Discussion: West Virginia Leaders Reach Deal To Raise Teachers' Pay And End Strike

Of course, the WV senate republicans offset this with a cut to Medicaid. They’re republicans. You know…assholes.

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Yeah, I caught that, as well. I know that WV is a fairly poor state, overall, but it’s ridiculous the lengths that Republicans are going to in order to avoid raising anyone’s taxes even by so much as a penny, even when the need is desperate.

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The tax situation was completely self-inflicted…

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It always is.

Kansas demonstrated how it doesn’t work. That just doesn’t matter.

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Let’s be absolutely clear about this-

A union of Teachers and Public Workers just broke the back of West Virginia’s republican government.

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Cutting Medicaid services is going to end up costing them more. Not smart, but no one ever accused modern day Republicans of being overly intelligent.

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Or intelligent at all for that matter.

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I think the WV teachers may have started a trend with public sector employees. Many are grossly underpaid with poor workplace conditions and as long as legislators favor tax cuts for the wealthy over regular people, I believe we may see more of this. Already, teachers in Oklahoma are thinking about striking, and it’s not a coincidence this is occurring in red states with their harsh anti-worker policies.

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Not raised in this article or in the comments is the fact that last week the teachers refused the pay raise if it didn’t also include relief from health insurance costs they were being afflicted with under the current contract. I’m guessing they also got better health insurance for less out of pocket cost in this agreement right?!?

Oh I’m sure the Oklahoma legislature will be all for it if they can loot Medicaid.
Would this be legal?

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Of course, the GOP leadership is going to try and take it out on the poor by cutting Medicaid, instead of raising taxes on the coal companies.

You dance with the one who bought ya.

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Glad the teachers hung tough. Need more of that in the U.S.

But why the troopers? Republican legislature sending a message? Normally, including in West Virginia, they are strikebreakers and ball busters of poor and working class people, while protecting racists and fascists, if not belonging to their organizations. Their union is not a working class union, but one of the agents of the state and existing order.

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And look at all the good those tax cuts did for WV. What a difference a decade makes, right?
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Right?
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Bueller?

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Amen. What kind of really depraved people does it take to play sick people off against children in one of their ever so popular "zero-sum "games?
Yes, the state is poor.
But no one is that poor unless they happen to be a Politician. Let’s see the Governor and every state “Official” take a 5% PAY CUT before they take medical care away from one sick kid.
Gonifs and worse, all of them!

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Republicans all see themselves as the bread winners and the Democrats with their hands out, so they crow ‘self interest’ into a fiscal recession or from a pit of poverty. Meanwhile, in California…

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good job teachers!
OT – but this is about PA 18th district from Maddow Blog:

Tuesday’s Campaign Round-Up, 3.6.18
By Steve Benen 03/06/18 12:03PM
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.

  • With a week remaining before the congressional special election in Pennsylvania’s 18th district, an Emerson College poll released yesterday showed Conor Lamb (D) with a narrow lead over Rick Saccone ÂŽ, 48% to 45%.
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We’re doing pretty well here in California. $6.1b budget surplus, $2.4t GDP (6th largest economy in the world), #1 agricultural producer in the US, not to mention the whole Silicon Valley thing.

Yet for some reason, our own republicans hate us.

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They’re just jealous we can’t be Kansas with Sam Brownback as Governor. Success is just hard to stomach for some.

Then again, Nunes seems to be Anti-American everything these days and California just gets caught up in his Russophilia.

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Republicans repeatedly fail so spectacularly when put in charge. Then they get all pissy when basic common sense proves successful. What happened to republicans? They used to actually have some workable ideas now and then.

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