Monday, January 30, 2012
Conservative View on Employment Rights
Bernhard Thuersam, Director
Cape Fear Historical Institute
www.cfhi.net
“We can all agree that full employment at good wages for every man and every woman who wishes to work in the United States is a goal devoutly to be wished,” Taft told the National Industrial Conference Board.
But it could not be an absolute right; that notion was impractical. The Declaration of Independence “mentions only the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Constitution, while promising to secure blessings of liberty, only proposes to promote the general welfare.” A guarantee of work would be impossible to fulfill, and was “wholly inconsistent with the very freedom which has produced and animated the machine which provides jobs at good wages.”
President Roosevelt, and the Congress of Industrial Organizations which backed this proposal, had talked of guaranteeing fifty or sixty million jobs. But, Taft inquired, “What is full employment and what is a good wage? Is there to be a guarantee of any job a man wants in any industry or is it to be such a job as the Government chooses to provide?...”
“It is clear to me that any direct guarantee of full-time jobs at good wages would involve the Government in the placement of every man and woman in the country, and ultimately the assignment by the Government of every man and woman to the job selected by the Government. This is exactly the system pursued in Russia today.”
Taft’s other arguments in this speech demonstrated that the concept of full employment could be realized only in a socialist state – and even there only at the cost of diminished production and of total direction of labor; it would be fatal to the character of the people, and contrary to the material interest of every wage-earner.”
(The Political Principles of Robert A. Taft, Russell Kirk & James McClellan, Fleet Press, 1967, pp. 115-116)
NC Gubernatorial Race – NC LS Analysis
“Sir…I owe no allegiance to any men or set of men on earth, save only to the State of North Carolina, and, so far as she has parted with her sovereignty, to the United States of America.” Judge William Gaston
The 11th hour declaration of Governor Perdue's intentions to not seek reelection has upended Raleigh and has potentially far reaching consequences in North Carolina politics. For the Democrats an uphill slog has been replaced by the chaotic process of finding a suitable process in 100 days before May 8. For the Republicans, this only heightens their excitement at the prospect of ending their 20 year hiatus from the Governor's mansion.
The Democrat's were rocked by Governor Perdue's decision to take a pass at a rematch with Pat McCrory just 3 weeks before the candidate filing period begins on February 15. The strongest possible alternative, Attorney General Roy Cooper, immediately took a pass on what would've been a true knockdown fight between two heavyweights. As of this writing two candidates have already declared their intentions to run: Lt. Governor Walter Dalton and Rep. Bill Faison.
Other potential candidates include Congressman Heath Shuler, Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines, former Congressman Bob Etheridge, Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx, Congressman Mike McIntyre, state Senator Dan Blue, Senator Kay Hagan, and maybe more. Whether any of these potential candidates hop in depends in large part on whether Erskine Bowles jumps in thanks to his name recognition and ability to self-fund.
For the Republicans all of this chaos means at the least that Pat McCrory will be free to raise money and gain traction while the Democrats wage an expensive and possibly divisive primary battle. It could also mean a free ride in the general election for the Republican Congressional candidates in the 7th and 11th Districts. And it could also give the Republicans on Jones Street the potential to move moderate Democrats in their direction on issues such as Voter ID and overriding Governor Perdue's other vetoes.
The next three months will be exciting as North Carolina shifts rightward. It is time for our members to use this shifting environment to take action on the issues we care about and ensure that members of both parties take us seriously. NC LS Legislative Task ForceReflections on Border and Internal Security Battles - An exclusive interview with Robert H. Goldsborough
For more than 50 years, Robert Goldsborough has been involved in the immigration reform movement, particularly the vital link between protected borders and national security. He was appointed by Congressman Francis Walter (D-PA) as a staff investigator for the House Committee on Un-American Activities, served as a speech writer for Gov. Louis Nunn (R) of Kentucky, and has headed up national organizations opposing illegal immigration from the mid-1960s until today. TSC Contributing Editor Peter Gemma recently interviewed Mr. Goldsborough.
TSC: Bob, it’s so nice to get re-acquainted with an old friend and veteran activist. In the late 1950s, you worked with Congressman Francis Walter, who co-authored the important McCarran-Walter Immigration Act. Tell me about that legislation and the fight to get it enacted.
Thugs attack cabbie, passenger
About 8:25 p.m., a cab was stopped at a red light at 15th and Chestnut streets when two 17-year-old boys and a 15-year-old boy approached and started calling the male passenger in the back seat racially derogatory names, police said.
The boys then threw an unknown liquid at the cab before they opened the door, pulled the passenger out and started to pummel him, police said.
When the cabbie got out of the car to see what was going on, the passenger ran away and the teens turned on the cabbie. They punched him in the face, kicked him and threw a liquid on him, police said.
Despite being outnumbered, the cabbie grabbed a tire iron from his trunk, at which time the teens ran away.