This morning, Senator Mitch McConnell asked the Senate for consent to take up the Saving Coal Jobs Act, legislation that would protect Kentucky’s coal jobs and manufacturing and block the job-killing EPA regulations from the Obama administration. What happened next? Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid objected to moving the bill forward.
To be clear, the man who recruited Alison Lundergan Grimes to run, who raises money for her, and who would continue to set the energy agenda in the Senate if she were elected, blocked it. Reid is reported to be hosting a fundraiser for Grimes tonight in Washington, D.C. and a lavish Las Vegas luncheon on October 11th.
Despite Grimes’ weak attempt to tell Kentuckians she’ll fight for coal, it’s become increasingly clear that her actions are speaking much louder than her words. She’s actively fundraising with ‘coal makes us sick’ Harry Reid, who as we’ve seen today, champions an anti-coal and anti-Kentucky jobs agenda, and even Kentuckians are calling her out on the hypocrisy.
When Grimes sent out her hollow “I stand for coal” statement, the President of the Kentucky Coal Association said this: “That is appreciated, but when you consider we’re hearing a lot of rumors about upcoming fundraisers with Sen. Harry Reid, there is a real question of what that relationship is going to be with someone who has carried out all of the president’s marching order against coal in the Senate. It is my understanding that if someone gives you money, you expect them to think and act like they do.”
Indeed. So who’s really fighting for Kentucky coal? That would be Senator McConnell. Bissett told WFPL: “I would say our industry has looked at Sen. McConnell as the chief adversary of President Obama since he took office. I think you’ve seen Sen. McConnell be very engaged in coal and standing in the way of a lot the president’s policies as it relates to coal in Kentucky.”
Alison Lundergan Grimes’ hypocrisy is astounding. She publicly tells Kentuckians she’ll fight for coal, even going so far as trying to blame Senator McConnell for the loss of coal jobs in Kentucky; yet she jets all over the country, from Vegas to DC, to raise campaign cash with the very person that actively opposes and stops pro-coal legislation from moving forward. It’s a true slap in the face to the Kentucky coal industry.
