What a coincidence!
Yesterday: Kentucky’s Republican governor loses. Today: Mitch McConnell becomes co-sponsor of a new miner pension bill
Last night, Kentucky’s incumbent Republican governor, Matt Bevins, was upset by Democrat Andy Beshear. Today, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R – KY), who has long prevented any vote on miner pensions has decided to co-sponsor new miner pension legislation with West Virginia’s two senators. According to WV News:
Joining . . .
Posted in: miner retirementmitch mcconnell
Hey News-Register, the holdup on miner pensions isn’t DEMOCRAT Pelosi, it’s REPUBLICAN’s McConnell and Trump
The title of today’s editorial wants to pin the responsibility for the pension on Democrats. It states: “Aid the Retirees, Speaker Pelosi”
Today’s lead editorial* in today's Wheeling News-Register is about the fate of the miner pension plan. The editorial notes that West Virginia’s and Ohio’s senators have:
fought hard to save the pension fund. But bills they have promoted have been bottle up in committees.
No, they haven’t been “bottled-up” in . . .
Post-election Blankenship news
Trump and Manchin react, McConnell jokes (really!)
Blankenship blames Trump for loss
From Politico:
“I think if there was any single factor based on the polling at different times, the debates, and all the things I saw, it was probably President Trump’s lack of endorsement — I don’t know what to call it, but ‘Don’t vote for Don’ tweet,” he said. “I don’t know what else . . .
Posted in: don blankenshipjoe manchinmitch mcconnell
The Intelligencer weighs in on the miner health and pension bill
We can't blame McConnell, he's a Republican!
From the conclusion of this morning's Intelligencer editorial:
That is politics at its worst. It appears the only way the mine retirees will get the immediate assistance is for lawmakers to go along with the McConnell plan or something like it. That being the situation, those resisting the idea will deserve all the blame if . . .
More "war on coal" perspectives
"The presence of the coal industry has kept these communities in a state of dependence, and not allowed them to develop a real economy beyond coal. Whether we pine for the days of these jobs or not, they’re not coming back. We have to get beyond this state of dependency." - - Richard Martin in "Coal Wars."
Two weeks ago I wrote about a new book, journalist Richard Martin's Coal Wars. Late last week, two additional articles used Martin's book as a starting place for a discussion of the "war on coal."
Tim McDonnell of Grist looked at Kentucky senator Mitch McConnell's attempt to change the inevitable future in . . .
Posted in: coal warsmitch mcconnellwar on coal
