This is fascinating, really:
Mayors angry with White House no-showAmerica’s big-city mayors are steaming over what they view as “a very dangerous precedent” set by the Obama administration in its decision to shun the U.S. Conference of Mayors annual meeting in Providence, R.I., this week.
In its attempt to honor the picket line of a local firefighters union involved in a labor dispute with the city, the administration has inadvertently angered some of its staunchest supporters in urban America, who argue that by declining to send an official contingent to the three-day mayors’ conference, the administration is caving in to labor and snubbing local governments
at a time of economic strife.“It was a horrible decision,” said Mayor Michael Pizzi, an independent from Miami Lakes, Fla. “No matter where Obama goes, no matter what city you go to in the United States, you’re going to have some union that’s having problems.”
Mostly because Mayor Pizzi gave the answer and never even noticed. “No matter what city you go to in the United States, you’re going to have some union that’s having problems.” Well, yes. That’s why the White House just demonstrated where local mayors stand in this administration’s pecking order: the President will not fail to get re-elected in 2012 if he snubs the mayor of Miami Lakes, Florida. He will fail to get re-elected if he snubs the AFL-CIO too severely, and organized labor is having enough upsets already over Card Check. So not crossing the picket line is pretty much an easy way to score points with the entities that will be of most use to this administration in about three years. There’s nothing personal about this: I’m sure that the White House doesn’t particularly want to offend urban mayors.
It’s just that none of them are worth the effort it’d take to avoid giving offense.
Moe Lane
Crossposted to Moe Lane.
Moe Lane
Neil Stevens
Steve Maley
Dan McLaughlin
Oh those silly local politicians
bkeyser Tuesday, June 16th at 9:25PM EST (link)Tradition is not exactly a matter of great import with this WH, huh?
So what do US mayors and the UK have in common?
TNJim (Diary) Tuesday, June 16th at 9:33PM EST (link)They both get dissed by the (current) President of the US.
A union strike? In RI?
briann (Diary) Tuesday, June 16th at 10:04PM EST (link)Impossible!
I had to leave RI because the public unions (The fire fighters have nothing on the teachers unions) have jacked the taxes and the unemployment out of sight.
1 out of 8 (last I heard) in RI work for the government.
-Bri
R I ?That's not even one of the 57 states,
Tbone (Diary) Tuesday, June 16th at 10:34PM EST (link)not counting Alaska and Hawaii, is it?
Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.
President Obama is a very busy man!
scottbomb (Diary) Tuesday, June 16th at 10:44PM EST (link)He’s too busy destroying capitalism and running our economy into the ground in the name of “fairness”. Either that or he’s golfing.
www.HowObamaGotElected.com
“The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of ‘liberalism’, they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened.” – Norman Thomas, U.S. Socialist Party presidential candidate 1940, 1944 and 1948
What a complete disaster...
smitch61 Wednesday, June 17th at 12:25AM EST (link)Does not want to cross the picket line? what the hell is wrong with this idiot? He is the POTUS, not a damn labor union worker..
Not sure why they are upset. Obama promised Change! (nt)
The_Gadfly (Diary) Wednesday, June 17th at 12:27PM EST (link)Being slightly more helpful than my snark,
The_Gadfly (Diary) Wednesday, June 17th at 12:32PM EST (link)It is a bit surprising. Think of all the things they could have done that would have spun this for the WH:
1 – They could have intervened the way they have with Chrysler and GM to resolve the labor dispute before the mayors came. Labor would have been happy with the outcome and the mayors would have had The Big 0 at their meeting.
2 – Obama could have arranged to meet them someplace where crossing the picket line. It avoids him sullying himself by getting involved in the minor details of commoners, supports the rights of unions to destroy capitalism as well as government, and picks him up some glowing reports in the MSM for his touch with the masses.
Of course, I think what’s really honking off the mayors is that it sounded like he also won’t attend the alternate function they planned after they found out he wouldn’t attend the main event. Sorry, don’t remember the details from the Washington Times the other day.
Speaking of Mayors...
jcincy Wednesday, June 17th at 3:07PM EST (link)Forbes and Business Week recently ran articles detailing the desolation of many America cities.
I used the internet to search for a common thread that would link these cities together. Here’s what I found:
Forbes
America’s Most Dangerous Cities
1. Detroit – Democrat Mayor
2. Memphis – Democrat Mayor
3. Miami – Ind. Mayor (Liberal)
4. Las Vegas – Democrat Mayor
5. Stockton, CA – Democrat Mayor
6. Orlando – Democrat Mayor
7. Little Rock – Democrat Mayor
8. Charleston, SC – Democrat Mayor
9. Nashville – Democrat Mayor
10. Baltimore – Democrat Mayor
11. New Orleans – Democrat Mayor
12. Baton Rouge – Democrat Mayor
13. West Palm Beach – Democrat Mayor
14. Charlotte – Republican Mayor
15. Philadelphia – Democrat Mayor
Business Week
America’s Unhappiest Cities
1. Portland, OR – Democrat Mayor
2. St. Louis – Democrat Mayor
3. New Orleans – Democrat Mayor
4. Detroit – Democrat Mayor
5. Cleveland – Democrat Mayor
6. Jacksonville – Republican Mayor
7. Las Vegas – Democrat Mayor
8. Nashville – Democrat Mayor
9. Cincinnati – Democrat Mayor
10. Atlanta – Democrat Mayor
Over 90% of these cities are run by a Democrat mayor. Call it a symptom or call it the disease, there’s certainly an obvious, NEGATIVE correlation between quality of life and the policies of the Democrat party.
“Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation, to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” — John Jay