Talkline | Nov. 3, 2025

Congressman Riley Moore discusses the alleged atrosicities against Christians in Nigeria. Revenue Secretary Eric Nelson goes over October numbers. Metronews Sports' Brad Howe breaks down the WVU win over Houston and the start of basketball season. Judy Ball, League of Women Voters, on support for the WV School Board. And, how folks shopping the ACA Marketplace are reacting. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:11):
Hope you got your Halloween buckets full. Enjoy that extra
hour sleep ban the Mountaineer victory on Saturday, because that's
all in the past. Metro News talk Line is underway.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Your radio turned off.

Speaker 3 (00:32):
From the studios of w v r C Media and
the Metro News Radio and Television Network, the Voice up
West Virginia comes the most powerful show in West Virginia.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
This it's Metro News talk Line.

Speaker 3 (00:45):
With Dave Wilson and TJ Meadows.

Speaker 4 (00:49):
ACTI switch that can from Charleston.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
To stand by to David, TJ.

Speaker 5 (00:56):
You're on.

Speaker 3 (01:00):
Metro News talk Line is presented by Incoba Insurance, encircling
you with coverage to protect what you care about most.
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Speaker 1 (01:11):
Good morning, Welcome inside the in Cob Insurance studios. Dave
Wilson in Morgantown. TJ. Meadows is in Charleston. Appreciate you
joining us on a Monday morning on one of our
great affiliates across the state of West Virginia. Or if
you're watching on the Metro News TV app. Jake linc
Is our video producer, Sophia Wasick is sitting by awaiting

(01:31):
your phone call. Eight hundred and seven to sixty five
Talk eight hundred seven sixty five eight two five five.
That is the phone number. You can also shoot us
a text at three or four Talk three oh four.
Coming up later, Brad Howe will join us. We'll talk
about the Mountaineers win on the road at Houston, as
well as basketball season getting underway, Mountaineer women in Action tonight,

(01:52):
Marshall men in action, w men tomorrow. We'll get all
of that with Brad Howe. A little bit later, Eric
Nelson will join us. It's the first month. That means
it's time to get an update on at state revenues
plus all of your calls, texts and tweets as well.
Say good morning to TJ. Meadows from the Charleston Bureau.

Speaker 6 (02:08):
Good morning, sir, Good morning to you, sir. I am
completely over changing the time. I want time from now on.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
Okay, I don't care. Add that one to the ballroom.
I don't care change the clock, move on to the
next thing. It is not that big of the deal.

Speaker 6 (02:24):
Nah, I don't like it at all. I'd like to
keep daylight saving time. If that, let's do away with
daylight Savings time. Whatever one of the two as long
as we don't switch, I just throws everything off schedules.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
Yeah, nah uh again whatever, I don't care. I changed
the clocks. I moved on to the next thing. Yeah,
didn't give any second thought. So that's where I am
that in the ballroom. Don't care, just don't care. How
is Halloween's go? Did the kids get the candy buckets full?

Speaker 4 (02:51):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (02:51):
Some neighbors man, they were given out not only full bars,
they were given out packs of full bars. I mean
we got some some kudos stuff. Kids enjoyed it. To
be honest with you, I think a lot of people,
you know, they came out. Like the first hour it fizzled.
We had a couple of my son's one of his
friends came over and mom and dad came with the
friend and we just sat around and talked while the kids,

(03:12):
you know, ate whatever they wanted in the floor there
with the candy.

Speaker 4 (03:14):
And yeah, it was a nice evening.

Speaker 1 (03:16):
We had a busy first hour. I have to admit,
we had a busy first hour, so we got cautious. Well,
we don't want to run out of candy. I gotta
have meant, our candy distribution could have been better this
year because we had so many of the first hour,
we were afraid we were going to run out. And
then it turned out apparently they were moving in waves
through the neighborhoods.

Speaker 6 (03:35):
That happened to us one year, and I told my kids,
I may have to regift your candy, retreat your candy.
And to my children's credit, I was so proud, all
three of them. That's fine, Dad, we can get some
more candy. We don't want people to go away disappointed.
I was like, man, times like these, I'm so glad
you took after your mother.

Speaker 1 (03:55):
I was excited that I now have leftover candy at
the house. And this this and right after Christmas the
two best days at work. I don't know about down there.
Up here, people bring in their leftover Halloween candy. So
the caf you know, the little kitchenettes full of candy. Today,
it's one of the best days of the year at work.

Speaker 6 (04:12):
Amanda does that. She typically after a couple of days
because the kids just had enough. We need to cut
it off. She'll take whatever to school. As the college
kids come in, she just hands it out there and
they tend to eat it all up.

Speaker 4 (04:22):
So that's what we do to get.

Speaker 1 (04:23):
Rid of it, so that can make an interesting week
of shows. They'll be on a sugar high.

Speaker 4 (04:28):
For most of the week. Nothing wrong with that.

Speaker 6 (04:32):
Although did you see this thing about they're not using
real chocolate and a lot of the things anymore, like
mister goodbar and these kinds of things. And I was like, travesty,
what in the world, no more milk chocolate, I don't
know what they're put the.

Speaker 1 (04:43):
World come into. Maybe we can get to, you know,
maybe if the government ever reopens, maybe the Congress could
get in on that fix those problems exactly. I'm just saying,
speaking of Congress. Over the weekend, President Trump said he's
ordered the Pentagon to begin planning for potential military action
in Nigeria, redesignated the country, redesignating the country as a
country of concern, citing the ongoing alleged killings of Christians

(05:09):
in Nigeria. He has appointed several lawmakers to look into
that on the House Appropriations Committee, including West Virginia second
District Congressman Riley More, who joins us on Metro News
talk Line this morning.

Speaker 7 (05:19):
Riley, good morning, Good morning, Good morning, Dave.

Speaker 1 (05:23):
And do we have a bad line with the Congress.
You there Riley. Yes, we're breaking up. Tell you what
I was afraid that might happen. We got a bad
phone connection, Riley. Let's try to re establish and see
if we can get a little bit better of a
connection there. Maybe we can get them to work on
some infrastructure projects as well. Tell you what, We'll take

(05:45):
a break, we'll re establish with Ryley. We'll get into
the subject about Nigeria. We'll check in on the government
shutdown as well. This is Metro News talk Line from
the Encova Insurance Studios.

Speaker 8 (05:55):
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Speaker 3 (07:08):
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Speaker 1 (07:19):
All let's give us another shot. President Donald Trump has
ordered the Pentagon to begin planning for potential military action
in Nigeria after designating the country as a country a
Particular Concern due to the ongoing persecution the alleged ongoing
persecution of Christians across the country. Congressman Riley Moore has
been appointed, as well as several other members of the

(07:39):
House Appropriations Committee to look into what is happening in Nigeria.
Let's try this again, Riley, good morning.

Speaker 7 (07:47):
You got me there.

Speaker 1 (07:47):
You go much better, much better this time. Appreciate you
coming on. So oh, what does this mean? A country
of particular concern. Why are we looking at Nigeria.

Speaker 7 (07:58):
Yeah, so let me just start with why we're looking
at Nigeria. So this is something I've been talking about
for months and months, and I've been requesting this, and
the President has now designated them a country of particular concern.
And why we're doing that is just this year alone,

(08:20):
seven thousand Christians has been killed in Nigeria, men, women,
children slaughtered by Islamic terrorist organizations that are in that
country right now now, since this started in about two
thousand and nine, there's as many as one hundred thousand

(08:40):
Christians have been killed, have been martyred in that country.
And I've been pleading with President Trump as others have
and really leading this in the House to designate them
as a country particular concern because it unlocks a menu
of options that's in it's in law. Unlocked the menu

(09:02):
of options. It gives the President the ability to use
new diplomatic levers to be able to pressure the Nigerians
to do something about protecting our brothers and sisters in
Christ in the country of Nigeria. In my view, this
is a genocide that's going on and people have been

(09:22):
turning a blind eye to this in this country, the
mainstream media, and it's something that's really close to my
heart and I think many Christians heart when we're watching
this happen with no one stepping up to do anything.
The President has obviously spoken very clearly on the repercussions

(09:43):
if the Nigerians don't correct their path on this, and
there has been conversations in between the Nigerian government and
the administration since President Trump's statement, since statements that I
have made, and hopefully the Nigerians are going to do
what's right, what they should be doing, and protecting the

(10:04):
Christian citizens of their country.

Speaker 6 (10:06):
Right. Let let's get into these levers. Are we talking
economic sanctions? Are we going as far as boots on
the ground to physically stop this?

Speaker 4 (10:14):
What can happen? What's on the table?

Speaker 7 (10:17):
So you just touched on one of them. So those
levers that are in there, they go from you know,
I would say the lightest to the most dramatic, which
are in that menu of option for the country of
particular concerns. So one would be like a public demarsh right,
like you guys are bad. Then there's economic sanctions. Then
there's also you can hold exports to that country. You

(10:40):
can suspend development dollars. You can, and this is a
critical point which I've been asking for, you can suspend
arm sales and security assistance in training to that country.
We have provided well over a billion dollars probably closer
to two billion dollars worth of security assistance, which is

(11:01):
arm sales and training to that country to deal with
terrorist organizations like Boca Haram, like is West Africa who
have been perpetrating these crimes. And now we have this tribe,
the Fulani, which are a Sunni Solofist Muslim tribe. There

(11:22):
herdsmen that have been perpetrating in a lot of these
targeted killings against Christians. I mean they are kidnapping pastors
and preachers and cutting their heads off and unfortunately doing
every horrible, unspeakable thing you can think of, being burned
alive in churches, women and children being raped and killed,

(11:43):
I mean just.

Speaker 10 (11:44):
The worst of the worst.

Speaker 7 (11:46):
Now, outside of that country particular concern, the President had
a follow up statement to the Nigerians which is military
force is on the table if you do not address
this thin.

