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Mitch McConnell has struck while the iron is hot. One day after federal District Judge Rodger Vinson ruled that the entire Democratic health care law is unconstitutional, McConnell told his GOP colleagues that he will force a vote on repealing it, bringing it up as an amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill

PARKERSBURG - A Meigs County native has written a book about the Battle of Point Pleasant and whether it was the first fought in the Revolutionary War. Charles S. Badgley of the Badgley Publishing Co., Canal Winchester, Ohio, says he often heard while growing up along the river in Meigs County that the battle was the first in the war, the basis of his most recent novel, "A Point of Controversy." Conventional wisdom was the battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775 were the first in the war of independence. "The controversy has been around a long time, it actually...

The Obama administration revoked a permit on Thursday for Arch Coal Inc's (ACI.N) proposed Spruce 1 mountaintop coal mine in West Virginia, effectively shutting one of the biggest in the United States. "The proposed Spruce No. 1 Mine would use destructive and unsustainable mining practices that jeopardize the health of Appalachian communities and clean water on which they depend," said Peter Silvan, an assistant administrator for water, at the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA's final ruling under the Clean Water Act came after a scientific study, a public hearing, and a review of more than 50,000 public comments, the agency...

SOUTH CHARLESTON - Pay increases for educators, adding five or 10 minutes to a school day and a bill that one West Virginia senator thinks would encourage families to understand the importance of education are among the suggestions leaders in their fields believe could lead education reform in the state. State Sen. Erik Wells, D-7th District, plans to introduce a bill during the upcoming legislative session, which begins Wednesday, that would revoke the driver's licenses of parents whose children miss too many days of school. Although Wells said he won't bet it will be one of the approximately 200 bills...

Have I woken up in a parallel universe?  More Democrats than Republicans vote to endorse the Bush tax rates as I was falling asleep.  Now in the Senate, Politico reports that a key Democrat will attempt to defy Harry Reid and stop the Obama administration from imposing climate-change regulation at the EPA — before Republicans in the House get to take charge. Pardon me for a moment … I have to check to see whether I’ve grown a goatee overnight: Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) is pressing forward on his drive to vote this month on his plan to delay Obama...

Coal mining has long been under attack from environmentalists and especially the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The result of these attacks have caused coal mines to be closed until they receive certification and permits that meet the approval of bureaucrats that are decidedly anti-coal mining. Hundreds if not thousands of coal mining jobs have been lost due to this bureaucratic nightmare. In West Virginia though, a newly elected State Delegate has drafted legislation that would undo these unnecessary mine closures and put the miners back to work. Gary Howell, elected to his first term in the State House of West...

Senator Rockefeller: Eliminating MSNBC, Fox News ‘Would Be a Big Favor to Political Discourse’ By Alex Weprin on November 17, 2010 6:09 PM In a U.S. Senate hearing about the retransmission consent laws, Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) said that getting the FCC to step in and take some sort of action against Fox News Channel and MSNBC “would be a big favor to political discourse; to our ability to do our work here in Congress; and to the American people, to be able to talk with each other and have some faith in their government and, more importantly, in their...

Two men who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for their roles in the brutal slaying of a drug and alcohol counselor in his South Charleston home will eventually become eligible for parole. James Andrew Gillespie's family packed the gallery in the courtroom Tuesday, and begged Kanawha Circuit Judge Duke Bloom to deny mercy to the two South Charleston men who beat, stabbed, choked and robbed Gillespie in his Macon Street home in November 2009. "He was a kind, generous and trusting person," Larry Gillespie said of his younger brother, the fifth of their parents' eight children. "Since Jim's death, our...

The Big East's football expansion plans leave the conference with 17 universities, including non-Football members. That's a terrible number for scheduling; the only way the basketball teams can schedule an even number of games is if they play every other team only once. 18 teams would allow three divisions of six teams each. Any team would play the other five teams in its division twice, and one half of the twelve other teams in the conference. 18 sounds like worsening the problem of too many teams, but having three divisions could actually restore some rivalries, and return the conference to...

SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D-WV): "There's a little bug inside of me which wants to get the FCC to say to FOX and to MSNBC: 'Out. Off. End. Goodbye.' It would be a big favor to political discourse; our ability to do our work here in Congress, and to the American people, to be able to talk with each other and have some faith in their government and more importantly, in their future."

