December 1, 2015

Photo by The Herald-Dispatch

When young people are in the news, the story often turns to 0ur demographic’s lack of civic engagement. Marshall University Young Democrats exists to counteract this unfortunate trend. By registering voters, organizing events, and being active in our community, our expanding group proves that political passion is alive in Marshall’s student body.

This newsletter is a newly-established attempt to provide enthusiastic students with a voice. By promoting progressive ideas, we also hope to help Democratic politicians both in our district and throughout West Virginia. No matter the political persuasion of our readers, devoting attention to our thoughts shows not only that you value students, but that you care about our state and our country. For that, we thank you.

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Leadership

Sophia Mills, President

Alex O’Donnell, VP of Finance

Sam Holiskey, VP of Public Relations

DEM DIRECT by the Marshall University Young Democrats

December 1, 2015

The American Promise

By David Crawley

When this country was founded, a promise was made. America was envisioned to be a land that would provide Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. This founding promise does not just apply to people born in this country; it applies to anyone from any land who wants to come here and become an American.

I arrived to this country in 2004, in the midst of the presidential election. I could quickly tell which candidate had my best interests at heart. While he lost the election, John Kerry is a man who knows the world. Today he is skillfully performing his role as Secretary of State because he is so well-travelled. He knows and has been to war-torn nations— places where people would do anything to come to this nation.

We are a nation founded by immigrants. In current politics, this phrase is thrown around a lot, but it still holds true. The English, French, Germans, and people of many other nationalities came here for a better life. They ran away from religious persecution, like the Syrian Refugees are today. If we do not provide shelter to them during this terrible storm, they will be swept away.

We cannot let fears of terrorism defeat our values of inclusiveness. If we do not allow people to immigrate to this country because we are afraid, the terrorists have won because they have filled us with terror. If the founders of America were turned away, we would not be the nation we are today.

We must always remember the promise we made when this country was founded. Our American promise.

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David Crawley, VP of Outreach and Membership

Kyle Marcum, VP of Programming

Lora Walker, Secretary

Dillon Neace, Parliamentarian

December 1, 2015

Equal Justice Under Law: The fight for full LGBT protections

By Sophia Mills

In October of 2014, marriage equality supporters celebrated what came as a joyous shock: same-sex marriage was made legal in my home state of West Virginia. Less than a year later, the Supreme Court ordered that same-sex marriages be recognized and performed nationwide. Justice Kennedy’s poignant majority opinion validated the cries of LGBT activists throughout the country by answering possibly the biggest constitutional question of our time. Justice Kennedy made history by concluding “[same-sex couples] ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right” (Obergeffel v. Hodges, pg 28).

While marriage equality was a defining victory, LGBT Americans still do not enjoy Justice Kennedy’s ideal of equal dignity under the law. Sexual orientation and gender identity are not listed in federal non-discrimination statutes, and although states are free to supplement this lack of protection, only thirty-two states have any kind of anti-discrimination laws for their LGBT residents (Hunt, 2012). West Virginia is one of the states that does not secure the LGBT

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The Iranian Nuclear Deal in Summary

by Derek Zelkowski

For a long time, the Western world’s relationship with the country of Iran has been cold. After the Islamic Revolution led by Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979, a fundamental Shia Islam government rose in the place of the U.S. backed regime in Iran. For years, Iran had been developing their nuclear program, making the international community fearful of an Iranian nuclear weapon pointed toward Israel (BBC). This summer, however, a landmark deal between Iran and various world powers on Iran’s nuclear activity was reached.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPA), signed on July 14th, 2015 in Vienna, Austria (Gordon, Sanger), limits Iran’s nuclear stockpile to 3.67% of its current supply. Iran must reduce its number of centrifuges (the devices needed to enrich uranium to potentially make weapons) from its current 20,000 to only 6,104 over the next ten years. Additional rules in the JCPA prevent Iran from developing weapons grade plutonium (The White House).

The international reaction to the Iranian nuclear deal has been mostly positive. The Iranian people are overjoyed because, with the passage of the JCPA, the crippling economic sanctions on Iran will be lifted. The Obama Administration was praised for its success in helping to make this deal a reality. The deal is not without its critics, namely Israelis and the Israeli government, who say that this deal will still allow Iran to make a bomb. United States Republicans have also criticized the JCPA, saying that it is not harsh enough and will not secure American and Israeli safety (Rodriguez).

