Coal execs hope to spend big under new rules to defeat Conway and Chandler
Republican Andy Barr, left, is challenging U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Versailles, in Kentucky's 6th Congressional District.
Democrat Jack Conway, left, and Republican Rand Paul are running for U.S. Senate in Kentucky.
By John Cheves - jcheves@herald-leader.com
Several major coal companies hope to use newly loosened campaign-finance laws to pool their money and defeat Democratic congressional candidates they consider “anti-coal,” including U.S. Senate nominee Jack Conway and U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler in Kentucky.
The companies hope to create a politically active nonprofit under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, so they won’t have to publicly disclose their activities — such as advertising — until they file a tax return next year, long after the Nov. 2 election.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last winter that corporations and labor unions may pour unlimited funds into such efforts to influence elections.
“With the recent Supreme Court ruling, we are in a position to be able to take corporate positions that were not previously available in allowing our voices to be heard,” wrote Roger Nicholson, senior vice president and general counsel at International Coal Group of Scott Depot, W.Va., in an undated letter he sent to other coal companies.
Nicholson declined to comment on his letter Tuesday, after the Herald-Leader obtained it.
“A number of coal industry representatives recently have been considering developing a 527 entity with the purpose of attempting to defeat anti-coal incumbents in select races, as well as elect pro-coal candidates running for certain open seats,” Nicholson wrote. “We’re requesting your consideration as to whether your company would be willing to meet to discuss a significant commitment to such an effort.”
Nicholson listed three races “of interest”: Conway against Republican Rand Paul for Kentucky’s open Senate seat; Chandler against Republican Garland “Andy” Barr in Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District; and Democratic U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall against Republican Elliott “Spike” Maynard in West Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District.
The coal industry already has supported Barr and Maynard through individuals’ relatively small and legally limited donations. But working together as a 527, the companies potentially could spend millions of dollars on political activity, as long as it isn’t coordinated with the Republicans’ campaigns.
“I think this is certainly troubling, and it’s going to put an entirely different face on American politics now that companies can do this,” said Tony Oppegard, a Lexington attorney and mine safety advocate. “People are going to have to expect the rhetoric to get heated.”
In his letter, Nicholson said his company and three others — Massey Energy, Alliance Resource Partners and Natural Resource Partners — “have already had some theoretical discussions about such an effort and would like to proceed in developing an action plan.”
Several of those companies have been involved in recent mine disasters that led to congressional scrutiny of their safety problems. International Coal Group owned the Sago mine in West Virginia where 12 miners died in 2006. Massey owned the Upper Big Branch mine, also in West Virginia, where 29 miners died in April. Two miners died in April in a Western Kentucky mine owned by an Alliance Resource subsidiary.
“Between them, ICG and Massey have had 41 miners killed in just two disasters,” Oppegard said. “It’s disturbing to see companies that don’t have strong safety records try to defeat politicians, like Ben Chandler, who have fought for stronger mine safety.”
In his letter, Nicholson wrote that an upcoming meeting of the West Virginia Coal Association from Aug. 5-7 would “present an ideal opportunity to have an initial meeting.”
The letter does not say how the three Democrats displeased the coal industry.
Chandler has co-sponsored mine-safety legislation and voted last year in favor of a “cap-and-trade” plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from coal and other fossil fuels. The plan, which the House passed, recently was removed by the Senate from the pending energy bill.
A Chandler spokesman on Tuesday said the congressman would not comment.
Conway’s position on coal has been less clear. In a newspaper article last year, Conway did not oppose the general concept of cap-and-trade if it included adequate protection for Kentucky consumers and businesses, but he did not endorse the proposal before Congress, saying it didn’t meet his test.
Conway spokeswoman Allison Haley declined to comment.
In the West Virginia congressional race, Maynard, the Republican, is a former state Supreme Court chief justice who gained national attention because of his friendship with Massey Energy chief executive Don Blankenship.
Maynard and Blankenship were photographed vacationing together on the French Riviera in 2006. Months later, Maynard cast the court’s deciding vote to overturn a $50 million jury verdict against Massey.
About the Author: John Stamper is the government and education editor for the Lexington Herald-Leader. A native of Monticello, Ky., he has been with the Herald-Leader in a variety of roles since graduating from Western Kentucky University in 2000. Reach him at jstamper@herald-leader.com
Buck Feshear | Jul 27, 2010 | Reply
I’d rather they try to defeat Yarmuth. He’s close to being entrenched in that seat. This would be the year to oust him if it’s ever going to be done.
