Mikal Watts: Two-Faced on American Jobs

This Tuesday, millionaire trial attorney Mikal Watts made this statement about a possible Goodyear Tire Co. factory closing in Tyler, TX, "We need trade policies to keep American jobs in America and in places like Tyler, and prevent the shutdown of good productive factories," according to the Longview News-Journal.

What Watts forgot about was one of the highest profile cases he and his law firm were involved with was against the Firestone company. Now don't get me wrong - I'm not against trial lawyers. They do good work in standing up for the common guy against possibly dangerous products and huge corporations, bringing possibly deadly malfunctions and product design problems to light.

What Watts seems to forget, though, was a statement he made in January, 2001, after a court ruled Firestone responsible for a blow-out accident. Under the settlement, Donna Bailey received an undisclosed sum of money-"enough to take care of her for the rest of her life," Watts said in the Chicago Sun Times.

Six months later, Firestone was announcing the closing of a Decatur, Illinois plant. Bridgestone/Firestone said 1,380 employees and 100 contractors work at the plant. Another 440 Decatur workers had been laid off after the tire incidents. Since the recall, the plant has only been producing half of the 30,000 tires a day it was designed to produce, said John McQuade, the company's vice president of manufacturing operations [CBS].

Once again, I'm not against the fact that Firestone had to recall millions of tires - that had to be done, but Watts can't be standing at the Goodyear plant, calling for jobs and factories to stay in America, while touting the settlement he scored against a nearly identical company, forcing nearly several nearly identical factories to close nationwide.

Hypocrisy Report: Cornyn Touts Clinic Funding, Claims to Support Firefighters

There's so many to choose from. Since his is a new segment, I'm tell you a little about what it's all about. Dictionary.com gives me several definitions of hypocrisy: "a pretense of having some desirable or publicly approved attitude. " or "An act or instance of such falseness."

So this is the segment where we'll examine how Cornyn's mouth and votes commonly do not coincide. Um.. maybe a "one step forward, twenty-two steps back" sort of progress, if you know what I mean.

This week, we have two winners. Cornyn on Healthcare, and Cornyn on Firefighters.

So on with the Hypicrisy... #1: Cornyn touts funding clinics, while underfunding children:

From the Kilgore News Herald: "U.S. Sen. John Cornyn announced Monday North East Texas Public Health District in Tyler will receive $600,000 in federal funding and has gained Federally Qualified Health Clinic Status (FQHC). The funding and FQHC designation, which come through the U.S."

I'm sure the North East Texas Public Health District is a quality clinic, and I've been to Tyler several times, and it's a lovely town, so I have nothing against them. What I do hold a grudge on is that our Junior Senator John Cornyn touts this accomplishment while voting against the Senate Children's Health Insurance Program reauthorization Bill. This bill covers six million children nationally, 585,000 of whom are in Texas. Cornyn also voted against SCHIP expansion that would have expanded it by $35 billion in the next five years, including an expansion of over 3 million additional kids.

"John Cornyn has turned his back on thousands of Texas children who have no where else to turn for health care," DSCC spokesman Matthew Miller said. "His vote was wrong, plain and simple, and the people of Texas will hold him accountable for it."

#2: Cornyn claims support for firefighter funding, votes against the same funding!
(from a Texas Democratic Party Press Release, covered at South Texas Chisme)
Cornyn Claims to Support Funding for Firefighters: In his op-ed in The Countywide [pdf], Cornyn praised the State’s “spirit of volunteerism,” which he said is exemplified by firefighters. He specifically mentioned the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program that helps first responders to be “prepared and up to date.”

This Wednesday, Republican John Cornyn attempted once again to paper over his failed record in the U.S. Senate with a newspaper opinion piece offering hollow praise for America ’s first responders. Cornyn, who has been a staunch supporter of the Bush Administration’s failed policies, specifically highlights the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program and how it has benefited Texas ’ first responders. But what Cornyn fails to mention is the fact that he actually voted AGAINST increased funding for that very same program.

“John Cornyn says that first responders ‘earn our respect and gratitude every day,’ but his rhetoric doesn’t match his record,” said Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie. “Instead of putting words on paper, Cornyn should put his votes where his mouth is and stand up for Texas ’ first responders.”

Cornyn Voted AGAINST Increased Funding for Firefighters: During consideration of the 2005 Homeland Security spending bill, Cornyn sided with his Republican leaders in the Senate and rejected a proposal to increase funding for firefighter assistance grants by $150 million. The increase in funding would have provided protective gear for up to 200,000 firefighters, more than 650 new fire trucks, 400 new rescue vehicles or more than 33,000 new breathing masks. [Vote #175, 9/14/04; CQ, 9/14/04; Mikulski Press Release, 9/14/04]

“John Cornyn can write an article for every newspaper in Texas, but his empty rhetoric does nothing to provide our firefighters with the equipment they need to protect themselves or the people of Texas,” said Richie. “Cornyn keeps talking out of both sides of his mouth, hoping that Texas voters will believe what he says at home and ignore what he does in Washington .”