You Won't Have Alan Mollohan to Kick Around Anymore

Alan Mollohan, twenty-eight year congressman from West Virginia's First Dictrict, has decided to not go quietly into that electoral good night.

In a season littered with the carcasses of Democratic politicians done in by ethics issues, Congressman Mollohan has decided to go onto the offensive with a letter. He states that he is trying to explain, but ends up describing that old "vast right wing conspiracy" that Hillary Clinton loved to cite. Of course this vast right wing conspiracy includes the New York Times. He lashes out at Chris Wakim and Mike Oliverio merely for doing what aspiring politicians always do, use their opponents' weaknesses. Mollohan certainly did not hesitate to go on the attack against them. According to Hoppy Kercheval, he only left out "the Trilateral Commission" and " the Easter Bunny."

Guilty or not guilty, this is not how a gazillion term congressman wants to end his career. Were I a Mollohan supporter, I would tell him to look at the story of George Washington and his Farewell Address. Washington initially wrote a frustrated essay on his enemies and their conspiracies against him. Old friend Alexander Hamilton encouraged him to lose the anger and write a statesmanlike piece that dwelt on themes of hope and constructive criticism. Mollohan could have gone this route and sealed his legacy. Instead he wrote a piece that Republicans and Oliverio supporters could shrug off as daft and defensive.

Anti-Incumbent, Anti-Democrat, Or Something Else?

Alan Mollohan is gone. Democratic Senator former Republican) Alan Spectre is about to be gone as well. However voters also rejected Senator Bob Bennett, a Republican from Utah. So is this a Republican revolution unfolding or a rejection of all incumbents?

Incumbents of both parties who supported massive debt expanding, budget busting initiatives are definitely vulnerable this year. Senator Bennett supported parts of Obamacare and also voted for bailouts. Utah rejected the campaign of a senator representing a small government party. It rejected a man running for his third term after promising to only serve two.

In other words voters almost everywhere are saying the same thing. They want to pull the throttle back on spending and taxes. They want officials they can trust. Regardless of party, those supporting big government are vulnerable almost everywhere.

Voters are anti-big government, anti-tax, and anti-compromise. They are angry at a government that is spinning out of control and seems bent on prusuing policies that will curtail growth, raise bills and taxes, and generally interfere in people's lives. Some prominent liberals, like Woody Allen, have seen the writing on the wall and advocated that Obama assume dictatorial powers. Alan Mollohan tried to make proposals for modest administrative cuts look like slashing Social Security checks.

The future is in our hands in November. Vote for the party and the candidates that will deliver massive cuts in the government and its spending. Nothing short of tremendous reform in how we look at government and its role will save this situation.

March Madness

1st Congressional 2010 Primary Election Poll results

The following online poll was run by the PHC. It is not a scientific poll.

141 responded to the question, "Who will you vote for in the 1st Congressional District Democrat Primary?"

Results:
Michael Oliverio III (Monongalia County) 80%
Alan B. Mollohan (Marion County) 19%

429 responded to the question, "Who will you vote for in the 1st Congressional District GOP Primary?"

Results:
David B. McKinley (Ohio County) 45%
Sarah Minear (Monongalia County) 30%
Thomas Stark (Wood County)13%
Mac Warner (Monongalia County) 4%
Cindy Hall (Ohio County) 4%
Patricia VanGilder Levenson (Ohio County) 1%

After a Crushing Loss in Massachusetts, Will Mollohan Fold on Healthcare?

Washington- A win for Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown in the country’s bluest state is sending shivers down Democrats’ spines. Brown’s defeat of Democrat Martha Coakley is a clear reflection of the public’s dissatisfaction with the Democrats’ sweeping government healthcare takeover, proving that the Obama-Pelosi agenda is exceedingly unpopular even in the state once represented by Ted Kennedy. This result should serve as a stark warning for Alan Mollohan and other Democrat lap dogs that have supported Nancy Pelosi’s government-run healthcare overhaul: Your seat is no longer safe.

