But why does Joe Manchin want to get rid of the pop tax? Here's a clue: it's not because Average Joe is lying awake at night thinking for ways to save West Virgina's strapped taxpayers 1 cent on every half liter of Mountain Dew Code Red they buy. Hell no.

Joe wants to get rid of the pop tax because it's a $15 million giveaway to his good friends in the -- stay with me here -- powerful (and largely out-of-state) soft drink bottling and distribution lobby. These guys have a lot of money to throw around, and they've thrown a lot of it at Joe. They've lobbied him hard over the past few years to get rid of the pop tax. And Joe is finally set to give his dear, rich, out of state friends in the soda lobby a 15 million dollar payoff.

That's right. Joe Manchin is ready to sell out the WVU Health Sciences Center to out-of-state soda bottlers.

What a great guy.

To be clear though, I can easily imagine a scenario where I'd be all for getting rid of something like a tax on soda. But this ain't it. Good luck even quantifying the effect the pop tax has on the average West Virginia family.

And I'm guessing that Manchin won't be losing any friends at Marshall, or even at WVU's medical center in Charleston, since they don't see a penny of the pop tax money. And maybe that is unfair. And maybe it's also true that WVU hospitals should fork over more of their cash to help run the HSC instead of continuing to lean on the taxpayers year after year. But I assure you, Joe Manchin doesn't give a tinker's damn about any of that. I doubt if it's even crossed his mind.

This is nothing more than a brazen giveaway to Joe's wealthy out-of-state friends and donors in the soft drink bottling and distribution industry. They are the only people who really want the pop tax gone, and they've spent big money to make it happen. And it looks like they're going to get what they want.

_________________

THE RULING PARTY:

If you Google "pop tax," the third return you get is an article about how much the pop tax sucks by former state Republican Party chairman and current West Liberty State College President Robin "Rob" Capehart. Yet another example of Manchin's policies and interests lining up perfectly not only big business, but West Virginia Republican power players.

It's also worth noting Caphart got the West Liberty job via another rigged search, to the objection of just about everyone besides Joe Manchin. Democrats in Manchin's own administration were told to cool it.

It's worth going back to ponder exactly what Heather did. It's jaw-droppingly amazing, actually: Heather had one conversation with Paul Speaker where she alleges that he agreed to excuse her from HALF of her MBA coursework so she could be free to jet set around the country for her dear old friend Mike Puskar. (Course work for a graduate degree? Seriously, who can be burdened with such a quaint inconvenience?) She never ever follows up. She never makes a phone call, never sends an email, ANYTHING. She just begins representing herself as someone who has earned an MBA.

And gosh by golly, when someone dared to question her about it, she actually said that her word was "better than any transcript," and that for anyone to accuse her of not earning an MBA degree was "offensive."

Offensive.

Seriously, people -- who the fuck does that? WHO? Certainly not a reasonable person:

"No student should have a reasonable basis to conclude that he or she could or would be excused from so many outstanding credit and course obligations simply upon the basis of a single meeting without any follow-up."

This really was one of the most shocking parts of the report, and it deserves more attention. If Heather really, honestly thought she had earned an MBA degree, that means she is either 1, dumber than a bag of hammers, or 2, because she's HEATHER FUCKING MANCHIN, she feels a sense of privilege and entitlement that is SO deep and SO great, that literally, people like you and me cannot comprehend it.

I guess that's what happens to your head when your entire family's "success" is built on generations of political power.

And about that political power: it should turn your stomach to think that the Manchins used the state university -- paid for by tax dollars and sky-high tuition -- to get their daughter a fake MBA, and now she's LITERALLY making 100 times what the average West Virginian makes in a year. And because she's too good to live in West Virginia, we don't even get a dime of that back in taxes. All we get is a big ugly scandal.

And all over a degree that Heather actually says (probably truthfully) that she never really needed. But it's not about what she needed -- she's never needed anything in her entire life.

It's all about what Heather MANCHIN thinks she deserves.

___________________

People still ask me what I think drew the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to this story in the first place. Was it a tip? Who the hell knows. But let's consider the obvious:

Most news junkies remember that Wall Street became concerned when Mylan -- a company that contrary to popular belief, is actually headquartered right outside of Pittsburgh -- bought up the generic arm of Merck. (Which incidentally, happened around the exact same time that Heather Bresch was promoted to COO.) Overnight, Mylan became a much larger company. A lot of people thought (and still think) that Mylan may have bit off more than it can chew. And investors are still unsure if the company's leaders -- including Heather Bresch -- have it in them to run such a large operation.

