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VISIT NO MO MOJO
In the text box below, nominate your Republican of the Year, and describe in a few words why he or she should be selected.
REPUBLICAN OF THE YEAR
UPDATED DAILY!
CLICK TO PURCHASE -- Click the image above to purchase a ticket to the Rock'n'Roll Party for Russ Weeks on Sept. 16 at the Raleigh County Armory in Beckley. All online donations of $20 or more between now and Sept. 16 to the Weeks campaign will be credited toward admission to the event. Tickets are also available at WVGOP headquarters. The fundraiser is being hosted by Joe and Julia Long, Del. Linda Sumner, Raleigh County Chairman Dereck Severt, and Summers County Chairman Joe Garcia. Call 304-344-4671 for more details, or click here.
((Press Release) Anne Barth is never one to consider the facts before she launches a negative, personal attack against Rep. Shelley Moore Capito. Today, the Barth campaign issued another baseless criticism about Rep. Capito's record and again questioned her integrity as a four term member of Congress.Barth Campaign False Claim #1: "Mrs. Capito's blind support for the Bush Administration has led us to this point and now taxpayers will pay nearly $100 billion for Bush-Capito's failed policies,"Fact Check: According to Congressional Quarterly, Rep. Capito has voted with President Bush 49% of the time in the current session of Congress - not exactly blind support. More importantly, Rep. Capito did not wait until home foreclosures became a national problem to deal with shortfalls in our nation's housing policy. She has worked in a bi-partisan manner to strengthen housing policies throughout her tenure in Congress by: * voting for H.R. 1461 to create an enhanced regulator for the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs), raise minimum capital levels, and improve GSEs' ability to maintain their mission of making home ownership more accessible to middle class Americans. (109th Congress, Roll Call #547, 10/26/05)* working as a key negotiator along with Rep. Frank, D-MA (Chair, House Financial Services Committee), Rep. Kanjorski, D-PA (Chair, House Financial Services Capital Markets Subcommittee), and Rep. Waters, D-CA (Chair, House Financial Services Housing and Opportunity Subcommittee), to craft legislation that enhances licensing requirements for mortgage originators, encourages housing counseling for new homebuyers, and makes significant improvements to the appraisal process. (110th Congress, Roll Call #1118, 11/15/07)* breaking with her party and voting for the Housing and Economic Recovery Act that established new, stronger regulation for the GSEs. This legislation also included an amendment inserted by Rep. Capito that enhanced the Veteran Loan Guaranty program. (110th Congress, Roll Call #519, 07/23/08)Barth Campaign False Claim #2: "She never held a hearing on the Financial Services' Housing Subcommittee until a week after the sweeping housing legislation passed Congress.Fact Check: It should be clear to Anne Barth after working as a Congressional staffer for 21 years that only the chair of a committee can hold a hearing. Rep. Capito is the ranking member of the House Financial Services Housing and Community Opportunity Subcommittee. This committee has held twenty six hearings during the 110th Session of Congress including a field hearing in Martinsburg, WV when Rep. Capito invited the Chair, Rep. Waters, D-CA, to West Virginia to conduct a hearing and learn about housing's issues in West Virginia.[3] Anne Barth's experience as a staffer in Congress was on the U.S. Senate side, so she may not be aware that this subcommittee has no jurisdiction over GSEs like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The House Financial Services Capital Markets Subcommittee has explicit jurisdiction over GSEs.Barth Campaign False Claim #3: "Once again, George Bush and Shelley Moore Capito are asking Main Street to bail out Wall Street"Fact Check: Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are main street as they are the enterprises that enable many middle class Americans to obtain a mortgage. In fact, these entities own or guarantee approximately $5 trillion in mortgages. While foreclosures are on the rise and are a concern to Rep. Capito, West Virginia is forty-eighth in foreclosures according to RealtyTrac. Rep. Capito has and will continue to seek common sense solutions to ensure homeownership for middle class Americans.Barth's Implied False Claim: Campaign contributions dictate Capito support. While Anne Barth has blatantly refused to tell voters her position on issues[6], she has repeatedly attempted to question Rep. Capito's integrity during this campaign by citing campaign contributions. Reality Check: This implied effort is nothing more than a red herring that is designed to make a false, negative attack on Rep. Capito without offering voters real solutions to their problems. It is interesting to note that Anne Barth offers no policy position on housing issues.The Real Scandal: Anne Barth does nothing but attack Rep. Capito, while accepting campaign cash from questionable sources. Anne Barth has accepted $14,000 from Rep. Charles Rangel who is facing an ethics investigation for inappropriate use of his office. Despite this revelation, the Barth campaign refuses to return these contributions because they do not believe any inappropriate activity has occurred. However, it has now reported that Rep. Rangel received a questionable mortgage for a vacation property."Instead of making false, negative attacks, Anne Barth should get her own house in order and 'unRangel' her campaign from these tainted contributions," concluded Capito Campaign Spokesman Kent Gates.
