They Keep Electing Terrible Leaders— Maybe They Should Ask To Rejoin Virginia
It’s not even worth your prayers to hope for a Jim Justice loss in the “contest” to take over Joe Manchin’s West Virginia Senate seat. The Democrats foolishly nominated a “me too” GOP-lite corporate Dem who engenders no enthusiasm and will lose massively in November no matter what happens between now and then. Not only is West Virginia one of the reddest states in the nation, Justice has raised $3,653,205 to Democrat Glenn Elliott’s $251,062.
And Justice really is a huge pile of collected dog crap. His latest assault on reality is a claim that his malfeasance running the legendary Greenbrier Resort, leading to its bankruptcy, is the faulty of the “Democrat Machine.” The hotel and resort, built in 1913, boasts 710 rooms, 20 restaurants and bars and a controversial casino. Justice used the badly mismanaged hotel as collateral for massive loans which he has failed to repay. The hotel was foreclosed on and is scheduled to be auctioned off on August 27.
He claims— without evidence of any kind— that the foreclosure is a political move to embarrass him. His attorney, corporate lawyer Bob Wolford issued a nonsense statement, “Another Political Stunt By The Democrat Machine,” claiming that “the Greenbrier will not be sold, and the Justice family will take all necessary action to ensure that there will not be any adverse impact on their ownership of the Greenbrier or the Greenbrier’s operations and the ability of the Greenbrier to continue to provide world class service for its guests will be uninterrupted… After purchasing the loan, Beltway immediately declared the loan to be in default and initiated suit against the Governor and certain of his Companies and commenced foreclosure proceedings against the Greenbrier. This deceitful move by JPMorgan is nothing more than the latest political stunt by the Democrats to undermine the next Republican Senator from West Virginia. In recent days, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s staunch ties to the Democrat party and his support for the Biden-Harris administration and continued control of the Senate by the Democrats have been well documented. This political stunt is just the latest of several rounds of attacks on Governor Justice and his businesses for political gain.”
It’s worth noting that Justice’s coal mining business is also delinquent on $5 million in fines for safety violations. His companies own millions of dollars to shady businesses around the world, including in Russia, the Virgin Islands and India.
Justice, a Republican who switched to the Democratic Party to run for governor, wound then promptly declaring his fealty to Trump and switched back to the GOP, has a long, sordid history of bad faith financial dealings, systematic tax evasion and legal shenanigans that paint a picture of his failings as a businessman, despite his wealth [drastically declining] and high-profile political career.
During the pandemic, Justice and his family received something in the neighborhood of $24 million in relief funds— with $10 million going to the Greenbrier alone. Despite receiving substantial aid, there were no guarantees the money would be used to prevent layoffs, raising anger about his lack of ethics in the use of public funds.
Incoming Republican senator— he’ll fit right in. Under Justice, West Virginia is failing— dismally— in comparison with the rest of the country. No matter what the measurement, Jim Justice’s West Virginia is doing significantly worse than the rest of the country:
Unemployment rate-
U.S.- 3.6%
West Virginia- 5.1%
Life Expectancy
U.S.- 78.8 years
West Virginia- 74.8 years
Obesity rate-
U.S.- 32.0%
West Virginia- 39.7%
Diabetes Prevalence-
U.S.- 10.5%
West Virginia- 15.7%
Adults with a Bachelor’s Degree or higher
U.S.- 33.1%
West Virginia- 20.3%
Per Pupil expenditure-
U.S.- $13,187
West Virginia- $12,515
Gross Domestic Product growth rate-
U.S.- 2.1%
West Virginia- 0.8%
State GDP per capita-
U.S.- $68,357
West Virginia- $44,702
Broadband Access-
U.S.- 86.6%
West Virginia- 79.2%
Poverty Rate-
U.S.- 11.4%
West Virginia- 16.6%
Median Household Income-
U.S.- $70,784
West Virginia- $51,615
2020 Vote for Donald Trump-
U.S.- 46.8%
West Virginia- 68.6%
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