Meet Andy Barr.
No, not the guy with the winning smile and the lapel pin in the foreground. The guy doing the deer-in-headlights impression in the background. That’s Andy. Or, rather, that’s Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), as of a few hours ago.
Barr was elected to the House last November, running on the Republican/Coal ticket. We noted his contribution to the GOP convention, which consisted of hugging a piece of coal as he walked around Tampa. Probably not literally, but who knows.
Anyway, it’s only fitting that Barr has chosen as the location of his swearing-in party, that celebration of his officially becoming a member of Congress, the headquarters of the National Mining Association. From BoldProgressives.org:
During his campaign, he even had a coal company executive pose as a miner for a commercial he cut. We’ve just been passed on a list of Congressional swearing-in and inaugural parties today, and it turns out Barr is having his party today from 5:30-7:30 PM ET at the National Mining Association (NMA), one of the chief lobbying organizations for Big Coal.
BoldProgressives notes that NMA gave Barr $5,000 for his campaign; he raised a solid $178,000 from mining interests in total. Celebrate good times, come on!
This will not be the first time Barr has been at NMA headquarters. Last September, during his campaign, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) hosted a reception for Barr in the organization’s offices.
Nor, I suspect, will tonight be the last time Barr shows up at NMA headquarters. Maybe they should just give him a little office and a desk. If someone needs to cast a vote, I’m sure the NMA would happily send a staffer over to the Capitol to do that hard work.
Hat-tip: Paul Rauber