"’Even in liberal Massachusetts, most voters are opposed to it,’ said Tom Jensen, director of Public Policy Polling, a Democratic pollster in Raleigh, N.C., who has conducted polls in that state and others on health care. "If it's not popular in Massachusetts, it's really not popular anywhere." (Janet Adamy & Naftali Bendavid, “Massachusetts Race Now Key to Health Bill,” Wall Street Journal, 1/18/2010)

“He said Democrats have learned a crucial lesson: that even in very blue states, Democrats should expect a ‘volatile’ environment with a ‘tough’ electorate — and ‘you can’t afford not to be aggressive.’” (Manu Raju, Jonathan Martin and John Bresnahan, “Finger-pointing begins for Democratic insiders,” Politico, 1/19/2010)

“’My message to my clients? Jump ship now,’ said one Democratic operative who advises a number of targeted Members of Congress. ‘Obama can't help you.’” (Chris Cillizza, “Scott Brown wins Massachusetts Senate special election race,” Washington Post, 1/20/2010)

Over the past few months, polling has consistently shown that support for Democrats and their healthcare overhaul is sagging.

“The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that just 38% of voters nationwide favor the health care reform plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. That matches the lowest level of support yet. Fifty-six percent (56%) of voters oppose the plan.” (“Health Care Reform” Rasmussen Reports, 1/18/2010)

The polling so far for red district Democrats has been uniformly atrocious… If you look at the RCP average, you see a sea of red markings showing Republicans leading the generic ballot test. It isn’t just Rasmussen Reports: CNN, Battleground, Bloomberg, and Gallup have all measured the GOP ahead in the generic ballot in the past few months.” (Sean Trende, “The House Is Very Much In Play,” Real Clear Politics, 1/19/2010)

Despite the writing on the wall, Pelosi remains adamant on pushing her reckless healthcare bill through Congress.

‘’Let’s remove all doubt,’ she added. ‘We will have health care one way or another.’” (Domenico Montanaro, “Congress: A speedy vote?,” MSNBC, 1/19/2009)

“With the cards stacked against him, Alan Mollohan's re-election campaign is going to make the Massachusetts special election look like a walk in the park,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “After serving as a consummate lap dog for Nancy Pelosi and her reckless healthcare bill, Mollohan has put himself in political jeopardy. The Democrats’ big-government, big-spending policies cost them a Senate seat in Massachusetts, now the question is: Will it cost Mollohan his own?”

With his job on the line, will Alan Mollohan fold on healthcare or will he continue to push himself out of office by being the lap dog West Virginia families know him to be?

Scott Brown Wins Substantial Victory in Massachusetts Special Senatorial Election

With 69% of the vote in, Senator Martha Coakley conceded victory to Republican challenger Scott Brown. We'll leave it to others to explain thenational ramifications of this election. Right now this has to concern two West Virginians, Alan Mollohan and Nick Joe Rahall.

Massachusetts loved Barack Obama, giving him a victory in that state by 26 points. Brown won this election by taking on the Obama/Pelosi/Reid signature policy of health care deform head on. If Massachusetts hates socialized health care, what does that say about the people of West Virginia who have cordially detested Nancy Pelosi and have little love for Obama?

Mollohan and Rahall actually have more problems. They are associated with not only health care deform and the potential for skyrocketing costs for state taxpayers, but also the War on Coal. Some speculated that Mollohan might bow out gracefully, but he did file his papers. Democrats might have actually benefited from a new face in that race unconnected to the Upas treelike Washington Left. Mollohan specifically has an army of viable opponents with possibly more intriguing names on the way. Local Democrats have taken great pains to separate themselves from Obama and Pelosi, unlike Mollohan and Rahall.

West Virginia Republicans have a chance to take advantage in a year where voters increasingly detest Democrats on the national level.

A Crowded Field and Digging a Deeper Hole

Complicated or refreshing? When you look at the field of candidates contending for the GOP nomination in the First Congressional District, either one of these words could come to mind. Yes there is currently a bewildering array of contenders, some strong, some with more of an outsiders' chance. They agree on many basic ideas, but differ in important ways. Over the next few months we will try to help sort out the differences between the candidates.

How is this refreshing? The people have come out and let it be known that Congress as currently constituted has performed unacceptably. As usual they show a complete disconnect from the people, but in the past few years they have also worked very hard to drive our country into decline. Massive debts destroy the financial reputation that we worked so hard to create dating back to Alexander Hamilton. The world has lost faith in our ability to lead the economy and make sound decisions. Some see an opportunity to use the current crisis to tweak the eagle's tail and cut us down a peg. No doubt our own left wing in theis country loves to see the United States shorn of its traditional dominance. But is this healthy for the world at large?

Who to blame? Obama has done a lot of damage, but the current majority party has seen nothing but decline since they took office in 2007. When Obama blames current problems on conditions created before he took office, he is careful to forget the votes and policies of a Democratic Congress.

