Affordable housing needs govt.’s help
The July 28 editorial on affordable housing highlights an urgent national problem and one affecting West Virginia citizens: With a nationwide shortage of roughly 1.5 million homes, the lack of housing units is the primary cause of growing housing affordability challenges.
Building more homes is the only way to achieve a healthy supply-demand balance in the for-sale and rental markets. To build more attainable, affordable housing, we need to remove the barriers that hinder the construction of new homes and apartments.
The National Association of Home Builders has put together a 10-point plan to address this issue and many of the policy solutions are applicable to what builders on the ground are facing in West Virginia on a daily basis.
For example, policymakers at all levels of government can help by eliminating excessive regulations that account for nearly 25% of the cost of a single-family home and more than 40% of the cost of a typical apartment. Officials also need to overturn inefficient zoning rules and land-use policies that make it harder and more expensive to build. Promoting careers in the skilled trades will ease a severe labor shortage in the construction industry that is contributing to higher home building costs.
Meanwhile, the cost of building materials has surged 38% since the pandemic, and the price of distribution transformers is up more than 70% since February 2020. We need to mend faulty building material supply chains and ease price spikes and volatility that harm housing affordability.
West Virginia home builders stand ready to work with our local, state and federal officials to tackle these obstacles and institute commonsense solutions that will bend the rising housing cost curve.
If we are to ease these chronic headwinds that are impeding builders from boosting housing production, then the time to act is now.
Kent Pauley
Morgantown
Prisoner swap with Russia a mistake
When did the United States change its policy against bargaining for political prisoners? Biden claims the recent swap with Russia is “a feat of diplomacy and friendship.” Really?
Apparently, he is not aware that the exchange of innocent Americans for Russian criminals encourages foreign adversaries to target and wrongfully detain Americans as leverage. According to Elizabeth Neumann, former Homeland Security official, “prisoner swaps ensure Russia will continue to unlawfully detain more Americans to have bargaining chips for future releases of Russian criminals who are important to Putin.”
A joint statement by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnel, R-Ky, called the release “encouraging news but they recognize trading hardened Russian criminals for innocent Americans does little to discourage Putin’s reprehensible behavior.” That is the understatement of the century.
According to Neumann, “Putin’s modus operandi is to round up Americans on false charges to get his imprisoned henchmen back.” An example is Vadim Krasikov, a convicted assassin who was serving a life sentence in Germany for a 2019 killing. Putin held out until he could get the KGB assassin released.
What happened to the policy that the U.S. does not bargain for prisoners? I understand that the decision to swap prisoners was a hard one to make, but what are the advantages of swapping prisoners for the U.S. or Americans traveling abroad? I see the swap as a legacy boost for Biden but a future foreign policy risk for Americans.
Brenda Bonnett
Arthurdale
Harris can continue U.S.’s great legacy
It was refreshing to read Syamala Jagannathan’s letter in the Aug. 4 issue of The Dominion Post, praising President Biden for his accomplishments during his term in office. These past four years, the Biden-Harris partnership brought back such a sense of normalcy, the likes of which we had not experienced for quite some time.
The probability of Vice President Harris returning to the White House, this time in her capacity as president, has given me hope, once again, that we will continue to function as a united country; and, more importantly, that our democracy will remain secure. It’s time to show the rest of the world what a determined, young and enthusiastic woman can accomplish when presented with a challenge.
As for Donald J. Trump’s statement that “when” he’s elected, there will no longer be a need for us to vote, I’m here to let him know that is our right and privilege to vote every four years for the candidate of our choice. That’s called “freedom,” and it’s why our military forces continue to fight so fiercely to protect our right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Something that Trump was too cowardly to do.
God bless our troops, and God bless the United States of America!
Charlotte Taylor
Morgantown
MAGA pulls away from conservative values
Conservative pillars that appear to no longer matter to the Trump movement: First pillar of conservatism is based on the idea that the pursuit of liberty/freedom is the purpose of their existence. The second pillar is tradition and order. Order means a systematic and harmonious arrangement, both within one’s own character and the commonwealth. The third pillar is the rule of law. Put simply, a government of laws and not of men is the only way to secure justice. The fourth pillar is belief in God — the concepts of religious faith — such things as justice, virtue, fairness, charity, community and duty (Intercollegiate Studies Institute, April 3, 2018).
Based on what I am seeing, MAGA Republican politicians have forgotten their conservative values and have developed their own standards of conduct. It has become all about them, compromise is a dirty word, truth does not matter, honoring an oath no longer exists, rule of law only applies if they win and freedom only exists if it is theirs to manipulate. Simply put, it is their way or the highway.
This is highlighted by the actions of the U.S. House of Representatives. Their committees have focused on revenge. They attempted to impeach Biden without evidence rather than working on issues confronting citizens. Republicans continue to say the election was stolen (a loyalty requirement), and they apparently cannot determine policy without invoking God as their source. I guess accepting responsibility for independent thinking is out of the question.
Democrats will protect women’s reproductive rights and will not block bipartisan efforts to change border policy. They will put you first. Remember what JFK said: “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” Time to consider voting out Republicans and voting blue to restore normalcy for our country.
Mary Ann Liberatore
Morgantown
Competing to win or to redeem ourselves?
I hate arguments about who is the greatest athlete of all time. Jim Thorpe, Jesse Owens, Caitlyn (Bruce) Jenner, Katie Ledecky and Michael Jordan all come to mind. But the answer is finally in, and the greatest athlete of all time is Simone Biles.
It wasn’t smooth sailing for Biles in 2020 as “the twisties” came and attacks on social media followed. The character she showed, handing her routines to her fellow gymnasts in 2020, earned her respect. She watched others shine, but there was no happier person than Simone encouraging her teammates to victory in Tokyo.
Then she got serious about mental health. In the 1980s, it became apparent that athletes were so good at what they did that concentrating was a Herculean task. Coco Gauff showed promise in tennis, but then struggled. When other athlete mentors showed up in the stands, signaling to her “we’ve got you,” the tide turned.
Examples of what it takes to “vault to glory” are sometimes obscured by obsession with who is the best.
After missing the podium in Tokyo, U.S. gymnast Jade Carey trained hard to get the bronze in 2024. In track and field, long distance star Parker Valby showed remarkable pluck by leaning for the finish line to get second at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 10,000 meter race. Katie Ledecky lost in the 400m swim as a 27-year-old in 2024 and snapped back to win the 1,500m and the 800m.
I remember one time in high school cross country tripping at the start and coming back to finish respectably as my coach nervously watched.
Is it being the best or is it redemption we seek in sports? The answer is both, as we watched gymnast Jade Carey and sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson get theirs. The lesson is to get to the starting line ready to give it your best and let your history unfold.
Steven Knudsen
Morgantown
Which party’s policies reflect our interests?
In his column “W.Va.’s political red wave rolls on,” Hoppy Kercheval concludes that our politics have become “nationalized” and that the issues advanced by the Democratic Party appeal to fewer West Virginians.
To the contrary, I believe that fixing our potholes and repairing our bridges with federal funds, which is the result of the Inflation Reduction Act, appeal to all West Virginians. Similarly, reducing the cost of insulin and other medications and the cost of medical care appeals to all West Virginians. Likewise, protecting clean air and drinking water is a West Virginian value. These are all things that were delivered during a national Democratic administration, not from the previous national MAGA administration. The MAGAs made promises but didn’t keep them.
I believe that the red wave is due, in part, to West Virginians voting against their own interests because of unregulated and irresponsible advertising by rich businesses that influence our opinions to advance their own selfish interests.
Richard Cohen
Morgantown