Why, you might ask? Forget the fact that she doesn't have an MBA. She doesn't have a COO's resume period. I challenge you to find ANY company of similar size in America that has ever promoted its Director of Public and Government Relations (business speak for "Head of Lobbying") directly to Chief Operating Officer. It just doesn't happen. We're talking about 2 entirely different jobs, and 2 ENTIRELY different skill sets.

Directors of Public and Government Relations are almost always politically and socially connected schmoozers who know how to arrange political favors for their company. In other words, a pretty good job for a Manchin. The COO on the other hand, is literally the person chiefly responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the corporation. It's about as nuts and bolts of a job as it gets.

So. If you've ever wondered why anyone would take a second look at Heather Bresch's resume -- wonder no more.

In late January, one person wrote the governor to suggest a cross party endorsement of Mike Huckabee. A few days later, another writer requested the endorsement of Mitt Romney.

Some perpetuated the myth that Obama is Muslim.  A man from West Virginia wrote to Governor Manchin in late March to say, "I say send this Muslim where he belongs and it is not the White House!!!!"

A correspondence from Hurricane, WV, indicated the voter was so upset with the endorsement of Obama from United States Senators Jay Rockefeller and Robert Byrd and West Virginia Congressmen Nick Rahall and Allan Mollohan, that he would never vote for them again.  Rahall and Mollohan do not represent Putnam County.

One of the letters, from Altamonte Springs, Florida, greeted Governor (Phil) Bredesen.

The letter writers also included Dalton Hatfield, a fifth grader from Pike County, Kentucky, who made national headlines for selling his bicycle and video games to raise more than $400 for Mrs. Clinton's campaign.  Hatfield wrote the governor on May 19th and asked him to support the state's popular vote and endorse Clinton.

Many of the emails returned from the governor's office indicated the governor would endorse the candidate who won the popular vote in West Virginia's primary.  On Friday, June 6th, Governor Manchin endorsed Obama and not Clinton, the winner of the popular vote in the state.

Manchin told WSAZ.com he made his decision only after getting a blessing from Clinton on Thursday, June 5th. On that day, Manchin says he spoke with Mrs. Clinton, former President Bill Clinton and Obama within a short time span.

From The Lede at The New York Times:

As it turns out, even the lighter side of Dick Cheney can prompt major disapproval. As Sheryl Stolberg reported this morning, the vice president elicited a wave of laughter from the National Press Club on Monday by cracking a joke about his extended family, which includes a tie to Senator Barack Obama:

“So we had Cheneys on both sides of the family — and we don’t even live in West Virginia,” the vice president deadpanned […] “You can say these things when you’re not running for re-election.”

Well, kids. Your intrepid reporter (that would be me) has scoured the records and uncovered an old Cheney family portrait. Now, I'm no expert, but it doesn't look like West Virginia to me!

Original DVD cover.

The joke was so surprising that it turned into news. Unfortunately, the state of West Virginia wasn’t laughing along. In rebuke after rebuke, public officials railed against Mr. Cheney’s stab at comedy.

“I truly cannot believe that any vice president of the United States, regardless of their political affiliation, would make such a derogatory statement about my state or any state, for that matter,” Gov. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, said, according to The Charleston Gazette.

Senator Robert C. Byrd, likewise a Democrat and a frequent critic of the Bush administration, offered another few words hours before heading to the hospital because of a fever. “This pitiful comment is not entirely surprising when you consider the source,” he said. Two of the state’s representatives in the House, one from each party, were just as offended.

The Vice Preznit's office responded with their usual insincere bull$hit a heartfelt apology:

The Vice President’s offhand comment was not meant to hurt anyone. On reflection, he concluded that it was an inappropriate attempt at humor that he should not have made. The Vice President apologizes to the people of West Virginia for the inappropriate remark.

Then he shot the state in the face.

But the comedy did inspire one more zinger from Representative Nick J. Rahall, Democrat of West Virginia: “We may owe the vice president a debt of gratitude for yet another great West Virginia slogan: ‘Dick Cheney is not from here.’ ”

Allow me, Congressman Rahall!

