Libertarians have been saying for a long, long time that if we just get rid of government, everything will run a whole lot better.

The fossil fuel industry is cashing in on government welfare. According to a new report from Oil Change International, the oil, gas, and coal industries raked in $21.6 billion dollars in state and federal subsidies in 2013 alone. In comparison, the entire 2013 budget request for the Department of Labor was only $12 billion dollars, and the Environmental Protection Agency only requested about $8 billion.

Japan narrowly missed another nuclear disaster. Today, the island nation of 126 million people is anxiously awaiting the arrival of Typhoon Neoguri, a storm that was once so strong that meteorologists called it a “once in a decade” storm.

It’s time for West Virginia, and the rest of America, to take a page out of the Palin Playbook. Louise and I spent the holiday weekend near Lewisburg, West Virginia. While we were there, we saw some pretty extraordinary signs of wealth.