![\"grizzly\"](\"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/grizzly-300x199.jpg\")
<\/p>\nYou could tell that West Virginia Governor Jim Justice, the state\u2019s only billionaire, wasn\u2019t going to take it from anyone.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Justice was appearing on Hoppy Kercheval\u2019s statewide radio show — Talkline — and taking phone calls from West Virginians.<\/p>\n
Sue in Weston wanted to know about breaking news that Jim Justice\u2019s coal businesses owed the state of West Virginia $4.4 million.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cYou owe the State of West Virginia $4.4 million,\u201d Sue said. \u201cDon\u2019t you think if you pay your back taxes that would help the deficit?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI appreciate your question,\u201d Justice responded. \u201cI walked away from my businesses and I have other people who are handling this. I want you to know just this — you don\u2019t need to worry about me. Every single obligation and tax that I would owe in any way, shape or form or fashion, we\u2019ll take care of it. Sue please understand this \u2013 we pay tens of millions of dollars in taxes and we have things from time to time that are disputes that we have to get ironed out. And that\u2019s what the people are doing. But don\u2019t worry about me. They will be paid.\u201d<\/p>\n Just don\u2019t worry about that Sue.<\/p>\n Not your business.<\/p>\n But when it comes to the billionaire class, it\u2019s not just Sue in Weston who is beneath Governor Justice.<\/p>\n Apparently Senate Majority Leader Ryan Ferns doesn\u2019t rate either.<\/p>\n Hoppy Kercheval was interested in the tension between the Governor and the Republican leadership in the Senate \u2013 in particular Senate Majority Leader Ryan Ferns.<\/p>\n Ferns had been needling Justice on Twitter about not getting specific on the budget.<\/p>\n Then when Justice got specific \u2013 with a major tax increase \u2013 Ferns ripped him by retweeting Governor Norquist as saying \u201cJim Justice ran for West Virginia Governor promising to never raise taxes. He won. He just proposed the largest tax hike in West Virginia history.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThings have gotten chippy in the legislature,\u201d Kercheval observed. \u201cSome of it may have started when you called the lawmakers knuckleheads.\u201d<\/p>\n Kercheval raised one of Ferns\u2019 recent tweets.<\/p>\n \u201cWord of advice to @WVGovernor when meeting w @WVGOPSenators: use rocketships, rainbows or unicorns and the conversation is over. Facts only.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s been tweeting and doing this and doing that stuff if that\u2019s what he wants to do that\u2019s what he wants to do,\u201d Justice said. \u201cIt gets down to this. He\u2019s a young guy. I hate to say this but it\u2019s a fact. I\u2019ve done more in my little finger for West Virginia and West Virginians than Ryan Ferns has done. I know he\u2019s ambitious about his political career. I\u2019m not ambitious about my political career. I\u2019m ambitious about helping West Virginia. I don\u2019t need to be sending out tweets.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd to be perfectly honest, it\u2019s almost like a grizzly bear walking through the woods and a poodle walking behind him just barking and nipping and this kind of stuff \u2013 for nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt some point in time, if I\u2019m the poodle, I\u2019m concerned that the grizzly bear at some point in time is just going to get tired of all the tweeting and little crap that\u2019s going on and turn around and eat your ass.” (audio here.<\/a>)<\/p>\n “I hate to say that and forgive me for saying that. But that\u2019s just how I feel. It\u2019s pointless. It\u2019s absolutely pointless to stand and throw a little mud and daggers at one another. We have a big time problem. We don\u2019t need to be politicians looking for the next job or the next level and flaunting ourselves. We\u2019ve got a big time problem and we\u2019ve got to fix it. I don\u2019t hear any solutions for fixing it. I got badgered for speaking in generalities and not coming with specifics. Well, who\u2019s coming with specifics now? I\u2019m the one coming with pathways and ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t imagine the people that come to me from Ryan Ferns\u2019 own party and apologize to me for this ridiculous behavior,\u201d Justice said. \u201cTheir own party is embarrassed by people throwing rocks and little ole nitpicking nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n Ferns said he didn\u2019t feel threatened by the Governor\u2019s comment and called it an “empty threat.”<\/p>\n \u201cI consider it an empty threat,\u201d Ferns said. \u201cAny time somebody resorts to threats, when somebody gets to that point, that\u2019s a clear indication to me that they have run out of ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a last resort. People will lash out with threats. It\u2019s an empty threat. I don\u2019t feel threatened by the Governor.\u201d<\/p>\n Is Ferns going to be able to work with the Governor now?<\/p>\n \u201cThe situation in West Virginia is too critical to let empty threats get in the way,\u201d Ferns said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You could tell that West Virginia Governor Jim Justice, the state\u2019s only billionaire, wasn\u2019t going to take it from anyone. Justice was appearing on Hoppy Kercheval\u2019s statewide radio show — Talkline — and taking phone calls from West Virginians. Sue … Continue reading