March 8th, 2010
Senator Byrd is needed in the United States Senate more than ever. He needs to be there to protect the Senate from itself.
It is well known the Obama administration is pressuring Congress to use a process known as reconciliation to pass health care reform.
After the congressional budget act passed in 1974 (I worked there at the time) Congress started to abuse the spending and revenue targets established in the budget resolution passed each year.
Senator Byrd stepped in to stop using the budget reconciliation process to enact legislation that had nothing to do in meeting the requirements of the budget resolution.
He introduced legislation which was passed in 1985 and became permanent in 1990. It is known as the “Byrd Rule”.
Senators are permitted under the “Byrd Rule” to ask for a point of order objecting to provisions in the reconciliation legislation they believe does not meet the requirements of the budget resolution. After that it is up to the President of the Senate or presiding officer. In practice, the Senate Parliamentarian makes the final decision.
Despite the fact Senator Byrd voted for health care reform on Christmas Eve let’s hope he is well enough to be present to stop the abuse of reconciliation as he did in l985.
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March 8th, 2010
Today is the 108th birthday of Senator Jennings Randolph. He was a man of vision and accomplishment. He worked tirelessly for West Virginia.
Jennings Randolph was a Senator for 26 years and a member of the House of Representatives for 14 years. He never considered himself a national or international Senator with all those years of experience. Senator Randolph once said, “I essentially am a West Virginia Senator.”
There are so many examples of his work for West Virginia. He was most proud of having created the Appalachian Regional Commission. His vision to create this federal-state partnership brought enormous results throughout the 13 states Appalachian states.
If only the leaders of our country had heeded the vision of Jennings Randolph in 1943. He wanted a national energy policy. In a speech before the House of Representatives where he said, “In the future, we will not be able to depend on the importation of oil from any foreign country, even though it may appear now to be a very friendly one.” This same speech is still being made today.
For three decades, beginning in 1942 when he was in the House, Jennings Randolph pushed for an amendment to lower the voting age from 21. He pursued his cause of every opportunity, and on his 11th attempt Congress approved it. The measure became the 26th Amendment on June 30, 1971, attaining the approval of three-quarters of the states.
The accomplishments of Senator Randolph are a matter of record. I know he would want me to note his work to establish a Department of Peace. He introduced that legislation in 1946. After he had announced his retirement from Congress in 1984 his colleagues enacted the United States Institute of Peace Act.
On his birthday I just wanted to be sure he was remembered. We were friends for over thirty years.
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February 27th, 2010
President Obama made it clear he does not care about the re-election of Democrats as he wrapped up the health care summit.
After warning if there is not enough serious effort in a month’s time “….then I think we’ve got to go ahead and make some decisions,” the president said, “and then that’s what elections are for.”
That is good news for Republicans.
The outlook for Democrats in 2010 is already grim. Now Obama is going to “hang them out to dry” by forcing a vote in Congress of his unpopular health care reform legislation.
Does he not hear the people? They spoke clearly in a USA TODAY/Gallup poll just two days before his Blair House summit. By a 49% to 42% margin they oppose Congress passing a healthcare bill similar to the one proposed by President Obama and Democrats in the House and Senate.
The same poll found an even larger 52% to 39% margin of Americans opposed the Democrats in the Senate using reconciliation. If you watched the summit there is no doubt Obama favors the reconciliation procedure to pass the 2,400 page health care bill.
Am I glad not to be an incumbent member of his party serving in Congress!
Mr. President it’s not just about you. It’s about the American people.
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February 26th, 2010
When consideration of health care reform started we were told President Obama did not want to make the same mistake as former President Clinton. You will recall the Clinton administration presented its own bill to Congress.
President Obama turned the writing of health care legislation over to House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid. Well the nation saw what happens when the door is closed and the congressional barons write a piece of legislation.
After the health care reform fiasco of 2009 Obama decided to take charge, draft a bill and develop a strategy for passage. His bill – an 11 page outline. The strategy a – “guest house” summit. The health care summit was best described by Dana Milbank as “Professor Obama’s Classroom”.
Where is Bill Clinton when we need him was my thought as I watched President Obama at the Blair House.
Just after the election in December, 1992 former President Clinton held an economic summit. President Obama should have spent his seven hours yesterday looking for economic development ideas instead of “beating a dead horse.” Or reading Miss Manners.
President Clinton was known as a policy wonk, knowledgeable on most every subject. He studied rather than sleep. I went back to look at video from the l992 Little Rock summit. I wanted to see how the President-elect conducted himself.
I can assure you he did not come across as “Mr. Know It All” and he did not show distain for his guests as was exhibited by President Obama at the Blair House summit.
After Members of Congress from both parties put forth a sincere effort it would seem the polite thing for President Obama to do was to say “thank you for your ideas, concerns and willingness to participate.”
Rather he ended on the lowest note of the day. He told Republicans come around or we are going to proceed anyway. That means using a reconciliation procedure to avoid a possible filibuster and pass a bill by a simple majority vote.
President Obama may find he gets the same results as he received for his efforts in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts. That being a Republican Congress in 2011.
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Tags: Dana Milbank, President Barack Obama, The Washington Post
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February 26th, 2010
Speculation has centered on House Speaker Rick Thompson (D-Wayne) as a candidate for the Democrat nomination for Governor in 2012. He was elected Speaker in 2007 with the strong support of Labor.
Many political and business leaders have seen Labor’s support as a liability for Thompson if he enters the Governor’s race. It appears Speaker Thompson has the same concern.
The Speaker got behind an effort to establish a business court in West Virginia. It passed the House of Delegates 98 to 0. This despite an independent committee suggesting the issue needed more study.
