For a quarter of a century Morgan Griffith has assured voters that coal is coming back and will bring prosperity with it.
Simultaneously, he has worked against programs to improve access to health care for the rural poor.
Finally, he believes climate change is a hoax and is cancelling many climate related programs, which will destroy our natural resources.
Employment in the coal industry has been declining since 1923 when over 700,000 persons worked in the industry.
Today there are only about 50,000. This decline in coal mining began long before the EPA or Barack Obama.
Yet Griffith blames Obama and the EPA for killing the industry. And while making empty promises to our miners, he has done little to bring new jobs to SW Virginia.
Every year Southwest Virginia is ridiculed around the country as a series of RAM (Remote Area Medical) clinics are held in the coalfields.
It’s a generous program providing much needed medical care—once a year. National news programs love to highlight the chronic poverty here in Virginia.
Why does Griffith work against expanding health coverage for low income Virginians? He wants to balance the ballooning deficit by cutting back on Medicaid and other essential services.
Griffith voted to increase the deficit by cutting taxes to his wealthy friends and sponsors while increasing our military budget.
While Virginians are fighting against pipelines that are destroying our environment, Griffith wants to weaken the EPA, making it easier to build large polluting plants without oversight, and build more coal-fired power plants.
It is time we elect a new representative. Anthony Flaccavento was born and raised here. He is a farmer/businessman with real interests in protecting our environment.
He wants to bring improved educational opportunities and training to southwest Virginia to better prepare our children for the jobs of tomorrow.
Finally, Flaccavento supports Medicare for all, community clinics & rural hospitals and expanded care for mental health and addiction.
After a quarter of a century of broken promises, it’s time we elect a new representative in Congress.
Ernest Bentley,
Pilot