Obviously the problem is the Democratic Party's massive lurch to the left. Mollohan has to march in step to ultra left winger Nancy Pelosi and her desire to destroy gun rights, coal mining, publicly fund abortions, raise the debt sky high, and do a lot of other things that will harm our nation and its people. We realize that a vote for Alan Mollohan os a vote for Nancy Pelosi and her disastrous record. Regradless of the good services he has done for individuals seeking help from his office, he is supporting the majority party in Congress whose almost every move has harmed West Virginia.

Most recently Congress raised the debt ceiling to allow yet another so-called stimulus package through by the barest of majorities. Alan Mollohan and Nick Joe Rahall voted to waste more money. Shelley Moore Capito voted against it, remembering much of the stimulus money spent last time went to groups like ACORN.

2010 cannot come soon enough. Mollohan's weakness is evident in his paltry fundraising and the enthusiasm of an army of candidates expecting to unseat him. Republicans in the First District need to band together this summer and fall and send Alan Mollohan and the Dmeocratic Congress into retirement.

Alan Mollohan's last term in Congress?

As Congressman Alan Mollohan’s problems continue to mount many are speculating that this me be his last term as West Virginia’s Congressman from the 1st Congressional District. Last week the U.S. Justice Department told the US House ethics panel to stop its investigation of Congressman Mollohan. Federal investigators had also asked the House ethics committee to suspend its investigation of former Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson shortly before his arrest. Last month the Congressman’s Bald Head Island property was sold at a foreclosure sale according to the Daily Mail and the Politico reported Mollohan was one of the Democrat incumbents having trouble raising campaign money.

Smelling blood in the water, five Republicans have announced they will be seeking the GOP nomination for the 1st Congressional seat, but Mollohan might just not be facing a General Election opponent. Rumors are they he may have a strong primary challenge from 46 year old State Senator Michael Oliverio II of Monongalia County.

Oliverio would set well as a choice with West Virginia’s conservative Democrat voters. He is a favorite among many in the business community and would likely pull a lot of primary support away from Mollohan. It would also give state Democrats a better chance of holding the seat should Mollohan be forced to resign should allegations prove true. But with voters looking for change as referenced by this weeks strong wins by the GOP in neighboring Virginia and New Jersey, the only way for the WV Democratic Party to hold the 1st Congressional seat maybe to pick a new candidate like Oliverio no matter what happens with Mollohan.

WV First Congressional District on French TV 24

French TV 24's English language broadcast covers West Virginia's First Congressional District race and interviews GOP candidate Tom Stark, that seat is currently held by Alan Mollohan. They also interview several West Virginia residents on their feelings of Obama and his qualifications for President. They also cover the New Jersey and Virginia race results as well as NY-23.

Alan Mollohan Still Under Investigation

http://nlpc.org/category/people/alan-mollohan

This is a link to an article pasted below from the National Legal and Policy Center.

According to a confidential House Ethics Committee report produced in July, and described in the Washington Post today:
The Justice Department has told the ethics panel to suspend a probe of Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-W. Va.), whose personal finances federal investigators began reviewing in early 2006 after complaints from a conservative group that he was not fully revealing his real estate holdings. There has been no public action on that inquiry for several years. But the department's request in early July to the committee suggests that the case continues to draw the attention of federal investigators, who often ask that the House and Senate ethics panels refrain from taking action against members whom the department is already investigating. (emphasis ours)

Fundraising issues for Mollohan: Barnes, Smith lead challenger pack

Alan Mollohan is having fund raising trouble. According The Hill, "Third quarter House recap: Big funding surprises from little-known challengers. They list Mollohan as only one of six incumbents that failed to raise more than $100,000 in the last quarter, despite facing tough challengers.

Among announced Republican challengers against Mollohan for the 2010 election both Clark Barnes of Randolph County and Scott Smith of Preston County have both tied for first with 40% in a recent PHC poll. Daniel Swisher is a distant 3rd polling only 9%. Cindy Hall and Tom Stark both polled less than 5%.

