{"id":16941,"date":"2016-12-09T05:13:26","date_gmt":"2016-12-09T05:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=16941"},"modified":"2016-12-09T05:15:50","modified_gmt":"2016-12-09T05:15:50","slug":"democrats-rip-gop-as-coal-miners-prepare-to-lose-health-coverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/democrats-rip-gop-as-coal-miners-prepare-to-lose-health-coverage.html","title":{"rendered":"Democrats Rip GOP As Coal Miners Prepare To Lose Health Coverage"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Democrats Rip GOP As Coal Miners Prepare To Lose Health Coverage<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Democrats Rip GOP As Coal Miners Prepare To Lose Health Coverage:-<\/strong> With one day to go before the government shuts down, a handful of Senate Democrats marched outside the Capitol on Thursday night to demand Republicans include a one-year extension of health benefits for coal miners in the year-end spending bill. <\/span><\/p>\n

Despite a year of campaign promises to fight for the \u201cworking man\u201d and vows by Donald Trump to keep coal miners employed, the president-elect has yet to chime in on the battle raging in the Senate. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) didn\u2019t mention Trump by name but scolded his colleagues for touting promises in election ads that they are for the middle and working class but then backing down when miners stand to lose health benefits by Dec. 31. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018We\u2019re going to make sure that working men and women really get a fair shake; they\u2019ve been screwed and left behind\u2019 \u2015 all of our advertising and campaigns say that,\u201d Manchin said on the Senate floor before heading outside to join members of the United Mine Workers of America. \u201cAll I\u2019m saying is now fulfill it. It\u2019s either put up or shut up. You\u2019ve asked them to vote for you because of this reason.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier Thursday, the House passed a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open until April 28 before adjourning for the year. It would extend unionized miners\u2019 health care benefits for the length of the bill. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Manchin and fellow coal-state senators have pressed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for nearly a year to pass legislation that would prevent the medical and pension benefits of retired coal miners from going insolvent. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now they\u2019re willing to wait on salvaging the retirement funds as long as health benefits are extended for one year rather than just four months. Republican leaders showed no signs of caving as the Senate wrapped up business for the day. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) stressed that there\u2019s unanimity in the Democratic caucus to continue fighting throughout Friday for the health benefits and for a \u201cBuy America\u201d provision that would require American iron and steel products be used in infrastructure projects. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) successfully stripped the \u201cBuy America\u201d provision from a water resources bill that the House passed Thursday and the Senate is expected to vote on before leaving for the year. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve tweeted the president-elect on both of these issues \u2015 on Buy America and the mine workers \u2015 and he has not said anything,\u201d Brown told reporters Thursday. \u201cAll we\u2019re asking is for him to call Paul Ryan on Buy America and call Mitch McConnell on this and live up to what he said in his campaign.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Manchin and Brown were joined by four of their colleagues for the evening press conference outside the Capitol, including incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). Schumer told reporters he would vote against the continuing resolution if it doesn\u2019t include at least one of the measures Democrats are asking for.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Sen Schumer tells @mkraju<\/a> and me that he's going to vote against gov spending bill "if we don\u2019t do something for the miners or Buy America"<\/p>\n

— Alex Rogers (@arogDC) December 8, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n