In Congress, the deal has passed and was officially implemented on October 18th, 2015 (Schwartz).

December 1, 2015

community’s right to be free from workplace discrimination. Because of this, many people chide “you can get married on a Sunday and get fired on a Monday!” While seemingly ridiculous, the saying reflects the strange and unfair reality that an employer can fire a worker for being gay, bisexual, lesbian, or transgender. Not only is this possibility a violation of equal rights, but it is an issue of basic morality.

Politicians speak often of “West Virginia values,” referring to the morals held by people in the Mountain state. I refuse to accept that our values stay tainted by inequality. As proud West Virginians, we should embrace values of respect, compassion, and openness toward those different from ourselves. To deny some law-abiding, tax-paying citizens equal protection is antithetical to what our state should represent. LGBT Americans are our friends, our families, our children, our teachers, doctors, and public servants. They deserve to live in a country that allows them equal footing and that provides a safe place for those struggling to be themselves.

In our state’s 2015 legislative session, senators and delegates from both sides of the aisle thankfully stood against a bill that had the effect of stripping municipalities’ LGBT protections. Throughout the public debate over the bill, people from across the state flocked to Charleston to speak out against the piece of legislation, including our own professors from Marshall and Huntington Mayor Steve Williams. This joint effort against discrimination is just one sign that as a state, and as a country, we are moving rapidly in the right direction. While we may identify as Republicans, Democrats, or Independents, we will know true victory when fairness is no longer a partisan issue.

Combatting Inequality and Money in Politics

By Ethan Higginbotham

Today’s Americans live in a country that has more wealth and income inequality than any other major developed country on Earth. In fact, the wealth gap between the affluent and the middle class of America is wider than at any time since the 1920’s. The top one-tenth of one percent now owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90% combined, with 58% of all new income generated going to the top one percent (Monaghan, 2014). So why is this happening in America?

The answer is simple: money in politics. Billionaires, such as Charles and David Koch, more infamously known as the Koch brothers, flood money into our political system with expectation of return on investment. These “investments” have gone so far that they have crossed party lines and now infect both major political parties in the country. The Koch brothers plan to spend a whopping $889 million on the 2016 elections alone. These donations come with great political influence. Billionaires are able to use their money in order to puppet politicians into voting the

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December 1, 2015

way they want. This heavily contributes to the wealth inequality problem that America now faces. If billionaires have more representation in Washington than the middle class and working families, then naturally billionaires’ tax rates will drop and the middle class will be left to pay the consequences. This also extends into the issue of minimum wage. Minimum wage workers today make starvation wages and are more often than not working multiple jobs in order to provide. This is because those that sit at the top of the food chain are able to legally bribe politicians in order to keep the minimum wage as low as possible. Some billionaires, and even many Tea Party politicians, go as far as advocating for the complete abolition of the minimum wage.

What is most profound about the issue is that those at the top don’t seem to understand the middle class’ frustration with the matter. Charles Koch was recently on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” where he was questioned about his investments in the American political arena. Koch was quoted as saying that he feels he has a moral obligation to use his political influence in order to “transform” people’s lives. He even went on to compare himself to Martin Luther by stating, “I’m kind of like Martin Luther when he was on trial and he said, ‘Here I stand, I can do no other’” (Confessore, 2015.) It is apparent, based on these comments, that Charles Koch believes the American people are treating him unfairly.

America is beginning to enter a very dangerous cycle where billionaires are dumping increasing sums of money into our democracy, getting a return on investment, and continuing the process, all while remaining visibly oblivious to any wrongdoing. Today’s millennials are inheriting a political and economic system that is broken through no fault of their own, however they will be left to pick up the seemingly irreparable pieces.

