Bill Clark’s Big Ideas For Our Small Wonderful State

            By Ralph William “Bill” Clark

            Please forgive the length of this campaign message.  A lot is at stake.

            West Virginia has the potential to become much more prosperous than it is at the present time.  With the right leadership, West Virginia can become the best state in the country - the most prosperous state and the all-around best place to live.  We have an extraordinary opportunity to make life much better for all West Virginians.  I am not talking about a far-off time for West Virginia to become a lot more prosperous.  I am talking about 2 or 3 years if we act decisively and let the world know that we are serious about becoming strongly competitive with other states.  But first, we must be completely clear about what the problems are and what must be done to fix them.

            ● There is a huge difference between what West Virginia is and what it can become.  West Virginia has numerous natural advantages - climate, location, resources, scenery, friendly and industrious citizens - but it ranks near the bottom compared to other states regarding most of the important measures of economic well-being.  It’s not hard to figure out why.  West Virginia has a bad tax system, a bad court system, roads and bridges in need of repair all across the state, underfunded social services, high rates for major health problems but low rates for college graduation.  West Virginia is not competitive with other states.  Companies do not want to move here unless they are given large tax breaks.  But such tax breaks are unfair and West Virginia cannot afford them anyway.  West Virginia cannot really afford any of the major economic reforms that it needs.

            For example, if we cut back on corporate taxes enough to compensate for all of the state’s other problems, in the hope of attracting a lot of new businesses to West Virginia, we will have a serious revenue shortfall while we wait for business investments to increase.  West Virginia does not come close to having enough money to fix its roads and bridges, or fix education or social services.  There is a Catch 22 here: West Virginia needs to spend a lot of money in order to become more attractive to business investment; but we need business investment in order to get money in the first place via increased tax revenues.  

            ● The solution is to “think big”: West Virginia must commit itself to a comprehensive package of reforms.  We must let people in other states and around the world know that we have made a firm commitment to doing everything right in order to be competitive.  Because no other states have made this commitment, we will stand out.  Then we will not need to wait a long time for numerous businesses to respond.  Tax revenues will increase quickly, and we will be able to pay for all of the reforms and other improvements as well.  Job opportunities will increase dramatically.

            ✽ The first type of reform that we need is economic: We must have much lower corporate taxes, and more modest but significant reductions in personal income and sales taxes.  We must do what is required to make all of the steps involved in starting a new business, and running an existing business, as simple as possible.  We need to pass Right to Work legislation.  We need better protection of property rights.  We need an improved court system.  We need tort reform.  The term “business-friendly” is often used in referring to reforms such as these, but this term can be misleading because it may suggest that state government should do special favors for individual businesses or for the business sector as a whole.  Shouldn’t government be “worker-friendly” as well?  The answer, of course, is yes.  If I am elected Governor, my goal will be to make West Virginia business-friendly and worker-friendly in the best senses of these terms.  The reforms that I support for West Virginia will reach out to everyone.

            I will do everything possible to ensure that West Virginia attracts new businesses and business investments for all of the right reasons - not by doing favors for businesses via the use of tax credits and other sorts of special treatment, but by becoming a state where businesses of many different kinds just naturally want to locate, and where employees are treated well.  The result will be more and better jobs for West Virginians and a much stronger tax base that will give us the money we need to fix our roads and bridges, strengthen social services, shrink our indebtedness, and improve education.  (Doing the latter will require more than spending additional money, needless to say, but money for education is important in a state like West Virginia where average teacher salaries are among the lowest in the nation.  And we need to spend the money that we have more effectively.)

            ✽ Second, we need ethical reform.  State government in West Virginia should move toward a day when it no longer does favors for any special interests, but instead serves the interests of all citizens impartially.  Good government is government for everyone, which means protecting the rights and interests of all residents of the state - business owners, employees, rich people, poor people, blue collar and white collar, old and young, men and women, individuals who possess mineral rights to land and individuals who possess only surface rights.

