Dec. 2-3, 2012
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STANDARD – A level of attainment.
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Putnam County Schools – Menu December 4-7 Tuesday, December 4: Pancake on a Stick LUNCH: HAM & CHEESE SANDWICH, TOMATO SOUP W/CRACKERS, Romaine Garden Salad, Mixed Fruit Cup, Cucumbers w/Dip, Milk Wednesday, December 5: Ham & Cheese Breakfast Pita LUNCH: BEEF NACHOS, Lettuce/Tomato, Refried Beans, Sliced Pears, Gingerbread Spice Cake, Milk Thursday, December 6: Oatmeal/Cinnamon Toast LUNCH: OVEN BAKED CHICKEN, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Applesauce,Wheat Roll, Milk Friday, December 7: Breakfast Pizza LUNCH: MINI CORNDOGS, Cheesy Potatoes, Steamed Kale, Pineapple Chunks, Red Gelatin, Milk
Humanities Council seeking Fellowship Proposals CHARLESTON, WV - The West Virginia Humanities Council invites West Virginia college and university humanities faculty, as well as independent humanities scholars, to apply for 2013 FellowSEE PROPOSALS ON PAGE 4
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Under Construction! Skaff Family Commercial Properties has contracted Steorts Homebuilders LLC to construct a business triplex at 3738 Teays Valley Road. Doug Skaff of Skaff Family Commercial Properties also owns Valley Health, just across the street. Skaff is excited about this project and what it may do for the local economy in Hurricane and Teays Valley. "This is going to be a special design we're doing," he said. Skaff said he will reveal more information about the project once it nears completion.
Enough Talk – It’s Time for Action From my first day in Washington, I’ve worked continually to try to get our fiscal house in order. Time and again, though, a big deal has been out of reach. With the election behind us, now is the time to finally come together and put this country’s finances first. In Washington, the country is fast approaching a deadline that was designed to bring both parties to the table to negotiate a big deal: the “fiscal cliff.” The fiscal cliff is not imaginary. I wish it were. But it is all too real. And if we don’t steer clear of it, it will be all too disruptive to our still fragile national economy. Simply put, the fiscal cliff is a potentially destructive combination of tax hikes on just about everyone and spending cuts on just about every government agency, all set to hit January 1. Taken together, the new fiscal policies taking effect with the New Year could wallop our economy so hard it could trigger another job-killing reces-
sion. How did we get in such a fix? And more importantly, how can we get out of it with bipartisan, commonsense solutions that not only will get our spending under control but also allow us to continue making investments that will strengthen our economy? In the summer of 2011, the President and Congress couldn’t agree on a way to fix our finances, so we set up a number of consequences to encourage agreement. They were supposed to be powerful incentives for a permanent deal to bring our national deficit and debt – now $1.1 trillion and $16.3 trillion, respectively –
under control. At the time, everyone reasoned that surely Washington would reach some reasonable and lasting agreement on fixing our finances long before going over the fiscal cliff, perhaps even through a so-called deficit super committee, which was divided evenly between Republicans and Democrats. But the deadline for the super committee, just days before Thanksgiving last year, came and went without an agreement on the deficit and the debt. And Washington quickly pivoted to reelection campaigning, all but ignoring the fiscal cliff still on the horizon.
Today, for some in Washington, there’s the temptation to just delay the fiscal cliff tax hikes and spending cuts long enough so the new Congress that convenes in January can fix them. For others, there’s the lure of just letting the country go over the fiscal cliff temporarily as leverage to get the kind of budget solutions they want. For me – and for the people of West Virginia – we can’t do either. It’s time for a “grand bargain,” that’s the only way to truly get our fiscal house in order. No more excuses – it’s time for action. And we don’t have to waste SEE ACTION ON PAGE 8
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