"We have come to the end of an exciting primary and caucus process - the voters have spoken. As the Democratic leaders of the Senate, House of Representatives, the Governors and the Democratic National Committee we commend all of the participants of the 2008 primary process, especially Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, for making this such a transformational election.

"Because of the enthusiasm our candidates have inspired, our party has brought record numbers of voters to the polls, gained millions of newly registered Democrats and now has advantages in states many thought were difficult to win. We are grateful to the millions of Independents and Republicans who have crossed over to vote for a Democratic candidate for President.

"Democrats must now turn our full attention to the general election. To that end, we are urging all remaining uncommitted super delegates to make their decisions known by Friday of this week so that our party can stand united and begin our march toward reversing the eight years of failed Bush/McCain policies that have weakened our country.

"We once again congratulate all of the candidates for their leadership and dedication to providing this country with a New Direction. We look forward to working with them and with all Democrats to win the White House, congressional seats and state capitals so we can deliver the change the American people deserve and demand."

I think there are about 143 superdelegates that are still uncommitted. Of course, they can switch who they support up until August. But the superdelegate migration is going to head primarily in Barack Obama's direction.

It's time to take a hard look at the real Joe Manchin, West Virginia. If you're a parent or grandparent -- and if you're worried that your kids or grandkids won't be able to find work in West Virginia -- you won't like what you see.

Joe Manchin's bullies on the WVU Board of Governors are telling honest West Virginia teenagers they're not welcome in their own home state -- BECAUSE THE KIDS TOLD THE TRUTH.

In case you don't know, Joe Manchin appoints and controls the WVU Board of Governors. And you've probably heard about the Manchin master's degree scandal. Joe Manchin's daughter makes $3 million a year working for an out-of-state drug company. Not long ago, a newspaper found out she's been lying for 10 years about having a master's degree. But Joe Manchin's buddy Mike Garrison -- Joe Manchin's handpicked president of WVU -- covered it up.

That's right. They faked a master's degree for Joe Manchin's daughter. Independent investigators found out that they'd made up grades OUT OF THIN AIR to give Joe Manchin's daughter a degree she never earned. And Joe Manchin's daughter kept her $3 million a year, out of state job.

Then, believe it or not, the Manchin master's degree scandal got even uglier. Some honest WVU students felt duty-bound to speak out against the dishonest things Manchin's men were doing. And what thanks did they get?

Here's what: Joe Manchin's handpicked, grown-up bullies on the Board of Governors are telling those teenage kids to GET THE HELL OUT OF WEST VIRGINIA, FOREVER. They're threatening these kids that they'll never be able to work in West Virginia. Because those brave, honest students dared to speak truth to Joe Manchin's absolutely corrupt power.

I can't even begin to put into words how disgusting that is.

Joe Manchin's thugs on the Board of Governors are a bunch of fifty-something crooks. They're multimillionaires. They live in houses in South Hills and on Cheat Lake -- huge houses like you and I will never set foot inside of.

Now think back to when you were 19 years old. You might have kids or grandkids around that age. At nineteen, you're nothing but fragile dreams and paralyzing fears. Dreams of making a decent life for yourself in the place where you were born. West Virginia, for most of us. And fears that something will go wrong. That you're not up to the task. That you don't know the right people, or how to do what you need to do to succeed.

Now imagine -- and this is no stretch for those of us not named Manchin or Goodwin or Garrison -- that your parents raised you to do the right thing. To value honesty and integrity above all else. To take a stand when you see a crook doing something wrong. So when you find out your school gave a FAKE master's degree to the daughter of the most powerful man in West Virginia -- just because she's a politically-connected multimillionaire -- you speak up. You say it's wrong and demand that the men responsible be held accountable.

Then a few days later, some slick-faced, fifty-year-old millionaire thug like Steve Goodwin or Parry Petroplus sends you a message. "Your dreams are dead, son." Pack your bags and move on. You can't stay in West Virginia. Joe Manchin's men will make sure you NEVER find work here. So get the hell out and don't come back.

You're nineteen years old. One of the richest, most powerful men in West Virginia has just kicked you out of the state where generations of your family have lived and died. The state where, in all likelihood, your dad and granddad left to go to war and came back to raise a family. The state where you dreamed of raising your own kids, just like they did.

