1. United States
2. W.V.
3. Letter

While West Virginians are wondering how to afford food, medicine, and rent during your shutdown, I see members of Congress lounging on patios, smiling for cameras, and treating governance like a social club. It’s disgraceful. You’re gutting the very services your constituents rely on—SNAP, Medicaid, ACA subsidies—while pretending to care about “fiscal responsibility.” Then you turn around and protect the wealthy and the well-connected. Where are the investigations into political corruption and the powerful abusers who’ve evaded justice for years? Where is the transparency we were promised? Meanwhile, federal appointments and favors keep going to insiders’ families and campaign donors. West Virginians see this for what it is: a government of privilege, not service. You were elected to work for the people, not to network and party while our communities crumble. Stop protecting the powerful, release the truth, and start serving the public good.