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UPDATE 3/26/17 @ 10:15 p.m. TEAYS VALLEY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- When a world leader's platform is in the middle of a warehouse, there's usually a good story tucked close by.

Vice President Mike Pence spent almost all his Saturday trip to the mountain state on the campus of Teays Valley business, Foster Supply

"And let me thank our hosts today, Ronald Reagan Foster and Nancy Reagan Foster. I just said a little bit ago, they're my second favorite Ron and Nancy's I've ever met." Vice President Mike Pence said.

Owners Ron and Nancy hosted one of the most powerful men in the world and say he was a gracious guest.

"He's so personable, and he remembered our names, remembered our employees, remembered what business we do, so it was remarkable. Wouldn't you agree?" Nancy Reagan Foster said.

The focus of the visit was small businesses like Ron's, which started in 1981, with the help of his twin sons. The legacy is still going strong.

He said, "We're transitioning into the next generation, and the United States of America has just transitioned from one presidency to another, and I think small business is gonna have a voice."

Brothers Ron and Geoff are also owners and run different divisions of the company.

"The round table discussion was very valuable and just to see it was really interesting, just seeing that the current administration in Trump and Pence are very, very interested in small business," said Ron.

"He talked to us about certain issues and then came down here and actually remembered those issues, talked about them, mentioned them in his speech," said Geoff.

Parts of a round table discussion spilled over into the occasional joke from the podium

The Vice President joked, "I just heard that you have a wall division here at Fosters. Maybe we need to talk."

A family business now hoping the Vice President remembers the notes he took in West Virginia.

"Hello West Virginia! It is great to be back, if only just to say thanks," he addresses the crowd after walking onto a small stage inside a Foster Supply warehouse.

Foster Supply hosted two events for Vice President Pence, a campaign-style speech with an audience of an estimated 150 people and a more intimate roundtable discussion with approximately a dozen small business owners.

"President Donald Trump is gonna be the best friend American small business will ever have," Pence told the crowd.

In the larger setting, SBA Administrator Linda McMahon helped rally the crowd.

"I've been bankrupt. I've had my house auctioned off, my car repossessed in the driveway, pregnant with my second child at the time, so i get it," she said. "And that's what President Trump wants to do -- proper taxes, proper regulatory environment, making sure that we are providing our small businesses with the tools that we need to start, to grow and to be successful."

Tim Burns, the CEO of Grassmasters, LLC, a landscaping business located in Scott Depot, was one of the few selected to shake hands with the VP and one of a dozen to participate in the roundtable discussion

"Everybody really had a chance to go around and talk about their business, problems they face," he says. "Meeting Vice President Pence was definitely an honor, and he was very open to what we had to say, and I feel like it was a very good conversation."

Not much from the sit-down conversation made its way to the stage. Instead, Pence preached a message to the crowd that the Trump administration has not forgotten West Virginians.

"West Virginia voted overwhelmingly to make Donald Trump the 45th President of the United States, and we will never forget it," Pence said.

Predictably, the conversation also moved to building a wall, healthcare and coal.

"Right after we dropped our hands on January 20th, it was official, the war on coal is over, and a new era of American Energy has begun."

A day after legislation was pulled off the House floor that would have unraveled former President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, Pence told a gathering Saturday in Scott Depot, West Virginia, that "we will end the Obamacare nightmare and give the American people the world class health care that they deserve."

He told a few hundred people at construction materials firm Foster Supply that Friday's setback was a victory for the status quo in Washington, D.C., "but I promise you that victory won't last very long."

Earlier, Pence and U.S. Small Business Administrator leader Linda McMahon held a private discussion with a dozen business owners about the challenges they face.

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UPDATE: Owners of Putnam County business talk about Pence's visit - WSAZ-TV

In the fight to replace Obamacare, Vice President Mike Pence decided to pay the Freedom Caucus a visit. But it's who's missing that has everyone talking. Nathan Rousseau Smith (@fantasticmrnate) explains. Buzz60

Vice President Mike Pence is expected attend an NCAA South Regionals game at FedExForum.(Photo: Nick Thomas/The Blade via AP)

WASHINGTON Vice President Mike Pence wont be attending an NCAA basketball game in Memphis on Friday after all.

Pences office confirmed that he is postponing trips to Memphis and Little Rock, Arkansas, to stay in Washington and work with President Donald Trump as the House prepares to vote on a GOP plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.

