Dem
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GOP
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West Virginia is not known for leading the country in many things (although it ranks second in coal production, far behind Wyoming), but newly inaugurated Gov. Patrick Morrissey (R-WV) issued a slew of XOs on day 1 (Tuesday), possibly foreshadowing what Donald Trump will do on Jan. 20.
For starters, he signed an XO enabling people who have a religious conviction that if God wants their kids to die, that is His call. Vaccines interfere with that. So the XO allows them to opt out of vaccinations so God can kill their kids with measles if that is His Plan. Oddly enough, until Tuesday, West Virginia had some of the strictest vaccine policies in the country, so this is a real change. Current state law requires children to receive vaccines for chickenpox, hepatitis-B, measles, meningitis, mumps, diphtheria, polio, rubella, tetanus and whooping cough before starting school. Take that, California! Donald Trump has already said that if states have mandatory vaccination policies for their schools, he might just not send them the federal funds to which they are by law entitled.
Another area where Morrissey beat Trump to the punch is DEI. The governor ordered all DEI programs to be canceled forthwith. He says his order will protect West Virginians from discrimination that gives some groups preferential treatment over others. Trump is certain to mimic that, although he may not even have to, as many universities and companies are pre-complying by abolishing their DEI offices even before being ordered to.
Yet another XO was about making school choice a top priority. In other words, Morrissey wants the state to fund private and religious schools to the detriment of the public schools. Incoming Secretary of Education Linda McMahon is sure to take notice and possibly ask Morrissey for tips on how to do this.
Of course, Morrissey is going to go after "waste." Government programs he doesn't like will be deemed wasteful. Does that sound DOGEy? Of course, Morrissey's predecessor, now-Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV), already eliminated all "waste," so there will be none left for Morrissey to eliminate. But the voters like to hear this, so why not talk about it?
Still another biggie is going over previous XOs Morrissey doesn't like and getting rid of them. Again, these will be from governors prior to Justice, like Earl Ray Tomblin (D), whose term ended on Jan. 16, 2017. Trump is certain to follow in Morrissey's footsteps here.
West Virginia actually has a Democratic Party (who knew?). Its chairman, Mike Pushkin, accused Morrissey of using "divisive rhetoric aimed at dividing people by race." For a state that is 93% non-Hispanic white and 2% Hispanic, that is not a lot of dividing, but still. (V)