Hi, Bill. You are answering a post that is 669 back. Hope you catch up soon. :>)
It's about time that Bush got out of bed with these teamster thugs. The only reason they endorsed him was in hopes that Rove would get Justice to not come down on them so hard.
Bush snubs the Teamsters
President withdraws 100th anniversary message after Hoffa nixes endorsement
By Bob Cusack - The Hill
President Bush declined to deliver a promised video greeting to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters this weekend, signaling a near total breakdown of relations between the union and the White House.
The administation's decision to go back on an earlier commitment came a week after James P. Hoffa, president of the 1.4 million-member Teamsters suggested his union would not support Bush's re-election bid.
The move may mean the administration's effort to court the powerful union, which supported Bush's father in 1988, has been abandoned. For more than a year, the White House has tried to work with Hoffa. The union has backed the winning presidential candidate or remained neutral in every election for several decades, except in 2000, when it backed Vice President Al Gore.
But other than support for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the union and the administration do not agree on much. The Teamsters are lobbying against the administration's controversial rule on overtime and are expected to battle the White House for an increase in minimum wage. The union also has questioned the administration?s trade policies.
This weekend, the Teamsters held a conference in Washington to celebrate their 100th anniversary. Several prominent Democrats, including former President Clinton and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), spoke to the delegates. Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.), whom the Teamsters have endorsed for president, also spoke at the event.
Bush and congressional Republicans apparently were not invited to speak. However, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) delivered a video message, as did Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.).
The White House agreed initially to send a videotaped message from Bush to the Sept. 6 celebration.
Asked in an interview with The Detroit News whether Hoffa ever considered endorsing Bush in 2004, the union boss replied, "I can't imagine it, especially with their policies on overtime, minimum wage, sending jobs overseas."
Then on Sept. 5, the Associated Press quoted Hoffa as again saying that it was unlikely the Teamsters would endorse Bush if Gephardt does not win the Democratic nomination.
Hoffa told AP that Bush "doesn't understand the problems working families are having, He doesn't feel their pain, and I think that's unfortunate."
He said a Bush endorsement ?would be difficult to imagine,? adding that ?the administration would have to change its ways.? AP reported that the union might remain neutral in the general election if Gephardt isn?t on the ticket.
Soon after the AP article ran, Bush reversed himself and did not deliver the promised video. The White House did not return phone calls seeking comment.
When asked if there is any chance the Teamsters would endorse Bush next year, a top Teamster official said, ?It ain?t happening.?
At the conference, both Clintons strongly urged the union not to embrace Republican ideals.
The former president said that Republicans change their tone before elections, and he urged union members to insist on the facts before voting in 2004.
Sen. Clinton then lambasted Republicans for attempting to weaken labor laws, calling the administration?s new rule on overtime ?mean-spirited.?
The crowd of more than 3,000 Teamsters loudly cheered the Clintons, giving the former president four standing ovations and the senator eight.
In previous speeches, the 42nd president has been somewhat reserved in his critique of Bush. But on Saturday, he let loose.
Referring to a Teamsters ad featuring Mickey Mouse, Clinton said, ?Sometimes I think they (cartoon characters) have taken over the White House.? He also accused Republicans of believing they are ?entitled to rule.?
He blasted Bush?s position on such issues as education, the environment, labor, the economy and foreign affairs, stating, ?I think we will look back to this time and say
?What in the wide world were we thinking???
Over the last three months, ?America has been waking up? to what the administration has been doing, he said.
?It?s not too late,? the former president added.
One union member in the crowd urged the former president to ?come back and kick Bush?s ass.?
About 90 minutes after he concluded, his wife delivered her speech and made light of the fact that both she and her husband were invited to talk to the Teamsters,
?Unfortunately, my daughter couldn?t make it.?
The welcome for the New York senator was not as loud as for her husband, but she won them over quickly with a speech that hammered the Republican Party.
In the course of her remarks, she said, ?They are trying to undo the New Deal ?Their economic policy is absolutely backward ?They want to starve the federal government.?
Besides supporting the first President Bush in 1988, the Teamsters also backed Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980 and in 1984. In 2000, they endorsed Vice President Al Gore, but withheld their backing until the last minute.
thehill.com |