Speaker 1 (12:01):
Second District Congressman Riley Moore is joining us here on
Metro News talk Line. This morning, What do you hope
to learn? What is the goal of this group of
lawmakers that the President has put together, including yourself, to
look into the situation.

Speaker 7 (12:15):
Well, as I mention, this is something that I've been
speaking out about a lot. I've been leading this and
so we're going to look at legislative options. Over on
our side on the Appropriations Committee. These different types of
assistance programs are obviously within our purview as appropriators, so
that's one of the things we're going to be looking
at and how we could ratchet up pressure on them

(12:36):
from the legislative side. And so those are the different
types of things we're going to be looking at appropriations.
But on top of that, the President, who is the
ultimate peacemaker, I mean, I think he's settled out eight
conflicts now at this point with in less than a year.
I have ultimate confidence that the President he's going to
be able to find a resolution to this genocide that's

(12:59):
going on in Nigeria for our brothers and sisters in
Christ who are literally just being murdered for the profession
of their faith in our Lord and savor Jesus Christ.
So I think that we are going to after a
lot of hard work here hopefully get on the right path.
But I think there's going to be some sticks and
maybe some carrots taken away to be able to get

(13:20):
us there. But I look in my statement that I
put out, I want us to work with the Nigerian government.
I want us to work with the Nigerians, and I
want peace in that country and I want peace for
their people, but all their people, including the Christians as well.

Speaker 6 (13:37):
The events you describe, they're horrific. They're clearly horrific. With
that said, with respect, what would you say to Americans
who counter that? Okay, Riley, that's fine, but we have
so many domestic problems here at home. Our government is
shut down, we have a lack of air traffic controllers.

Speaker 4 (13:58):
Can people feel safe getting on it?

Speaker 6 (14:00):
Playing with everything that's going on these days with the shutdown,
we have people who have needs here. Why are we
sending money over there anyway? What do you say to
that kind of criticism?

Speaker 7 (14:10):
Yeah, why are we sending money over there? Anyway? It's
actually a very good question, since they're not using it
in the manner that they were supposed to begin with.
Second to that is, we are working, especially these preparations
commit down, We are ready to move forward on these
appropriation bills. I think they're going to see election day
tomorrow because this has been all political for the Democrats,

(14:34):
and we have heard this from Democrats after the elections
in New Jersey and Virginia, and once they elect a
communist Islamic guy Mandami up in New York, then we're
going to have conversations that are going to reopen the government.
This has all been political. All of this that has
been political, but they want to get past the elections

(14:56):
because they think it's going to hurt the turnout for
so there's no lengths at this point. There's no limit
on the amount of suffering that they're willing to inflict
on the most vulnerable populations in America to get what
they want in terms of their political goals and objectives,
which I think is absolutely despicable in my view, and

(15:17):
they should just is their Democrat colleague, their John Fetterman
says literally every day Senator from Pennsylvania, this is a disgrace.
They should just vote to open the government. We've done
our job in the House. We've passed the resolution there
that benefits should never be suspended. This is ridiculous. But
as I said, there's no limit to the type of

(15:39):
pain that they're willing to inflict on our most vulnerable
populations to achieve their political objectives.

Speaker 1 (15:45):
Second District Congressman Riley Moore joining us on Metro News
talk line. The government shutdown now the second longest, could
very well be the longest by the time this thing
gets resolved. The House has not been in session in
a month now since you passed the continuing resolution. Should
the House have been working working on those appropriations bills?

Speaker 7 (16:03):
We have been working. We don't need to be in
session to work on the appropriations bills. I'm on the
conference committee for the three bills that we made a
motion to go to conference on in September, so those
bills are pretty much ready to go. We have been
talking to our Senate colleagues about this on the Appropriations

(16:23):
Committee as well, so we are ready. We're and we
are continuing to work on these appropriations bills during the shutdown.
People have been working in their districts as well. I've
been getting around my district and so the work continues.
But we're not going to come back into session until

(16:43):
they do what they're supposed to do.

Speaker 11 (16:45):
Over there.

Speaker 7 (16:45):
We have passed the bill in the House, and we've
continued to work on the appropriations bills even during the shutdown.
But the ball was in the Democrats court to reopen
this government. And not all dem crabs, by the way,
three of them have consistently voted for this, so there
is bipartisan support and the Senate's reopen.

Speaker 6 (17:07):
I was looking at a piece just a second ago
before we went on the air. It was talking about
I think on Friday night, eighty percent, eighty percent of
air traffic controllers in the New York City area, So
the three airports there, LaGuardia, JFK, Newark did not show
up for work eighty percent. Do you blame those folks
for not showing up?

Speaker 7 (17:26):
No, I mean these they're not getting they're not getting
paid for the critical jobs that they provide. Would I
prefer them to show up to work, Yes, of course
I would, But I certainly understand they're not getting paid
for this. When you got every head of every major
airlines in the United States saying reopen the government. When

(17:48):
you have the president of the Teamsters union saying reopen
the government. When you have the head of the Federal
Workers Union saying reopen the government. These are their guys,
and they are still refusing to vote to pass the CR.
Each one of those organizations I just mentioned said past
the CR, past the clean CR. And here's the thing,

(18:10):
there's no tricks in this clean CR. There's nothing that
we could pull out of it that would make it
better for them. They have voted for this CR thirteen times.
It's just a stop gap spending measure. These are actually
Biden's spending levels. This is the Biden CR that we're
acting them to vote for again. So we can just

(18:31):
reopen the government and finish the appropriations process for the
rest of the fiscal year.

Speaker 1 (18:35):
Congress and Riley Moore joining us Riley, if they reopen
the government, the Senate passes that CR, the government gets reopened.
Is there room in the House to negotiate on the
extension of the expanded ACA tax credits?

Speaker 7 (18:49):
Well, what I'd say is tax credits is not an
appropriations issue. I just want to make that clear because
they have put something in that is not germane at
all to the appropriations process. That is a tax issue
that's over in ways and means, And the Speaker has
said he's absolutely open to that question and conversation of

(19:10):
finding ways that we can lower people's premiums in this country.
That is something that we're certainly committed to. But we're
not going to get into that conversation until the government
is reopened. And now, look, I'm not completely clear how
the steps of reopening the government are actually going to

(19:31):
take place. I think in my mind, now this is
just my own view of this. I'm not sure they're
going to vote for the CR. I think you could
be in a position where they just vote for the
appropriations bills and that opens the government, say one by one, right,
so each department that gets their funding bills and reopen,

(19:52):
so the Department of Defense, Department of Labor, Department Transportation,
so on and so forth, and then go through from
that process. Now, I hope that's not the way that
it goes. I hope that they actually vote for the
CR and just reopen the government so we can turn
all these things back on.

Speaker 12 (20:09):
But we'll see.

Speaker 7 (20:10):
That's just kind of my skeptical view of I think
that the Democrats might approach this in the Senate. I
could be wrong, but that's kind of just my perception
of it.

Speaker 6 (20:21):
It's one of the byproducts of this Republicans proving to
the nation that we don't need all these government services.

Speaker 7 (20:29):
Well, I think that there is a byproduct. I think
that's probably a good way to put it, is that. Yes,
I think when we first entered into the shutdown, I
think many people certainly did not really notice that the
government was shut down. Now, the snap benefits and people

(20:49):
not getting paid obviously, these are critical types of services
that need to be provided. But yeah, there is a
lot of waste in the federal government, and there are
some folks who have been risk currently who are probably
not coming back. And I'd say that's as taxpayers, I
think we're all for the better for that.

Speaker 1 (21:09):
Second District Congressman Riley Moore. Riley always appreciate the time.
Thank you very much.

Speaker 7 (21:13):
This morning, Hey, thank you all very much.

Speaker 1 (21:15):
Absolutely, coming up, we'll talk to Brad Howe. Mountaineers get
a big win on the road at Houston, and it
is hoopy ball time as well. Three or four talk
three or four is the text line. Eight hundred and
seven sixty five talk eight hundred seven sixty five eight
two five five. That's the phone number, that's the text line.
Those are your two ways to participate in this program

(21:36):
coming up Brad Hout, We'll talk about the Mountaineers win
on Saturday. Basketball getting started. It's talk line on Metro
News for forty years, the voice of West Virginia. It
is ten thirty time to get a news update. Let's
check in on the Metro News radio network. Find out
what's happening across the great state of Western Virginia.

Speaker 13 (21:54):
West Virginia Metro News. I'm Jeff Jenkins. The High Lends
and Wheeling is the first location for three weeks of
public meetings hosted by the State Public Employees Insurance Agency
on the plans for state workers Health insurance. That meeting
set for this evening. One proposed was to raise monthly
premium is about three percent. Education in West Virginia. CO
president Dell Lee says a higher deductible plan option for younger,

(22:15):
healthier state workers would be a less expensive option.

Speaker 12 (22:18):
I think educating them is a better answer and letting
people make their decisions from that. But the big part
of that is educating that that you just don't know
what you don't know.

Speaker 13 (22:30):
Any changes made by PEIA would not go into effect
until next July. All of the public hearing events have
registration at five thirty public hearings starting at six. See
the whole list at wv metronews dot com. State lawmakers
have a handful of meeting schedule for today at pipesteind
Resource State Park, day two of monthly interim Committee meetings,
Lawmakers will get an update on the state's economy and
the power grid. The Joint Committee on Education will tour

(22:53):
Bluefield State University this afternoon. The plans sell of for
state owned long term nursing homes went through over the weekend,
Governor Morrisey announcing Marx Development and the state closed on
a sixty million dollar deal. Morrisey says Marx and it's
subsidiary will improve patient characters homes. State workers at the
homes in Marion, Preston, Mason, and Raleigh Counties have been

(23:14):
given the opportunity to work for Marx. You're listening to
Metro News for forty years, the Voice of West Virginia.

