Comments on: Am I Still A Conservative?

By: DemocratsAreFascists

DemocratsAreFascists — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:31:38 +0000

At this point, I'm a Restorative.

I want America back.

By: RedBlueChristian » Blog Archive » Conservatives Must Stop Being Conservative

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 18:38:20 +0000

[...] It reminds me a lot of what my friend, Eric Goranson, wrote back in May when he wondered if he was still a conservative, at least by its proper [...]

By: Conservatives Must Stop Being Conservative | Caffeinated Thoughts

Conservatives Must Stop Being Conservative | Caffeinated Thoughts — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:17:39 +0000

[...] Before I’m thrown under the bus for the title read the passage below. It reminds me a lot of what Eric said back in May. [...]

By: RickD335

RickD335 — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:19:19 +0000

To be a conservative – borrowing from the root of the word and extending it into the political – one would need to prune (recognize what is dead and lop it off), graft (add in that which is helpful to the life of the organism – sometimes by having to cut into the body in order to save it), and adjust. If that were a true description (it is, by dictionary terms) then many would be conservatives. Since it does not appear to these eyes that it is so in the American political arena, I'll continue to be an independent and vote conscience and character over transitory issues.

By: Eric Goranson

Eric Goranson — Sat, 02 May 2009 23:28:52 +0000

Most Unions (such as the NEA or ATF) give large donations to socially liberal "charities" and organizations that the rank-and-file worker would find repulsive. This is wrong.

If the UAW avoids this particular travesty, great!

However, I am in agreement with ECM that defending unions based on some sense of nostalgia over what they did 40+ years ago isn't honest or prudent. There is a reason that union membership is declining nationwide - workers are getting smart enough to know that they are inefficient pseudo-mafias that work tirelessly to sustain their power without doing much for workers. Many organizations (like Professional Educators of Iowa here in Iowa) offer many of the legal protections of unions without the ridiculous dues, inefficiency and bullying that accompanies unions.

I watch unions come up the statehouse every year fighting for the right to coerce union dues from non-union members, put EVERYTHING on the table when bargaining, demonize employers, and work tirelessly to take away the right of workers to not belong to a union. This is on top of their unscrupulous coalitions and donations to morally base organizations. This is immoral.

If you want to join a union, great! But union encroachment on my liberties is criminal.

By: ECM

ECM — Sat, 02 May 2009 18:51:50 +0000

So most of your argument hinges on the benefit of unions vis-a-vis what they did 40 years ago and beyond? Have I got that about right?

And, again: spending tens of millions of union dues on one candidate (the members of which might loathe with every fiber of their being) isn't excessive to you? You honestly think that that is justified as part of a union's primary fucntions? Do you also think massive, sprawling, 50 million dollar getaway compounds for the upper level members is a reasonable expenditure of union dues? Even when the rank and file will never, ever, see the inside of such a place?

Of course there's also the fun of the UAW, parasitically, destroying the host corporations upon which they depend but, hey, who cares ab out little details like that when they're (somehow) looking out for the little guy who won't have any job in the near-future.

By: jim

jim — Sat, 02 May 2009 01:41:57 +0000

Unions support candidates that support labor. For the most part the G.O.P. does not support labor unions or collective bargaining units. Everbody benefits from unions, members or not. Things like weekends, overtime pay, and the 40 hr work week all came from union contracts and were adopted by others so they could compete.
The UAW for example does not donate money to planned parenthood or PETA. These organizations do not represent the worker so why would a union back them. I see first hand every day the benefits of unions and have expeienced the battle for workers rights. The truely misguided are those who speak without knowing what they speak of.

By: Eric Goranson

Eric Goranson — Fri, 01 May 2009 22:43:09 +0000

A simple review of where unions donate money (every base social cause out there from Planned Parenthood to PETA to whatever) will prove you are misguided at best to believe that Unions work for workers.

By: ECM

ECM — Fri, 01 May 2009 22:24:27 +0000

So when a union spends tens of millions on getting a particular candidate elected president, that's only because it somehow, in the end, benefits the rank and file members? Really?

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 01 May 2009 21:18:11 +0000

Great post Eric. You have convinced me that I am a liberal as well!