The LuLac Edition #5, 820, November 10th, 20-26

 

MEUSER FOR MINORITY LEADER

As a person with many Democratic leanings, I have been very hard on 9^th district Congressman Dan Meuser. But as a student of government and politics as well as political personalities, I can put aside policy differences and be objective.

When I heard that Mike Johnson the Speaker was getting the hell out of leadership dodge, I saw a man who I thought was optically ill equipped to be in leadership.  Johnson had a rough time defending the Trump record and there were times when his answers stretched credibility.  Johnson used the power of his chair to frustrate Democrats but that caused collateral damage.

This past campaign that even shocked the most liberal Democrat has done damage to the GOP Congressional brand. They need a reboot in image and the way policy positions are articulated. During his debate with Rachael Wallace, Meuser was knocked off his game for a bit. But if anyone listened to what he was saying about parts of the Big Beautiful Bill, some of the things he defended well. But the problem was the governing message got lost in politics.

The GOP House leadership needs to start with a blank slate. Meuser could and should be included in that new set up, He has a safe seat (as he correctly indicated in his debate), is charismatic, wants to be there, and can rebuild the wreckage. While these are trying days for the GOP, politics is cyclical. This legislative landslide is  big as the Johnson one  of 1964. But that success didn’t last all that long. Within two years, the GOP gained in House seats and in ’68 won the Presidency.  Dan Meuser might be the perfect guy to lead the Republicans out of the dumpster fire ignited not by them but by a President people at the core barely  tolerated after a decade of drama. 

 

JAY ROCKEFELLER DIED

We have to make note of the fact that Jay Rockefeller passed away last week.  Born into the prominent Rockefeller family in New York City, Rockefeller moved to Emmons, West Virginia, in 1964 to serve as a Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) worker. He was first elected to public office as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates (1966–1968). Rockefeller was later elected secretary of state of West Virginia (1968–1973) and was president of West Virginia Wesleyan College (1973–1975), and was elected to two terms as governor of West Virginia. He was first elected to the Senate in 1984, while still in office as governor.

As a senator, Rockefeller served on the powerful Senate Finance Committee, including as chairman of the Subcommittee on Medicare and Long-term Care (later Health Care). He became a leading spokesman for healthcare reform, advocating for improved and modernized Medicare, expanded access to healthcare, and increased health coverage for children. He authored the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), that has provided health care coverage for millions of poor children. He played a crucial role in the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010, advocating for a public insurance option. Rockefeller was also a major player regarding veterans' issues, serving on the Veterans' Affairs Committee for his entire Senate career, including multiple terms as its chairman. He focused on expanding research and treatment for service-related illnesses like Gulf War Illness and Agent Orange. He worked to reform the Veterans Affairs healthcare system.

Rockefeller became the state's senior U.S. senator when the long-serving senator Robert Byrd died in June 2010. He did not seek reelection in 2014 and was succeeded by U.S. Representative Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican. Rockefeller was the only member of his family to have held office as a Democrat, in what has been a traditionally Republican family.

Rockefeller was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1966. In the summer of 1968, after New York senator Robert F. Kennedy's assassination, Rockefeller's uncle, then-Governor of New York Nelson Rockefeller, offered him the open seat. He refused. He was elected to the office of West Virginia Secretary of State in 1968. He won the Democratic nomination for governor in 1972 but was defeated in the general election by the Republican incumbent, Arch A. Moore Jr. Rockefeller then served as president of West Virginia Wesleyan College from 1973 to 1975.

Rockefeller was elected governor of West Virginia in 1976 and re-elected in 1980. He served as governor when manufacturing plants and coal mines were closing as the national recession of the early 1980s hit West Virginia particularly hard. Between 1982 and 1984, West Virginia's unemployment rate hovered between 15 and 20 percent.

In 1984, he was elected to the United States Senate, narrowly defeating businessman John Raese as Ronald Reagan easily carried the state in the presidential election. As in his 1980 gubernatorial campaign against Arch Moore, Rockefeller spent over $12 million to win his Senate seat. He was re-elected in 1990, 1996, 2002 and 2008 by substantial margins. He was chair of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs (1993–1995; January 3 to 20, 2001; and June 6, 2001 to January 3, 2003). Rockefeller was the chair of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (2009–2015).

From 1967 until his death, Rockefeller was married to Sharon Percy, the chief executive officer of WETA-TV, the leading PBS station in the Washington, D.C., area, which broadcasts such programs as PBS NewsHour and Washington Week. She is a twin daughter of Senator Chuck Percy and Jeanne Valerie Dickerson.

Jay and Sharon had four children, including Valerie Rockefeller Wayne and Justin Rockefeller.

The Rockefellers resided together in Northwest Washington, D.C.,[57] and maintained a permanent residence in Charleston, West Virginia. They had a ranch in the Grand Teton National Park in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. President Bill Clinton, a friend of Rockefeller's, and the Clinton family vacationed at the ranch in August 1995.

Rockefeller was related to several Republican Party supporters and former officeholders: his paternal grandmother Abby Aldrich Rockefeller was a daughter of Rhode Island Senator Nelson W. Aldrich. John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Abby's youngest son was the banker David Rockefeller. David's brother Winthrop Rockefeller served as Governor of Arkansas from 1967–1971. Winthrop and David's brother Nelson Rockefeller served as Governor of New York from 1959–1973 and as the 41st Vice President of the United States under President Gerald Ford from 1974–1977. In the former post, Nelson offered to appoint Jay to the United States Senate seat that came open upon the death of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, but as a Democrat, Jay was compelled to refuse. Jay was also a first cousin of Arkansas Lt. Governor Winthrop Paul Rockefeller. Jay Rockefeller died at his home in Washington, D.C., last Friday  at the age of 89.

 

 

 

 

0