            In order to treat everyone fairly, one of the things that West Virginia must do is create a new, intermediate court system in order to guarantee the right of appeal.  We also need tort reform that includes placing appropriate limits on punitive damages in liability cases.  We need a regulatory climate that reduces compliance costs as much as possible.  We absolutely must send a clear message to people in business that we have their backs when it comes to the major risks and expenses that they face in running their companies.  At the same time, we want employees to know that we will strenuously look out for all of their rights as employees.  We want the citizens of our state to know that we are looking out for them in a way that balances all of the important dimensions of government, which include fostering business growth, protecting people’s rights, protecting the environment, looking out for health and safety, and strengthening social services.

            ● My goals for WV can be summed up as: Low Taxes, Least Red Tape, Highest Ethics.

            ● Someone will ask: Can we afford to commit ourselves to a comprehensive package of economic and ethical reforms?  If we cannot afford individual reforms one by one, how can we afford a large package of them?  But the answer is yes, we can afford them.  Surprisingly perhaps, the bigger the package of reforms, the more affordable they become just because they make a much bigger splash as regards competition with other states.  People across the country and around the world will notice much sooner what we are doing.  We will receive a lot of favorable publicity quickly, and it will be free publicity!  The turnaround time for the reforms will be much less than with the usual one-step-at-a-time approach to reform.  It will be a situation where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  Because West Virginia presently ranks so low regarding national measures of prosperity and well-being, we are in a position to advance much more than other states would if we do everything right.  And this means that it will be easier to pass all of the reforms that we need because everyone will benefit.  It’s a once-in-the-history-of-our-state opportunity for West Virginia to fulfill its destiny as a unique state - created in a unique way and positioned now, if it has the right leadership, to set an example for all of the other states.

            ● I am the right person to turn things around in West Virginia.

            I have the right leadership skills and negotiating skills.  I know how to run things and to motivate people.  At the present time, I am a department chair and a program coordinator at West Virginia University.  I understand effective management, and I am the coauthor of a book for business managers.  I have been praised for being a good leader at WVU.  I have been described as “someone who gets things done.”  As a professor at WVU, I have taught ethics courses more than any others.  I am strongly committed to ethical conduct and ethical goals in my personal life, my professional life, and everything that I will do as Governor if I am elected.  My experience as a professor and administrator has taught me how to reach out to diverse individuals who may need to be persuaded to see things in a better way.  And I am always open myself to being persuaded by others who present a convincing case.

            I am a longtime resident of West Virginia, and I’ve paid my dues, politically speaking.  Not by holding public office, but that is not the only way for someone to pay their dues in preparing to be a candidate for Governor.  I have put a great deal of time and effort into researching and writing a book that is addressed to the needs and prospects of our state: Make West Virginia No. 1: What We Need to Know to Make West Virginia the Most Prosperous and All-Around Best State.  I mention this book not to suggest that you read it.  Of course, I would be happy if you did.  I mention it to let you know that I have invested a lot of myself in West Virginia - in writing this book and in other ways as well.  I have devoted myself to this state every bit as much as people who have served many years in public office.  I love West Virginia and want it to become the state that it truly can become.

            ● If elected, a Republican Governor in West Virginia will likely face a Democratic Legislature.  Will reform measures supported by a Republican Governor be defeated on a partisan basis?  In the past, that might have been true in many cases.  But times have changed, and West Virginia now finds itself in possession of an extraordinary opportunity to make a quantum jump forward in prosperity and quality of life.  The Great Recession has focused everyone’s attention on the economy; everyone knows that we absolutely must fix the economy, both for the country as a whole and for each of the individual states.  For the first time in American history, people everywhere are seeing that competition among the states can be an extremely powerful force.  Let us work toward a time when people in other states and around the world will look to our state as the model for Low Taxes, Least Red Tape, Highest Ethics.

            Allow me to tell you a bit more about my background.

            ✽ I understand poverty.  I was raised in a very poor family.  On several occasions when I was a child, my parents were in danger of losing their business and the house in which we lived because my parents were so far behind in paying their property taxes.  It didn’t help that we lived in Massachusetts, also known as “Taxachusetts.”  I learned at a young age how destructive high taxes can be.

            I saw at first hand in my own family and in the families of some of my friends how hard life can be when you are very poor.  I also saw first hand the burden of long-term serious illness - in both my immediate family and my extended family.  I know what it is like to repair one’s own worn out shoes and to sleep in an unheated room in winter.  So it’s not only that I understand the steps that need to be taken to improve people’s circumstances and opportunities.  I have a strong emotional investment in all of this as well.  I very much want to do what I can to make people’s lives go better, regardless of the underlying causes - unemployment, underemployment, inadequate education, poverty, drug addiction, illness, or some other factor.

