I am concerned about a mailer that Jeff Leach’s campaign has sent out across Collin County. Jeff Leach has accused his opponent, Jon Cole, of taking money from David Almeel, who recently ran in the Democrat Primary for Congress.
The problem is that the campaign donation that Jon took was way back in 2008 – not in this election cycle. Furthermore, in 2008, Almeel was then a Republican who gave generously to both Democrats and Republicans.
Jeff Leach is sending out mailers accusing Jon Cole of being “bankrolled by Democrats,” but Jeff Leach himself has taken money from very powerful lobbyists such as Bill Miller and Neal “Buddy” Jones of HillCo Partners who represent the all-Democrat Caucus and the Mexican American Legislative Leadership Caucus.
That sentence is being echoed more and more lately. A retired firefighter in Fort Worth said it to me. The truck driving brother of a good friend said it to him.
So the questions is: Did the unions really create the middle class?
Here are some reasons it did not.
The union movement was not successful in the South, yet there is a middle class in Texas and all the states to the east. Unions were pervasive in the Rust Belt. Now they are fading. Jobs are heading overseas. What is left are crumbling cities like Detroit,MI, and Cleveland, OH.
It could be argued that unions created poverty. Take the example of Bellmead, Texas. This was a city created by the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT) railroad in 1920′s. Nearby was a locomotive repair station. General Tire and Rubber Co. had a tire plant nearby, too. General Tire was the largest employer in Central Texas. In the 1950′s I witness when the town was prosperous. Unions forced the rail roads to cut back and the repair facility was abandoned. In 1986, the unions forced General Tire to close. Now, Bellmead is a welfare town of clapboard houses and mobile homes. Weeds are growing in the lots. The few middle class homes are old and decaying. No middle class homes are being build in Bellmead.
As a crime writer for the San Antonio Light in the early seventies, I saw the violence and decay brought on by the unions. The union bosses ran Farah Slacks, a major men’s clothing manufacturer, out of west San Antonio. The thriving meat-packing industry was run out, too. Fort Worth’s Stock Yards is now a tourist trap. However, look closely. You will see the rubble left when Swift & Co. and Armor pulled their meat-packing plants out of North Fort Worth. Drive through the neighborhoods of North Fort Worth. There are decaying middle class home there.
The unions are pervasive in the public sector. There municipalities, state, and local governments paid unions for peace and nonviolence. Huge pensions were promised.
“Local and state taxpayers currently are stuck with $3.5 trillion in unfunded liabilities for pension and health plans alone,” according to one pundit (source)
It’s no wonder the Democrats wanted ObamaCare. They saw ”the fall” coming. Now the cities in California and at least one city in Texas is facing bankruptcy. Will the federal government pick up the tab and spread the taxes around? Possibly, if Barack Hussein Obama is re-elected.
Unions did not create the middle class. It was the American entrepreneurial spirit. My grandparents on a Central Texas cotton farm bought and paid for a Model T Ford in the early 1920′s.
Henry Ford transformed the automobile industry from hand-built machines to a factory-produced mass-marketed success. The railroads carried the Model T’s to markets all over the United States.
Look at the city of Denison, Texas. This town was built by the MKT Railroad. One of their workers was the father of General and later President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Ike’s birth home is in Denison. Look at the home. Does it look like a poor working-class hovel? No!
Did the unions create the electric light bulb? No! It was Thomas Edison who powered his bulbs with direct current (DC). It proved unworkable and George Westinghouse created alternating current and powered the world. Soon afterward came radio and then television. These new industries needed workers. Were those jobs created by unions? HELL NO! Anyone who believes that is delusional!
Unions argue that they ended the practice of child labor. I argue that the miminum wage threw American teenagers out of the labor market and helped introduce the illegal immigrant, who would work for less than minimum wage. Farm workers have always been exempt from minimum wages, yet farming is done almost entirely by machinery.
The argument just does not hold up. The earliest arguments against child labor were the newspapers in the Northeast. It was an age of Yellow Journalism that sparked crusading newspapers. Newspapers had to have a cause. President Theodore Roosevelt called them the “Muckrakers“. That they were. Many of the stories by the Muckrakers about child labor were fabrications, too.
So if unions ended child labor, then shouldn’t they be blamed for the result? Teens wondering about without jobs turn to crime, drugs, prostitution. Do the union take “credit” for that?
The union bosses need their mantra to hold onto. They have little else.
Posted by Erick Erickson
Diary Thursday, June 28th at 4:46AM EDT 7
Comments House and Senate Republican leaders, collectively the Stupid Party, are yet again set to expand government, government spending, and engage in Keynesian economic policies they’ve criticized Barack Obama for.
Somewhat wisely, they are releasing all this as the Supreme Court releases its Obamacare decision so no one will pay attention. Ironically, as we wait to see if the Supreme Court gives Congress plenary power through the Commerce Clause, Congressional Republicans are feeding the Leviathan on their own.
