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Calvin Coolidge's Advice for Gov. Scott Walker
American Spectator ^ | Feb. 18, 2011

Posted on 02/26/2011 4:41:18 PM PST by T.L.Sink

[Boston, Massachusetts,1919.] The Boston police had decided - against the law - that they would organize a union. The police commissioner said they were in violation of the law. Samuel Gompers, head of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), jumped into the middle of the dispute and issued the police an AFL charter as a union. The police went on strike. The situation was rapidly deteriorating. Gov. Calvin Coolidge was furious and the police were fired. Said Coolidge: "THERE IS NO RIGHT TO STRIKE AGAINST THE PUBLIC SAFETY BY ANYBODY, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE." In his memoirs Coolidge wrote, "It was beginning to be clear that if voluntary associations were to be permitted to substitute their will for the authority of public officials the end of our government was at hand."

(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: wisconsinshowdown
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The fact that Obama and the Left are owned and operated by the unions is obvious. But what makes the situation even more dire than in the 1920's when Coolidge was president is that we're now BROKE. We are now facing, for real, what Coolidge had most feared: "... the end of our government is at hand." But the socialist Obama doesn't care about our future as a nation so long as he has the support of taxpayer supported unions.
1 posted on 02/26/2011 4:41:23 PM PST by T.L.Sink
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To: T.L.Sink
Coolidge for President!

Even in his present condition.

2 posted on 02/26/2011 4:54:13 PM PST by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all -- Texas Eagle)
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To: T.L.Sink
Calvin Coolidge's Advice for Gov. Scott Walker.

Other advice that Calvin had for Walker is to not rely on All Season Radials in the winter. Go the extra mile and get a decent set of snow tires. Studs couldn't hurt either. Coolidge is a wealth of solid advice.


3 posted on 02/26/2011 5:15:19 PM PST by Lazlo in PA (Now living in a newly minted Red State.)
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To: Texas Eagle

Especially in his present condition.


4 posted on 02/26/2011 5:26:38 PM PST by Old Seadog (Always do a little more than is expected, and someday .....it will be expected.)
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To: Texas Eagle
Coolidge for President!

Although I'm likely among the older FReepers, I did miss out on the Calvin Coolidge administration. Everything I've read about it reveals that "Silent Cal" was likely the very best president of the 20th Century, yes, even edging out Ronald Reagan in that regard. It is my understanding that RWR did have a very high opinion of Coolidge whose thoughts on government and taxation are just as valid today as they were in 1924.

Unions are inherently evil.

Calvin Coolidge knew it and we Conservatives recognize that Marxism and unionism form a devil's alliance against freedom and liberty.
5 posted on 02/26/2011 5:27:30 PM PST by re_nortex (DP...that's what I like about Texas.)
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To: re_nortex
Unions are inherently evil.

As in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

6 posted on 02/26/2011 5:32:46 PM PST by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all -- Texas Eagle)
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To: re_nortex
Coolidge prided himself on saying only what had to be said at the time and really didn't expand on things.

He busted the police strike, but ultimately not the union, while he was Governor of Massachusetts.

Later on as President he set the stage for the Great Depression (which was made much worse by both Hoover and Roosevelt).

I spent some time this evening going through a number of his speeches and couldn't drag anything out of them that said he'd support Right to Work Laws.

BTW, in a nation where every person is a member of the people's militia and should be provided a weapon through conveniently located armories, or for home storage, or with tax credits so you could select your own, it seems to me that properly operated, the United States would only need a handful of cops ~ not these enormous paramilitary forces that think they ought to be unionized.

It's time for Conservatives to quit worrying about unions and push back until we get a fully armed and trained people's militia that can make Americans safe in America!

7 posted on 02/26/2011 5:38:14 PM PST by muawiyah (Make America Safe For Americans)
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To: muawiyah
Later on as President he [Coolidge] set the stage for the Great Depression (which was made much worse by both Hoover and Roosevelt).

Interesting. That's contrary to what I've read. But, if you'll read through my posting history here, I am always eager to explore those things that might be different from what I believe. In most cases, a dissenting view serves to strengthen my convictions because it leads to acquire more data from both sides.

However there are certainly exceptions so I welcome anything you have that shows Coolidge's part in laying the groundwork for the Great Depression.

For the record, I'll acknowledge Hoover's role in it. He had some definite RINO leanings (perhaps arising from his humanitarian work) and I think he meddled too much in the economy. That being said, had a second Hoover term had come to pass (albeit unlikely given the public's mood), there's no doubt that the Great Depression would not have been so "Great" nor so prolonged, both of which are decidedly the fault of Franklin Roosevelt's soft brand of Communism.