Speaker 3 (23:20):
Hi.

Speaker 14 (23:20):
I'm Alex Cook, and I'm a project manager with CEC.
When people ask why I work at CEC, I tell
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We share. It's CEC.

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Speaker 13 (24:19):
Thirteen years ago this week, many of us were digging
out from the impact of Superstorm Sandy that created a
federal disaster declaration. The most recent disaster in West Virginia,
the Father's Day floods in Marion and Ohio Counties, remained
the target of federal assistants. FEMA Public affairs specialist Timothy
Watson says FEMA and the Small Business Administration giving more
time to flood victims a sixty day grace period. If

(24:42):
you haven't signed up for help. You can the original
deadline September twenty second with this Metro News Minutes. I'm
Jeff Jenkins.

Speaker 1 (25:08):
If you are a college sports junkie, this is one
of your favorite times of the year. With college football
headed down the homestretch, college basketball getting started. There is
something every night of the week. Enter into the conversation
a college sports junkie. He's also one of the three
guys before the game and a co host of Metro

(25:28):
News High School Sports Line.

Speaker 15 (25:31):
Brad Hell.

Speaker 10 (25:31):
Good morning, Brad, Good morning, Dave and TJ. You know
you don't even have to wait till the night though.
There's a college basketball game that tipped off at eight
am this morning, so no need to wait, Dave, We've
got morning basketball.

Speaker 1 (25:43):
I love it. I love this time and it's exhausting
if you're working it, but it's great because there's something
on every night to watch.

Speaker 10 (25:49):
Every day well said, this crossover season is just tremendous,
and certainly see that here at home with West Virginia
kicking off or kipping off its basketball tonight on the
women's side, all on the men's side. So it's go
time now, Dave.

Speaker 1 (26:02):
All right, we'll get to basketball. In a minute, let's
talk about the Mountaineers forty five thirty five win on
the road at twenty second ranked Houston. I was listening
to the game Saturday afternoon, and finally, Brad, the offense
came out and gave you a glimpse of what the
offense could be.

Speaker 10 (26:18):
Yeah, well said, and I think you could see it
right away. On the very first drive of the game.
West Virginia's offensive line was getting great push up front.
They were moving the line of scrimmage, as coaches oftentimes
want to say. And so I think we know, even
in its diminished state in terms of all the injuries,
when a Rich Rodriguez offense gets movement upfront and you

(26:38):
can run the football a little bit, you've got a chance.
And that's what we saw Saturday. So you ran at
a really high level nearly two hundred and fifty yards
on the ground that enabled you to throw it, and
then Scotti Fox winning threw it was very efficient with
no turnovers. So yeah, you're right. Offensively, it all came together.
You also add in the explosive plays that came on
the offensive side, So super day on that side of

(26:59):
the ball, for sure.

Speaker 4 (27:01):
What surprised you in terms of was it the run game?

Speaker 6 (27:04):
You weren't expecting to see it go that well, because
I mean, we finally had a rushing game to your point,
two hundred and forty six yards to eighty two on
the Houston side of the ball.

Speaker 10 (27:12):
I think TJ. Yes, Now, if you looked at their
underlying numbers and those three guys before the game listeners
heard this on our Thursday preview, if you looked at
the numbers, Houston's success rate defensively against the run wasn't
as gaudy as their overall defensive numbers, so it did
look statistically like you might have a chance to run it.

(27:32):
But yeah, I'd still say that was the surprise because
West Virginia has just really struggled, as we know, to
run the football in most of these games in Big
twelve play, and they just did not on Saturday. So yeah,
if I had to pick a surprise, that would be
a just a push they got up front for the
first time in Big twelve play.

Speaker 1 (27:48):
Was good to see Scotty Foxx performed well.

Speaker 10 (27:51):
Continues too, Dave, and listen, that's a guy that you
can go all the way back to the spring. I
think it was really obvious the talent that existed with him. Now,
it's really hard to start as a true freshman. We
know the stat that's out there West virgin He hasn't
had a starting freshman at quarterback true freshman in what's
it been sixty some years, So that's hard to do
at this level. And you're seeing him grow into the position,

(28:13):
and I think the last two weeks in particular, you've
seen it start to match up, not only just having
the arm talent, the ability to make all the throws,
but mix in the running game and most importantly, guys,
just the decision making. Now that he's seen it, he
understands the speed, he's understanding defenses better. And so you've
seen the last two weeks and the loss at TCU

(28:33):
performed really well with the three hundred yards passing. Then
coming back this week, you didn't need him to throw
for three hundred yards, but was really efficient and made
some big plays when he had to with the no turnovers.
That continues to be the critical piece.

Speaker 6 (28:46):
How much does this win mean in terms of attitude
in the locker room practice this week, even the coaches
and how they do their job a lot.

Speaker 10 (28:56):
TJ. A lot, and I think you just see it
within a fan base, right, and that's how this state is.
People are in a better mood today because the football
team won. From a football only perspective, I think the
great thing that it gives you is from coaches trying
to establish a culture and trying to do it a
certain way that now you get a little bit of
the results to back up the process. So we know

(29:18):
coaches love to talk about process and don't worry as
much about results when they're in their program, but you've
got to have results come along at some point. So
now you hang your hat on a road ranked team win.
That's really good and it allows those players to have
a little hope and to look at those coaches now
and go, Okay, yeah, you do know what you're talking about.
We're bought in here.

Speaker 1 (29:38):
Brad hal joining us mentioned New Sports. Three guys before
the game mentioned New Sports line. The other component's all this, Brad,
is the Mountaineers have finally reached a point in the schedule. Look,
the first half of the schedule was formidable, to say
the least. Now that you've reached a manageable point of
the schedule. We talked about Houston maybe hadn't played the
same kind of opponents that West Virginia had faced. And
you've got a team in Colorado coming in this week,

(30:00):
certainly not the team it was last year. Coaching Prime
is changing quarterbacks this week, and it's a winnable game.

Speaker 10 (30:05):
Yeah. I think that's well said Dave, And you're right.
You looked at that situation going to Houston, and we
thought it favored West Virginia not only from a strength
to schedule standpoint, but Houston off it's biggest win under
Willie Fritz on the road at Arizona State, so you know,
seven to one, probably a little bit overinflated in terms
of their record. So I thought the situation fit up. Well,
now you're right, you're West Virginia. Now you've got to

(30:27):
guard against that off your biggest win under Rich Rod
version two point zero, now returning home to get a
cornered Colorado team, and it's probably pretty easy to see
this go one of two ways for the Buffs. Are
they a team that is now done. They've been outscored
one oh five to twenty four over their last two games.
Are they ready to just lay down? Or do you
get one last stand by the buffs and fight back.

(30:50):
But to your point, you like where you are if
you're West Virginia. You got a little bit of momentum
off TCU playing better the win against Houston Colorado coming in,
that's a very least a team you feel you are
on par with. You're favored in a game for the
first time in a while. So yeah, I think there's
a lot of things you like about this one.

Speaker 6 (31:08):
Let's go to hoopy ball, Dave. That's what you called
it before the break, right for you, Chuck McGill. Yep,
there you go. Let's start with the Lady Mountaineers. Talk
talk Lady Mountaineers for a bit, Brad.

Speaker 10 (31:17):
Yeah, Mark Kellong has just done such a great job
in his two years here is this done. A wonderful
coaching job and locker room job of blending old players
with new players. And that's the hurdle for this year's
You've still got some attorneys that are very good, but
you lose JJ Quinnerley, who of course went off to
the WNBA. But it looks like they're stacked again and

(31:38):
they're just a fun style of play to watch. They're
going to get up and down offensively, They're going to
guard you full court defensively and force turnovers. So I
expect big things again out of this women's team. Starting tonight.

Speaker 1 (31:50):
They'll open the season against Purdue. For Wayne, the men
will open the season tomorrow night. Take it on Mount
Saint mary Sounds like you're at basketball practice, Brad. What
do you expect out of the Mountaineers in game one
and the Hodge debut?

Speaker 10 (32:01):
Yeah, getting one last look here at the team before
we tip off for real. Nice test early. This is
a Mount Saint Mary's team that, although it's lost a
couple of its leading scorers from last year's team, went
to the NCAA Tournament and won a game in the tournament.
So this will be a nice test early for WU.
I think, just anxious to see this team put it together.
We had the closed scrimmage against Maryland where West Virginia

(32:22):
shot at absolutely lights out. Then you come back in
the exhibition game against Wheeling didn't shoot it as well,
but we're absolutely stingy on defense. It was tough for
Wheeling to get a good shot. So we've seen West
Virginia win two different ways in the early part of
this season. Just anxious to see this group come together.
I think it's a team that will improve throughout the year,
especially defensively. You got an entirely new group of guys

(32:45):
playing together for the first time on the coliseum floor
in a real game. So anxious to get it started.

Speaker 4 (32:50):
Are you excited to be back in the saddle calling color?

Speaker 10 (32:53):
Can't wait? Buddy, can't wait? Best time of year, as
they've said, not only to watch, but but to be
involved and listen. I'm it's been tumultual fourth seasons for
West Virginia with four coaches and rosters changing completely, So
I'm excited to get this version of it started. I
think fans are gonna like this team. They're gonna like
how they play, and I think they're gonna like Kevin
ross Hodge as the head coach.

Speaker 1 (33:13):
What times tip off? Seven o'clock, seven o'clock at the
Hope Coliseum. It'll be the w men versus Mount Saint Mary's.

Speaker 4 (33:20):
That's tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (33:20):
The women take on Purdue Fort Wayne, Oh. By the way,
Marshall women will take on Buffalo at the Henderson Center
six o'clock tip off tonight. Marshall men's basketball team will
open the season at UMass tomorrow night at seven basketball football.
We're headed to the postseason. It's a great time of year.