            ✽ Although I was born in New Hampshire and spent my childhood in Massachusetts, I have lived in West Virginia for more than 40 years.  I think of myself as a West Virginian through and through.

            ✽ I know a lot about the work lives of people with blue collar occupations as well as white collar.  While growing up, I worked with my father in his struggling, and often failing, small businesses.  As early as when I was in the first grade, my father began to take me out of school to help him at his sawmill in New Hampshire.  I remember that my first grade teacher was very unhappy about this!  While attending college, I worked as a truck driver and a janitor among other blue collar jobs.  More recently as a spare time activity, I have rebuilt damaged automobiles, and this has helped me to learn more about the work lives of people in the auto salvage and auto repair businesses.  (I began visiting auto salvage yards in grade school when I went with my father to get parts for our worn out vehicles.)  While living in Morgantown, I have done much of the work of remodeling houses that I have owned, so I know something about the challenges faced by carpenters, electricians, and plumbers.

            ✽ I understand disability and special needs.  My older brother has been disabled most of his life and my stepson is disabled.  When I was in grade school, my parents were usually not able to afford eyeglasses for me, but the Lions Club came to our aid.  I understand the importance of both public assistance and private charities. 

            ✽ Although I have not myself run a business, I have studied and written about the requirements for business success, and talked to business people about what they see as most important for their success.  I learned a lot about business failure early in life from observing what happened with my family’s businesses.  My father was a talented man but not good at running a business.  He taught me many valuable lessons, some intentional and some unintentional.

            ✽ I understand the principles of motivational psychology that are extremely important to both business and government.  I am referring to the fact that highly successful businesses and highly effective governments absolutely must put in place the most effective systems of incentives.  When the goal is a company’s profitability, business managers must know how to motivate employees to be productive and to feel good about their jobs.  When the goal is helping people in need via welfare or Medicaid, it is absolutely essential that incentives be put in place that motivate people to lessen their reliance on help from government.  Always, steps must be taken to lessen the harmful consequences of welfare dependency.  It’s all a question of deliberately designing programs that contain the right incentives - and having enough money in the state budget to pay for the best sorts of programs.

            I want to emphasize that the strong sympathy I feel for people in need will, if I am elected Governor, motivate me all the more strongly to “help people to help themselves” whenever this is at all possible.  Such help is the best kind, and usually is most cost effective.  Always, we must have programs that contain incentives to get people to free themselves from the need to receive help from such programs.  I want to emphasize also that my larger goal, if I am elected, will always be to seek the best ways to balance all of the important dimensions of state government. 

            ✽ I am the ideal person to make good on what ought to be the goal of state government everywhere: To be a government for everyone.  My campaign pledge is that I promise nothing to anyone except to work toward the best government for everyone.        

            ● I believe that, if I am nominated, I will be well positioned to win the general election in 2012.

            Regarding the 2011 election, let me say first that Republicans in West Virginia are indebted to Bill Maloney for his valiant efforts to promote some good ideas.  However, he did not develop those ideas far enough.  He did not reach out broadly enough to voters, and his campaign was too negative.  Mr. Maloney frequently compared the Governor’s role to that of an executive running a successful company.  But the Governor’s role is much more complex than that, and the focus is very different.

            The Governor of West Virginia must understand how to balance many different competing and conflicting values and interests, which is very different from the more narrowly focused goal of a business CEO.  For example, if I am elected Governor I will strongly support economic reforms that make coal and gas companies more competitive, such as lowering their taxes and reducing red tape, but I will also insist that they adhere to strict environmental standards.  Yet, I won’t go overboard as regards the environment.  I will seek to find the exact right balance.  I will marshal my resources and join with others to oppose excessive EPA regulations that impact West Virginia, but I will strongly support EPA regulations that are reasonable for our state and the country.  Furthermore, I understand very well that what is reasonable within a strong economy - especially when there is a call to strengthen environmental standards - may not be reasonable within a weakened economy such as we are now experiencing.