Republicans and Democrats have agreed to a massive increase in federal gluttony with a highway bill. The Republicans decided to drop demands for approving the Keystone XL pipeline and demands that the EPA stop its ridiculous regulations on coal plants that will harm our energy future. In exchange, Democrats will not fund bike paths and highway landscaping.
In other words, Democrats should not be at all worried about Republican plans for Obamacare should any portion of it be declared unconstitutional later today. The GOP will just get scared and cave.
U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz belongs to a law firm that is representing the People’s Republic of China.
This story is about an American inventor Jordan Fishman who patented a new kind of tire to be used in mining. The San Antonio Express-News reported:
In the late 90s, Fishman created a new kind of tire that contains a three- inch layer of rubber on the outside, enabling it to withstand the punishment that comes from working in confined spaces.” (Gilbert Garcia, “Patent Lawsuit Haunts Senate Candidate,” Plaza de Armas Blog, www.plazadearmastx.com, 9/28/11)
After Discovering His Tire Blueprints Had Been Stolen, Fishman Filed A Lawsuit Against The Chinese Company In 2010, & The U.S. District Court Ultimately Sided With Fishman & Awarded Him $26 Million In Damages.
A jury in Virginia sided with Fishman and awarded him $26 million, the E-N article said.
The E-N article continued:
In An Interview, Jordan Fishman Said Cruz “Had A Choice” Over Whether To Take The Case. “Whether Cruz was hired directly, or his firm was hired and asked him to take the case, Fishman said Cruz had a choice of whether to work for the company. ‘He is the lead attorney. And he accepted, and he had a choice,’ Fishman said.” (Peggy Fikac, “Star Of Anti-Cruz Ads: It’s Personal,” Houston Chronicle’s “Texas Politics” Blog, 4/24/12)
As A Result Of The Theft By The Chinese Company, Fishman Was Forced To Lay Off More Than 90 Percent Of His Employees In The U.S.“But Fishman said his company had 45 people in the United States, and now has only one and half employees – including himself.” (Peggy Fikac, “U.S. Senate Ads: Fact-Checking Fighting Words,” Houston Chronicle’s “Texas Politics” Blog, 5/15/12)
The question is whether this is a David Dewhurst attack advertisement or a legitimate news story that has caught Cruz red-handed. This blogger thinks it is the latter. The inventor had to lay off 90 percent of his employees.
This is not the first time a Texas elected official has represented foreign interest over American workers. This blogger worked for 27 years in information technology. This was a career field that was critically short of qualified people. As a result wages were astronomically high. American employers — one of them was Ross Perot — devised a scheme to bring in qualified workers from India to fill the gap.
Soon these companies went further. The started replacing their American workers with Indian contractors who would work for half the wages. The Indians flooded into the country in the late 1990′s. Then the companies like J.P.Morgan & Co. started to move their operations to places like Mumbai, India, where their hiring practices were less visible. Many American high-tech jobs dried up.
This blogger called Rep. Sam Johnson’s office many times. Rep. Johnson’s office defended the program. Meanwhile, Americans with Bachelor of Science degrees in Computer Science are working at curio shops or as Wal-Mart greeters. Rep. Johnson likely will be re-elected. So who is he representing? Is he representing Perot and people like him or the voters … the workers?
Rep. Johnson’s web site says he is a Vietname war “hero”. The blogger asks: If sitting in a Hanoi Hilton for four years makes one a hero, then what is three-time Ace Robin Olds? In this blogger’s opinion, when one calls oneself a “hero” it leaves a foul odor in the air.
So will Cruz defend American jobs if he is elected? His record says otherwise.
Libertarian Ron Paul voters are angry that their man did not win the in the Republican Primary. In fact Paul did not make the runoff. Now, like this blogger, they advocate dropping out. This could spell good news for Obama and the Democrats.
There are a lot of folks who like to say that if you don’t vote, you’ve got no right to complain about the results. I beg to differ.
Why bother to vote when everything has already been decided, and your vote wouldn’t have mattered?I didn’t vote in last week’s party primaries — primarily because I’m not a member of either of the two major parties, although I certainly have a lot of allies among the Republicans and certainly tend to lean that direction on a lot of issues.
I have in the past voted in the GOP primary — which put me on a lot of mailing lists this election cycle — but I can’t say I’m a card-carrying Republican. In light of Tuesday’s results, I feel that’s probably wise.
My friends and relatives on the West Coast used to send me e-mailed petitions. None is valid here in Texas. In fact, Texas is only one of nine states that does not have recall as part of the Constitution. Texas does not have initiative either.
Texas is one of a few states that does not have recall
Why? Texans have a long distrust of their elected officials. That feeling came out of the Reconstruction era. When Texans finally re-gained control of their state in 1870, they wrote the present Constitution. It is one of the wordiest documents in all the 50 states. practically noting can be done by the Legislature without a state-wide referendum.