Speaker 10 (33:37):
Brad enjoy it, fellas. Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (33:40):
Metro New Sports Brad Howe. He's one of the three
guys before the game, and of course you can hear
him just about every weeknight over on the Metro News
Sports line as well. Three oh four Talk three or
four is the tax line eight hundred seven to six
five eight two five five. Remember that bill last year
during the legislature that gave the legislature complete oversight of

(34:00):
the rules passed and implemented by the state Board of Education.
Well that's being challenged in courts and there's some organizations,
actually a couple organizations that are backing the school board.
We'll talk to one of those next.

Speaker 9 (34:14):
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Did you know that the Robinson Grant has played host
international acts such as Postmodern.

Speaker 17 (35:01):
Jukebox Clarksburg, Yes, Clarksburg. Explore more at Come Home to
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Speaker 1 (35:38):
Three or four Talk three or four is the text line.
Eight hundred and seven to sixty five eight two five
five the phone number. We will get to some of
your text in just a bit. The League of Women
Voters West Virginia is siting on the State Board of
Education in the lawsuit over who has the final say
over education regulations, saying a new state law giving that
power to the legislature defies will of the voters. Remember

(36:02):
House Built twenty seven fifty five makes the case that
the legislature exercises authority of the State Board of Education
and thus has ultimate say so over the rules of
governing the state education system. That bill is the subject
of a case in front of the State Supreme Court
over a review of its constitutionality. Joining us from the
League of Women Voters West Virginia this morning is Judy Ball. Judy,

(36:24):
good morning, glad you can join us.

Speaker 19 (36:26):
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 (36:28):
Absolutely Why did you want to file this brief and
support of the Board of Education.

Speaker 19 (36:34):
Well, the Linked Women Voters believes in listening to the
voice of the people. And back in twenty twenty two,
when the legislature put an amendment on the ballot for
the voters to make a decision on to whether or
not to give the legislature control over the state Board

(36:54):
of Education, the voter said no, and the League sided
with the voter before the election and afterwards, and then
in twenty twenty five, the legislature said, ah, we're going
to ignore that and try to take that power back anyway. Now,
I listen to I go out in the community and

(37:16):
listen to voters all the time, and one of the
things they consistently tell us is they feel as though
their voices are not heard, so why should they vote?
And it's really difficult to respond and say, no, you
really should vote, because that's how you make your voices heard.

(37:37):
When the legislature says, now, we're not really going to.

Speaker 4 (37:40):
Listen, Judy.

Speaker 6 (37:42):
Some of the legislature have said that because there were
multiple issues, multiple amendments on that ballot, that voters were
confused on this issue and that's why they're moving forward.
I'd like to know what you say in terms of
that confusion, if it does exist. And I'd also like
to ask you there's been ideas of, well, let's put
it back on the ballot, single amendment, let people vote

(38:02):
on it again. What would be the League's position on that.

Speaker 19 (38:07):
Well, the voters have made their position known on this
issue multiple times, going back to the nineteen fifties, and
in nineteen fifty eight, the League and the voters said,
now we want the Board of Education to exist and
to be separate from the legislature. So this is not

(38:28):
a new issue. Yes, there were four amendments on the
ballot in twenty twenty two, but they were quite different,
and I don't recall any particular concerned about confusion among them.
They were quite different. I would not support putting this
on the ballot again. It's been dealt with. It's been

(38:51):
dealt with in nineteen fifty eight, it was dealt with
in nineteen eighty nine, it was dealt with in twenty
twenty two, and it's been dealt with by the Supreme
Court previously.

Speaker 1 (38:59):
Judy Ball joining us from the League of Women Voters
West Virginia filing a brief on that Supreme Court case
supporting the Board of education. Are we better off having
that separation between the legislature and the state Board of
Education and not having that oversight from the state legislature.

Speaker 19 (39:17):
What we have seen is the legislature has tended recently
to get into a lot of issues that are not
necessarily good for public education, these culture war issues. And
to have a board of Education that is independent of

(39:39):
that political wrangling, I think is beneficial to the state
and to the school districts and to students in the state.
We need to keep that separation.

Speaker 6 (39:51):
Talk to me, let's broaden it out a bit. Talk
to me a little bit more about the league's position
on other issues within the legislature. There was quite a
bit of disappointment last session that there wasn't or to
do with economic development and growing the state, and there
was too high a focus on social issues. Curious if
you would share that characterization, and also if there's any

(40:13):
legislative priorities coming up that you would like to talk
about for the coming session.

Speaker 19 (40:19):
There were many bills. The League does a legislative scorecard.
We track bills as they go through the legislature, and
then at the end of the session, we look at
the bills that became law and we do a legislative
scorecard according to League priorities. That scorecard included twenty six bills,
and I think the League opposed all but two of them,

(40:40):
so that gives you a brief overview of where the
League stood. The League was probably most happy about some
of the bills that came through the legislature that simply
did not pass. We were pleased, for example, that the
vaccination bill or the anti vaccination bill, that was one
place where the people's voice was heard and the bill failed.

(41:04):
As a result, it looked like it was going to
pass and it didn't. That people spoke up and the
legislature at the House of Delegates responded. We were pleased
to see that happen. So I hope that the upcoming
legislative session is not going to spend so much time

(41:25):
with issues that are divisive. And we've heard from the people.
This has been reported in Mountain State Spotlight. We've heard
that the people also want the legislature to not deal
so much with divisive issues. West Virginia has many problems
that need to be solved, but that doesn't That isn't

(41:47):
where the legislature has been putting its main efforts, and
we need.

Speaker 4 (41:52):
Them to do that.

Speaker 1 (41:53):
Judy Ball leg of Women Voters West Virginia again has
filed a brief supporting the State Board of Education in
that lawsuit that is before the State Supreme Court. Also,
West Virginia's Teachers Union Education West Virginia has also filed
a brief support in the Board of Education's position in
that case. Judy, thank you so much for joining us
this morning. We'll see how this unfolds in front of
the State Supreme Court. Thank you absolutely. Coming up, we'll

(42:17):
get some of your texts and we'll wrap up a
tidy our number one. This is talk line from the
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Speaker 20 (42:25):
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jack is eight hundred million dollars, So go ahead. Play today.
Coming up second hour, Revenue Secretary Eric Nelson will join us.
We'll get an update on the revenue numbers for the
month of November, and we'll talk to an ACA navigator
Jeremy Smith. Some of you getting your first looks at
the ACA plans sands expanded subsidies. We'll talk about that

(44:22):
coming up in the second hour. Jared Halpern as well.
President Trump sat down with sixty minutes on CBS last night.
We'll talk to him about that and well everything else
that is happening and not happening in Washington. Three or
four talk three of four. Hey, guys, what issue today
is not divisive? Good point? Just about all of them are.

Speaker 4 (44:41):
On one of girl Scout cookies.

Speaker 1 (44:43):
Oh wait, I know that's divisive. I disagree with the
Representative More. Job one for anyone in management is to
pay the bills, and in a democracy that means negotiating instead.
More and the rest of the House are off on
recess at taxpayer expense. As a Republican, I hope we
have a Mary Challenger that I can vote for because
I think More is a loser. Dave, can you get

(45:05):
through a w story without adding? Marshall comments? Sit down,
little brother answers, No, Marshall's playing basketball too. I don't
think you know it's all good. The federal deficit is
one point eight trillion dollars for fiscal year twenty five,
the same as fiscal year twenty four. Trump was president
for eight months and twenty five. Government spending for the

(45:25):
nine months is two percent higher than the same nine
months of twenty twenty four. If your point is Trump
has done nothing to cut the deficit, I agree. He
has spent just as much as the Democrats have spent
when they've been in power, or.

Speaker 6 (45:37):
It grows under every president. I mean history tells us that. Hey,
back to the shut down thing. Did you see a
couple of planes clipped on one of the runways to
United planes? I think it was La Guardia clip Because
of ground control, we've had several close call I mean,
do we really have to have an altercation in the
air to get the government to straighten up?

Speaker 10 (46:00):
Uh?

Speaker 4 (46:00):
Possibly? Possibly?

Speaker 1 (46:03):
And I say that a little bit tongue in cheek. Yeah,
I see your point. I see your point.

Speaker 4 (46:08):
It's crazy again.

Speaker 1 (46:11):
I go back, We've said this how many times? I
don't you've made the point Democrats have made their point.
I think they have won. I think Republicans are going
to negotiate some sort of deal on this expanded credit
because they can see the calculus. So what are you doing?
Is it about these elections that are coming up tomorrow
in states like Virginia? Is it really about that? I

(46:32):
don't understand the long term end game unless it's just
to energize the base.

Speaker 6 (46:37):
I'm taking my ball and I'm going home. Three or
four Talk three or four, Davin TJ.

Speaker 1 (46:43):
Did anyone else get a Pat White style vibe from
Scotty Fox on Saturday? It really did feel like twenty
years ago. He's coming into the position. Like I said,
I got to actually didn't have a game to cover
on Saturday, got an opportunity to watch a little bit,
listen to quite a bit. It's a growing process and
you're into a more manageable portion of the schedule here,

(47:03):
which is going to play to the Mountaineers benefit and
hopefully it build some momentum as you head down the
home stretch here.

Speaker 4 (47:08):
And hopefully sticks around.

Speaker 1 (47:10):
All right, coming up, we'll talk to Revenue Secretary Eric Nelson.
O are revenues looking in October? We'll find out six
minutes from now. This is talk Linel Metro News for
forty years, the voice of West Virginia.

Speaker 2 (47:29):
Metro News.

Speaker 3 (47:29):
Talk Line is presented by Encova Insurance, encircling you with
coverage to protect what you care about most. Visit incova
dot com to learn more.