            As for Governor Tomblin, he does have some good ideas and some good intentions.  But voters should not forget that Gov. Tomblin has been a major figure in state government for decades, and during all of that time West Virginia has been at or near the bottom in most national rankings.  In recent years under Gov. Manchin, progress was made toward attracting new businesses to West Virginia, and Gov. Tomblin deserves some of the credit for that, as well as for the recent improvement in West Virginia’s bond rating, and other improvements also.  But the state has a long way to go, and other states are not standing still.  Many of them are working hard to become much more competitive in response to the Great Recession, so West Virginia may fall even further behind while taking small steps forward under the Tomblin administration.  What we absolutely must do - and as soon as we possibly can do it - is to take large steps forward.  We need to think big.  Gov. Tomblin promises more jobs, but he has not articulated a plan for achieving that goal that is much different from the less-than-adequate plans of his predecessors.  He is a captive of a dysfunctional political system that has been in place a long time and desperately needs to be changed.           

            ● The political system in West Virginia is dysfunctional for several different reasons: virtual one-party rule for many decades; a history of a few powerful interest groups playing dominant political roles; a single dominant industry during much of the 20^th century; the impact of “absentee ownership” of resources and land, especially earlier in our history.  The worst features of interest group politics have been reinforced in West Virginia.  My goal is not to point the finger of blame, but instead to look toward a bright future when our state is invigorated by genuine two-party rule, a stronger and more widely diversified economy, a blossoming of both small and large business growth, and fairness for all.

            ● A central feature of Gov. Tomblin’s economic plan for West Virginia is the same extensive use of selective tax incentives, or tax credits, that our state government has employed for many years.  Gov. Tomblin appears to be blind to the fact that selective tax incentives are grossly unfair, seldom work for the long term, and motivate people to devote a lot of time and money to lobbying efforts in the hope of obtaining a tax break rather than devoting the same time and money to improving their companies or improving government.  Money spent on such lobbying is, in the final analysis, money that is simply thrown away.  It does nothing to make life better for West Virginians.

            In his 2011 campaign, Gov. Tomblin argued that if West Virginia does not offer tax credits it will be unable to compete with states that do offer them, such as Pennsylvania, in attracting new businesses.  There is some merit to Gov. Tomblin’s argument for the short term and if we focus on only a small, select number of businesses.  But it is disastrous for the longer term.  It does not take into account the larger picture.  It gives companies that do not receive a tax break a reason not to move to West Virginia since they know that their taxes will be higher to make up for all the tax breaks given to others.  It ignores the fact that conflicts of interest are inevitable between elected officials and businesses to which government can give selective help.  Reliance on tax credits is a corruptive, wasteful practice that contains all of the wrong incentives, and the same is true for other types of selective help that state government gives to businesses, such as the support given to the dog racing industry in recent years.  Help given to this industry has involved numerous conflicts of interest; unquestionably, it has not been the best use to which state revenues can be put.  In place of selective help to businesses, West Virginia should guarantee much lower taxes and much less red tape for all businesses.  Money saved by abolishing tax credits will help to make this possible.

            ● If I am elected Governor, I will work to achieve the following goals.  This is not intended to be a complete list:

            ✽ Substantially larger reductions in the WV corporate income tax than Gov. Tomblin has promised.

            ✽ Eliminating the personal property tax on inventory, machinery, and equipment.

            ✽ Achieving more modest but significant reductions in personal income and state sales taxes.

            ✽ Creating a blue-ribbon commission whose charge is to “simplify West Virginia” - examine all rules and regulations with the goal of finding easier and simpler ways for West Virginians run their businesses and get on with their lives.

            ✽ Passage of Right to Work legislation, which I discuss further in what follows.

            ✽ Much greater transparency in state government - which must include a large reduction in unclassified spending in the state budget.

            ✽ Comprehensive ethical reform, which must include changing the way that members of the state Supreme Court are selected in order to make the process less partisan.

