CHARLESTON, W.Va. — While the lasting memory of Thursday afternoon’s veto of the state budget bill by Gov. Jim Justice will always and forever be the cow patty he used to demonstrate it, what he ‘said’ may actually turn out to be just as significant.
Justice, who is not shy about making up words to make a point, said it’s time to do away with politics and focus on Jimmy-ics. Or do you spell that jimmyics? Whichever the case, Justice would rather have that than what he said he observed under the capitol dome during the last two months.
It appears jimmyics is non-partisan. Justice took shots at both Republicans and Democrats during his veto show. Saying some of them have made a career out of not getting along just so they can advance their self-interests.
Justice particularly called out members of his own party, saying it was Democrats who stood in the way of his attempt to cut a late night budget deal with Senate President Mitch Carmichael (R-Jackson).
“I said, ‘There ain’t no way. There’s no way,'” Justice recalled Thursday. “So I went flying up there and said, ‘What’s going on? “They look at me and say stuff like,” ‘Well, if we do this we don’t the Republicans getting this one up on us on the standpoint of the tax reform.'”
That kind of attitude is one reason Justice said it may be time for jimmyics, where according to Justice, no one wants or gets the credit but things are done for the betterment of the state.
The early reaction appeared mixed.
High-ranking Democrat, Elaine Harrisof the Communication Workers of America, said all lawmakers, Democrats included, need to share the blame for not together to solve the state’s problems.
Tweets my Republican lawmakers Thursday showed the divide growing wider.
Justice appears undeterred.
“Many people would say, ‘You’ll never change this. That’s just politics. You want have people become trustworthy,'” Justice said. “We don’t have to be treated in here like we’re royalty when the people around us are suffering. We don’t be trying to one-up the other party all the time. We don’t have to be this way. You can call it that Jim wants to move from politics to jimmyics.”