Speaker 1 (47:39):
Eight hundred and seven to sixty five. Talk is the
phone number eight hundred and seven sixty five eight two
five five. You can text the show at three oh
four Talk three oh four TJ and Charleston Dave in Morgantown.
Jake link is ourn video producer. Sophia wasa handling the
audio side of things this morning. Coming up, Jared Halpern
will join us. Join us, I said, Trump talked to

(48:01):
sixty minutes on CBS last night after the Bill's Chiefs
Game and Element. Later on, Jeremy Smith will join us
an ACA navigator of many of you getting your first
looks at the marketplace without the expanded ACA tax subsidies.
With talk to Jeremy Smith coming up bottom of the hour.
Once again, Good morning to TJ. Meadows in Charleston. Morning, TJ.

Speaker 6 (48:24):
Morning, sir, wonder what the ratings were on the Trump
interview last night? I'd say they probably were pretty good.

Speaker 4 (48:29):
If I had the guests.

Speaker 1 (48:32):
I got admit, I didn't watch it live. There was
football on football, or the president football or the President.
I go with football every time. Although Seattle absolutely thumped Washington.
Light did you you probably didn't stay up till the end?

Speaker 4 (48:46):
Neither deny.

Speaker 1 (48:47):
I saw the highlights. Did you see Jayden Daniels, the
Washington quarterback the dislocated elbow late in the fourth quarter.

Speaker 4 (48:54):
I heard about it from you, and then I didn't
want to watch it.

Speaker 1 (48:57):
Yeah, that stadium may be cursed through There's a list
on X this morning of all of the players, including quarterbacks,
that have been injured on that end of the field
from Robert Griffin third, Joe Burrow was injured down there,
Alex Smith was injured on that end of the state,
and that whole place might be cursed. They need to
move to the new place in downtown sooner rather than later.

(49:18):
If you are a Commander's fan, just throwing.

Speaker 4 (49:21):
It out there.

Speaker 1 (49:22):
Although halpern is a Dallas fan, so he's probably happy
they that Washington got beat and then Dallas plays tonight.
Misguided Jared halper We'll talk to him coming up. A
couple of minutes from now. It is a new month.
The month of November got under way. That wrapped up
October revenues. Joining us now as Revenue Secretary Eric Nelson
to get us up to date on how the state's doing.

Speaker 2 (49:43):
Eric.

Speaker 1 (49:43):
Good morning.

Speaker 22 (49:45):
Hey, good morning, Dave. How are you doing?

Speaker 1 (49:47):
Appreciate you coming on. How did the state do in
the month of October?

Speaker 22 (49:52):
Well, October ended another On the positive side, we were
up abruptly five percent at forty two MAI over estimates,
you know. And for the year we're up also about
five percent, as well as five percent over the prior year.
But year to date we collected one point eight million.

(50:15):
You know, we're running six percent above estimates and five
percent above prior year as relates year to date activity.
In the month, our positive vestments were led by severbs taxes, interests,
as well as the personal income tax. And I hope

(50:35):
that background noise hadn't coming through.

Speaker 4 (50:39):
You're a busy man. We'll put up with it, Eric,
no problem.

Speaker 6 (50:41):
Hey, sales tax growth six percent, six percent? That's impressive.
What does that tell you about West Virginia's economy.

Speaker 22 (50:51):
Yeah, I think it continues to just show that on
the economic front, we're pretty strong, as is our employment base.

Speaker 1 (51:01):
Uh.

Speaker 22 (51:02):
Those tax cuts UH continue to I think be reinvested
in consumer sales and purchases that bring in consumer sales tax.
And then you know, with the severance, we're always going
through cycles. Volumes may be down that prices are up
right now. So TJ, it's it's somewhat across the board,

(51:22):
and we're excited about that. But I think you hear me,
month in and month out, we continue to be on
the cautionary front. And and one thing TJ, that these
this month's numbers don't necessarily fully reflect any of the
shut federal shutdown issues. We do expect that to have
some negative effects on income and consumer sales tax, but

(51:47):
once things open back up, that all evens out.

Speaker 1 (51:52):
Its Revenue Secretary Eric Nelson joining us, sounds like, are
you at the airport, Eric.

Speaker 22 (52:00):
Dave, I do have to tell them myself. I am
in the airport right now.

Speaker 1 (52:04):
Okay. I thought I heard like a boarding announcement there
in the background for just a second. So like we said,
busy man, that's okay, We'll roll with it. But as
we look ahead into November December, those are big consumer
months where you're going Christmas shopping at the holidays. Are
you expecting revenues to tick up the next couple of
months of the calendar year?

Speaker 22 (52:26):
You know, I think we fully expect our personal income
tax to continue to inch above what the prior year
levels are. When it comes to expenditures in November and December,
it really will not show up until thirty or sixty
days later, So we'll keep close out on that for sure.
But really, really, right now, we don't have anything and

(52:51):
from true concern on the forefront, but that can change
at a moment's notice.

Speaker 6 (52:59):
Talk to me about what you would like to see
moving forward. You're always talking with the rating agencies. As
you told us last month, the better rating, the better
bond interest rates were able to attract. We can borrow
money more cheaply than we otherwise could. We always want
to be better, We always want to move forward. Eric,
What should we be looking to do next?

Speaker 22 (53:24):
TJ A good question, and I think it's continuing on
the path and on wet least put in place some
very solid policies over the last five to ten years.
It takes a while for some of those to truly
set in and start to those seeds start to grow.

(53:44):
We're continuing to see that. We heard that from the
rating agencies. You know, SMP did kept our rating at
the double A level, but they moved us from stable
to positive. As we talked last month, and then we're
soon to probably release it has done the same thing
with us, taking us from a stable to a positive outlook.

(54:06):
And you know, you had someone else on the show
after I talked last month, and I think we take
this or should take this as a glass that's half full.
Everybody looks and says, oh, we have a population loss. Well, yes,
over the last ten years we have. But what's very
interesting I think people who've sided of is over the

(54:29):
last four years we've had a net positive migration into
the state of West Virginia. Yes, we do have an
older population and those numbers normally offset to a greater
extent new verse, But on a positive side, we're having
new net migration. And a lot of that has to
do with the policies that have been implemented, as well

(54:50):
as things like the assend program and some of the
economic investments that have been made that will these shops
will start to open up. So I hope that hits
on what you were looking at revenue.

Speaker 1 (55:04):
Secretary Eric Nelson joining us here on Metro News talk
line October General revenue fund collections coming in above estimates. Eric,
the legislature has really held the line on spending the
last several years. Is are we growing or is this
just a result of holding the line on spending.

Speaker 22 (55:25):
I guess you hear the term flat budgets. Yes, holding
the line of making sure our expenditures do not outpace
inflation as always front and center. And then you know,
Governor Morrisy this pastime was very proven in looking at
our line item expenditures and making sure that we do

(55:47):
not grow any more than it's necessary to help West
Virginia move forward. And that'll continue. And as we do
have these revenue growth above estimates, the goal of Governor
Morrissey and the team is to use these for one
time expenditures and to avoid trying to grow our bottom

(56:12):
line expenses because we just never know and must be
cautious of looking at our revenues going forward to make
sure that they cover our day to day needs that
we need to meet.

Speaker 6 (56:26):
So, Eric, here's what I looked at, five point two
percent ahead of prior year collections Overall that's actual to actual.
So if we're above three percent, we're covering the inflation nut.
And yeah it may be small, but we're growing at
about two percent. Is that a good way to think
of that number?

Speaker 22 (56:45):
You know, I'm never going to question your mass skills
that you're right, you're spot on, and as long as
we can always stay ahead of inflation number, we're going
to end up delivering many positives to the citizens of
West Virginia. And we see that trend hopefully continually.

Speaker 1 (57:04):
West Virginia Revenue Secretary Eric Nelson. October revenues are in. Eric.
We'll check you in again next month as we get
past Thanksgiving and into the Christmas season.

Speaker 22 (57:14):
Buddy, Okay, thank you, Davin TJ. Sorry for the background, Nah,
no problem.

Speaker 1 (57:19):
Save Travels. Revenue Secretary Eric Nelson. My a story posted
shortly over at the website wv Metronews dot com. We'll
check out with Jared Holburn see what's happening in Washington,
DC when we return. This is talk line from the
ing Cove Insurance Studios.

Speaker 23 (57:34):
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(57:54):
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Speaker 1 (58:06):
We are there for you to care for you at
the health Plan.

Speaker 5 (58:12):
The health Plan is still growing, giving you a large
network of doctors, friendly and helpful customer service representatives, and competitive,
flexible pricing.

Speaker 4 (58:20):
Plans that meet your needs. Log on to health plan
dot org for more information.

Speaker 16 (58:25):
We are there to care for you.

Speaker 21 (58:28):
And the plan.

Speaker 10 (58:31):
We are here.

Speaker 1 (58:53):
Three or four Talk three or four the text line
eight hundred and seven to sixty five.

Speaker 4 (58:56):
Talk the phone number.

Speaker 1 (58:57):
Governor Morrisey announcing a donation tribe with matching state funding
of up to thirteen million dollars to help food banks.
While federal food benefits are halted because of the ongoing shutdown,
food banks have been bracing for the spiky demand of
snap benefits run dry. You can donate to Facing Hunger
Food Bank or Mountaineer Food Bank by scanning the QR

(59:18):
code that is on the front page at Wdvmetronews dot com. Again,
that's WDV metro News dot com. Scan the QR code
on the front page. You can donate to Facing Hunger
Food Bank or Mountaineer Food Bank as part of Governor
Morrissey's donation drive. While the SNAP benefits are at least paused,

(59:39):
question mark temporarily as the federal government shutdown continues. Three
or four talk three or four is the text line?
Eight hundred seven to sixty five? Talk is the phone number?
Are we still deliberately underestimating our income to give us
these positive figures? I turned my financial consultant. I probably
is it, Undermissy. I've gone back and forth with several

(01:00:01):
people on this. We've got a minut or two here
before Halpern's ready. Is it underestimating it or is it
just smart budgeting?