James R. | Jul 28, 2010 | Reply
The Supreme Court ruling that corporations and unions are people is sickening.
There is a reason that people feel less and less enfranchised in America. Corporations and unions are NOT people and do NOT have the same rights as people in America. They have the right to donate money to candidates but not use money to influence elections.
The Constitution says for the People, not for the Unions and Corporations.
BarryNBG | Jul 28, 2010 | Reply
Wait, why would coal go against Jack. He’s against Cap and Trade (when he campaigns in Kentucky).
michael | Jul 28, 2010 | Reply
would you support a party that is trying it’s best to regulate out of buisness barry?
michael | Jul 28, 2010 | Reply
todays democrat will say anything to get elected.having said that, i in no way think the republican party is above critical scrutiny either. but it seems democrats are bound and determined to wreck the constitution
BarryNBG | Jul 28, 2010 | Reply
Michael, don’t get your question. I do agree the GOP deserves critical scrutiny and none of the GOPers for 2011 are getting my vote.
URNuts | Jul 28, 2010 | Reply
It is the Republicans that have made corporations more important than individual citizens. This so-called effort to expand free speech is just another way for the wealthy to have even more influence over a political process that they already dominate. The unions were included in this decision by defaut and the coporations know that this will create a campaign spending arms race that the unions will loose. When we finally are regressed back to the days of the “Robber-Barons”, and they were called that for good reason, I hope you fools will be happy. But be warned, the good old days weren’t actually so good.
James R. | Jul 28, 2010 | Reply
Can anyone show me in the Constitution where Corporations and Unions have rights? The Constitution gives people rights.
Too many people today site the Constitution only when it suits their needs and do not abide by it at all times. Corporations and Unions are not people.
gneubeck | Jul 28, 2010 | Reply
The question: “Is Obama a Socialist?” has been asked more and more frequently of late. Minimal vetting of Obama regarding his background and policies since his election irrefutably establishes that the man is substantially more than a simple Socialist. He is an extreme left-wing wanna-be Marxist Dictator in the mold of Hugo Chavez. Simply review the caste of hyper-radical Czars that Obama has inundated the WH with; his stated intention to form a brown-shirt Brigade: “Just as powerful and just as well funded as the U.S. military”; his systematic disregard and ridicule for the expressed will of the overwhelming majority of the American public; his insidious attempt to obviate the Electoral College process in order to enhance his re-election chances in 2012, and perhaps beyond; don’t doubt that Obama’s hoarding of a major segment of the approved ‘Stimulus Funding’ is solely for the purpose of underwriting his 2012 campaign; his oft expressed contempt for the U.S. Constitution, calling it “fundamentally flawed”; his blatant disregard, beyond tokenism, for the security on our Southern border; his determined endeavors to destroy America’s energy sector; the progressive government takeover of broad sectors of the American economy, while insidiously leaving the malignant entities of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac unscathed so as to facilitate his objective of wealth re-distribution; his accumulative bankrupting of America, and the mortgaging of our children’s future in order to formulate the crisis syndrome that sustains his ability to progressively cripple our free-enterprise capitalistic system, and to accelerate the descent into the financial abyss of Socialism; policies that make a double-dip recession a certainty; his repeated stoking of the embers of racism to divide the American people (ask Bill Clinton), and to deflect valid criticism of his abhorrent and destructive societal policies; racism that has been institutionalized by the Obama Justice Department; his recent derogatory comments about his opponents attending ribbon-cuttings which underscored the vicious, petulant, vindictive and petty true character of the man. This further display of immature conduct was notably beneath the dignity of the office that Obama occupies; and, further accentuates his lack of fitness for the presidency of the United States - our country - that he has so frequently demeaned in his commentary at home and abroad. Obama is an anomalous catastrophe that has befallen America; and, must be resoundingly rejected and corralled this November, until we can remove him in 2012. In brief, he is a real and present danger to America’s economic and National Security interests. Greg Neubeck
Gator | Jul 28, 2010 | Reply
Amen, Neubeck, this country we all love is under attack by the left wing policies of Obama. November will be a wake-up call for America. Stand-up and vote the Dummycrats out of power in Congress. Princess Polosi and Harry Reid have to go. Cut welfare to the bone, we need to support the truly disabled and sick.
