AFP-Virginia Statement on Senator Webb's Empty EPA Promise
Ben Marchi, State Director of Americans for Prosperity, today released the following statement regarding Senator Jim Webb's duplicity on the issue of over-reaching EPA global warming regulations:
"Outside the capitol on Wednesday, Senator Jim Webb promised a rally of coal miners from Virginia and beyond that Congress is "not going to let the EPA regulate coal out of business".
However, inside the halls of the Senate as recently as June 10, Webb was singing a different song. He voted against S.J. Res 26, which would have stopped the EPA's global warming regulatory onslaught. The resolution got 47 votes, 4 short of the 51 needed for passage. Webb not only voted no, but he also gave cover to other coal state Democrats to let the EPA power grab continue.
I find it outrageous that Senator Webb would promise hardworking Virginians that he would vote to prevent a power grab by the EPA when he voted just months ago, and in lock-step with the Obama/Pelosi/Reid machine, to allow them near-absolute regulatory power."
Webb is also being called out by the otherside and the enviromaniacs at Common Dreams.org
And why is Sen. Jim Webb appearing with such an extremist crowd? He wrote in his bestselling book, Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America:
"The ever hungry industrialists had discovered that West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and southwest Virginia sat atop one huge vein of coal. And so the rape began. The people from the outside showed up with complicated contracts that the small-scale cattle raisers and tobacco farmers could not fully understand, asking for "rights" to mineral deposits they could not see, and soon they were treated to a sundering of their own earth as the mining companies ripped apart their way of life, so that after a time the only option was to go down into the hole and bring the Man his coal, or starve. The Man got his coal, and the profits it brought when he shipped it out. They got their wages, black lung, and the desecration of their land".
Both Senator Webb and Senator Warner are even getting flack over at Blue Virginia for their appearance at the rally by the coal miners...
Look, I know you've gotta do stuff in politics, and I know that the country's gone teabagger crazy and all, but Warner's (and Webb's) appearance and speech at this rally today were extremely difficult to swallow. I mean, just because a portion of the country's going stark raving mad, does that mean we can't have Democrats who stand up for what's right, who speak the truth, who don't use right-wingnut framing and talking points, who don't sell out to corporate polluters, and who fight back against the insanity? Ugh, so frustrating. And they wonder why there's an "enthusiasm gap?!?"
But let us not forget the stated "game plan" by the leader of the Warner~Webb Democratic Party, our President, Barack Obama...
It seems Senator Webb has gotten himself in the middle of many battlefronts and it is good to see AFP ~Americans for Prosperity~ call him on his conflicts such as his past voting history against the coal miners he claims to support...
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