“I have long felt that by creating some kind of business court system, West Virginia would be in a better position to attract and keep businesses of all sizes,” Thompson said in a House press release.
It goes without saying House Republicans and a few Democrats would support such a measure. Without Thompson’s backing the chance of business getting a victory in the House is slim.
This move will pay dividends for Thompson in 2012. As a candidate for Governor he can say I have been friendly to business.
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Tags: 2012 WV Democrat Governors Race, Speaker Richard Thompson
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January 24th, 2010
It’s about the survival of those without jobs.
But that is not where President Obama spent his time since the election returns from the bluest of blue states on Tuesday.
Instead he is pulling together those who helped him win in 2008. The concern at The White House is not about the economy or those without jobs. It is about the midterm 2010 election. But they did create one new job for David Plouffe, who ran Obama’s campaign. He’s a new “czar” charged to keep his eye on all campaigns.
While centralizing control of the midterm elections, the planners at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue are working to send President Obama around the country to rebuild his relationship with his 2008 voters.
The Obama political team had better hope that works better than his stimulus plan and his efforts to elect Democrats as Governors in 2009. The President campaigned in Virginia twice and New Jersey three times. He was no more effective with a onetime visit to Massachusetts. Don’t forget the campaign ads, emails, direct mail and calls featuring President Obama.
There is an Op Ed written by David Plouffe in Sunday’s The Washington Post, it does not include new job creating ideas, just more of the same. Evidently The White House did not hear the voters of Massachusetts.
“It’s about the economy, stupid”.
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Tags: 2010 election, President Barack Obama, The Washington Post
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November 28th, 2009
I have been reading “The Audacity to Win” a book by David Plouffe about the campaign of Barack Obama. It is a firsthand account about the speeches, news conferences and messages he delivered.
This brought back his passionate promise of “change you can believe in”.
Before making the change promise candidate Obama should have recalled what former Secretary of State George P. Shultz said about Washington. Shultz said, “Nothing ever gets settled in this town. A seething debating society in which the debate never stops, in which people never give up, including me. And so that’s the atmosphere in which you administer”.
How could he promise change when he had no way to know how the real Washington works? Obama left Washington almost immediately after being sworn in as United States Senator to begin his campaign for President.
A thoughtful explanation about “Why Obama Isn’t Changing Washington” was offered yesterday by Fred Barnes in The Wall Street Journal.
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November 22nd, 2009
West Virginia’s lone Republican in Congress, Shelley Moore Capito, held a sit down meeting with Lisa Jackson Administrator of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA).
Sometime ago Capito requested the “face to face” meeting to express concern about the impact delayed coal mining permits are having on West Virginia jobs, local economies and the future.
In a Washington controlled by Democrats such a meeting exhibits the influence Capito has developed. It’s hard to believe the Democrats in the West Virginia delegation were not in Jackson’s office months ago.
Let me be clear the other Members of Congress from our State are working on this issue but in varying degrees. Maybe the delegation should look for a legislative solution.
Coal miners and coal dependent communities may want Capito as their representative in Congress when redistricting starts after the 2010 census. One thing for certain our State needs to keep her in Washington.
While writing about our delegation in Congress I was pleased to see in Saturday’s Gazette-Mail Steve Roberts who leads the WV Chamber of Commerce reads phillipsbillboard. He is promoting an idea I urged in September, that our delegation should play hardball by telling the Obama folks they have no plans to further support healthcare reform – until EPA stops the war on West Virginia.
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Tags: Coal Mining, EPA, President Barack Obama, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, WV Congressional Delegation
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October 1st, 2009
Governor Manchin is preparing to lead a battle against the Obama Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after its decision to review 23 pending coal-mine permits. He spoke with MetroNews Talkline from Berlin, Germany.
Joining in the war Obama has declared on the economy of West Virginia is Congresswoman Capito. She expressed her concerns about the economic impact the EPA decision will have on the Appalachian region.
In a related attack on West Virginia is a new Senate climate bill (Cap and Trade) being pushed by President Obama in Congress. Senators Byrd & Rockefeller are concerned about this legislation today in The Charleston Gazette.
Other soldiers in the WV congressional delegation joining Representative Capito in voting against the American Clean Energy & Security Act (Cap and Trade) in June were Representatives Mollohan & Rahall.
On the front lines already has been the Friends of Coal and a new organization FACES of Coal fighting to protect the economy of West Virginia communities.
Let’s hope Representatives Mollohan & Rahall soon take up arms against the Obama administration as it attempts to shut down the mining industry.
The votes of our West Virginia delegation are important to the success of the Obama plan to restructure healthcare. President Obama should think about that when he decides to attack our coal miners, their communities and our economy.
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Tags: Cap and Trade, Coal Mining, FACES of Coal, Friends of Coal, Governor Joe Manchin, President Barack Obama, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, Sen. Robert Byrd, The Charleston Gazette
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October 1st, 2009
Last Friday world leaders in Pittsburgh for the Group of 20 summit agreed to phase out fossil fuel subsides. The Obama administration championed the wording of the statement according to The Washington Post.
The wording of the statement was a signal from the world’s most influential nations they are taking an initial step away from the fossil fuels that power their economies.
Five days later the Obama led Environmental Protection Agency has delayed 79 pending coal-mine permits for more detailed reviews by the EPA water quality staff and the Army Corps of Engineers. Twenty-three of these are in West Virginia.
Add this to the push Obama is making to have Congress pass Cap and Trade legislation that will impact the coal mining industry.
It appears President Obama’s team has declared war on the West Virginia economy.
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