Posted on 08/15/2004 2:31:30 PM PDT by wagglebee
John Kerry's enthusiasms for job-destroying environmental regulations could cost him the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia where coal mining is a major industry.
Already Kerry is attempting to reposition himself on these issues. Kerry now claims that he disagrees with Al Gore's anti-coal mining policies such as his support of the Kyoto Treaty, which would have devastated both the industry and the U.S. economy.
Though kerry's voting record and public pronouncements placed him solidy in the Gore camp, Kerry has sought to portray himself as a friend and supporter of coal miners, pledging to protect their jobs and health and even moderating his position on clean air.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Kerry has wooed the miners unions and spent a lot of time in West Virginia which Bush won in 2000, becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to win the state in 72 years. The Times reported that the Massachusetts senator went to West Virginia the night he clinched the nomination and has been back four times since.
Bush, who the Times recalls visited West Virginia early and often in the 2000 campaign, and has returned 11 times as president, has eased regulations for extracting coal from Appalachia's mountaintops and made it easier to modify or renovate older coal-fired power plants without installing expensive pollution controls.
Terry Holt, Bush's campaign spokesman, denied that Kerry was a better friend to coal than Gore, citing his vote last year for a bill designed to combat global warming. The bill, which failed to pass the Senate, would have had "a significant negative impact on the coal industry," according to the Energy Department.
The Times noted that Kerry has long advocated stringent pollution controls that are not popular with the coal industry. On the campaign trail, he insists that the nation does not have to choose between coal and clean air, claiming that by doubling the nation's investment in clean coal technology to $10 billion over 10 years coal can burn more cleanly. But President Bush has asked for $310 million to $470 million a year to achieve the same goal.
Kerry told listeners during a speech two weeks ago in Wheeling, W.Va., that by learning to burn coal more cleanly, the nation could help reduce its dependence on foreign oil.
"I want a nation that depends on its own ingenuity, not the Saudi royal family," Kerry said.
"You've got coal to be dug right here - it can be mined. But we've got to make sure we do it clean."
As for the Kyoto Accord Kerry has flip-flopped, going from his previous support of the treaty which threatens to destroy the coal mining industry to claiming it is now too late for the United States to achieve the treaty's aggressive targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. But he continues to advocate to bringing the United States back to the negotiating table on the treaty, which was signed by most other developed nations but has been unable to win approval of the Senate.
Carol Raulston, spokeswoman for the National Mining Assn., told the Times she was suspicious of Kerry's conversion to coal. Even though Kerry has accepted the necessity of generating electricity from coal, she said "... one has to wonder, if West Virginia and Ohio were not swing states, if there'd be as much interest in this by his campaign."
Mike Carey, president of the Ohio Coal Assn., criticized Kerry's 1999 vote against a measure sponsored by Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) to overturn a federal judge's ruling that mountaintop mining violated federal environmental laws.
According to the Times, mountaintop mining - removing the top of mountains to get at seams of coal - has become the mainstay of Appalachian mining. The president's support of the process helped him capture West Virginia in 2000, and his administration has since rewritten regulations to protect it.
Carey said he was determined not to let Kerry "backpedal" on votes such as this one.
"My goal . is to make sure [miners] are not duped by campaign reinvention," Carey told the Times "I'm going to make it a top priority to get this message into the hands of every coal miner in Ohio."
He's a Marxist and a cowardly liar.
The problem with Kerry is that he lives in Kerry-Land where he can promise everything to everybody... but when it comes time to write the checks he is going to find out that he is truly broke and he will do another nuance dance.
This is running alongside another thread on how Kerry is stomping Bush in PA because of domestic economic issues. I firmly believe Bush has PA locked up. Unless he doesn't.
btt
Kerry has a billionaire wife, a Gulfstream V, at least five mansions, a yacht and two $10000.00+ bicycles. So the bottom line is, he doesn't actually give a damn what the American people need or want.
Comrade Kerry scammin the coal miners
Well, he's not a Marxist; he's just a liberal. I certainly don't like the guy, but that kind of accusation is similar to when liberals like to call any conservative a "right-wing radical" that might as well join the KKK. Have you read "People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn? Or anything by Noam Chomsky? We shouldn't confuse those who are wrong with those who are fringe lunatics. I expect some responses on this one, so go for it; if Kerry really is a Marxist, I'd like to hear why -- and I mean that honestly, not rhetorically.
You are right. Kerry is no Marxist, he is just an opportunist. Also, this article is wishful thinking by the amateurs at Newsmax. This piece is no better at sticking to facts than something I would expect in Al Jazeera or the Guardian.
In Kerry Land
- Everyone agrees with everyone and takes no stand on anything.
- You have the right to choose if you live or die.
- you have the right to choose if your baby or grandparents live or die.
- Everyone is Middle Class the rich get taxed until they make as much as the middle class.
- Everyone works because we are a Utopian society.
- Everyone gets purple hearts and Silver Stars, Yellow moons and Green Clovers.
- The war in Iraq is fought by France and Germany.
- The military is transformed into a United Nations Peace Keeping Force.
- The Terrorists come to realize that we are a sensitive nation and we all sing kum-bah-yah while we hold hands in a global circle.
- We are energy independent with Wind Mills and Solar panels everywhere.
- Heinz is declared the National Ketchup.
More classic arithmetic from the Slimes.
Uh, hey, turkeys -- ever hear of a chap named Reagan? Lessee, here: 2000 - 1984 = 72, right?
Clearly LA public skool grajuwaits.
Oh, yes, and al-Qerry most certainly is a Marxist; read the last 30 pages of the Communist Manifesto and tell me which of the stated list of goals he has ever voted against. Except perhaps the direct abolition of private property (his, at any rate).
In all fairness to classical Marxism though, on further reflection, I think Jacques Querri is more of a "Soviet-style" communist in that he has no problem keeping all of the wealth for a small group of like-minded elites rather than turning it over to the proletariat.
"West Virginia which Bush won in 2000, becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to win the state in 72 years."
Do your research a little better. WV went to Nixon in '72 and Reagan in '84.
http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/votes/index.html#state
Yeah, I know, see #'s 12 and 14. I assume it's NewsMax re-reporting the leftist dreams of the LA Times.
I realize this is facetious, and I'm not sure if I should take it seriously. But the only claims you make that have to do with Marxism are the following:
"- Everyone is Middle Class the rich get taxed until they make as much as the middle class.
- Everyone works because we are a Utopian society."
Kerry has never said #1, and both Bush and Kerry have said that everyone who wants a job should be able to find one. So I'm not sure if that answers my question.
Again, all I'm doing is trying to distinguish between liberals and true radicals; I don't think it makes sense to lump all of our opponents together.
The sicko environmentalists have captured the Democratic Party. The coal miners of PA, OH and WV should realize that the Democrats will not preserve coal mining jobs.
Actually the LA Slimes should have said that Bush was the first Republican non-incumbant to capture WV in 72 years.
"Oh, yes, and al-Qerry most certainly is a Marxist; read the last 30 pages of the Communist Manifesto and tell me which of the stated list of goals he has ever voted against. Except perhaps the direct abolition of private property (his, at any rate)."
First of all, abolition of private property is at the heart of proscriptive Marxism. (Most of Marx's material is simply a description and critique of capitalism.)
Second, please tell me which of the other goals have come up for a vote, and which Kerry voted for. Again, I mean this honestly, not rhetorically. (And remember that that doesn't negate the primacy of abolishing private property to Marxism.)
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