I originally posted this article last Friday, but my blogging program chewed it up and it disappeared. So here’s the article again resplendent in its original glory.

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It’s my favorite line from the original (and best version) of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” Willy Wonka, the eccentric chocolate maker turned tour-guide for a quintet of miscreants, walks into a room of bubbles and says, “water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink.” Of course, the line is loosely quoted from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.”

The Democrats are having the same problem. There is no dearth of bills; just ones worth passing.

Senator Billy Wayne Bailey (D-Wyoming) introduced his perennial bill making “anglish” the official state language. [SB173] West Virginia has many problems. Speaking another language is not one of them – although I would take exception to the accents of some.

The Governor introduced a bill allowing counties to increase the hotel tax from no more than 3% to no more than 6%. [SB178] Maybe he should also amend the welcome signs to, “West Virginia: open for business (just don’t sleep here).

But Senator John Unger (D-Berkley) wins the award for the most mindless bill of the week. [SB177] He proposes creating an entirely new division and staffing it with one person. One person! Under his plan he would create the Division of Energy and place in it an Executive Director to…well certainly not manage a staff. Can you imagine one person with a desk and a #2 pencil sitting in a big building that says, “Division of Energy?”

According to the bill, the Executive Director would work directly under the Secretary of Commerce, administer daily operations of the three energy related boards, be a non voting member of the Public Energy Authority, and promote “energy initiatives.”

So why would Unger stick this guy in his very own division? One Senator told me the answer was simple: Unger is a bureaucrat. If this bill passes, your tax dollars will be wasted.

Senator Unger was on a roll this week. He also introduced a bill requiring shampoo assistants get licensed. [SB132] When the bill was announced on the floor, the Senators literally laughed out loud. Of course this bill is crucial. Reckless, uncertified shampoo assistants have blinded so many West Virginians.

Not only must a lowly assistant pass a written exam, they must undergo 200 hours of supervised training! And then there are fees and other reporting rigmarole.

So have a great weekend, they tell me everything’s under control.