Mitch and Coal Companies
Following Mitch's Money, Presentation by Doug Price on August 3rd, 2020
Imagine, if you will, Mitch standing on a stage, looking out over the gathering of Coal Company Executives and saying “working together we can make great things happen.”
With Mitch those would be code words to give me Money!
The coal industry has given Mitch over $950,000 during his time in the Senate. From 1998–2020 the coal industry has spent over $189,000,000 in lobbying members of Congress. Does that buy legislation that is good for the Country or the Coal Company?
The top coal company contributor for the 2020 cycle was Alliance Resource Partners (ARP) — a total of $2.9 million. ARP is owned by Joseph Craft. Craft’s wife is Kelly Craft who is the United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Kelly has given over $355,000 to the Republican National Committee.
https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=e1210
The National Mining Association President, Rich Nolan, recently sent a letter to President Trump and Congress asking for specific bailouts and concessions for coal corporations; including royalty rate reductions and reductions in payments to the Abandoned Mine Land program.
Jason O’Neill, Director of Western Values Project said: “It’s outrageous that coal corporations and their lobbyists are using a global pandemic as an excuse to ask their allies in the Trump administration for a bailout. It would be no surprise if Trump and McConnell end up giving Big Coal everything they want, even if it means ignoring the global health crisis.”
From an article in Inside Climate News: “McConnell has propped up a dying coal industry as the economic engine of the region, instead of going all in on supporting economic diversity that could provide a future for communities. He failed to support legislation that would reclaim mine land for economic development. He shied away from a bipartisan coalition in his state that is nurturing tech, medical and even solar jobs. He led the Republican effort to cut taxes on the coal companies — taxes that would help struggling miners. And he has not pushed to shore up a badly underfunded miners’ pension fund.”
“Today, McConnell has amassed enormous power and could, by virtue over his control of the Senate, undoubtedly get the miners and their communities what they are seeking, said Norman Ornstein, from the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute. He exerts absolute control over the Senate’s calendar, able to schedule votes on — or block — any bill he chooses to, said Ornstein.
“The UMWA pension and health funds pump more than $100 million a year into Kentucky, in places hurting the most from the industry’s decline. McConnell’s sympathies lie with coal operators who dislike the miners’ union and with fellow Republicans who dislike all unions. But he would be truly cold-hearted to let the pension fund collapse at such a high cost to the coal communities that have entrusted him and other Republicans with their votes.”
https://www.kentucky.com/opinion/editorials/article119280148.html
“A group of coal miners afflicted with black lung disease met with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as part of an effort to convince lawmakers to restore a higher excise tax on coal companies to help fund their medical care, but several said the meeting left them discouraged.
McConnell, the Republican leader who represents Kentucky — one of the states that has seen a rebound in the progressive respiratory illness — told them their benefits would be safe but gave no assurances about the excise tax and left without answering questions or offering details.”
“David Mullins, who worked in coal mines for 34 years and is currently battling an advanced stage of black lung disease, said he was frustrated. “It’s time to act,” he said, while wearing a “Black Lung Kills” T-shirt and using an oxygen tank.”
For several years coal companies had to pay $1.10/ton into a fund to help cover pension/disability cost. This amount reverted back to an earlier lesser amount of $.55/ton. Mitch chose not to pass legislation to keep the higher amount effectively putting $135 million annually in coal companies pockets.
The General Accounting Office reported that taxpayer obligations to the disability fund, already $4 billion in debt, could swell to $15 billion by 2050 without further action by Congress, McConnell remained noncommittal on bills to restore funding and cut red tape so that miners could obtain benefits more easily.
“What they have done is shift the cost to the taxpayers” from coal mining companies, said Phil Smith, spokesman for the United Mine Workers of America. “It’s corporate welfare.”
The Appalachian Regional Commission monitors and classifies the economic status of counties in 13 states. It identifies 80 of those counties as economically distressed, meaning they rank among the worst 10% of the nation’s counties for factors such as poverty, income and unemployment. Nearly half are in Eastern Kentucky.
The HEROES Act would provide a total of $450 million for these economically distressed Kentucky counties. Mitch’s bill does not provide this funding.
In Martin County the amount is $6,727,290.
https://kypolicy.org/whats-in-the-heroes-act-for-kentucky/
We’ve already established that it cost at least $25,000 to get in to see Mitch. Now that we know the Coal Industry has given over $950,000 dollars to Mitch we can understand why he delivers for the coal companies. At the expense of the coal miners and the distressed counties in Eastern Kentucky.
It is time to Ditch Mitch on November 3, 2020.
Doug Price is a member/treasurer of the MMRC and a regular participant on the #MoscowMitchMonday live stream, discussing Mitch and Money. Doug is an advocate of governmental change on the State/Federal level and has periodically worked on Democratic campaigns dating back to the 80s. Follow Doug on Twitter @ PriceDoug