Most people only expected hardball efforts to get party switchers in the Senate if it wound up closely divided, either 50-50 or 51/49 in either direction. However, Fox reports today that Senate Republicans have greeted special-election victor Joe Manchin (D-WV) with a big push to get him into the GOP caucus. And they may well have found a way to convince him to join the minority: Republicans are making some big promises to try to lure West Virginia Senator-elect Joe Manchin to cross the aisle.Aside from his pick of committee assignments (likely the Energy and Natural Resources Committee), Manchin might...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - A coalition of 13 states has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold an Arizona law penalizing businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants. The Supreme Court is to hear arguments next month on the 2007 Arizona law, which ---- snip ----

The top three Senate Democrats said the onus was on the newly-strengthened GOP conference to cooperate on legislation next year. Republicans picked up six Senate seats Tuesday night, not enough to take control of the chamber but the new numbers will make it harder for Democrats to get the necessary 60 votes to proceed on controversial legislation. Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), Majority Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) and Democratic Conference Vice Chairman Charles Schumer (N.Y.), in a conference call with reporters Wednesday, pledged to work with the Republicans but also emphasized the GOP’s responsibility to not block legislation. Reid, especially,...

One can only imagine the behind-the-scenes stresses accompanying West Virginia's Governor, Joe Manchin, these days. For starters, Manchin finds himself in a surprise, neck-and-neck race with Morgantown businessman John Raese, now the political contest of the Governor's life.   But unlike Raese, Manchin also has to deal with the serious legal and public relations problems associated with a federal investigation into his administration that is getting increasingly close to the Governor himself. The Charleston Gazette's Phil Kabler put it succinctly in last Saturday's piece, "Two factors could play key role in election":   "From the administration's perspective, two troubling events...

(Martinsburg, W.V.) West Virginia governor Joe Manchin once supported Obamacare, saying days before it passed in March that he'd vote "for it" if he were in the House of Representatives. Now, in the midst of a tight Senate race with Republican John Raese, the very popular Manchin has run away from the very unpopular health care law. He's called for for "repealing the things that are bad," such as the individual mandate, the federal funding for abortion coverage, and the 1099 reporting requirement for businesses. But he hasn't gone into great detail about what, exactly, he supports in the law.  Asked Friday night if he wants...

Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Raese continues to enjoy large crowds, upwards of 400 at a recent event in Martinsburg and 250 in Charleston. Raese seems to have surprisingly enthusiastic crowds in the southern coal counties, too.   On Saturday, campaign organizers expect a very large gathering in Charleston to cap off Raese's ten-week barnstorming campaign across the state. Rock legend and gun rights advocate Ted Nugent will be on hand to lead a rally for Raese at Haddad Riverfront Park, beginning at 1:00 p.m.   Another crowd pleaser will be the appearance of former New York City Mayor Rudy...

Having both former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and rock legend Ted Nugent in state over the weekend has created some serious ripples, including one from the Manchin campaign. In response to the overflow crowd of 2,700+ at Charleston's Haddad Riverfront Park for Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Raese this past Saturday, the Manchin staff hastily announced that former President Bill Clinton would return to campaign for Manchin on Monday, this time in Beckley. Still, Raese has one more rabbit to pull from his brown Stetson in the form of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who will campaign with...

These days, it’s hard to get shocked by polling results that show Republicans surging in once-safe Democratic constituencies, but the latest survey from PPP in West Virginia manages to do it. Republican John Raese, given virtually no chance at all to win the Senate race against popular Governor Joe Manchin when he declared his candidacy this summer. Raese has now just jumped into a lead, albeit within the margin of error, as Manchin collapses:

A new Public Policy Polling poll shows Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin ahead of Republican senate candidate John Raese, 50 percent to 44 percent.   Manchin’s ratings for his job performance as governor continues to be high, with 69 percent approving. President Obama continues to have very low ratings, with only 31 percent approving of him. “The reason this race has remained close despite Manchin’s overwhelming popularity is that for the folks who both like Manchin and dislike Obama, accounting for 37 percent of voters in the state, the feelings toward Obama have been more influential in how they plan to...

CHARLES TOWN - From the Ohio River to the Eastern Panhandle, West Virginians are fed up. They're disappointed in their politicians and disgusted with how they're behaving. They're frustrated their taxes helped fund bailouts they'd never get. They're tired of career politicians, yet wary of those who want to replace them. But that anger makes them unpredictable: Interviews with dozens of would-be voters from Parkersburg to Charles Town suggest that many are just as likely to cast a protest vote on Election Day as they are to stay home. "We need some Americans, instead of Democrats and Republicans,'' says Ed...