Capito campaign: Barth should check her facts before going on personal attacks
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO
Copenhaver nixes WV ballot try by Bob Barr
Federal Judge John Copenhaver on Tuesday ruled against Bob Barr and the Libertarian Party in its efforts to get Barr on the state's November presidential ballot.As reported by Small Gov Times, "Copenhaver also ruled that the state’s requirement that candidates must collect signatures from two percent of voters did not violate the Constitution."In issuing his ruling, Copenhaver said, “It seems clear enough the Barr/Root campaign would have satisfied the two requirements had they commenced their efforts just two to three weeks earlier."Albright's health leave sets up interesting set of circumstances at Court
Justice Joe Albright on Tuesday notified his colleagues on the West Virginia Supreme Court that he would not be returning to the bench until January following surgery to remove his esophagus, setting up an interesting scenario for the fall term.If Albright were to outright retire from the Court, it would be left to Gov. Joe Manchin to appoint a replacement. But by taking a leave of absence, the task of selecting a fill-in judge falls to Chief Justice Spike Maynard. Maynard, of course, just lost a Democrat primary election battle, and to what extent that loss plays into his choice to fill Albright's position will be interesting.Rumors are circulating that if it was up to Manchin, he would appoint a partisan Democrat like Nick Casey, chairman of the state Democratic Party, or state Senator Jeff Kessler. But Maynard owes nothing to the Democrat establishment, and might be inclined to select a friend or ally, even if they have no extensive experience. However, because this is a leave of absence, Maynard is required to choose a circuit judge, or a senior status judge, not just an attorney, whereas a retirement would give Mojo free reign to appoint an attorney if he so chose. Albright's absence -- for unfortunate reasons -- nevertheless presents an opportunity to move the Court, for a while anyway, even more to the middle and further from the activist role it has engaged in for many years.News & Notes
Doyle goes off the air in Martinsburg
Delegate John Doyle is no longer serving as a co-host on WRNR's morning talk show in Martinsburg. Doyle's involvement and time working on a project to bring "uniformity" to the issue of internet sales taxes is being cited as the reason.Doyle has long been sharing co-host duties with Republican Jerry Mays, who offers a GOP perspective in countering Doyle's take on politics. Did Obama infer Palin is a 'pig?'
Further evidence that the Barack Obama campaign is imploding: On Tuesday in Ohio, Obama was discussing the McCain-Palin ticket, and said, "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig."Of course, that comment closely follows one of Sarah Palin's most memorable and oft-quoted lines from her Republican National Convention speech, when she joked that the only difference between a pitbull and a hockey mom is lipstick. That Obama would make a "lipstick" reference of his own just a few days later seems to many not a coincidence, and reflects both confusion and anger at the poll swings and energy Palin's presence has brought to the GOP ticket.Weeks has busy campaign schedule
Republican gubernatorial candidate Russ Weeks has a busy campaign schedule coming up, hitting Morgantown Thursday for the opening of the GOP headquartes, then traveling to Jefferson County for a Republican picnic on Friday and a barbeque with supporters on Saturday, then attending a GOP picnic in Marion County on Sunday, and attending a Wood County Farm Bureau meeting on Monday. Weeks will be engaging in other campaign activities in each county before attending his Beckley fundraiser on Tuesday.