6-C

Presidential Visit

THE DOMINION POST THURSDAY, OCT. 22, 2015

Obama criticized at rally

Health care,
coal among
hot topics
BY DAVID BEARD
The Dominion Post

CHARLESTON Mine
industry supporters miners, legislators, officials and
more gathered at the
Capitol
on
Wednesday
morning before President
Obamas community drug
discussion to air their views
about his coal policies during a Coal Forum rally.
Anatole Williams, of
Roane County, was among
those in the crowd assembled near the coal miner
statues at the west end of
the Capitol grounds.
Hes here for the wrong
reasons, said Williams, an
NRA-certified-concealedcarry-permit
instructor.
Hes causing a lot of problems, but hes come here for
another
agenda.
Hes
caused so many people to
lose their jobs, caused so
many people to go on welfare, caused so many people
to actually get on the stuff.
And his Obamacare is
funding the drug problem
hes coming here to talk
about, Williams said. We
do have a big problem. And

David Beard/The Dominion Post

Adam Clark (left), of Ashland, Ky., and Chad Mooney, of Barboursville, hold signs during Wednesdays rally in
Charleston, prior to the appearance of President Barack Obama.
his names Obama.
Coal Forum co-chairman Chris Hamilton told
the crowd that he appreciates the presidents trip to
address the drug problem.
But we also want him to
hear and see the negative
effects and real-life suffering resulting from his war
on coal and his war on the
state of West Virginia and
our families.

The coal supporters need

to be professional and civil
but not back away from
standing up to be heard and
counted, he said.
Do you think theres a
correlation, perhaps causation, with our high unemployment rate and federal coal policies? Youre
darn right there is,
Hamilton said.
I also question his sin-

cerity over his concerns for

drug use when his actions on
our industry and our miners
are so laced with callousness
and an absolute hollow contempt for the men and women who mine coal.
Many at the rally carried
signs. Among them: Obama
is not West Virginias President. Presidents Enemy
List Official Member. And
his oft-cited quote: If some-

body wants to build a coal

plant itll bankrupt them.
This is our POTUS.
Senate President Bill Cole,
R-Mercer, was among the legislators who attended.
I sincerely hope, as
part of the presidents
agenda to combat drug
abuse, he recognizes the
role that poverty, joblessness and underemployment play in the big pic-

ture, he said. Part of the

answer to that is more jobs
and economic growth.
One result of the presidents environmental policies, Cole said, is a
$250 million state budget
deficit, due largely to severance tax collections falling
$190 million below estimates.
The evidence is very
clear that there is a war on
coal that is destroying West
Virginia. ... We lead the nation in drug overdoses and
there can be no mistake about
the correlation between the
loss of our coal jobs and our
growing drug epidemic.
Sen. Shelly Moore Capito,
R-W.Va., said shes here also
to join the president while he
talks about a scourge on
West Virginia and really the
country, and thats heroin
and opioid addiction.
But she also wants to
emphasize the terrible
price of his policies in the
form of layoffs, state budget
cuts and more.
Lets talk about what
this is going to do to our
most vulnerable population, she said: Not just outof-work miners, but seniors
on fixed income whose electricity rates will rise by as
much as 30 percent.
This is a human
tragedy that the presidents
about to land in right now,
and weve got to make sure
that he hears our side of the
story, Capito said.

Reactions positive for Obamas drug-addiction speech

Attendees glad
topic addressed;
say it hits home
BY DAVID BEARD
The Dominion Post

CHARLESTON When
Wednesdays
community
conversation on drug addiction, hosted by President
Obama at the East End Family Resource Center, came to
an end, the crowd poured out
into the afternoon sunshine.
Several took a few moments to share their
thoughts about the event
with The Dominion Post.
Dr. Joshua Dower, who
works with WVU Childrens Hospital and Mon
General Palliative Care, is
chief medical officer of
Stonestreet
Healthcare
and executive director of
Morg antowns
Family
Grief Center.
I enjoyed the discussion today, he said. Addiction has impacted all of
our lives. His own brother
is a recovered addict. As a

physician it can be really

embarrassing to experience addiction in your
family. My brother really walked out of my life
for 10 years.
Dower thinks about his
mothers grief during that
time. But now his brother is
working at Morgantown
Sober Living helping other
addicts in recovery and he
considers the amazing family transformation from
embarrassment to pride.
Hes glad to see Obama
bring attention to that issue, but hopes it also brings
resources for grief and loss
issues. It would be valuable
to have coupled with treatment centers, centers to
help families whove lost
loved ones to addiction.
Its a great place to put
those two things together.
Rolly Sullivan is WVU
Health Sciences vice chair
and addictions program
director.
I thought it was a very
productive conversation,
Sullivan said. Obama skillfully brought home the
message in a political, per-

