Friday, November 12, 2010

How the House works

Southern West Virginia sent Rep. Nick Joe Rahall back to Washington again, this time as a member of the Democratic minority. Which means musical chairs in the world of committees.
Thanks to Minnesota, Rahall has his eyes on the Transportation committee.
“I’m excited about this position,” Rahall said. “It’s going to mean West Virginians, while we won’t be driving the car when we do the next transportation bill, we will be in the front seat. We’re going to be riding shotgun.”

The position does have potential to channel funding to West Virginia, an ability West Virginia politicians have scrambled to replace since the death of Sen. Robert C. Byrd and the defeat of Democratic Rep. Alan Mollohan. Byrd, particularly, was famous for utilizing his position in the Senate Appropriations Committee to bring large projects and federal dollars back to West Virginia.
More transportation dollars for West Virginia? Sounds good to me when I visit family. Probably not the best use of limited money now.
But what about Rahall's current committee, Natural Resources? Will it go to a friend of coal? Not Ed Markey of Massachusetts.
“He’ll be tough. I mean, after all he was the main sponsor of cap and trade, the main sponsor of climate change,” Rahall said. “He’s your typical Northeastern liberal that has not always had coal as his No. 1 goal. There’s no doubt about that.”
But Washington watches out for its own.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not turning my back on coal,” Rahall said. “Markey is a fair individual, he has his views, but first of all he’s not chairman. (Republican Rep. Doc) Hastings from the state of Washington is chairman of that committee and I worked with him and treated him fairly. When I was chairman he was my ranking member. ... I can go to Doc Hastings any time I want and expect to be treated fairly and have a fair hearing from him on coal issues."

We'll see how all of this sorts out.

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