The House is scheduled to vote on the legislation later Friday.

Pence had planned to attend NCAA South Regionals in Memphis. The former Indiana governor has ties to one of the four teams that is playing in Memphis for a bid in the Elite Eight.

Pence's wife, Karen, attended Butler. In a 2013 profile story, a reporter for The Indianapolis Star wrote: "She smiles as she quotes him saying that until Butler made it to the Final Four, 'Our kids didn't know I was making an alumni reference when I called mom a bulldog.' "

Butler made it to the Final Four in 2010 and 2011, both times losing in the championship game. The Bulldogs play North Carolina in the Sweet Sixteen at 6:09 p.m. Friday at FedExForum.

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Vice president Mike Pence cancels Memphis trip to NCAA tournament - The Commercial Appeal

Vice President Mike Pence said Saturday that congressional Democrats wont be able to savor very long the survival of Obamacare, after Trump administration and House Republican leaders lost a bid to repeal and replace the law.

Nancy Pelosi, the leader of the Democrats, actually said yesterday was a victory for the American people, Mr. Pence told an audience in Charleston, West Virginia. That victory wont last very long. We will end the Obamacare nightmare and give the American people the health care they deserve.

President Trump and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan canceled a House vote Friday on legislation to replace and repeal Obamacare after they couldnt muster enough support from conservative lawmakers and some moderate Republicans. Democrats were united against the measure.

Mr. Trump spent much of Saturday at his Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. He said after the high-profile loss that Obamacare will soon fail on its own due to rising costs and dwindling options for consumers.

The vice president said he was inspired by Mr. Trumps determination to keep his promise to the American people on health care.

You saw his resolve, Mr. Pence said.

He said the administration will turn next to cutting taxes, including lowering the corporate tax rate to 15 percent from the current 35 percent.

We want to cut taxes for every American, he said.

Referring to Senate Democrats decision to try to filibuster the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch, Mr. Pence also said Saturday that the nominee will be confirmed one way or another. He said the administration is counting on the support of West Virginias senators, Democrat Joe Manchin III and Republican Shelley Moore Capito.

If we can get the help of Joe Manchin and with the help of Shelley Moore Capito, Judge Neil Gorsuch will soon be Justice Neil Gorsuch, Mr. Pence said.

See original here:
Pence: Democrats' victory on health care 'won't last long' - Washington Times

As VPMike Pence prepared to come to Jacksonville last Saturday to sell theAmerican Health Care Actto Florida, some of the best members of the media dreaded it.

A TV persons reaction: Oh, God, I hope I dont get called in.

A print guys take: I hate watching these politician events.

In the end, neither of them were there. Nor were any of the real agenda setters in the local press. The local press turnout was sparse. The national correspondents were no-names. It turned out, a week later, all that was a bad sign.

Also a bad sign: the facility where the event was held an envelope manufacturing plant had the virtues and drawbacks of a secure warehouse setting.

The principle virtue: fencing and police at the perimeter of the building and blocks away controlling ingress and egress managed to keep the protesters away a determined band of Democratic/Progressive activists kept, for the most part, out of the medias line of sight.

The drawbacks were myriad.

One such drawback: no restrooms for the public. While there were portalets, there was no hand washing station. Politicians and the kind of party volunteers who made the apparently contested invite list love to shake hands. With those grins and grips on Saturday, they shared more than bonhomie.

Another such drawback: securitys key interest was in keeping the media in the pen.

Yes, yes, I know. Its 2017 and the media are the most dishonest people in the world, except for InfowarsandRussia Today and Fox and Friends, of course. But the people tasked with publicizing the event spent the whole time being watched.

We were forbidden to leave the pen after about 12:30. For me, a local guy who knew half the room, that precluded me from the kind of conversations I would have had with certain people in any other milieu.

However, the audience could come in the pen. This led to people approaching more than one female TV reporter and striking up conversations that werent of mutual interest.

So, beyond not getting the publicity the VP would have wanted, and beyond the ham-handed logistics of the event, what else went wrong?

The waste of political capital of local and state pols who made the trek.

President Trump supports the bill 100 percent, and we all do, Pence said. A new era for federal/state Medicaid partnership has begun.

LOL.

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry got a warm reception from the same folkswho sent him hate mail over not vetoingthe HRO, but his words now look pretty hollow given the inaction of the House, which couldnt get repeal and replace done when given a free kick on goal during what passes for the presidents honeymoon period.