Biden not running

in presidential race
Associated Press

WASHINGTON Vice
President Joe Biden declared Wednesday he wont
run for president in 2016.
In an appearance in the
White House Rose Garden,
Biden said he always knew
that the window for a viable campaign might close
before he could determine
whether his family was
emotionally prepared for
another campaign so soon
after the death of his son
Beau, from brain cancer,
in May.
Biden said his family
was prepared to back him,
but that he nonetheless
would not be a candidate.
Unfortunately, I believe were out of time, he
said, flanked by President
Barack Obama and Bidens
wife, Jill.
A Biden aide said the
vice president made his decision Tuesday night.
Encouraged by some
who were seeking an alternative to Clinton, Biden

spent the last several

months engaged in discussions with his family and
political advisers about entering the primary. Yet as
the deliberations dragged
on, Democrats began publicly questioning whether it
was too late for him to run.
Notably, Biden did not
endorse Clinton or any of
the other Democratic candidates. Instead, he used the
announcement to outline
the path he said the party
should take in the 2016 campaign, including a call for
them to run on Obamas
record. In what could have
been a campaign speech,
Biden deplored the influence of unlimited contributions on politics, called for
expanding access to college
educations and called on
Democrats to recognize that
while Republicans may be
the opposition, they are
not our enemy.
While I will not be a
candidate, I will not be
silent, Biden said.

sonal and practical way.

Sullivan thought about
what message he would
give to Obama if hed been
invited to speak, and thinks
of a conversation he just
had with one of his patients
in recovery. Tell him that
treatment works, the patient said. Im sure that I
would be dead by now if I
didnt come for treatment.
Theres not nearly enough
treatment available for
those who need it.
Delegate Barbara Evans
Fleischauer,
D-Monongalia, was among the legislators in the crowd. She
has a friend with a child in
recovery, another friend
who lost a child. She appreciated the emphasis on
family and hope.
To me, that was the big
take-home point how
personal this is, she said.
Another clear message
is the need for treatment,
she said. You can break
your leg and get immediate help. Drug addiction
should be treated as any
other illness.
State Department of

Capito praises White House support

Submitted to The Dominion Post

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore

Capito (R-W.Va.) attended
President Obamas community discussion in
Charleston on Wednesday
about the heroin and prescription drug abuse epidemic in America.
President Obama also
announced new public
and private sector efforts
to address this epidemic.
Capito provided a statement later in the day:
I appreciate President Obama traveling to
West Virginia today to adHealth and Human Resources Secretary Karen
Bowling said, I think that
the most valuable piece of it
is the continued conversation about the awareness of
substance abuse being not
only a state issue but a national issue.

dress a devastating problem the growing drug

epidemic harming our
communities,
families
and loved ones and
raise needed attention
about the issues facing
the Mountain State. Several of the efforts announced by the administration today enjoy bipartisan support and are important steps to end prescription drug abuse and
heroin use, improve access to treatment and
stem this mounting public health concern.
Over the past several
The nation needs to talk
about the stigma attached to
addiction, she said. For people to get help, we have to be a
supportive community. That
means local, that means state,
that means as a nation.
Addiction has to be
talked about as a disease,

months, I have worked

with local communities,
law enforcement, health
professionals and others
to develop a spectrum of
solutions to curb this epidemic and am pleased we
have a partner in the
White House on this issue.
While we still have a long
road ahead, I am encouraged that with ongoing efforts in Congress and the
new efforts announced by
the administration today,
we can make meaningful
strides toward a drug-free
West Virginia.
not a crime. Then I think
well be successful in making headway.
The state has made
progress in combating drug
abuse, Bowling said, but we
have to keep bringing
awareness. I think that is
what happened today.