You know that the rich man can do what exactly he says he can. Because he's a Manchin Man, and the Manchin Men own West Virginia. To the Manchins and the Goodwins, the generations worth of sweat and blood that your family's poured into this soil don't mean a damn thing. They'll grind you under their heel just as casually as they take a piss. They've done it before. And so you have to leave home, just because you did the right thing. Because Joe Manchin's men said you're not welcome here any more---not if you speak up and say Joe Manchin's daughter should have to earn her degree just like everyone else.

This isn't fiction, Mom and Dad. This is dead-serious reality. This is the Real Joe Manchin. This is the Governor you voted for. Politico Joe thinks you're just one more dumb hick. He tells you he wants to keep your kids here at home because he knows that's what you want to hear. But the real Joe Manchin -- his millionaire bully boys tell your kids to get the hell out of West Virginia the second they're honest enough to call things like they see them. Because that's the one sin that Joe Manchin can't forgive: HONESTY.

Folks, this is your state just as much as it is Joe Manchin's. So answer me this: what right do Joe Manchin and his millionaire bullies have to tell your kids they're not welcome in West Virginia? Just because you raised your kids to tell the truth?

********

If you don't yet fully appreciate what Joe's in for, fast forward to the Senate race four years from now. Joe will have real opponents then, opponents with millions to spend pounding this story and a dozen others like it into the head of every voter in West Virginia. And in all likelihood, Mike Garrison will still be sitting in Stewart Hall, a big, fat, living reminder that Joe Manchin's multimillionaire board members threatened to ruin the lives of the honest kids who spoke up against the Manchin degree scandal. Wanna guess what the big-hitting GOP political consultants will do with that, when the stakes are a Senate seat in a state that hasn't had a Republican senator since Ike was president?

Apparently, he's a recent convert, since he told Acting Commissioner Troy Body that he wasn't going to sink any more money into that "million dollar hole in the ground."

Forget about Republicans (at least until the next post). What about West Virginia's Democrats?

Between Goodwin's rigged search, Garrison's installation as president, and his subsequent manufacturing of a degree for former boss Heather Bresch, we've been witness to some of the most brazen acts political corruption since the days of Arch Moore. Things like this only come down the pike every so often.

This is the kind of stuff that an enterprising -- or dare we admit it, opportunistic Democratic politician could build a career on. You could really make a name for yourself. Because if there's anything voters love, it's corruption busting, crime fighting do-gooders. There's absolutely no reason why West Virginia Democrats should not or could not be out there every single day giving speeches and cranking out press releases to stoke the fires of voter outrage.

But West Virginia's Democrats have chosen to sit mute. Why? What do they have to lose?

I already know what you're thinking. But there are a couple things you people need to understand. First of all, everyone needs to get over their perception of Joe Manchin being some sort of powerful political genius. He's not that smart -- like his daughter, he's never had to be. And he's not a particularly great politician -- he's certainly not his Uncle Jimmy, that's for damn sure -- again, because he's never had to be. Joe is ONLY where he is today because his Daddy and family were political bigshots in Marion county decades ago. We're talking about a guy who's probably never had a real job in his entire life. His entire life is built on his family's political influence -- that, and nothing else.

Which leads to the second point -- Joe Manchin isn't the popular guy you probably think he is. Most observers just assume that Joe Manchin is the Democratic party in West Virgina. But they're wrong. I'd go as far to say that the majority of Democratic politicians in West Virginia don't even like Joe Manchin -- they just tolerate him. If you wonder why, see the previous paragraph. And then think about who Manchin supported for governor waaaaay back in 1997: Cecil H. Underwood. Manchin campaigned vigorously for the guy, and in most circles is still seen as a backstabbing turncoat. It's not the kind of thing politicians get over. Ever.

Now at this point, Manchin's role in Garrison's installation and Heathergate remain shrouded. And that's mostly because no one has bothered to poke around. But it doesn't take a political genius to figure out what was really going on, and it certainly wouldn't take a political genius to exploit Manchin's impropriety, or the appearance thereof, for his or her own political gain. I'm not even talking about running Manchin out of office -- I’m just saying that if an enterprising politician wanted to get on the news every night, and in the paper every morning all over the state, speaking out against Heathergate would be a good way to do it

So to any young, enterprising Democrat out there with dreams of holding statewide office who'd like to take this on, but fears of getting smacked down by the machine -- please, give it a second thought. Hell, I'll even volunteer to write press releases for you.

Now is your chance.