Speaker 10 (01:00:09):
Oh?

Speaker 4 (01:00:09):
I think the latter.

Speaker 6 (01:00:10):
I call it starving the beast, sure, because if you
don't have faith that people are going to come back,
you cut back for them, and you do that with
your budgeting tool. So call it what you will, call it,
flat line, call it artificially, you know, estimating the expenses
lower whatever, that's cool, that's cool, starve the beast.

Speaker 4 (01:00:29):
Now.

Speaker 6 (01:00:30):
The actuals though, is I was getting into with Eric,
what is coming through the door. The state can't manipulate that.
I mean, it's what people are paying. We're showing some growth,
a little bit two percent, if you cover the nut
of inflation. I mean, that's better than going the other way.

Speaker 1 (01:00:45):
I've always said government's the only one that budgets the
opposite way that you should and rather than figure out
what your expenses are, here's what I need to pay
everybody is how much mind do we have? How do
we spend all of it?

Speaker 4 (01:00:56):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:00:56):
And I think at least my interpretation is the legislature
has done the former instead of the latter. With the budget, Okay,
what do we need to cover and that's what we're
going to go with, and then we'll cover those other things.
We'll fund those other things with the surplus that comes
in over what is necessary. Some call it flat lines,
some call it smart budgeting, some call it underestimating whatever

(01:01:17):
it is.

Speaker 6 (01:01:18):
Personally, a guy like me, Dave, I don't think the
Rainy Day Fund can ever have too much money put
into that sucker every year because it's in the market,
it's growing, and that's what you want to do. You
want to be responsible, and it helps frame what you
just said. You know, how much money do we really
need versus how much money we have. Well, if you're
paying yourself first, whether it's your home budget, your government budget, whatever.

Speaker 4 (01:01:40):
That's what you gotta be doing.

Speaker 1 (01:01:42):
My two cents, let's go to Washington, d C. Fox
News Radio is Jared Halpern joins US this morning.

Speaker 24 (01:01:46):
Jared, good morning, Good morning.

Speaker 1 (01:01:49):
The president was on sixty minutes last night, talked about
a wide range of issues. What's been the reaction today
to the president's interview.

Speaker 24 (01:01:57):
Well, I think a couple of things. One the takeaway
obviously that there doesn't seem to be any movement on
the government shutdown. The position of both Republicans and Congress
Democrats in Congress has been unmoved, unchanged. Now on what
is what day thirty four of this government shutdown, it
certainly looks like it's going to become the longest shutdown

(01:02:19):
in US history, because again, what you heard from President
Trump is will negotiate healthcare and all of these things,
but not until the government's reopened. Democrats insist that that
has to be a part of the conversation now to
move government closer to those healthcare deadlines at the end
of the year. And so I think there's a big

(01:02:41):
question now about how much longer this goes. Obviously, the
Trump administration has to present to federal judges today it's
rationale for not paying out SNAP benefits which expired over
the weekend. More than forty million Americans now in danger
of not getting those nutrition benefits, those food benefits that

(01:03:03):
they rely on. That's going to be a big part
of the conversations, I think this week as Democrats continue
to sort of question the way that this shutdown has
been handled by the administration, with money sometimes going to
pay federal workers troops and on the other hand not
having kind of these contingency funds for things like SNAP benefits.

Speaker 6 (01:03:27):
So Jared, practically, what should we expect from those hearings
with the court this afternoon, I mean, does anything really
change out of that, Well.

Speaker 24 (01:03:36):
I mean a court could order that the administration pays
out these SNAP benefits that at least partially right, that
there is money that Congress says is a contingency fund,
at least Democrats in Congress say is a contingency fund.
You have seen states make that argument, and so you
had one judge who essentially said that the government needs
to pay these benefits. You had another judge who seemed

(01:03:58):
inclined to make that ruling given the administration and help
today to kind of present its case as to why
it can't. But ultimately you could have judges say you
have to pay these benefits, you have to provide this
money to the states, in which case it would be
up to the administration to either comply with a court
order or not and try and appeal it to a

(01:04:19):
higher court. So that is something that really could change
the dynamic of this government shutdown to be shared.

Speaker 1 (01:04:25):
Jared Scott Bessant was making the rounds yesterday morning, and
it seemed like the administration's open to paying those out,
but they're acting as if they don't know what the
process is to make that money available.

Speaker 24 (01:04:37):
And again, it's the question that is kind of at
the heart of this. You have Democrats in Congress who
have said there is you know, billions of dollars in
reserve funding that could be used in the same way
that the administration has moved money around from like research
and development to pay troops and to pay federal law enforcement.

(01:04:57):
They argue that there is money available to the administ straation.
The administration says that there is not. They also both
sides are kind of accusing the other of picking and
choosing where to fund the government to make the shutdown,
you know, either lasts longer or not be as painful

(01:05:18):
for programs it likes or programs it doesn't like. Ultimately, though,
this is something that is kind of unchartered territory again
because this, this shutdown now is on the precipice of
being the longest ever, and the longer shutdowns go on,
the harder it is to kind of manage uh, you know,

(01:05:41):
essential funding so to speak. And so there is not
a lot of of kind of precedent to go back
and say, well, in previous shutdowns, how was this handled
or how is that handled? Most shutdowns don't last more
than a few days, or certainly more than a week
or two, and so they don't generally reach a point
where people are going without pay checks, where snap benefits

(01:06:04):
run out, where there is an inability to process Social
Security or Medicare or Medicaid or these other programs that
have to be funded and have to be paid out,
but also have you know a federal workforce responsible for
doing that, who may or may not be showing up
to work now the longer they go without pay.

Speaker 6 (01:06:24):
President sat down with sixty minutes last night. I'm a
little surprised given US lawsuit just wrapped up. Maybe a
little awkward, but how did it go?

Speaker 24 (01:06:34):
I thought it was an interesting interview. Obviously, everybody's going
to have their opinion on the questions that we're asked
and the pushback and how you know, follows we're done
or anything like that. But listen, I think that it's
still a much watch news program. The President certainly, you know,
knows he's going to have an audience when he sits down.
And again, I think it certainly moved the ball forward

(01:06:58):
on kind of the president's thinking on the shut down,
Move the ball forward on the president's thinking on these
strikes on alleged rug boats. Move the ball forward on
the president's thinking on the situation in Gaza. So I
thought it was a pretty news worthy endeavor there by
sixty minutes in Nora.

Speaker 1 (01:07:15):
O'Donnell, Dallas, Arizona tonight, handicap it for me.

Speaker 24 (01:07:23):
Boy, I mean, the game's in Dallas. That generally helps
the problem is the Cowboys are terrible against bad teams
and kind of overperform with good teams, and the Cardinals
aren't a very good team, and so I worry about
which Cowboys team is going.

Speaker 4 (01:07:39):
To show up. Well.

Speaker 1 (01:07:40):
Best of luck to you tonight, Jared, Yeah, I'll be
thinking about you all right.

Speaker 24 (01:07:44):
I appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (01:07:44):
Jared Alpern, Fox News Radio in Washington, DC. Always a pleasure, Jared,
thank you very much. Eight hundred seven to sixty five
talks the phone number, eight hundred and seven sixty five,
eight two five five three or four talk three four.
Let's call it what it is. Trump is using food
for poor people as political leverage. We should be ashamed together,
says the Texter. I repeat, Democrats have rejected a continuing

(01:08:07):
resolution a clean CR Biden level or Biden era level spending.
We up to fifteen times, that was at thirteen one,
at thirteen fourteen times, I've lost count. So let's call
it what it is. Three or four talk three or four.
Need to understand the modern budget Amendment, says the Texter.
I heard your interview on did you talk to Westernian

(01:08:32):
Public Broadcast this morning?

Speaker 4 (01:08:34):
I talked to him a couple of weeks back. They
aired it this morning.

Speaker 1 (01:08:37):
Oh okay, I was happy that you are working with
public broadcaster to inform us about issues that affect us
here in the Mountain State, says the text.

Speaker 6 (01:08:44):
They asked about the sit down that we did with
health and that keeps popping back up.

Speaker 1 (01:08:51):
Uh three or four Talk three or four. Health Care
price is going up, snaps not getting funded, and the
president is fighting funding, fighting against funding. At the pre
as it is hosting a nineteen twenty's Aristocrats themed party.
This is Talk Lionel Metro News, the voice of West Virginia.
It is eleven thirty times to get a news update.

(01:09:12):
Let's check in on the Metro News radio network. Find
out what's happening across the great state of West Virginia.
West Virginia Metro News. I'm Chris Lawrence.

Speaker 25 (01:09:20):
The Public Service Commission plans to hold a virtual and
in person public comment period on a proposed seventy nine
point six million dollars rate hike for customers of Hope Gas.
The public hearing is six o'clock this evening in person
at PS headquarters in Charleston, or via teams online. The
PSC will begin considering evidence of the matter tomorrow. Hope
Gas file for that forty one percent increase back on

(01:09:41):
April thirtieth. A challenge of the deployment of the West
Virginia National Guard to Washington, d C. At the request
of President Trump continues this morning into Charleston courtroom. Judge
Richard Lindsay is hearing the challenge to pick up our
testimony left off October twenty fourth metter New Statewide correspondent
Brad mclhaan, and he talks about the main issue in
this case.

Speaker 1 (01:10:01):
The central issue to this court is whether or not
what the governor did is in compliance with West Virginia law.

Speaker 25 (01:10:07):
Law You's from the state Attorney General's office wrote that
West Virginia law expressly permits the governor to order members
of the National Guard out of state to perform military
duties and independently to comply with their request to do
so by the President of the United States.

Speaker 4 (01:10:21):
And other news.