Mollohan Caught Again

More Mollohan earmark muck disclosed by West Virginia Watchdog by the Washington Examiner

Our Taxpayer Dollars At Work

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/29/workers-porn-surfing-rampant-at-federal-agency/?page=3
Wanted: Senior Executive for National Science Foundation. Must be able to avoid looking at porn sites.
Wanted: Supporting staff at National Science Foundation. Must be willing to refrain from placing pornographic pictures of themselves on government computers.
The article above, an exclusive from the Washington Times (not that their crosstown rival would not have loved to be the first on this story) describes how staff and executives at the NSF spent so much time and foundation resources on internet pornography that millions have been spent by their inspector general. The IG was not able to do his real job of tracking down grant fraud; he was investigating a large number of employees spending all day looking at porn. A senior executive defended his actions by saying he was helping to support underprivileged Third World women.
So will ACORN be banned from running this outfit, too?

****************************************************************************

Congressman Rahall of the Third District recently defended his vote against defunding ACORN as a strike in favor of the Constitution. He (and likely Mollohan as well) interpreted the congressional action as a bill of attainder. A bill of attainder means that the government targets the actions of an individual or group for unfair punishment. The fact that widespread fraud and illegal behavior was found in this organization means that it was defunded for legitimate and legal reasons. The government has the authority to cut off funds when it believes they are being used for fraudulent purposes.
At what point did Congressman Rahall start representing Chicago and stop representing West Virginia?

Clark Barns to take on Alan Mollohan for Congress

Clark Barnes currently serves as a State Senator in West Virginia's 15th district. Which includes Grant, Hampshire, Hardy and Pendleton Counties in the Potomac Highlands. Barnes is also known as the winning underdog taking on well fund candidates and defeating them on the issues. Clark becomes the 4th Republican Candidate to join the field against Mollohan.

Left to Right: State Senator Clark Barnes, Tom Collins, State Senator Dave Sypolt

When Will Our Democratic Congressmen Stop Listening to Pelosi and Start Listening to Us?

Revelations over the past two weeks transformed the image of ACORN from merely shady community organizers to a group apparently willing to help bring children into the United States for the purpose of prostitution. Multiple branches of this recently federally funded group offered to help various investigators commit a variety of felonies. The former Secretary of State Betty Ireland understood them enough to investigate their activities prior to last year's election. Her successor has not followed up on this problem.

The US Senate quickly voted to suspend funding of this rogue group. Several executive branch agencies, including the Census Bureau, stopped coordination with them as well. Today the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to shut down funding for ACORN.

Two representatives, Alan Mollohan and Nick Joe Rahall, voted against cutting off funding.

Why?

How are two rural congressmen so bound to these would be abbettors of child sex slavery?

It would have been appropriate and risk free to support the majority of Democrats and all Republicans on this issue. West Virginians are not known as vocal supporters of ACORN.

So why not vote against them?

Mollohan moves up from top 20 most corrupt to top 15

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington which puts out the list of most corrupt politicians and backs it up with facts, named Congressman Alan Mollohan (D, WV-1) to the top 15 this year. (Click Here for the Full Report)

McKinney to Rahall and Mollohan: Stop Following Nancy Pelosi's Marching Orders and Listen to West Virginia

[Charleston, West Virginia] - Republican Chairman Doug McKinney called on Congressman Nick Rahall and Congressman Alan Mollohan to stop taking Nancy Pelosi's orders on health care and listen to the concerns of West Virginia voters.

"I don't like to break up other's friendships, but Nancy Pelosi doesn't care about West Virginia," McKinney said. "She hates the coal we produce, and she believes the federal government and not our citizens should decide how we should spend our money or which doctor we should visit. Now, she is telling the media that she will pass a health care bill out of the House that our citizens don't support, and she will order her foot soldiers to vote for it."

"Congressmen Rahall and Mollohan tried holding a few town hall meetings filled with supporters of Nancy Pelosi's health care bill that includes a public option, but they were surprised that West Virginians turned out in force to tell them 'NO!' But, now that they are back in Washington, they are back under her thumb when it comes to voting on a bill."

Chairman McKinney further explained, "Congressmen Rahall and Mollohan have been taking their marching orders from Nancy Pelosi for far too long. Poor Nick Rahall had to beg for the Speaker to let him vote no on Cap and Trade, and she only gave him her approval the night before the vote. It is never a good sign when he has to choose between his party's leadership in Washington and the people who actually elected him."

"Instead of trying to grandstand once a year during the August recess, Congressmen Mollohan and Rahall should spend more time back in their districts," said McKinney. "Congresswoman Capito used the recess to travel from one side of her district to the other to talk energy and health care with thousands of her constituents through meetings, public events and tele-town hall conference calls."

Alan Mollohan's Opposition to Windmill Construction

Last night at the US Windforce meeting in the Wind Lea Conference Center in Keyser, a letter was produced and distributed containing a several page long list of objections by Congressman Alan Mollohan to this development.

