CLICK HERE for details and to purchase tickets. All proceeds benefit the Global Museum on Communism, “an international portal created to honor the more than 100 million victims of communist tyranny and educate future generations about past and present communist atrocities.”

I picked Dale ‘Little E’ Earnhardt, Jr. , Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth.

Tony picked Missou’s Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch.

Hoosiers and Health Savings Accounts
An Indiana experiment that is reducing costs for the state and its employees.
Wall Street Journal
Mitch Daniels
March 1, 2010

As Washington prepares to revisit the subject of health-care reform, perhaps some fresh experience from Middle America would be of value.

When I was elected governor of Indiana five years ago, I asked that a consumer-directed health insurance option, or Health Savings Account (HSA), be added to the conventional plans then available to state employees. I thought this additional choice might work well for at least a few of my co-workers, and in the first year some 4% of us signed up for it.

In Indiana’s HSA, the state deposits $2,750 per year into an account controlled by the employee, out of which he pays all his health bills. Indiana covers the premium for the plan. The intent is that participants will become more cost-conscious and careful about overpayment or overutilization.

CLICK HERE to continue reading.

The reality is that coal mining provides very good-paying jobs for those involved directly in mining as well as for people who manufacture and supply mining equipment and those who transport coal to electric power plants, steel mills and our Virginia Ports. A job is important to all men and women whether in retail or mining. These writers miss the fact that coal-related jobs pay more than retail jobs.

All of us who use electricity benefit from American coal, which by all measurement is the most available, reliable and least expensive source of power. Beyond the hundreds of thousands of American jobs related to American coal, the coal severance taxes in Southwest Virginia actually help fund the attraction of new businesses via the Coalfields Economic Development Authority.

As a country, we are blessed with plentiful coal resources. Rather than become more dependent on foreign, more expensive or intermittent energy sources, let’s creatively and cleanly utilize our American coal. -George Allen

Saturday Statistic: Just “2 percent of employment in the central Appalachian region”
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Blue Virginia Blog

From this morning’s Washington Post comes a factual response to those who claim, against all evidence to the contrary, that the highly mechanized form of coal extraction known as “mountaintop removal” is a major employer in Appalachia (or anywhere else). As Justin Maxson, president of the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, explains, it’s not.

CLICK HERE to continue reading.

1. Jeff Burton from South Boston(Halifax Co, Virginia)
2. Denny Hamlin from Chesterfield Co, Virginia
3. Matt Kenseth

Blastman Tony Mercurio picked
1. Carl Edwards of Missouri
2. Jeff Gordon
3. Brad Keslowski

At 4:25 pm ET, Governor Allen will be live on “Your World w/ Neil Cavuto” on the Fox News Channel to discuss President Obama’s healthcare reform plan.

At 8:25 pm ET, Governor Allen will be live on the nationally syndicated “Mark Levin Show” to discuss healthcare, and a range of other issues. Go to www.marklevinshow.com to Listen Live.

U.S. approves settlement for black farmers
By Carrie Johnson
Washington Post
Friday, February 19, 2010; A01

The Obama administration announced a $1.25 billion settlement Thursday to resolve charges by thousands of black farmers who say that for decades the Agriculture Department discriminated against them in loan programs.

Cabinet officials exhorted Congress to approve the deal by setting aside money for the farmers, who have fought through three administrations to secure a measure of justice. In the starkest cases, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said, farmers lost their property after local administrators slow-pedaled loan applications, leaving them unable to plant key crops.

The agreement is part of a wider effort by Obama and senior officials to dispense with lawsuits stemming from America’s checkered civil rights legacy. In December, the Justice Department led efforts to settle a long-standing case with Native Americans who accuse the federal government of mismanaging royalty payments for natural resources mined on tribal lands. A settlement is awaiting congressional action.

CLICK HERE to continue reading.

Tony picked Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Carl Edwards from Missou

My picks finished better than Tony’s in the Pothole 500 last Sunday at Daytona. Though none finished in top 3. Hope the pavement is in shape in Fontana, California.