Please forgive the off-topic diversion into Hoover since I am indeed most anxious to get your thoughts on Calvin Coolidge.

8 posted on 02/26/2011 5:50:57 PM PST by re_nortex (DP...that's what I like about Texas.)
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To: re_nortex
Coolidge was hardly a modern Conservative. He also favored OPEN BORDERS combined with a HIGH PROTECTIVE TARIFF.
9 posted on 02/26/2011 6:14:19 PM PST by muawiyah (Make America Safe For Americans)
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To: T.L.Sink

I have a sneakin’ suspicion that if Gov. Walker has to issue layoff notices the Wi. public employees may just walk out via strikes. We shall see what we shall see.


10 posted on 02/26/2011 6:15:58 PM PST by tflabo
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To: T.L.Sink
FDR said about the same thing. Anybody notice how there is NO collective bargaining allowed by federal gumint employees?
11 posted on 02/26/2011 6:47:14 PM PST by hinckley buzzard
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To: muawiyah

Coolidge signed into law the last true restrictive and conservative immigration laws. He supported and signed into law legislation ending mass immigration.

With the possible exception of Eisenhower, Coolidge was the last good Republican president on immigration. Nixon can be forgiven to an extent in that the effects of Ted Kennedy’s deceptive 1965 Immigration Reform Act (which undid those signed into law by Coolidge, and reignited mass immigration) were not yet apparent. Reagan had some good things to say about border control, but he was a misguided romantic on immigration in general. And the Bushes? Well, they were both terrible, with W being as bad as any Democrat on the issue.

We need a Coolidge today when it comes to immigration. If this current wave of mass immigration is not cut off, then it is over for us. Admittedly, even if all immigration ended tomorrow, the demographic momentum of the the past 30 years of pro-Democrat immigration would continue to change the nation in a bad way for conservatives and Republicans.

But if immigration were drastically reduced, then at least we’d have a fighting chance demographically speaking.


12 posted on 02/26/2011 6:48:53 PM PST by Aetius
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To: re_nortex
Coolidge was Reagan's hero. He had a fine portrait of President Coolidge retrieved from the archives and displayed prominently in the White House. That was back when we had an American president.
13 posted on 02/26/2011 6:49:37 PM PST by hinckley buzzard
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To: re_nortex

My favorite Coolidge aphorism is “It is easy to see why legislatures spend money. There is plenty of it laying around and it doesn’t seem to belong to anyone.”


14 posted on 02/26/2011 6:49:37 PM PST by Mind-numbed Robot (Not all that needs to be done needs to be done by the government!)
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To: Aetius

Coolidge ASKED FOR MORE LIBERAL naturalization standards ~ essentially an AMNESTY in modern usage!


15 posted on 02/26/2011 6:51:04 PM PST by muawiyah (Make America Safe For Americans)
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To: re_nortex
Beware contrarians who think that to run against the wind is a sign of intelligence. Coolidge had nothing to do with the Depression and most likely would not have made the activist mistakes of Hoover which added fuel to the fire.
16 posted on 02/26/2011 6:52:39 PM PST by hinckley buzzard
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To: muawiyah
Coolidge was hardly a modern Conservative. He also favored OPEN BORDERS combined with a HIGH PROTECTIVE TARIFF.
People lightly toss around the RINO label for people who are actually just behind the times. High tariff and open borders was standard Republicanism that long ago. Cooledge must have had his points, for Reagan hung his portrait in the oval office.

17 posted on 02/26/2011 6:59:28 PM PST by conservatism_IS_compassion (DRAFT PALIN)
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To: muawiyah

Coolidge’s rhetoric on immigration was better than anything we’ve heard from the likes of Bush, or even Reagan.

And most importantly, and I repeat myself, he signed into law legislation that ended mass immigration. This alone marks him as the best President when it comes to immigration. Bush’s PC head would have exploded at the thought of cutting back on immigration.

Can you really put any other President from the past 110 years above Coolidge (from a conservative point of view) on immigration in terms of what he actually did?


18 posted on 02/26/2011 7:06:02 PM PST by Aetius
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To: muawiyah
Different times, and most immigrants were from different places than today. The immigrants of the Coolidge's time wanted to be Americans, to learn the language, to participate in the society. They didn't come here to join communist-leftist organizations and destroy America.
19 posted on 02/26/2011 7:11:45 PM PST by Clock King (Ellisworth Toohey was right: My head's gonna explode.)
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To: Clock King
The immigrants in Coolidge's time were mostly from Greece and Italy. Over half of them WENT BACK HOME.

They were here for the money.

20 posted on 02/26/2011 7:42:23 PM PST by muawiyah (Make America Safe For Americans)
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