Joe Manchin continues spin control with phrases like:

"this controversy all started because our daughter sincerely believed that she had her degree, because of a meeting that everyone admits took place with the program’s director in 1998, and when she contacted the university last year, she was simply asking them to find the records that she believed would confirm that. Had they told her that after looking through their records they didn’t have the proper documentation on file, we honestly believe that while she may not have liked that answer, she would have accepted it and moved on with her life."

and

"Gayle and I are both angry, in particular, at the fabrication of grades that took place, because it unfairly damages our daughter’s reputation as much as it does the University’s."

and

"the WVU Board of Governors members are not under my control and remain free, as they always have been, to make their own individual and collective decisions on this or any other situation."

Sure they're free to decide, but they all know the Governor and know which way the wind blows. As for Heather, I'm pretty sure her calls to the University didn't sound like she was happy they couldn't back up her "graduation."

On to about three months of dead air time before football practice starts back up in August. Some news comes out, most of it is pretty minor and stuff that wouldn't even be on the radar during the season suddenly becomes a huge news item for media and fans starved for some nugget of news during the off-season.

The burning topic in Morgantown right now is Heathergate, concerning the awarding of Governor Joe Manchin's daughter with a bogus MBA degree. I could weigh in heartily, but I hate to shed the sports-sighted aim of this site. I suggest perusing through the past few months of Fifth Column for in-depth analysis.

The off-season is also the time for bloggers and message board pundits to create crazy conference re-alignments and THE ULTIMATE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SYSTEM. Luckily, you will see none of that here. There will be occasional posts, I will try to stick to news items, a smattering of videos, and leaning towards previews of the next college football season. So, rest assured that we will still be alive and kicking it next season, even if the off-season seems lean and I disappear without a post for weeks at a time.

Mike Garrison was a lobbyist for Mylan.

Mylan was Mike Garrison's biggest client.

And Heather Bresch was in charge of Mylan's lobbyists.

To put it simply, Heather Bresch paid Mike Garrison tens, if not HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of dollars as a lobbyist for Mylan.

And it really was HEATHER -- from February 2004 to April 2005, she was Vice President of Public and Government Relations, and Director of Government Relations from March 2002 to February 2004. The stories that describe them as "former business associates" are totally leaving out the fact that he was a lobbyist working DIRECTLY FOR HER.

Now just for fun, factor in the tens (or hundreds) of thousands of dollars Mike Puskar has raised for Joe Manchin, the hundreds of thousands Garrison makes every year in the job Manchin helped him get, and the millions of dollars in benefits Mylan is rumored to be reaping from the change in command at WVU.

This is a money story, just as sure as if Heather Bresch sent Mike Garrison a briefcase full of cash.

So far, Brickstreet has saved $76M by not paying the state any taxes, plus the state loaned Brickstreet $200M in startup money. "Starting in July, BrickStreet will start competing for business from private insurers, though it will retain its monopoly for insuring state employees." How nice for them.

©2003-2008 Doc Lehman/Dirt America

About a year ago, he thwarted plans for municipalities to create their own broadband internet service, claiming that John Chambers said Cisco would be helping develop rural high speed internet in West Virginia. Whatever happened to that plan?

The intent, so Governor Joe has told us, of the party tent is to host affairs of state on behalf of the Governor. If he's going to rent it out to lobbying organizations, that makes a lie out of his need for a permanent structure there.

Only the Governor should be hosting a reception at the Governor's Mansion.

The latest is the AP report about the deteriorating relationship between Rod and the WVU administration, as revealed by emails all last fall. Two points:

If Rod wanted "total control" of the football program, he obviously forgot who he was dealing with his. Joe Manchin is the reincarnation of Arch "all power emanates from me" Moore; he will be personally involved in anything he wants to be. Witness his takeover of the various boards in state government, like the Parkways Authority and the EBA. He only uses the chain of command Caperton developed to shield himself from problems.

As a taxpayer, it's kind of insulting that so much of the negotiating was being done between the WVU administration and Rod's agent Mike Brown, and his financial adviser Mike Wilcox. It's bad enough that Garrison excluded the athletic department from the discussions, using only his Chief of Staff to talk to Rod's side, but why are state employees discussing state money issues at a state-funded institution with some dude's personal money people? Rod worked for the state; he should have been doing the talking.

Which just goes to show how colleges (especially athletics) have become big businesses and lost their way when it comes to educating young people.