            I will not allow the size of state government to grow along with our economy.  The proportion of West Virginia’s economy devoted to governmental activities is currently much too large, and this is one of the reasons why West Virginia is not a good state in which to do business.  There is no getting around the fact that the incentives inherent within government do not promote efficiency and cost-saving.  State government in West Virginia is a large financial drain on the activities of all businesses, and on people’s opportunities to live successful and happy lives.  I pledge to cut back on the relative size of state government.  My strategy will be to support strict limits on the growth of government while simultaneously expanding the state’s economy via wide-ranging economic and ethical reforms.  The result will be a much smaller proportion of West Virginia’s economy devoted to governmental activities.  And I will look for ways to use present government employees more efficiently.  I am a strong believer in seeking out and implementing the very best management practices.

            This strategy is completely realistic for West Virginia - in sharp contrast to the situation in many other states at the present time where drastic cuts in government programs are needed - because we have so much room for growth and improvement.  Because West Virginians have made do with less for so many years, we have not dug ourselves into as deep a hole financially as have a great many other states.  With the right leadership, everyone can benefit from the fact that West Virginia has as yet scarcely begun to tap into all of its natural advantages.

            ● My message is very positive both for West Virginians who work in the private sector and for West Virginians who work in the public sector.  Of all the candidates for Governor, I am the one who, by far, has the message with the broadest appeal.  I am also the one who, by far, has the most positive and exciting message: Make West Virginia the Best State in the U.S.  The most prosperous and all-around best place to live! 

            As you can see, I have Big Ideas for Our Small Wonderful State.  Big ideas that are wholly realistic.  And I can demonstrate that they are wholly realistic.  Let me give you an example.       

            ● Someone will ask: Won’t Right to Work legislation be a hard sell in West Virginia, a state where unions have historically played large, important roles?  Part of my response is to say that in supporting Right to Work, I am not anti-union, not in the least.  I like unions a lot - as long as they are voluntary and don’t acquire their power and influence by removing choice of membership from the workplace.  Even with Right to Work laws in place, unions can and should where needed bargain for better pay, health and safety, nondiscrimination, and efficient on-the-job practices that enable a company to be more profitable, pay its employees more, and provide for more enjoyable workplaces.  Right to Work laws strengthen rather than weaken the important positive roles that unions play in ensuring that workers enjoy the best pay and the best workplace conditions that the market can support.

            If West Virginia passes Right to Work legislation as part of a comprehensive package of reforms, there will be a substantial “multiplier effect.”  It will be a situation where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  Passing Right to Work will help to drive home the message that West Virginia is completely serious about becoming as competitive as possible.  The evidence is very clear that Right to Work laws improve a state’s job opportunities and economic development.

            Let us not forget, as well, that today’s workplaces are subject to a host of laws that protect workers from discrimination, set health and safety standards, and in other ways provide workers with protections that in earlier times were largely the province of unions.  Of course, these laws should be strictly enforced.  Some of them need to be improved.  I will be a strong advocate for enforcement.  Also, we live in a new age of accountability where social media and the Internet put additional pressure on companies to treat employees well.  This is a large subject to which I cannot do justice here.  I do believe that both as a campaigner and as Governor I will be able to make a compelling case in support of Right to Work legislation.  In making this case, I will demonstrate that I am as strong a champion for working people as voters will find anywhere.       

            ● I understand the dynamics of state-to-state competition as applied to improving the lives of working people.  To consider just one facet of this: Projections for economic growth in the U.S. as a whole over the next few years are not as encouraging as we would like, nor are world projections.  Overall job growth in the U.S. will likely fall substantially short of what is needed.  Many companies in the U.S. and around the world are barely hanging on at the present time, which is not a happy circumstance for them.  But it presents West Virginia with an extraordinary opportunity to improve the lives of working people within our state.  If West Virginia implements reforms that make it stand out as a truly excellent place to locate a new business or expand an existing business, we will surge ahead even in a weak economy just because business people everywhere are so eager to find ways to become more profitable.  We will be able to entice jobs and opportunities away from other states and other countries.

            ● My campaign message is addressed to Republicans, but also to Democrats, Independents, and everyone else:

            ✽ I will work to make West Virginia the state that does everything right in order to be competitive with other states.

            ✽ I will fight for comprehensive economic and ethical reform.

            ✽ My campaign slogan for West Virginia is Low Taxes, Least Red Tape, Highest Ethics.

            ✽ My campaign pledge is that I promise nothing to anyone except to work toward the best government for everyone.

            ✽ My goal is to make West Virginia the best state in the U.S. - the most prosperous and all-around best place to live!