Speaker 25 (01:10:21):
A New Jersey man who is accused of making threats
against the state's governor has been arrested here in West Virginia.
State police took him to custody. Fifty four year old
Russ Cimarron of Dumont, New Jersey, in Wayne County. Seamaran
had active warrants from New Jersey for allegedly making terrorist
threats toward New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. He was traced
down to an area near Beach Fork State Park and arrested.

(01:10:43):
You're listening to Metro News for forty years the Boys
of West Virginia.

Speaker 9 (01:10:47):
Attention high school football fans. If you're wondering where your
team ranks each week, check out the Tutor's Biscuit World
Power Rankings at wd metronews dot com. Each Tuesday morning,
Metro News will update the power rankings for all four classes,
and to find out where your favorite team ranks, simply
go to wv metronews dot com, click on the high
School Sports tad and then the high School Power Rankings.

(01:11:09):
Twenty twenty five Metro News Power Rankings are presented by
Tutor's Biscuit World. Start your day the homemade way. Visit
them at tutors Biscuit World dot com.

Speaker 3 (01:11:18):
Now showing on Metro News Television, Peak Health, your doctors
built it, your neighbors love it, and your friends at
Hope Gas present episode three of State of Minds Tony
COREEDI visits with former WVU head coach Don Neeland.

Speaker 25 (01:11:31):
I told our guys, we're not setting our standards to
beat Boston College.

Speaker 4 (01:11:36):
We're setting the standards to beat pitt and State.

Speaker 3 (01:11:39):
State of Minds Episode three now available, presented by Hope
Gas and Peak Health with support from Career Industries only
on the Metro News television app.

Speaker 25 (01:11:48):
A proposed aggregate premium increase of three percent for state
workers health insurance will be the focus of public hearings
that will be held over the next three weeks, starting
tonight at the Highlands and Wheeley. Those hearings are hosted
by the PI Final It's Bored. State lawmakers holding this
month's in through meetings at Pipestam Resort State Park in
the summers Mercer County line area. Today is some of

(01:12:08):
the lawmakers are visiting Bluefield State University and Sunday gotta
look at the campus of Concord from the Metro News
anchored ESK, I'm Chris Lawrence.

Speaker 1 (01:12:34):
We'll get some of your texts coming up at three
or four talk three oh four, eight hundred and seven
sixty five eight two five five. Also keeping an eye
Metro New State one correspondent Brad mclhenny is covering the
case this morning in Kanawa County, challenging the governor's power
to deploy West Virginia National Guard members to the streets
of Washington.

Speaker 3 (01:12:54):
D C.

Speaker 1 (01:12:55):
Johns Richards lindsay heard about an hour of arguments back
on October twenty fourth, then stop because he wants to
more thoroughly explore a central question. Brad is covering that
case in Kanaw County this morning. Brad said if he could,
he would try to call in. If not, he may
make an appearance on one of the other programs this afternoon,
Mention News Midday. Of course, hotline comes up a little

(01:13:16):
bit later on no pressure on you all? Did I
just program the guys shows the rest of the day, Hey,
Brad's go to join your show. Sorry about that, guys.
You know, if it's up to Dave Allen, who knows
what will happen in those three hours of time three
or four talk three or four of the text line.
West Virginian's on expanded enrollment for health insurance under the

(01:13:37):
Affordable Care Acts maybe couldn't believe their eyes when they
got on the marketplace over the weekend. Those ACA expanded
subsidies not factored into the prices as open enrollment begins
without those subsidies. Joining us on MECH News talk line
this morning, an ACA navigator here in West Virginia. Jeremy Smith, Jeremy,
good morning, Thanks for joining us.

Speaker 2 (01:13:56):
Hey, good morning, thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (01:13:58):
So what did people find if they low dawn to
the marketplace over the weekend to take a look at
those ACA plans for the first time for twenty twenty six.

Speaker 26 (01:14:08):
Yeah, so it's really been a mixed bag. We've been
hearing all these warnings for weeks now on the increased premiums,
and we've been working all morning helping people re enroll
for their twenty twenty six plan, And like.

Speaker 2 (01:14:23):
I said, it's been a mixed bag.

Speaker 26 (01:14:25):
Some people they're logging in and they're looking at like
two hundred dollars a month increases. Other folks it's been
like twenty dollars increase a month. So it's been interesting
to see just the differences because it's hard to predict
what these rates are going to be because it's always
situational to you and your family. It's based on where

(01:14:48):
you live in West Virginia, your age, your projected annual income.

Speaker 2 (01:14:52):
So yeah, it's sort of just been all over the place.

Speaker 26 (01:14:57):
And then for some of the folks that's looking at
these big premium increases so far, what they're doing is
they're switching into other plans, maybe higher deductible plans things
like that, but they're trying to switch into other plans
that may be less per month so they can still
afford it.

Speaker 6 (01:15:14):
So, in terms of folks that are seeing these really
large increases, some of these numbers that have been in
the media, Jeremy.

Speaker 4 (01:15:22):
Paint a picture for me. You talked about it's all.

Speaker 6 (01:15:24):
Situational, which makes perfect sense because people have different risk profiles,
et cetera. But could you give us some color around
those that are really seeing these increases, the kind of
situations or hurdles that they're facing that are really driving
up the price. Is it too early for that or
do you have any idea yet.

Speaker 26 (01:15:41):
I'll tell you the major the group that is at
the most at risk is folks that make more than
four hundred percent of the federal poverty level, which that
translates into like a family of two if they make.

Speaker 2 (01:15:56):
More than like eighty four thousand dollars a year, like.

Speaker 26 (01:16:00):
This, So that's kind of we've always caught it the cliff,
the subsidy cliff so used the last few years, if
somebody made even more than four hundred percent, they still
got some monthly help on their premiums for these plans.
But that's all going away. So we're seeing some major

(01:16:20):
increases for those folks. You know, someone paying like four
hundred dollars a month going up to two thousand a month,
things like that. So that's been the biggest shock for
a lot of folks. And then the other ones is
just in general, we're seeing a lot of anywhere from
twenty to one hundred dollars a month increases, and those
are the folks that are trying to switch plans to

(01:16:42):
save some money.

Speaker 1 (01:16:44):
Jeremy Smith is joining us. He's an ACA navigator for
four first Choice health systems. Sound like what you described
there is We've talked about this in the past. That
area between where you're doing really well and when the
area where you're getting help for the government to you know,
on the lower income that that weird middle part there
where you're making too much to get the help but

(01:17:05):
not but you know, you just can't find your footing
in that area.

Speaker 26 (01:17:10):
Yeah, for sure, it makes it rough on people. You know,
middle income folks, upper middle income folks, and a lot
of the people that are on these kind of insurance plans.
So these are people that can't get insurance through a
job or Medicare or Medicaid. So we've got a lot
of small business owners, we have a lot of employees
that work at small businesses that can't offer insurance. And

(01:17:33):
then we've got a lot of early retirees. We've got
people that have worked really hard, back breaking jobs their
whole lives and you know, they're in their sixties, but
they're not yet Medicare eligible. They may have retired a
little bit early, their body's breaking down. And that tends
to be a lot of the folks that we help
navigate this process. And yeah, so far, they're the ones

(01:17:56):
kind of getting hit the hardest with these changes.

Speaker 6 (01:18:00):
First off, thanks for what you do. I could spend
an hour talking to you. I'm fascinated by this stuff.
It's right up my alley tapering the idea of not
hitting the cliff and gradually bringing people off of it.
Would that be a common sense solution to what you're seeing?

Speaker 26 (01:18:14):
Well, that's what we've been doing the last four years.
You know, in twenty twenty one, during the pandemic, Congress
created these enhanced premium tax credits and they also removed
the subsidy cliff, and they kind of, like you said,
they were tapering people away from the subsidies the more
they made. So now we're back to the cliff. And

(01:18:36):
that's the way the ACA was from twenty thirteen to
the beginning of twenty twenty one before these changes occurred.
And you know, back in twenty twenty, we only had
about nineteen thousand people in West Virginia that were on
one of these ACA plans. And over the last four
years we've had one of the largest increases in the

(01:18:58):
country in these plans, where close to almost seventy thousand
people at this point. So it affects a big chunk
of our population now and a big part of it
was the more affordable rates and removing that subsidy cliff.

Speaker 1 (01:19:13):
Jeremy Smith joining us ACA navigator for First Choice Health Systems.
Folks getting their first look at the marketplace over the
weekend without those expanded subsidies available, where are you directing
people that the people we were talking about there kind
of in the middle of the subsidies that aren't available,
you're not making enough to make up for that increase.

(01:19:34):
Are you directing them in a certain area to make
this as manageable as possible.

Speaker 26 (01:19:41):
The main thing is to still look at the new
plans and prices that's been released this year. You may
have to switch from maybe a gold plan to a
bronze plan, which what that kind of means is, you
know it's going to be cheaper per month, but your
deductibles and you're out of pocket max and your copays
would be higher. But that's a better situation than going

(01:20:02):
without insurance completely. I mean going without health insurance. You know,
one surgery, one car wreck could bankrupt you in your family.
So we're still just going through the process and showing
people all the plan options. And you know that for
a lot of folks that even switching to the more
affordable plan with the higher deductibles, it's still better than

(01:20:23):
going without. So we're still just going through the process
with people so they know what their options are.

Speaker 6 (01:20:29):
So let's talk about the high deductible plan because that's
what's prevalent in the private sector today. We've talked with
the Peia folks quite a bit, and they talk about
just the very low I mean literally, maybe less than
a thousand that they have out of the huge number
of thing ensure that are actually on high deductible plans.
Is there a silver lining here in that it's an

(01:20:49):
opportunity to talk to folks maybe that household that's making
eighty four thousand with two people, and look, you're not
rich if you're making eighty four thousand dollars a year,
But in West Virginia in terms of meeting, that's pretty
good talking with them about this deductible plan, maybe saying, hey,
set up that HSA and you can take some money
tax free and grow and self insure to some degree.

