McGraw Problem Dumped on Voters
The Intelligencer (Wheeling, WV)
March 22, 2008
By Mike Myer
Apparently the only way to deal with Darrell McGraw is to not have to deal with him. State legislators don’t have the political courage to rein him in. Voters will have to do that.
Some legislators patted themselves on the backs after they left Charleston because they finally had done something about McGraw. Not really. As a group, the lawmakers chickened out. Again.
McGraw has a disturbing philosophy regarding some of the big “consumer protection” lawsuits he files on the state’s behalf. If he wins, his office keeps the money — millions of dollars.
He ought to turn the windfalls over to the state treasurer, of course. That’s the way money is supposed to be handled: It flows into state government from a variety of sources, and legislators decide how to spend it.
But McGraw seems to view the money as his own personal hole card in the popularity contest that politics can be.