James R. | Jul 28, 2010 | Reply
Hey Neubeck,
If you even own a house, it is 99 percent chance the loan is a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac backed loan. All you people who hate the government amaze me actually. Its humous the ignorance out there. Especially when you would not give up Medicare, Social Security or Medicaid for your parents or most would be dirt poor and in poor houses.
Gator | Jul 28, 2010 | Reply
Wrong James R., wrong, I hope that Neubeck is like me, DEBT FREE. I don’t owe anybody for anything. I pay my way and so should everybody else. Get rid of Gov’t welfare, work or perish.
Dave | Jul 28, 2010 | Reply
The coal companies are a bunch of crooks.
How dare they spend millions of dollars to corrupt our elections just to keep government money running into their pockets like a river.
Government subsidization of the coal industry has to stop!
brian | Jul 28, 2010 | Reply
It’s about time the unions have competition in the elections.
Michelle | Jul 28, 2010 | Reply
Wow. How do you get from coal company donations to Obama is a socialist? It’s random ranting non-sequiter posts like that that make me want to put major distance between myself and the people who express them. Convince me that coal companies have the best interest of Kentucky at heart, and I’ll be happy to listen to their endorsements. But given the history of coal companies, I fear the robber-baron states.
Buck Feshear | Jul 28, 2010 | Reply
1.) Coal companies employ Kentuckians, who spend their money at businesses that employ other Kentuckians.
2.) Coal companies sell their coal to electricity providers in-state, allowing Kentucky to enjoy some of the lowest power rates in the nation.
jerry jackson | Jul 29, 2010 | Reply
We taught the germans how to make petrol from coal, back in the 1930s’ and they almost conquerd the world, then also the University of Texas has a PROCESS TO CONVERT ONE TON OF LIGNITE COAL TO TWO BARRELS OF OIL FOR TWENTY-EIGHT DOLLARS A BARREL. We are a petrol based nation and nothing is cheaper or better, so all you liberal tree huggers grow up and realize that we need jobs not the BS that you put out. Just my 2 cents.
Dave | Jul 29, 2010 | Reply
A better question might be - “Why are people simultaneously defending the coal industry and attacking “Government welfare” when we give more government money to the wealthy coal industry than we do to anyone else?”
And being able to buy politicians even more readily will only put more tax money into the hands of the coal companies.
If you think that the problem with Kentucky politics is that there aren’t enough politicians in the pockets of coal industry executives, you haven’t been paying attention.
Susi Smith | Jul 29, 2010 | Reply
Louisville LOVES John Yarmuth. If you want to get rid of an entrenched politician, why not try to pitch Mitch. And good luck. Nobody likes him, but he spreads so much venom about any of his opponents, he always squeaks by at election time. I think 20 years is long enough for anybody.
ProtoAttorney | Jul 29, 2010 | Reply
I’m sorry, gneubeck, I got bored about two lines into your crazy rant. In the future, could you just summarize using 50 words or less exactly which brand of aluminum foil hat-wearing whackadoodle you happen to be, rather than publishing your entire manifesto? Saves us all a lot of time.
Eddie Bryan | Jul 29, 2010 | Reply
I guess the heat is on from those big banks who invested in coal after telling the world they were for clean energy.
Today I read a story from last month’s Mother Jones, Sell Green, Buy Coal. You should, too.
http://tinyurl.com/28bjzwg
bill | Jul 30, 2010 | Reply
You are a uninformed, ignorant idiot who knows nothing, absoutley nothing about what you write.
Jack McCock | Aug 1, 2010 | Reply
Of course the people who make up the coal industry are going to support Rand Paul. Like he said on the campaign trail during the primary, 90% of Kentucky’s electricity comes from coal. If coal was to be eliminated, then Kentucky would be in the dark. Is this what the liberal Democrats are trying to accomplish?
Dennis Heritage | Aug 2, 2010 | Reply
Hey James R,
If you even read Neubeck’s comments, it’s a 99% chance that you’d realize that he doesn’t “hate the government.” He’s not criticizing the federal government, but rather this rogue administration. All you Obama zombies amaze me really. You don’t think objectively. You don’t know the Constitution or the reasons why our founder established our nation as they did. The ignorance (yours) is quite humorous. Especially when you realize that no one on our side is calling for the abolition of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits that our elderly and helpless are receiving. And also especially considering that the way Obama and his allies in Congress is breaking this country financially, so that WE ALL may end up living dirt poor and in poor houses.
