"This is an opportunity of a lifetime, but essentially I said: 'No offense to you or the campaign but I just decline you guys coming in here,'" McMurray told WDBJ-TV.
"At that time she said, 'Are you sure? There's going to be a lot of press, a lot of activity.'"
But news reports of McMurray's just saying no brought him even more business.
Liberals insist the president's words were taken out of context. But men and women who are putting in 12-hour to 16-hour days to make a go of it do not appreciate being told, especially after paying their taxes, that they owe politicians for their success.
***
THE Census Bureau reported that from April 1, 2010, to July 1, 2011, the nation's population grew at its slowest rate in nearly 70 years - by less than 1 percent.
Births fell below 4 million over those 15 months.
"Population is a very strong motivation for consumer spending," said Chris Christopher, director of U.S. and global consumer economics research at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Mass.
"Weak population growth due to fewer children will play itself out in years to come."
Bad economic policy has bad consequences.
***
THE U.S. Postal Service is taking heat for printing up too many stamps commemorating "The Simpsons" cartoon characters.
In 1993, the service sold 517 million Elvis stamps. Postal officials ordered a billion Simpsons stamps.
They sold 318 million.
D'oh.
"If the Postal Service can't address a simple matter such as determining how many commemorative stamps to produce, it shows they can't address the larger problems," said Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste.
Fair comment. The Postal Service lost $5.2 billion in the last quarter alone.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- On July 17, 1953 -- just before the cease-fire that would "end" the war in Korea -- Private Virgil Boyd Adkins, 21, of Hinton, stepped forward and saved the lives of his fellow soldiers in the 3rd Infantry Division.
His heroism earned him a Silver Star but cost him his life. His family marked his grave in Summers County with a homemade marker.
This month, the Department of Veterans Affairs finally gave Adkins the memorial and the military marker he deserved.
Fred Long, editor of the Hinton News, organized the ceremony. Long had discovered Adkins' grave and worked to secure a proper marker.
The citation for Adkins read, "Disregarding the heavy enemy fire, he repeatedly moved about the terrain under fire to aid wounded raiders . . . and directed heavy fire upon the foe until he was mortally wounded by intense enemy automatic weapons fire."
Had he lived, Adkins would have celebrated his 80th birthday this year. Thanks to his heroism, many of his fellow soldiers celebrated theirs.
South Korea survived and thrived and became a democracy worthy of the sacrifice of Virgil Boyd Adkins and more than 33,000 other American soldiers - and all those Americans who have been stationed there for 59 years just in case North Korea re-started the war.
***
DELEGATE Rick Snuffer, R-Raleigh, will address the Republican National Convention in prime time on Monday as the party raises the profile of the man who is taking on 18-term Democratic congressman Nick Joe Rahall.
Snuffer will discuss coal and the Obama administration's war on coal, an issue in the presidential race.
"And no area in the country is more dependent on coal than West Virginia's 3rd Congressional District," Snuffer told the Register-Herald in Beckley.
Snuffer grew up in McDowell County. "I remember walking along the railroad track with Mom, picking up coal," he said.
Snuffer's appearance will help Mitt Romney. President Obama took the coal mining states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia four years ago.
By making the war on coal an issue, Republicans better their chances of taking those three states and their 51 votes in the Electoral College.
They also better the chances of ending a reckless war that threatens the economy.
***
PRESIDENT Obama's "You Didn't Build That" admonition to successful people sparked a backlash among small business owners.
Chris McMurray, owner of the Crumb And Get It bakery in Radford, Va., refused to let Vice President Joe Biden make a campaign stop at his shop.
"This is an opportunity of a lifetime, but essentially I said: 'No offense to you or the campaign but I just decline you guys coming in here,'" McMurray told WDBJ-TV.
"At that time she said, 'Are you sure? There's going to be a lot of press, a lot of activity.'"
But news reports of McMurray's just saying no brought him even more business.
Liberals insist the president's words were taken out of context. But men and women who are putting in 12-hour to 16-hour days to make a go of it do not appreciate being told, especially after paying their taxes, that they owe politicians for their success.
***
THE Census Bureau reported that from April 1, 2010, to July 1, 2011, the nation's population grew at its slowest rate in nearly 70 years - by less than 1 percent.
Births fell below 4 million over those 15 months.
"Population is a very strong motivation for consumer spending," said Chris Christopher, director of U.S. and global consumer economics research at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Mass.
"Weak population growth due to fewer children will play itself out in years to come."
Bad economic policy has bad consequences.
***
THE U.S. Postal Service is taking heat for printing up too many stamps commemorating "The Simpsons" cartoon characters.
In 1993, the service sold 517 million Elvis stamps. Postal officials ordered a billion Simpsons stamps.
They sold 318 million.
D'oh.
"If the Postal Service can't address a simple matter such as determining how many commemorative stamps to produce, it shows they can't address the larger problems," said Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste.
Fair comment. The Postal Service lost $5.2 billion in the last quarter alone.
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