Every effort has been made at AT to keep politics out of the discussion. That will continue as much as possible in the future. In fact, with all the chaos going on in DC, I’ve taken a pause on issues I would normally have posted in an effort to stay neutral prior to the election.

At this time however …

As most know, West Virginia Congressional representation was reduced from 3 to 2. The portion of the state I live in lost it’s Representative and, while I don’t like the reduction in numbers, I wasn’t all that upset to lose the Representative we had.

In the recent election, the new guy, Alex Mooney was chosen to take over the top half of the state. I was OK with that. Now we learn that he has chosen to begin his campaign to replace Senator Joe Manchin in the 2024 election.

I don’t mind that Mooney wants to move up in the world. But I have to wonder if he had this move in mind when he chose to run for the current seat, which he won’t even fill until January. If that is the case, perhaps he should have run out the clock on his current assignment, announced his campaign plan for Senate and put all effort to unseating Manchin in 2024 instead of running again for Congress.

For the sake of this discussion, I’ll give Representative Mooney the benefit of the doubt and assume he really did just wake up a day or so after the recent election and decide on the Senate run. So, in that scenario, why should his decision to run for Senate bug me a little?

One of the reasons I didn’t mind that my current Representative was removed from his post was his vote to permit spending of money we didn’t have. There’s a lot of that going around in Washington and it has to stop. Anyone who’s had the pleasure of witnessing or actually “sloppin’ the hogs” may share my image of Politicians and Bureaucrats running to the trough when the Treasury dumps the “slop.” In this case, of course, the slop is our hard earned taxpayer dollars.

Looking ahead to the the new Republican majority in the House, a great investment of time will be required of Representatives to curtail an out of control spending spree. That assumes, and you know what “assume” means, that the new majority is sincere in their claim to not abuse Taxpayers and right the ship. For the most recent history, it seems the addiction to spend other people’s money has been far stronger than the promises made when seeking our vote. But we’ll see!

So, even before my new Representative begins service to his new constituency, he is already planning to dilute the 120% effort required to make changes in Congress by starting a campaign to remove himself from his current job. Honestly, if Mooney had stated his Senate run during the primary election some months ago, I likely would have stayed with my current Representative McKinley and considered his vote to spend a one-off. My mistake!

Don’t get me wrong. Joe Manchin needs a kick in the pants. He’s played Charlie Brown to Schumer’s Lucy too many times. He was a great governor and a nice guy. In my view, as a Senator, unreliable … perhaps naive. With the new shift in power in the Senate, his role as a persuasive Senator may well diminish, especially if the Democrats pick up Georgia. He may find it necessary to move away from his lifetime party in order to protect West Virginia’s workers and economy from the destructive energy path this Administration is on, supported by the likes of Schumer and company.

Senator Manchin will likely not have an easy run in 2024. If he can’t alter his course, perhaps Mooney, or another yet to be announced candidate will gain enough popularity to unseat him. There’s a lot of time and a lot of options to play out.

In the meantime, I want a full time Congressional Representative to take up the fight for issues such as energy, better utilization of our tax dollars, runaway crime, the border and so on and so on. I hope Representative Mooney will not let his future get in the way of our present.

Plus, it’s about time we stop “sloppin’ the hogs!“

(Every effort is made to be accurate. Any corrections or suggestions should be made in the comment section.)