Dennis Heritage | Aug 2, 2010 | Reply
Corrections: “founders” and “… are breaking…”
Teo | Aug 2, 2010 | Reply
Greg, you watch way too much Glenn Beck and the other Fox propagandist liars. Would you document his stated intention to form a brown-shirt Brigade? Where are these brown shirted thugs that so terrify you? And what sort of nefarious activities are they engaged in, Greg? Please document your allegation that the President is engaged in an “insidious” attempt to obviate the Electoral College process in order to enhance his re-election chances in 2012. Your delusional rant is cock-a-block full of one Glenn Beck lie after another. If you ever expect to be taken as anything more than a mental patient who has escaped his padded cell you will need to provide sources for all your allegations. I hope you can, but my money is on Fox “news” as your source and we all know where their lies come from. They make them up!
Teo | Aug 2, 2010 | Reply
Jerry, where did you get the idea that we taught the germans to make petrol from coal?
JazzyJim | Aug 2, 2010 | Reply
It’s amazing the average Republican constituent worries about Democrats and the Constitution when to-date, the Republicans have a) given us Immanent Domain (the right to take one’s property away from them if the government deems it necessary; b) propaganda - Fox/Murdoch; c) wire-tapping American Citizens, d) profiling (Arizona’s attempt); e) torture; f) the worst economy every; g) 2 wars with no real end in site and no Bin Laden, etc., etc., etc. But the blind faith will vote for the companies that oppress them (Coal Mining Executives, Oil Executives) and against themselves over their religulous dogma that has nothing to do with their well being as citizens of the US. Republicans are “giving away” America - try and dispute the above or do you need to see it on a Beck Chalk Board. President Obama didn’t do these things - the Republican Party did.
JazzyJim | Aug 2, 2010 | Reply
Fear and smear campaigning from the Republican Ministry of Propaganda - how dumb are the Republican voters? Do they really get their information only from Beck?
JazzyJim | Aug 2, 2010 | Reply
Only worth 2 cents. The Coal companies owned the Republican Party in Kentucky. There is nothing like paying the poor to go into mines and sacrifice their lives when the big boys on top are living large. You don’t think coal mining is going anywhere do you? You’re being played by the GOP like the sheep you are.
JazzyJim | Aug 2, 2010 | Reply
Actually it’s under attack by the Religulous Nuzi’s that think a quitter like Palin, a failed student like Beck and losers like Limbaugh and Hannity are looking after them. You’re lied to if you’re in the Republican Party - they’re selling you the same nonsense that brought us to the brink of economic collapse - You do recall the 8 years of Bush don’t you? What kind of moron thinks it was going to all get better after a year and a half?
JazzyJim | Aug 2, 2010 | Reply
Only gets asked by the indoctrinated Jesus Camp sheep that follow Beck (you know, the failed student of life, turned carni-barker/propagandist for the Republican Party).
Look into the Republican Party - you’ll find their “actions” are more in goose step as the Fourth Reich than anything that has happened to stop the Bush nightmare of the past year and a half. Beck isn’t worth noting or discussing. It’s the propaganda and intelligent life - doesn’t buy it. Only sheep and the fearful.
Kevin Dunne | Aug 2, 2010 | Reply
All you right wing republican wack jobs. When has industry ever been able to regulate itself? Never. Thats the whole point the founding fathers were making. thats why we have government. To regulate industries so they do not trod all over people. The Coal Companies are all evil anti environmental pro workers death right wing idealogues who do not have the best interest of Kentucky in mind. They only wanna rape the earth for a product that is killing the planet and choking your lungs. Enjoy your dirty coal you right wing jerk offs - and good luck back in the dark ages under your hero Bush.
Kevin Dunne | Aug 2, 2010 | Reply
Jazzy Jim - yes, unfortunetly the Republican douche bags in this country do ONLY get their news from people like Glenn Beck. Why do you think dirty coal supports republicans ONLY? Because they know that Republicans dont have brains and vote for the most anti-environmental, anti-clean energy, rascist candidates out there. Until every last republican is dead - American will never be a great country.
Buck Feshear | Aug 2, 2010 | Reply
After reading the posts from Jazzy Jim and Kevin Dunne, I had to click off their page. They are so ignorant and stupid that they have negative IQs and their posts were siphoning my IQ points away. Thankfully I have plenty enough to spare. Hey you two, how do you manage to survive being as foolish as you are?