Today marks one month since a tax-payer-paid, top staffer for Congressman David McKinley (R-WV) used his Twitter account to smear WV workers. Richie Parsons, McKinley's district director, tweeted "Dominion should make signs that say 'Tell WV workers: Sober up and stop abusing drugs. #truthinadvertising.'" Andy Cockburn first talked about this offensive remark on Daily Kos here.
West Virginia communities lose out on millions of dollars when out-of-state companies come in, exploit the natural resources in our beautiful state, and refuse to hire local.This is an old, familiar story in coal-rich West Virginia. But it doesn't have to happen this time. As a member of the House of Representatives, I will fight for good-paying jobs for West Virginians. While we transition to future opportunities, companies that benefit from our natural resources should be hiring West Virginians.
I believe that WV workers can't be beat, and can't imagine why our own representatives should be perpetuating negative stereotypes and offensive generalizations. WV, like every other state in this country, has citizens who abuse alcohol and drugs, but most West Virginians are hard-working, honest people who want to contribute. Let's give them a chance. Find out more about what my campaign is doing here, and please share our petition. Congressman McKinley has allowed attacks on workers to go on long enough. West Virginia workers need a representative who will fight for them.