A FEW THOUGHTS ON THE ELECTION By Roger Horton, president United Citizens for Coal We are ten days from stepping into a ballot box and making decisions that will impact our lives for generations. For me, and for many of us, this election comes down to one issue - coal. For us, its personal. Whether we are a working miner (union or non-union), a retiree, a construction worker, a mine manager or a school teacher or store owner in one of the coalfield counties. It comes down to one thing -- coal. We have been working non-stop for six years trying to protect our coal mining jobs and those that depend on them. We have gone to rallies, to congressional hearings, marches, court hearings, took countless 16 hour bus rides to Washington and other places just to try to make our voices heard. We have stood outside with buckets and went door-to-door to businesses trying to raise money and donations to make the lives of our laid off coal miners and their families just a little easier. At each of these events, the number of people seemed to fall off as some began to grow tired of fighting or were forced to leave to find work. A few people have been there every single time we needed them and some of them are running for office. I want to take a moment to mention them. Congresswoman Shelley Capito has been a rock. She has been at every event. She has championed the cause of coal miners in the halls of Congress and she has been there with us at rallies and hearings. In all those events, I have seen Secy of State Natalie Tennant ONCE. I HAVE seen Tennant in rallies for Obama and nominating him from the floor of the Democratic National Convention. I think the choice in this race is clear. Congressman David McKinley has been there too. Together with Capito, he has led the coal caucus in Congress. I have NEVER seen Glen Gainer at ANY of our events. I dont know Alex Mooney, but I do know that he would support our fight against Obama. I cant say the same for Nick Casey. Like Tennant, Casey was one of those people who led the Obama campaign in West Virginia TWICE. That alone is enough for me. Like McKinley and Capito, Nick Rahall has been there every time we needed him. He has stood with his and worked with Capito and McKinley on many bills to protect coal. I dont know Evan Jenkins well, but I think he is a good man who would support coal as well. Rahall, however, has a track record to prove his support. Over in Kentucky, Mitch McConnell, like Capito, is a rock solid supporter of coal jobs. McConnell stands to be the new Majority Leader of the Senate and has promised to push through the 430 bills already passed by the House. I am sure he will work hard to overturn the very likely vetoes of those bills by Obama. In Virginia, Ed Gillispie will vote to protect coal jobs. Mark Warner has done NOTHING to help coal miners in southwest Virginia. The choice there is clear as well. Gillispie will be a member of the new Senate Majority, while Warner will probably be stuck on a meaningless committee and will be no help at all to Virginias coal miners. Here is Logan County, Del. Rupie Phillips is another person who has been there every time we needed him. He has been right there with us in Washington, in Pittsburgh, riding those same buses. I cant say the same for his opponents. No doubt, they are good men, but the fact is we need people who have shown their commitment over time. Del. Josh Nelson is another one of those people. He has shown his commitment to coal miners time and again. We are lucky to have no shortage of good people running for office here in the coalfields, but we are in the fight of our lives and we cant afford to take chances on our choices or pick someone who would vote for the status quo in Washington. We need people willing to stand up and fight Obama and his EPA cronies with every breath. You have my opinion. Now it is time for your to decide. What is important to you?
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 22:54:19 +0000
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