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Having Fun
With Mojo
Have to wait longer for a special session
Hey kids! Mojo here! Did you read where the West Virginia Republican Party just voted to demand a special session on the Mullens wiretap issue? Too bad! Fact is, I was just about ready to call a special session, but now I have to wait a few more weeks! When will they learn? Old Mojo doesn't do anything when it will look like I was pressured into doing it! It has to be my idea! So if everybody will just shut up for a while and let me come up with it myself, we'll have a special session before you know it! You would think people would have figured this out by now!
The Guest House at Lost River was the first choice for Hillary Clinton's Hardy County fundraiser until organizers changed the plan.
Hillary's Hardy County event changed from gay B&B to traditional inn
Hillary Clinton's fundraiser July 27 in Hardy County has apparently been moved from a gay-friendly bed and breakfast to a more traditional family inn, according to an invitation that was circulating on Tuesday.
Originally, the Lohman Group, which is organizing Hillary's Hardy County visit, said in an email that Hillary would help dedicate a new health facility "to be followed by a fundraiser in her honor at the Guest House at Lost River. This is a real chance to meet Senator Clinton in a small setting where you will have your picture taken with her and have a chance to talk with her." The email had apparently been forwarded to others by the director of the West Virginia Small Business Development Center on a state email account.
According to internet searches, the Guest House at Lost River is a resort "for Gay, Lesbian, and Gay-Friendly clientele." Craigslist, an online site specializing in property listings, says of the Guest House at Lost River, "Relax at the straight-friendly luxury gay guesthouse just 2 hours from the DC beltway."
Hillary Clinton may be a liberal in regard to the issue of gays and lesbians, but organizers apparently realized at some point that in West Virginia holding a fundraiser at a gay bed and breakfast would not be the best message to send. An official invitation circulating on Tuesday said the site has now been changed to the South Branch Inn in Moorefield, a traditional hotel and conference center.
Hillary starts her West Virginia visit that day in Charleston with a high-dollar luncheon before moving on to Hardy County for the late afternoon event. And while the email circulated by the director of the WVSBDC said that the cost of the Hardy County fundraiser was $500 per person, the new invitation says $500 is the minimal amount, with $2300 and $1000 tickets also being sold.
State legislators, meanwhile, have been called into their July interim meetings in Charleston on an unusual set of dates, starting the interims on Friday, July 27 -- the same day as Hillary's visit.
at
Yes, Unger did have to file an FEC report
Supporters of state Senator and congressional candidate John Unger spent Monday and Tuesday trying to defend his late filing with the Federal Elections Commission by claiming he did not have to file a report because he did not officially become a candidate until after June 30.
Even the usually reliable Congressional Quarterly got it wrong, offering that explanation as to why Unger's report had not shown up by the July 15 reporting deadline.
In fact, Unger did file a report a day late, and his own listing of receipts proves his defenders wrong.
Unger declared his candidacy for Congress at a press conference in Charleston on May 31.
But that alone would not make him an official candidate or require him to file a report for the second quarter, which runs April through June.
But when Unger reached the $5,000 level in contributions, a report was required, and according to his own records, Unger reached that plateau at least by June 22.
According to the FEC report he filed after the deadline, Unger received $500 from Michael Ross of Coalton on June 18, then received another $500 from Ray Burke of Hurricane on June 19.
Unger received $2,000 from a PAC called Our Common Values on June 22, and got another $2,000 on that same date from Rep. Rahm Emanuel's campaign committee. So by June 22, well within the second quarter period, Unger had already raised $5,000.
Between June 22 and June 29, according to his own report, Unger brought in roughly another $22,000, and he was clearly required to file his second quarter FEC report.
The report was due July 15, and members of Congress, from the best known to the most obscure, always scramble to make sure the deadline is met.
Unger missed the deadline, and there is no reasonable excuse for having done so. The FEC will likely impose some sort of penalty for his late filing. (If Unger did not file as a candidate until after June 30, as some claim, he would not have filed a report until the third quarter ended at the end of September. The fact he filed one Monday indicates he knew he had to do so, even though he was late.)
The bigger question may be whether Unger filed his declaration of candidacy on time with the FEC, given he was already raising money in June. Some occasional FEC searches in recent weeks never turned up an Unger committee filing; it seemed to only show up on Monday, along with his report.
CNBC ranks WV better than Forbes, but 50th in being 'business friendly'
Forbes magazine recently dropped West Virginia to the dead last spot in terms of the best states to do business, much to the consternation of the Manchin administration.
But CNBC's recent rankings put West Virginia in the 44th spot. It's small consolation, though, when you consider that among the factors considered by CNBC were "quality of life" and "education" (West Virginia ranked 33rd in both categories). The state also ranked relatively well in "cost of living" (21st) and "access to Capitol" (35th).
But in the actual business-related categories, the state fared poorly. It ranked 44th in "economy," 48th in "technology and innovation," and 50th in "business friendliness" -- the category that would seem most pertinent to Manchin's "Open for Business" mantra. Whatever Mojo's selling, business still isn't buying it.
Byrd one of only three in Senate to say Iraq success not important to U.S. safety
Sen. Robert C. Byrd was one of only three Senators to vote against a resolution Tuesday “to express the sense of the Senate that it is in the national security interest of the United States that Iraq not become a failed state and a safe haven for terrorists.” Even Harry Reid and Ted Kennedy voted for the resolution.
Update: Dems deny Hillary visit, but paper trail is long
Democrats on Wednesday were busy denying that Hillary Clinton was visiting Hardy County, but the paper trail describing such a visit is too long and wide to ignore.
Meanwhile, the Republican Gazette was being bombarded with hits after the Drudge Report linked to the story.
Hoppy Kercheval of Metro News reported Wednesday morning that a Democrat official was denying the Hillary visit to Hardy County. But Hoppy reported that he had received a very
"official looking" invitation via email on Tuesday touting a Hillary fundraiser at the South Branch Inn in Moorefield. Also, a second state worker apparently forwarded a message about two weeks ago from the Lohman Group advertising Hillary's appearance at the Guest House on Lost River. Previous details are described below.
Apparently, either someone jumped the gun on announcing the Hardy visit, or Clinton officials got cold feet because of state email accounts being used to advertise the fundraiser.
