"My opponent is proud to have the support of an organization that continually has fought against an increase in the minimum wage. As someone who worked his way through college, I am proud to fight for our working families and for an increase in the minimum wage.
As for supporting the creation of a Department of Labor; consolidating state government is the conservative thing to do. Judging by my opponent's pathetic record as state auditor, he knows little about running an effective and efficient government agency.
As the only state in the union without a Department of Labor, taxpayers are missing out on the tens of millions of federal funds that our state government would be entitled to if we had such a department. Its creation would streamline services and consolidate six or seven state bureaucracies into one, providing employers and workers with a one-stop shop, saving taxpayers money."
If you want the endorsement of an organization, you better be prepared to answer for the main positions of that organization. The NFIB has consistently opposed legislation that would support working people and we can only assume that they will expect a similar record from Dewey Phil. I'll gladly side with regular working people any day over folks who seem to think that someone can reasonably support themselves or a family on five dollars an hour.
The Department of Labor idea is a good one.
ReplyDeleteWhat Jamie Franks needs to do is the same thing Phil Bryant did: Create a comprehensive (in Bryant's case, 33-item) platform and find two or three points that he can build a campaign around.
He's not going to be able to beat Bryant as a candidate, but he can beat him as a policy platform. If the race is Phil Bryant versus Jamie Franks, Franks loses. If the race is Phil Bryant versus the tax swap, Kids Care, the Department of Labor, and a series of other specific, well-argued proposals, then Franks can win.
I agree with Tom Head on this one. Franks will be smart to point out Bryant's pitiful record and his stupid stance on grocery taxes. Good grief, it polls at over 80 percent!
ReplyDeleteJust a note--Phil worked his way through college too.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, but I have been looking ALL over the place for this "pitiful record" of Phil Bryant's and I just can't seem to find it.
ReplyDeleteIt must be behind the breakneck progress that's been being made in rebuilding our state after Katrina ... which is probably obscured by all of the FUNDING that Bryant and Barbour have been able to procure since Post-K day 1.
I might also try looking behind the HUGE amount of IMPROVEMENT that's taken place in our schools (due to the implementation of sound fiscal reform and accountability measures) since Phil took the Auditor's chair...
..but.. then again.. it really could be on top of all of the jobs that Bryant has helped bring to the state since he became Auditor ..
then again.. I'm betting it's underneath all of that money that Phil Bryant kept from being stolen/squandered by the business as usual good ol' boys that he sent runnin' when he flipped on the lights in the Auditor's office.
I'll let y'all know.