Rep. John Rutherford may have enjoyed watching March Madness with the VP on the plane to Jacksonville, but he ended up at the periphery of the debate otherwise.

And Florida Gov. Rick Scott didnt help himself much either.

How much time did Scott spend conferring with the Trump administration on health care in recent months? How does this Trumpian botch affect his Senate run next year?

Scott, the most prominent Obamacare critic of any state governor, spent his entire administration rejecting the Affordable Care Act.

Pence rewardedthe governors messaging the day before in a press release and letter to HHS SecretaryTom Price. The VP vowed to allow states like Florida the ability to have a block grant to administer their plans, and a work requirement for coverage.

State solutions, Pence said, are the best way forward for Florida.

President Trump supports the bill 100 percent, and we all do, Pence said. A new era for federal/state Medicaid partnership has begun.

So, heres what happened in Jacksonville. The VP decided to make his stand here, giving Rutherford a platform because neighboringTed Yoho andRon DeSantis werent feeling this bill. The governor came in and got his moment in the spotlight. And Mayor Curry made the stop before going on Spring Break.

All of them got a news cycle.

But what happens the next time they try to sell a Trump initiative?

Will they be as useful?

After his re-election,George W. Bush said what good is political capital if you dont use it.

Then he wasted it and lost it for a solid decade, until he took up portraiture.

Can Donald Trump paint? And do we have to wait until 2027 to figure it out?

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How Mike Pence wasted Jacksonville's time - Florida Politics (blog)

I'm beginning to see a pattern: To get attention in mass media, faith-based events and/or culture have to be tied, however tenuously, to U.S. President Donald J. Trump or his administration.

I get it: Sex sells, and few things, it seems, are more "sexy," news-wise, than the 45th President of the United States and his team.

But sometimes, this desire for a political connection dents an otherwise good and thoughtful piece on culture, faith, and people -- you know, stuff that sometimes exists apart from politics.

For an example, let's turn again to one of Britain's top progressive newspapers,The Guardian. It should be noted that this paper began life as the Manchester Guardian and was once home to Malcolm Muggeridge, a once-socialist reporter whose Christian conversion was one of the great biographical stories of the last century, if you are talking about interesting lives in journalism.

"St. Mugg," as he was known after his radical conversion at age 60, probably wouldn't find a home at The Guardiantoday. But there are some good writers contributing to its pages, however much they may be caught up in the frenzy of "Must-include-a-Trump-reference" that has overtaken us.

Say hello, then, to Jemayel Khawaja, a freelancer in Los Angeles who knows music and culture quite well. The Pakistani-born Khawaja authored one of the better analyses of contemporary Christian music that I've seen in the media, once you get past the obligatory, almost tortured,Trumpiana:

Let's stipulate that Pence is a conservative, perhaps too much so for some folks' tastes. We can also grant he isn't liked by many on the left. But, really, "Christian Supremacist"? In the context of writing about largely evangelical music festivals?

The journalistic issue is not only might this be a tenuous connection at best (I'm guessing it's been a number of years since Pence was at a similar event), but it also obscures the greater issue being reported, and that's a shame.

Khawaja, after all, provides some rather trenchant cultural analysis here. Noting that there is now a crossover between those who love "Jesus music" as well as the content generated by a Lady Gaga or a Beyonc, the author explains some of the consequences:

These are interesting, even demanding, sentences.Khawaja has identified the tensions within evangelicalism, tied them to culture, and suggested things are moving a tad leftward among the millennial evangelical set and those following behind.That, more than what happened to Mike Pence in 1978, is likely of greater import.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, Pence will have at most eight years as Vice President to influence American politics. The teens and young adults who "want to be known for what we love, not what we reject" might well be active for much longer.

I can imagine, however,Khawaja either believing or being told by an editor, that the story won't fly without the necessary political bits, and that's how they got there. After all, one of the things editors often do is suggest (or even demand) an insert in a story that may or may not jibe with the reporter's vision. It happens.

In this story, which raises valid questions about the Christian music festival scene and the evolution of the culture, however, it would have been helpful to see more of the millennials and a little less of the VPOTUS. The times, after all, may well be a-changing.

FIRST IMAGE: Photo of then-Governor Mike Pence speaking with supporters at a 2016 campaign rally and church service at the Living Word Bible Church in Mesa, Arizona by Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons.

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Guardian drags Mike Pence into Christian music festival story, blunting crucial points - GetReligion (blog)