Joe Manchin

Senator Joe apparently loves them

According to the WV Metro News, the senator attended two town halls on Thursday:

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., addressed two packed town halls Thursday, with topics ranging from the future of health care to marijuana. . . .

The first town hall was Thursday morning at the Robert C. Byrd Sciences Center in Martinsburg, while the second was held that evening in South Charleston at the LaBelle Theatre.

Manchin’s office did not organize either town hall; West Virginians for Affordable Health Care organized the Martinsburg forum, while Rise Up West Virginia hosted the South Charleston event.

Metro News also mentioned that Senator Capito was also invited but did not attend.

Shelley Moore Capito

Still dodging town hall meetings

After the tough questions posed by fifth graders earlier this month, Capito apparently found her audience -- Mason County Republicans. As the Point Pleasant Register reported:

Capito was the keynote speaker at Thursday’s Mason County Republican Dinner held at the American Legion Post #23 in Point Pleasant, with Commander Miles Epling introducing the senator.

This jumped out of the article:

She explained there are some estimates that the regulatory relief Trump has already put forward had translated into $41 billion.

$41 billion in savings in two months? Huh? The newspaper did not explain how or where she got the statistic. And:

As for President Trump, she said a big misconception about him is that he’s not a good listener.

“He’s a very good listener . . . . he listens very well and for those who have made deals in the business world, you’ve got to listen. That gives me hope, not just for leadership but hope for my ability to talk about where we are in West Virginia and how we feel,” she explained.

$41 billion in savings already and Trump's a "very good listener." These Republicans will believe anything!

David McKinley

Unwilling to attend any town halls with his constituents, Representative McKinley did find time to meet with the new EPA head on Thursday. From McKinley's website:

Chairman of the Congressional Coal Caucus, David B. McKinley, P.E., (WV-1) met with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to discuss ways to protect the environment while stopping the bureaucratic overreach that devastated the coal industry during the Obama administration.

Yes, I'm sure that protecting the environment was the first thing they discussed.