Obama Speech at the site of Teddy Roosevelt Speech

Dammit, TTH, it is a great speech. It was written before the onset of Big Unions, which I suspect Teddy would have included. But either way, it was, and remains, a great speech. Originally Posted by CuteOldGuy

Think again!!


It is essential that there should be organizations of labor.This is an era of organization.Capital organizes and therefore labor must organize.

Theodore Roosevelt, 1912


It is certain that for some time to come there will be a constant increase absolutely, and perhaps relatively, of those among our citizens who dwell in cities or towns of some size and who work for wages. This means that there will be an ever-increasing need to consider the problems inseparable from a great industrial civilization. Where an immense and complex business, especially in those branches relating to manufacture and transportation, is transacted by a large number of capitalists who employ a very much larger number of wage-earners, the former tend more and more to combine into corporations and the latter into unions. The relations of the capitalist and wage-worker to one another, and of each to the general public, are not always easy to adjust; and to put them and keep them on a satisfactory basis is one of the most important and one of the most delicate tasks before our whole civilization. Much of the work for the accomplishment of this end must be done by the individuals concerned themselves, whether singly or in combination; and the one fundamental fact that must never be lost track of is that the character of the average man, whether he be a man of means or a man who works with his hands, is the most important factor in solving the problem aright. But it is almost equally important to remember that without good laws it is also impossible to reach the proper solution. It is idle to hold that without good laws evils such as child labor, as the over-working of women, as the failure to protect employees from loss of life or limb, can be effectively reached, any more than the evils of rebates and stock-watering can be reached without good laws. To fail to stop these practices by legislation means to force honest men into them, because otherwise the dishonest who surely will take advantage of them will have everything their own way. If the States will correct these evils, well and good; but the Nation must stand ready to aid them.

Theodore Roosevelt, Seventh State of the Union


There are in this country some labor unions which have habitually, and other labor unions which have often, been among the most effective agents in working for good citizenship and for uplifting the condition of those whose welfare should be closest to our hearts. But when any labor union seeks improper ends, or seeks to achieve proper ends by improper means, all good citizens and more especially all honorable public servants must oppose the wrongdoing as resolutely as they would oppose the wrongdoing of any great corporation. Of course any violence, brutality, or corruption, should not for one moment be tolerated. Wage-workers have an entire right to organize and by all peaceful and honorable means to endeavor to persuade their fellows to join with them in organizations. They have a legal right, which, according to circumstances, may or may not be a moral right, to refuse to work in company with men who decline to join their organizations. They have under no circumstances the right to commit violence upon these, whether capitalists or wage-workers, who refuse to support their organizations, or who side with those with whom they are at odds; for mob rule is intolerable in any form.

I was referring to modern day unions. Back in Teddy's day, unions were necessary and effective. And I have never opposed private sector unions, but I don't think they should use union dues for lobbying. If they took voluntary contributions from member for lobbying, that would be ok. I just don't see any difference in the area of political influence, that money plays for either corporations or unions.

I am also not opposed to union "get out the vote" efforts, even though they usually vote against me, because it appears to voluntary.

But Teddy was brilliant. And his speech, as written, remains brilliant. Thanks for posting it, I had forgotten about it. (And I even have his picture on my wall!).

Turns out the President used some "suspicious" facts in his Kansas speech. Why am I not surprised?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...g.html?hpid=z1

Yes, they all do it, and no, no one cares.

Didn't you know that under the new Democrat Guidelines, just about anybody with a job is "rich". Originally Posted by Jackie S

Where is a link to these "guidelines"?

Welcome to Texas!
December 6, 2011 4:07 PM
By John Hinderaker
(John Hinderaker)

Campaigning in Kansas today, President Obama momentarily forgot which of the 57 states he was in:

But that was just a slip of the tongue. The really dumb thing he said is that the internet is causing unemployment:


"Layoffs too often became permanent, not part of the business cycle. And these changes didn’t just affect blue collar workers. If you were a bank teller or a phone operator or a travel agent, you saw many in your profession replaced by ATMs and the internet. .."

This is one more reminder–as if we needed it–that President Obama has no understanding of the economy. He is, at heart, a Luddite. He doesn’t understand that when work is made more efficient, as by the internet, our economy becomes more productive and we are all better off. The internet has been responsible for creating countless jobs, as well as making many more jobs more efficient and therefore more profitable. Conversely, when inefficiency is created–as, for example, by wasteful “stimulus” spending or pointless regulations–wealth is destroyed, we all become poorer, and jobs are scarcer.

Obama’s reference to “phone operators” is revealing. Years ago, I read that early in the development of the telephone, some sage calculated that there could never be more than a certain number of telephones in use in the United States, because at that point, every young woman in America would be employed as a switchboard operator. In the event, that turned out not to be the constraint on telephone usage. But from Obama’s perspective, it would be a good thing to smash all that telephone equipment so that we could reduce unemployment among women to zero by putting them to work as switchboard operators. I truly believe that Obama has no understanding of why that would be a bad idea.

I knew Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt was a friend of mine. President Obama, you are no Teddy Roosevelt.