Mollohan cited a number of concerns in his letter, starting first with the fear that windmills might adversely affect the bat population. Next he asserted that the Beech Ridge project was constructed without regard for the positions of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, again citing an as yet unknown effect on birds. Finally he complained that it affects the aesthetics of mountain views. Congressman Mollohan believed the effects on tourism would be dire.

This letter was passed around as evidence of Congressman Mollohan's antagonism to wind power. Whether or not the congressman feels the same today as he did in the letter may be debatable since it was dated July 26, 2006. Since that point we have had two congressional and one presidential election. No matter what other nonsense the dominant party has spewed since last January, a commitment to wind power has been one of their goals. Would Congressman Mollohan issue a detailed statement so diametrically opposed to wind power today? Perhaps, but then again perhaps not. After all, windmills do not permanently alter the contours of the mountains that he so wonderfully describes. I doubt that he would reject a new limited access highway carving through the hills and ridges of his district, nor would I want him to.

The letter's predictions, however, are worthy of study. Did windmills in Tucker County affect tourism? I see busses stopped at windmills there all the time so people can have their pictures taken with them. Have the numbers of people who visited that county dropped since the construction of windmills more than what would be normal in a recession? The answer to that could be interesting.

At the end of the day the practical numbers are what is important. How many local companies and individuals will be involved? How much will the heightened tax revenue help our cash strapped school system? How much money will the property owners who benefit from these projects spend in Mineral County?

My thought on aesthetics is that I do not see a ridge near a town as an unspoiled view. We have development extending from Keyser up Green Mountain. The Department of Highways is considering the construction of a highway perhaps a generation from now in the same general spot. Certainly there are areas some areas with a unique quality where we'd rather not have them. Having them sitting above the lights of a large town does less visual harm.

I also disagree with anyone who believes that wind will ever come close to substituting for coal. Wind power helps to bolster our output and enhance even further our energy exports. Congressman Mollohan in 2006 took a narrow view when he said that power exports only help those outside the state. Producing more power than you consume helps keep rates from increasing even faster than they do now. Expanding all possible sources of power, as the representative from the state Department of Energy expert explained at the meeting, increases jobs and state tax revenues. West Virginia can now also boast of being one of only a few states pursuing both alternative and renewable energy resources.

Most developments in the state, once done, cannot ever be completely undone. Coal companies try to restore the original contours of mountain ridges as much as possible. Highways snake across the landscape cutting through the hills. Industrial parks are permenent monuments of concrete, block, and steel. Windmills are one of the few things that, if they do not work, their removal would leave the natural view almost unchanged. Some fear that if wind power goes belly up, they will have to look at decaying structures with no purpose. I would doubt that, with the ever increasing price of scrap metal, that they would go unclaimed for long. People in the last election stole campaign signs for the steel mounts because metal is now such a lucrative product. If this is a major concern, the Legislature could hold wind power companies to the same standard as coal; when you are done, remove the evidence of your presence.

We want development. We want more clean and cheap power. Wind power provides a minimum of risk with a broad potential for gain.

"West Virginia is very comfortable with the elected officials we've got, and most of those officials are Democrats,"

That quote comes from Nick Casey, Chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Party.

Has he been paying attention?

Congressmen Rahall and Mollohan struggle to defend the increasingly out of touch policies of the left wing Congressional leadership. Rahall, frustrated, even asked a constituent if he would rather the congressman read the health care bill, or came down to his district to talk about it. The answer, obviously, was "Both!"

Give the congressmen credit. They worked to accomodate large crowds with opposing points of view. They stayed for long periods of time, despite the lack of experience in dealing with overtly hostile constituencies. However, their answers were often evasive. The political situation for some elected Democrats has been as comfortable as a nail in the bottom of the foot.

The comfort level of the voters has fallen away as Democrats pursue policies to increase taxes, increase electric bills, and decrease good paying jobs in areas such as the coal industry. All the comfort that remains lies in the minds of Democratic officeholders and their party who have become very accustomed to power in West Virginia. That will not change.

West Virginia Republicans and other concerned voters have an opportunity next year to afflict

the comfortable. Even Democrats should want their party to remember the concerns of voters and not take their support for granted. The GOP has a sound and proven plan for prosperity. Most of the state continues to lag in economic indicators. It is time for positive and constructive change.

Congressman Mollohan on Death Panels and More