(01:21:13):
Are folks, I guess, so they're receptive to that idea
as you talk with them about it.

Speaker 26 (01:21:19):
So I've been doing this since the ACA rolled out
in the fall of twenty thirteen, and I can probably
count on two hands the number of people that I've
ever encountered that even want to discuss an HSA option.
And it's really just because people don't have any extra
money whatsoever to put in a savings account for healthcare

(01:21:40):
by the time they may pay their monthly premium, they
say they're tapped. So while HSAS seems like a great
idea and I would love to see more people have
access and utilize it because it makes sense, it's really smart.
Most people just say they can't afford it, They can't
pay a monthly premium and put money in a savings.

Speaker 2 (01:22:01):
Account for it.

Speaker 26 (01:22:02):
So you know, they've made it easier to get those
HSA plans. One of the changes this year is that
any Bronze plan is HSA eligible, but people still have
to afford to be able to do it and set
it up. So that's kind of been the big drawback
for it as I've seen it over the years.

Speaker 1 (01:22:24):
Do you work, Is it families? Who's the majority of
folks you're working with? Families? Is it young single individuals
who are just entering the workforce, a little bit of everybody.

Speaker 2 (01:22:34):
Yeah, it's a mix.

Speaker 26 (01:22:36):
Like I said, this program is designed for people that
can't get insurance through their job, so it's a lot
of small business owners, and then it's a lot of
a lot of people that work at a small business.
And then the other major population that we tend to
help the most is people that is retiring before the
age of sixty five and they can't get on Medicare,

(01:22:58):
so that tends to be who we help the most.
And then a lot of younger people they can still
stay on there their parents' insurance plan until they're twenty six,
So we don't see a lot of young adults. It's
mainly you know, a lot of that small business owner
category or people that work for small employers.

Speaker 6 (01:23:19):
So, I mean, it's day one, tough to identify any
trends yet. But are you having anyone that's just looking
at here's what I paid versus one I'm going to
pay now, whether it's the small business owner, whether it's
the struggling family and they're just opting out, anybody already
just opting out and saying well, we're just not going
to do it.

Speaker 2 (01:23:38):
No one yet.

Speaker 26 (01:23:39):
What we've seen so far today, like I said, it's
still early, we're seeing people switch into cheaper plans that
provide less coverage. So they're switching from those gold plans
down into bronze plans that that's going to be the
cheapest per month, but then it's got that much higher
deductible they've got to hit before they can get coverage.

Speaker 2 (01:24:00):
So that so far is what people's doing.

Speaker 26 (01:24:05):
Still too early to tell though, exactly what's going to
happen over the rest of open enrollment. We're going to
try to make sure we spend the time with people
so that they can see all the playing options. We
don't want people to go without coverage, but you know,
they're frustrated anytime somebody sees their insurance costs go up

(01:24:25):
by you know, fifty one hundred dollars, two hundred dollars,
they're having to take a deep breath and you know
try to decide, well, what am I going to do
from here? So, uh, nobody's dropped out yet, but it's
you know, still very early.

Speaker 1 (01:24:41):
Jeremy Smith and ACA navigator for First Choice Health Systems. Jeremy,
thank you so much for the perspective this morning. Appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (01:24:48):
Yeah, thanks for having me absolutely.

Speaker 1 (01:24:49):
Coming up, we'll get to your text three or four
talk three oh four where you can give us a
call at eight hundred and seven to sixty five Talk eight
hundred seven sixty five eight two five five. This is
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Speaker 1 (01:26:26):
Three or four Talk three or four is the text
line eight hundred and seven to sixty five eight two
five five textor says, call it what it is. Republicans
are trying to eliminate the ACA by pricing people out. People.
If people cannot afford it, it goes away. Other insurance
companies are behind the destruction of the ACA, says the Texter.

Speaker 4 (01:26:47):
Sounds like nobody can afford it.

Speaker 1 (01:26:48):
To me, Well, one insurance companies more or less helped
write the ACA first of all, Number one, number two.
Look these subsidies. I don't know if it's in one
to one comparison, but it reminds me of the situation
with pei A. Here in this state, we have kept
the premiums artificially low for a couple of years by
order from Governor Justice at the time. And what happened

(01:27:11):
on the back end of that, Well, healthcare prices continue
to increase, and eventually the whip snap back. So these
subsidies are keeping the premiums low while health lower, while
health care costs continue to arise, So eventually the whip
snap's back, doesn't it. And if Democrats thought this was
so important, they could have made them permanent when they
had the opportunity. They didn't. Why TJ because of the

(01:27:31):
budgeting gimmick.

Speaker 6 (01:27:33):
Well, people can't afford it. Government can't afford it. I mean,
you know, we can't. Nobody can afford it. That's what
I meant by that. But look, I take I take
your point. Yes, I take your point.

Speaker 1 (01:27:44):
Uh, what's the what's the federal deficit now?

Speaker 6 (01:27:47):
Thirty eight thirty nine thirty eight trillion rolling on toward forty?
My man, I mean, it only took us two months
to tack on a trillion dollars this last go around.
I mean, are we going to do it now in
like a month and a half.

Speaker 1 (01:27:59):
Who well, if you work hard and keep your nose
to the grindstone, TJ. It's crazy how people keep blaming
President Trump for the snap benefits. The money has to
be approved by Congress. That is in the CR bill
that the Democrats continually keep voting against. The democrats demands
are issues that were already passed in the One Big

(01:28:20):
Beautiful Bill. Says the Texter. Hey, I agree with the
lady you interviewed from the League of Women's Voters. Voters
have already voted to usurp power from West Virginia's elected
officials to unelected government workers. These voters, she refers to,
are the same that Neil to King Randy Weingarten to
steer liberal public policy public education policy throughout West Virginia.

(01:28:43):
No wonder they don't want to see a fair, clear
and well publicized election on the matter. I think we
saw that already, I really do. We've seen it. What
was it twenty two when those came through, We saw
the election on that. If you want to hold another one, fine,
look I have no problems with that.

Speaker 4 (01:29:00):
But the voters.

Speaker 1 (01:29:02):
The voters weighed in on this a couple of years
ago when it was on the ballot as a constitutional amendment.
So we either move on or put it on the
ballot again in twenty eight. I guess you'd have to
do it now.

Speaker 6 (01:29:13):
I guess asking the voters, in my mind, once again,
is better than the path we're going down and trying
to cram this through a lawsuit. But I will say
this to you as well, I agree. I don't think
governor excuse me, the voters are responsible to explain their
vote to the government. Doesn't matter if they were confused,
not that they don't have to know. All they have

(01:29:33):
to do is vote, end of story, no explanation required.

Speaker 1 (01:29:39):
And I understand I understand the frustration we had this
debate last January or February whenever it came up down
at the cabal. I understand the frustration that you elect
people to the legislature to fix education, for instance, and
then you have the state Board of Education, which you
don't look. I get the vote a voter for I

(01:30:00):
get the frustration of lawmakers, but I do want the
Board of Education to be a political. Right boy, If
you're switching on the whims of these shifting sands of
politics every two to four years, are you fixing the
education system or are you going to further damage it

(01:30:20):
from where it's already is rhetorical question, but you see
my point. I'm okay with an apolitical or what is
supposed to be at least, or a bipartisan if you
want to go that direction instead state Board of Education. Okay.

Speaker 6 (01:30:34):
At the same time, you have people trying to take
away nonpartisan voting on judicial races though they want they
want the R or the D. Here's a compromise to that.
How about the thinking on the fly gets me in trouble.
How about anybody that's seeking public office, you ought to
be able to look at their registration record since they
became a registered voter. You can see how many years

(01:30:55):
they were in them, how many years they were in
r how many years they're an independent. They can still
run non parties.

Speaker 4 (01:31:00):
And we move on.

Speaker 1 (01:31:02):
House Bill. Let's see what would that be you want
to you want to start that in the House of
the Senate.

Speaker 4 (01:31:06):
I forget what number they start with. Yeah, I don't know.
Dave and TJ's bill the request of David TJ. How
about that, Texter.

Speaker 1 (01:31:16):
Says, old baby boomer democrat here just left the courthouse
and switched to Republicans. Seems like the correct thing to do,
since the majority of Democrats have little negotiating abilities. Final break,
final call for texts will wrap things up in a moment.
This is talk line from the en Cove Insurance Studios.

Speaker 9 (01:31:33):
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(01:31:53):
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generation capacity to fifty gigawatts by twenty to fifteen is
a dynamic approach to economic development which will supercharge our
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(01:32:14):
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(01:33:28):
three before I see another nineteen twenty nine in our
future coming soon. Let's hope not we have Let's see.
Let me back up. Why does nobody talk about the
real healthcare issue, that is the insurance companies and healthcare providers.
We have nonprofit hospitals reporting hundreds of millions in profit
insurance companies love the ACA. The subsidies are government money

(01:33:51):
being applied to private insurance company premiums. The premiums continue
to go up no matter the subsidies, they will always
get theirs, says the Texter. I'm a walking medical chart.
I have not had health insurance since I lost my
job in twenty fifteen. I will not sign up for
the ACA with my president, both Senators, Supreme Court justices,

(01:34:12):
Congressional rep. Governor, Attorney general, and West Virginia Legislature Rep.
Do not want me to have it. It'd be a
waste of money paying into a system that could get
eliminated any day. Three or four, talk, three oh four.
The text line, all right, gonna wrap it up for
today because we are plumb out of time. Metro news
Midday coming up on many of these same metro news

(01:34:32):
radio stations. Follow the news of the day over at
the website WDV metronews dot com. We'll talk to you
tomorrow morning at ten oh six talk Line on Metro News.
For forty years, the voice of West Virginia,