By Bill Byrd
FAIRMONT — Sounding like he was in mid-campaign, Morgantown businessman John Raese said Thursday a Democratic president will hurt the state’s coal industry.
“The greenhouse emissions bill that’s coming right down at us is a bunch of garbage. It’s only going to cause a mess in our country,” Raese said.
“There’s no scientific proof whatsoever that greenhouse emissions are caused by fossil fuels,” he said.
On Iraq: “We win; they lose. And that’s what Ronald Reagan’s philosophy was in the Cold War. It took 44 years to win the Cold War. We’d all be in a lot of danger if a lot of liberals take over the country.”
He also bashed Forbes magazine for knocking the state’s business climate, recently ranking it 49th.
“My family has been doing business in West Virginia since 1905. A lot of people have done business and done very well in West Virginia,” he said.
“We have more natural resources in West Virginia than all but two other states, Texas and Louisiana. We have the finest work force of anywhere in the United States.”
Before speaking at the Marion County Republican Executive Committee’s annual fundraising dinner, Raese also said a poll he took in mid-summer had U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani leading in their respective state primaries.
Clinton was also ahead in the poll’s general election scenario.
But the scientific poll of 400 voters was taken about three months ago, and a lot can happen in the next three months, Raese cautioned.
“Nobody is going to coronate her yet,” he said.
He’s considering running again against U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, he said.
While he’s not ready to say who he favors among the large Republican presidential field, Raese said Giuliani probably leads in electability.
The GOP nominee must be able to compete in large electoral college states, he said, citing California, New York, Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Ohio. “Rudy probably has the best chance to do that.”
“A lot of the things Rudy stands for I think play well in a lot of those states, plus he’s a national hero,” Raese said.
A Democratic president means a “lot of big government, a lot of big taxation and regulation is going to come in.”
“If you’ve been watching the Democratic debates, it’s not much of a debate. All of them have the same precedents in terms of what they want to do.”
He criticized U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, whom he lost to in his last race in 2006, and Rockefeller for not speaking up to defend the coal industry against environmentalists and proponents of global warming.
“Coal is a fossil fuel, and it’s under attack right now by all of the environmentalists,” he said.
“I’m somebody that burns coal on a daily basis. I burn coal every day at asphalt facilities. I burn coal at lime facilities, big rotary kilns, and I’m very bullish on coal,” he said.
The annual Reagan Dinner was held at Muriale’s Restaurant. Marion County Commission President Alan Parks and Commissioner Wayne Stutler and state Sens. Donna Boley, R-Pleasants, and Clark Barnes, R-Randolph, were among the attendees.
E-mail Bill Byrd at bbyrd@timeswv.com.
