One of the things I despise about unions is this kind of crap.
Unions have shown that all too often, they typically don't give a damn about anyone but themselves. This disgraceful episode is a case in point.
David Barnett bought the unions to get their support for this horrific project. Ed Barnes doesn't give a damn how much this crap pile hurts this community... he's union, Barnett bought the union; union jobs is the only thing he gives a damn about.
He cares about those things to the exclusion of everything else.
That explains his rabid support for the unneeded and unwanted crap pile of an I-5 replacement bridge/loot rail; he doesn't give a damn that he'll be partially responsible for extorting $1300 from 65,000 commuters a year... to help pay for a project we don't want and we don't need.
He cares about union jobs to the exclusion of all else so much that he'll even lie about this situation:
Of course, if this was a "private developer," this project wouldn't be happening... because "private developers" can't build casinos in this state.Barnes, a retired electricians’ labor union leader, chided the commissioners for opposing the BIA decision. For the last two years, commissioners have cut benefits, laid off workers and cut services to citizens and haven’t done anything to create jobs, Barnes said.
The casino would bring construction and service jobs to a county with 13 percent unemployment, he said.
“If this was a private developer, you would welcome them with open arms,” Barnes said.
Barnes urged the commissioners to let other groups fight the Cowlitz decision. Representatives for the four nontribal cardrooms in La Center and the Grand Ronde Tribe, which runs Spirit Mountain Casino 60 miles southwest of Portland, have already announced plans to fight the BIA decision.
Barnes knows that. But that doesn't stop him from babbling this kind of rhetorical nonsense.
And, of course, if this was a "private developer," it would have to pay taxes, L&I, B&O taxes and Washington minimum wage, along with paying for infrastructure, and it couldn't be built on agricultural lands because of zoning laws.
Barnes knows that as well, but what's a few lies to his sort when it means getting jobs for his union buddies?
So to Barnes, none of the damage this will cause matters. His people get jobs to build this whorehouse that will benefit a tribe in California, a tribe in Connecticut, and most of the Seattle-centric tribe where these lands were no more Cowlitz then they were Martian.
But that's what reservation shopping does for you.
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I know Ed Barnes. He's a real nice guy: proud of the fact that a drop of liquor has never touched his lips, proud of his wife and family, proud of spending his life in Clark County, but he's most proud of his union. He is a UNION MAN with a capital U. He can immediately tell you every local number in every state from memory - I'm not making this up. He knows everybody and is known by everybody.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes right down to it, even though he's a friend of mine, when the local endorsed Benton over me, and I asked for Ed's support (he hates Benton) - Ed said he had to side with the union. It's union over common sense and even friendship for Ed Barnes.