| Summary | |
| Introducing Barbara Buller, Pro-Life Delegate Candidate | |
| Richard introduced Barbara Buller, a pro-life, constitutional conservative candidate running for delegate in District 98, following the vacancy left by Delegate Espinosa’s run for the West Virginia Senate. Barbara shared her personal journey from the Board of Education to the delegate race, highlighting her belief in individual liberty, smaller government, and the rule of law. Barbara is also pro-Second Amendment, pro-coal and pro-gas, pro small business and is for school choice. | |
| Barbara’s Stances on Adoption, Nuclear Power, and Education | |
| Barbara discussed her support for adoptee reform, specifically allowing adoptees to access their original birth certificates. She also expressed her enthusiasm for nuclear power as a clean energy source. Barbara additionally touched on her her belief in the importance of parents’ choice in their children’s education. She also brought up the issue of solar farms, highlighting that they could lead to environmental pollution and that that the right to have solar farms ends with the right of neighbors to not be encumbered with the problems associated with solar compounds. | |
| Vaccination Concerns and Religious Exemptions | |
| Barbara and Richard discussed the issue of vaccinations. Barbara expressed concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine, questioning its safety as it was not thoroughly tested. She shared her support for religious exemptions from vaccinations. Richard pointed out that not all vaccines are mandated, like the COVID-19 vaccine, which was only required for health workers and the military. Barbara disclosed that while her children and she have been vaccinated, one member of her household has not due to these concerns. | |
| Governor’s Power Concentration During Pandemic | |
| Richard and Barbara discussed the issue of excessive power given to the governor during the Covid-19 pandemic. Richard pointed out that in 2021, a bill to review and limit the governor’s mandate powers was passed by the House of Delegates but was later gutted in the Senate. As a result, the mandates went on indefinitely without a review process. Barbara expressed her strong opposition to such a concentration of power, stating she would support legislation to limit the governor’s powers if she were elected as a delegate. | |
| Abortion Prevention and Youth Abstinence Focus | |
| Richard and Barbara discussed the topic of abortion and its potential prevention. Richard proposed a shift in focus towards encouraging youth abstinence before marriage, which he believed would reduce about 80% of abortions, and strengthening the family structure, particularly husband and wife relationships. Barbara agreed with Richard and shared her belief that unmarried individuals should abstain to simplify the challenges faced by youth. She also expressed a desire for more programs teaching abstinence to young people. | |
| Amendment, Gender Therapy, and Bill Opposition | |
| She argued that an amendment to West Virginia’s current abortion statute that gives an exception for rape and incest undermines the value of life, suggesting that the perpetrator of the crime should be punished instead to the child that is conceived by such a situation. A very small number of these types of abortion occur in West Virginia, in any case. Additionally, Barbara expressed her concerns about the use of hormone therapy to alter a child’s gender, referring to it as “chemical castration”. They also discussed that the bill banning hormone therapy for minors needs fixing, as there is an exception if a child says they have suicidal thoughts. Richard stated that Senator Tom Takubo, possibly associated with pharmaceutical companies, might have influenced it negatively. Barbara agreed that the bill needs fixing, and also questioned the logic of granting certain rights to one class of people while taking them away from another. | |
| Election Integrity and New Technologies Concerns | |
| Richard and Barbara had a comprehensive discussion about the issue of election integrity and the concerns surrounding the use of new technologies like black box machines in voting. Barbara voiced her distrust in artificial intelligence and the potential for unauthorized recording, while Richard expressed his concerns about hacking and the lack of transparency in the programming of these machines. They both agreed that the current system, despite its convenience, has come at a cost, and considered the possibility of returning to a system of paper ballots to ensure greater transparency and security. Barbara is concerned that the programming of the code for the machines is not open source, and that there is no way to verify its integrity. | |
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