EDITORIAL: Bill Raney: A Shill for Joe Manchin, Nothing More
Wikipedia has a definition for the word "shill" that is right on target for Bill Raney of the West Virginia Coal Association when it comes to his attempts to help Joe Manchin's political campaign.
"A shill," says Wikipedia, "is a person who helps another person or organization to sell goods or services without disclosing their relationship with the seller."
True, Raney did announce recently that his organization would be endorsing Manchin. This came as no surprise, as Raney and Manchin swim in the same fetid swamps of statehouse politics. Such statehouse insiders are usually more into their own positions than caring about the fate of the people here.
Sadly, both Raney and Manchin were in positions where they
could have been a great help to West Virginia--if only they had spoken up
against the Obama Administration's anti-coal policies long before now.
But Manchin decided to sacrifice the state's coal industry at the feet of
Washington, D.C. liberals. Raney seemed to follow his lead.
Manchin first campaigned hard for Obama, even to the last day of the 2008 campaign, when he was asked on MSNBC about Cap and Trade and Carbon Taxes. Manchin, doing the bidding of his new best friend, Barack Obama, eagerly chimed in, sounding like a bonafide environmentalist. "They're going to have to pay for those carbons, whether through Cap and Trade or the Carbon Tax," said Manchin.
Then, after Obama got into office, the coal industry suffered exactly as Obama had told us it would, thanks to a trickle of permits, even for the most responsible of coal operations statewide.
We hardly heard a yelp from Manchin or Bill Raney then.
If the West Virginia Coal Association has a lick of self-respect and a desire to survive, they will send Bill Raney over to the Manchin for Governor headquarters where he belongs. Raney has given up the right to speak for coal in West Virginia, due to his negligence and his transparent desire to help Joe Manchin even more than the owners and miners of our state's coal industry.
The voters see through these last minute lawsuits and grandiose statements. But what Joe Manchin and Bill Raney fail to understand is that it's way too late to do the right thing now. Where were they when West Virginia needed a champion many months ago? Manchin and Raney have simply lost their credibility as advocates for coal.
Meanwhile, John Raese's lead continues to grow. Raese leads Manchin now by a full six points, according to Rasmussen, who is one of the nation's most accurate pollsters. With each poll that comes out, Raese increases his lead, demonstrating that the days where Raney and Manchin had credibility are quickly drawing to a close.
That's good news for West Virginia. Their approach to President Obama's environmental policies has been an abject failure.