A Compassionate Argument for Energy Diversification

By Kyle Marcum

For generations, coal has been a boon for West Virginia, particularly for its southern half. It has allowed a population that was historically undereducated and impoverished to make a livable wage and join the middle class. However, the injustices inherent to the way coal companies managed the land and their employees reveal a dark side to the industry. Land and property were destroyed by destructive mining practices that eroded our infrastructure and cracked people’s homes, and in some cases wiped out whole communities like Buffalo Creek. Drainage from the mines muddies our water and coal-fired power plants dirty our air. And now it is clear that the coal boon is slowly coming to a close. The reasons for this are contentiously debated, but the effects of the numerous bankruptcies and layoffs to hit the coal industry are not. Thousands of miners are now out of work and tax revenue from coal is down, and even the coal industry admits

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December 1, 2015

that the downturn may be permanent. As the son of a proud coal miner, I suggest this with due respect to the industry that has allowed me to afford college: it is time to explore better options.

West Virginia has great untapped potential for alternative energy. The most immediately promising field, if not the cleanest, is the burgeoning natural gas boom from the Marcellus Shale that lies under the majority of our state. It currently provides many jobs in the northern part of the state and is set to expand in the near future. It would not only provide employment for blue-collar workers but would also attract college-educated young people with experience in natural resources. The state is also ripe for the production of wind energy. We can harness the wind coming off our mountains without destroying the natural beauty of our state: medium-sized wind farms in a low populated area could provide electricity for millions at no cost to the environment. It is of course imperative that our state invest in retraining programs to ensure out-of-work miners can enter easily enter these fields. Equally important, however, is to ensure that safety and health regulations are followed in this new industry. We owe it to the workers to provide them with safe workplaces and our families with clean water that could easily be endangered by the same slipshod practices that characterized the coal industry. And finally, it is essential to not repeat the mistakes of our farmer ancestors and sell our mineral rights to out-of-state interests. For countless decades the majority of the profit from coal flowed out of the states into the pockets of companies that did not reinvest that profit in our state’s economy. We must ensure the profit stays here at home and is invested in our own infrastructure and educational systems.

Diversification of our state’s energy sector won’t be easy, logistically or culturally. But it may be one of the most crucial things our state can do to reverse our decrease in liquid and human capital. We can protect both the environment and the interest of the West Virginian worker at the same time by switching to more sustainable and environmentally friendly energy solutions. Surrounding states such as Kentucky have found success with these retraining programs while our state legislature seems to be obsessed with fighting pointless battles with the federal government to score political points and prop up a dying industry. Recent lawsuits by our state’s Attorney General benefit no one. This helps neither the economic health of our state nor the future of our blue-collar workers. By focusing on transitioning to more sustainable energy, we can support West Virginian workers and their families while keeping our state wild and wonderful for the next generation.

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December 1, 2015

Further Reading

Confessore, N. (January 26, 2015). Koch brothers’ budget of $889 million for 2016 is on par with both parties’ spending. the New York Times. Retrieved November 25, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/27/us/politics/kochs-plan-to-spend-900-million-on-2016-campaign.html?_r=1

Gordon, M., and Sanger, D. (July 14, 2014). Deal reached on Iran nuclear program; limits on fuel would lessen with time." The New York Times. Retrieved November 27, 2015 from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/15/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-deal-is-reached-after-long-negotiations.html?_r=0

Hunt, J. (June 11, 2012). A state-by-state examination of non-discrimination laws and policies. Center for American progress. Retrieved November 29, 2015 from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbt/report/2012/06/11/11696/a-state-by-state-examination-of-nondiscrimination-laws-and-policies/

Monaghan, A. (November 13, 2014). US wealth inequality - top 0.1% worth as much as the bottom 90%. The Guardian. Retrieved November 25, 2015, from http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/nov/13/us-wealth-inequality-top-01-worth-as-much-as-the-bottom-90

Obergeffel v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ____ (2015)

Rodriguez, R. (July 14, 2015). World reacts to historic Iran nuclear deal. CNN. Retrieved November 27, 215 from http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/14/middleeast/iran-deal-social-reaction

Schwartz, F. (September 18, 2015). After Congress fails to disapprove, administration starts moving on Iran deal." Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company Inc. Retrieved November 27, 2015 from http://www.wsj.com/articles/after-congress-fails-to-disapprove-administration-starts-moving-on-iran-deal-1442579536.

The White House. ”The Historic Deal That Will Prevent Iran from Acquiring a Nuclear Weapon." (n.d). Retrieved November 27, 2015 from https://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/foreign-policy/iran-deal

"US-Iran Relations: A Brief Guide.” (November 21, 2014). BBC News. Retrieved November 27, 2015 from. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-24316661

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