I'd like to introduce you to one of the worst people in the world - and damned if the Republicans aren't trying to put him in Congress. His name is Ed Tinsley (the third, no less) and he's running as the Republican candidate in New Mexico's Second Congressional District.
Start with the fact that Ed Tinsley is a supporter of Pete "Fire Me a Lawyer" Dominici. Then follow up with the fact that no one is sure if Tinsley even lives in the district he wants to represent (and everything else he does draws him away from it)- and has made political donations from four addresses. Then you have the odd pattern of campaign donations from his son and his daughter.
But the most disturbing aspects of Ed Tinsley's life come when one actually looks at the job he brags about - serving as a board member of the National Restaurant Association (NRtA). From calling his workers stupid to making them pay for their own benefits, Tinsley has made it clear that he intends to reign over his restaurant empire like a medieval tyrant. But he isn't satisfied with that - he wants to make sure every working family is subjected to the same short-sided point-of-view.
Ed Tinsley is one of those special cases where you hate him all the more as you discover more about him. For instance, you can see his group bragging about a pro-drunk-driving, anti-living-wage campaign. You can read his testimony before Congress where he asks that his workers be subjected to more tax audits. It's all in his own words, anything that might help a working man is bad for business, and therefore bad for Ed Tinsley. Therefore, it is just bad
It is in his opposition to the living wage campaign that has shown him to be both an ideologue and a liar. I've so far looked at this in two parts. A few excerpts, beginning with Ed Tinsley's own words:
My corporation-I'm president and CEO of K-Bob's Steakhouses, a 26-restaurant chain headquartered near Albuquerque-operates in four southwestern states and employs around 1,000 people. Recently, a new business I planned to open in Santa Fe became one the latest victims of the "living wage" campaign that is crippling firms and hurting local economies across the U.S. The campaign is the work of union-funded labor activists, whose success so far has been nearly 100 percent.
From Part One:
Let's start with that part about the labor unions. First of all, labor unions fight for the working families of America. Does Ed Tinsley have a problem with that? It would appear that the answer to that is a resounding "Hell, yeah!".
snip
One of the most reliable sources of living-wage activists have been the communities of faith in American cities. Does Ed Tinsley have a problem with people of faith? Again, the answer is obviously, "Hell, yeah!".
snip
These are not "union-funded labor activists" at all. Does Ed Tinsley have a problem with telling the truth? Apparently, the answer is a resounding, "Hell, yeah!"
And Part Two:
Tinsley's ideology tells him that giving his employees a hirer wage will kill his business. This is a short-range kind of thinking that betrays a total lack of understanding of how a modern economy works. To quote a dead poet: "No man is an island..." Similarly, no action takes place in a vacuum.
According to Tinsley, any payraise an employer gives an employee comes entirely out of his/her pocket and they never make it back. In certain small examples, this can be true. But when you have a mega-evolution in an economy - even such a small change as raising the minimum wage in the local economy - it turns out to work much more like tossing a stone in a pond (remember Mike Gravel?).
It isn't just Tinsley's workers that were going to see their pay increase - it is every minimum wage worker in the area. This puts more money in the hands of people who will actually go out and spend it. Tinsley just might find that his forced pay hike actually makes him more money.
snip
Here's a final part of the puzzle. This whole equation works best if the entire economy has to raise wages at the same rate - such as when the minimum wage is increased. If it is left up to individual employers, you run across a lot of small-minded fools who refuse to raise their employees' wages. The effects of higher wages are then blunted. In plain words, employers fighting minimum wage increases cut their own throats.
Or at least their bottom lines. Ed Tinsley could easily break even on the living wage hike - and more than likely he'd see his earnings inch higher. But he either can't, or won't, see how that works. To my mind, that says he's too small minded to be making decisions that impact the entire country. It's better to keep him at KBOBs where his employees can get away from him simply by taking another job.
Help keep Ed Tinsley at home - wherever that is. Donate to Harry Teague and the rest of the NM Dems.