Recall was not considered; but if it was known, this blogger is sure it would have been included. Of course, elected officials can be kicked out of office for misconduct. That is left up to impeachment. State officials have been impeached, too. This blogger recalls a Supreme Court Justice Donald Burt Yarbrough, who was indicted for malfeasance and run out of office in the 70′s before he was impeached. The Legislature impeached Gov. James E. Ferguson in 1916. No other governor has been impeached.
Initiative is what generates that annoying e-mails from the West Coast. Out there, they can get up a petition and make almost anything into a law. In fact, California’s state constitution has so many initiative-inspired changes that only about 40 percent of their budget can be changed with out a Constitutional amendment. That avenue was attempted a few years ago, but California voters turned it down.
Texas Republican Gov. William P. Clements proposed Initiative and recall when he was governor. The Democrat legislature rejected it.
Recall can get bad officials out of office. However, as we see in Wisconsin it was used to stop officials from making needed reforms. The United States and the 50 states run as republics. That means we the people choose our officials, and the elected officials conduct government. If they are honest, then they should get an opportunity to do for their terms.
Initiative and recall moves the state towards a democracy and the whims of the populace. That was what the founding fathers feared the most.
It was a massive win for the Republicans in Wisconsin. The New York Times and the liberal media this morning are trying to understand what happen Read this from the New York Times:
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR
Published: June 6, 2012
Gov. Scott Walker’s victory Tuesday night in a recall election in Wisconsin raises tough questions for President Obama and Democrats nationally as they scramble to assess what it means for the enthusiasm of their voters, the power of their ground game, and their ability to compete against the huge sums of money Republicans have been raising.
Even though Mr. Obama kept his distance from the state in the final weeks of the union-led recall effort, the president’s party, his campaign team and his labor allies exerted an enormous joint effort in the state that proved ineffective against an organized and well-funded Republican apparatus.
More than 40 offices run by the Democratic National Committee and Mr. Obama’s campaign deployed more than 100 paid staff members alongside union and state volunteers for months in what amounts to the first real test of the president’s ground game before November’s election.
At least six newcomers will represent local voters in the Texas House thanks to new election maps and losses by two incumbents.
For example, Bedford and Euless will probably be represented by a 28-year-old who has gone to the Capitol twice in his life, including once for the public tour.
“I’ve been watching quite a bit of video to see what a state representative actually does,” said Jonathan Stickland, the Republican nominee for the District 92 seat vacated by Todd Smith.
Did the tea parties bring out their numbers in droves to elect a slate of candidates? The figures don’t support that conclusion. Only 10 percent of the electorate showed up. The word is apathy! This fall when more union, minority, and Latino voters show up, will the results be the same across the state? Read this from the Longview News:
It seems nearly 90 percent of Texas’ registered voters had more important things to do last Tuesday than cast ballots to winnow the list of candidates for such unimportant offices as U.S. president and U.S. senator.
That left the choices — including final decisions on many races in which primary winners face no foes in November — to about 2 million of the state’s 13 million registered voters.
B.F. Goodrich (tires) donated $215K, 97% went to Republicans
Proctor & Gamble donated $243K, 79% went to Republicans
Spirits Southern Wine & Spirits donated $213K, 73% went to Democrats
Joseph E. Seagrams & Sons (incl. beverage Business and considerable media interests) donated $2M+, 67% went to Democrats
Gallo Winery donated $337K, 95% went to Democrats
Coors & Budweiser donated $174K, 92% went to Republicans
Brown-Forman Corp. (Southern Comfort, Jack Daniels, Bushmills, Korbel Wines, Lenox China , Dansk and Gorham Silver)donated $644 K – - 80% went to Republicans
Hungry? Sonic Corporation donated $83K, 98% went to Democrats
Triarc Companies (Arby’s, T.J. Cinnamon’s, Pasta Connections) donated $112K, 96% went to Democrats
Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. (chicken) donated $366K, 100% went to Republicans
Outback Steakhouse donated $641K, 95% went to Republicans
Tricon Global Restaurants (KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell) donated $133K, 87% went to Republicans
Brinker International (Maggiano’s, Brinker Cafe, Chili’s, On the Border, Macaroni Grill, Crazymel’s, Corner Baker, EatZis) donated $242K, 83% went to Republicans
Waffle House donated $279K, 100% went to Republicans
McDonald’s Corp. donated $197K, 86% went to Republicans
Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Smokey Bones, Bahama Breeze) donated $121K, 89% went to Republicans
Heinz Republicans $64,000 Democrats $21,300!!!!! John Kerry’s wife’s company!!!
Traveling and/or dining Hyatt Corporation donated $187K of which 80% went to Democrats
Marriott International $323K, 81% went to Republicans
Holiday Inns donated $38K, 71% went to Republicans
