and trade, and mountaintop removal. WVCAG, working as a part of Americans for Responsible Taxes, also presented a statement of support for ways to lower the growing national deficit. Items on the list include allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire, reinstating the estate tax, eliminating tax loop holes, and extend tax credits to working people.

The statement of support has been signed by the West Virginia AFL-CIO, West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, WVCAG, Southern Appalachian Labor School, and Harrison County Democracy for America.

Watch the full video below:

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On Talkline, hosted by Hoppy Kercheval, Capito (R-W.Va.) said she would keep her commitment to run for her 2nd district Congressional seat. Legislation passed Monday night would have allowed her to run for both her House seat and the Senate seat. Gov. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has already filed with no Republicans filing to date.

Listen to Capito’s statements below. In audio clip one, Capito announces she won’t run for Senate. In audio clip two Capito thanks Republican leadership in the West Virginia Legislature for making a bill that is fair to everyone.

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Was Byrd a Pig?: The late Sen. Byrd’s legacy of pork barreling from Medill Washington on Vimeo.

From the story:

Some budget watchers nicknamed Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) the “King of Pork.” Other people say he improved the quality of life for thousands of West Virginians by landing federal earmarks for his home state.

The late senator was unapologetic about the billions of federal dollars that he brought to West Virginia — one of the poorest states in the nation. In fact, he was proud of his porky ways, famously saying in 2000, “West Virginia has always had four friends: God Almighty, Sears Roebuck, Carter’s Liver Pills and Robert C. Byrd.”

Byrd died June 28. Carte Goodwin was sworn in Tuesday as his successor and is expected to resign after a special election in November to fill the remaining two years in Byrd’s term.

Robert C. Byrd’s Earmarks: A Video Report on West Virginia Pork

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The West Virginia House of Delegates passed a conference committee report allowing for a 2010 special election, ending days of debate on who would serve the rest of Sen. Robert Byrd‘s remaining two years in the U.S. Senate.

H.B. 201 amends West Virginia Code clarifying the procedures for filling U.S. Senate vacancies and specifying when and how a special election would occur. The measure passed the House 83-7, sending it over to the State Senate for approval.

Judiciary Chair Tim Miley (D-Harrison) explained the key parts of the bill, including the Capito amendment, which allows a candidate already on the November general election ballot to run in the special election. The amendment would allow Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) to run for both her second district House seat and the U.S. Senate vacancy should she decide to run. A sunset clause was also added to the legislation.

“The Secretary of State was given much broader discrestion in the bills that passed the House and the Senate,” said Miley. “This bill tightens that discretion. It identifies certain deadlines and time frames within that bill, but it still leaves the discretion to her to modify certain of those deadlines and time frames if necessary.”

“This election will be considered a separate special election that will be held concurrent with the general election that is already scheduled for November of this year,” explained Miley. “Yes, that does mean a person can run for both an office for which they are already on the ballot as well as for the vacancy in the United State Senate.”

This vote comes after the House voted down H.B. 201 on Saturday, then reconsidered the bill two hours later and voted for it, though voting down making the bill effective from time of passage. That would have meant the bill would not take effect for 90 days, making a special election this year all but impossible. Disagreements between the House and the Senate last night brought the entire process to a halt.

While it was though that Gov. Joe Manchin was going to proclaim a special election call today despite the lack of legislation, that did not occur. Sources told West Virginia Watchdog that had any special election call had gone out, a lawsuit would have been filed. A deal was worked out between the Governor’s office and both chambers to reconsider the conference committee report. After the House voted in favor the Senate follow suit shortly after.

UPDATE (9:18 p.m.): Gov. Joe Manchin, Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, House Speaker Rick Thompson, and Secretary of State Natalie Tennant spoke at a press conference after the votes by the House of Delegates and State Senate approving a 2010 special election and rules governing U.S. Senate succession and vacancies

“We have a piece of legislation that will give people the right to vote; the 17th amendment of the Constitution is alive and well,” said Manchin. “Everything is ready and in order.”

The filing period starts tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. and will end Friday at 5 p.m. Ballot position will take place on Monday with a primary scheduled for Aug. 28, and the special election scheduled along side the general election in November.

Manchin acknowledged that the debate was strained at time between his office and both chambers. But he thanked the House and Senate for acting in a bipartisan manner and passing tonight’s bill.

“Sometimes we have some diffrences and sometimes we have some discussion but the people have always benefited from the actions of the House and Senate,” said Manchin. “We don’t want this toxic atmosphere.”

After the joint announcement Manchin signed the bill into law. Manchin appointed his former legal counsel, Democrat Carte Goodwin, to fill the Senate vacancy until a special election could decide who would fill the remainder of the late Sen. Byrd’s term. Byrd died last month, leaving just over two years left on his six-year term. Byrd was up for reelection in 2012.

“The most important thing we had to do was have a good clean election,” said Manchin. “The bottom line is to have an election the people can be proud of.”

The House has received most of the criticism for the delay in passing the bill, due to complaints from Republicans and some Democrats. Both Thompson and Tomblin dismissed these criticisms.

“The members of the House take their jobs very serious,” said Thompson. “They work hard to get a good product out. We’d do a serious disservice to Sen. Byrd by passing something that was unconstitutional.”

“Any criticism of the House and the Senate is unwarranted,” added Tomblin. “Any time you have an issue this serious the extra time we take is worth it.”

Gov. Manchin will announce his intentions to run for U.S. Senate tomorrow morning at 10 a.m.

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