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While many young people today cannot remember a time when the Republican Party of Texas was not the strongest state party in the United States, those of us that are baby boomers can remember a time when there was virtually no Republican party presence in Texas.  Although John McCain, the Republican Presidential Candidate, easily carried Texas over President-Elect Barack Obama there may be early signs that a change is coming.

A major premise of the Obama campaign was that he was running as a different type of Democrat than the traditional liberal flag bearer. Throughout the campaign people on the street often characterized him as not only being a moderate but perhaps even a conservative thinker even though his voting record in the U.S. Senate was the second most “liberal”.  A persistent and clear shift to centrist positions has occurred as he has passed from primary to general election and now to his cabinet selections. Left wing bloggers and political activists are already criticizing the President-Elect of not being a true progressive. The major coattail of this election that Obama has brought already is that the American people are beginning to see the Democrats as centrists rather than progressives.

Not incoincidentally, there has been a movement within the Democratic party to regain strength in the Southern states by forming  coalitions of like minded Democrats who are fiscal conservatives, protectionist of gun rights, and pro-national security. They have widely different views among themselves on social conservative issues often tending to avoid confrontations with other Democrats on these issues.

Southerners and Texans in particular have always been political pragmatists.  Texans have known the power of having a powerful Senators, Speakers of the House, and even Presidents who could help the state maintain its political identity and economy.  Now without any favorite sons in the Senate of the party in power there is likely among the traditional power brokers in the state a sense of uneasiness.

The apparent decision of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison to leave her Senate seat and challenge fellow Republican Governor Rick Perry for the gubernatorial election is sending shock waves throughout the state.  This would open her Senate seat to a special election in a short election cycle without an obvious Republican heir.

In the 2008 Senate election, the Democratic challenge to incumbent Republican John Cornyn was a lukewarm attempt. Houston State Representative, Rick Noriega, a Mexican American, won in a run-off of the Democratic primary but was not well known outside of his native Houston.  His campaign was poorly organized and supported until the last few months of the campaign. However, at one point in the campaign he was polling competitively with Cornyn which surprised many Texans.

Now the Texas Democratic Party having smelled blood in the water seems determined to get a win.  Two very well known Democrats have jumped into the race.

Mayor Bill White of Houston has begun to visit political power brokers throughout Texas. Most recently he has received national attention and acclaim for the preparation of Houston for the hit of Hurricane Katrina.  His political pedigree includes being the successful son of San Antonio school teachers, a Harvard undergraduate degree, and successful careers in private law and corporate leadership after graduation from the University of Texas Law School.  Under the Clinton administration he was the Secretary of Energy. The former Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party is seen as very pro-business but also pro-gun control.This gun control issue may be his Achille’s heel.

John Sharp, the Comptroller for the State of Texas has similarly begun his moves in the race. Many see him as being more consistent with the Blue Dog Democratic movement than Bill White. His political resume shows a graduation from Texas A&M and a highly acclaimed career as a Texas legislator in the state house, state senate, Railroad Commissioner, and as Comptroller.  He is credited with founding of the Texas Lottery which is most successful in the United States. Some question his ability to win a big statewide election after he lost an attempt to win the Lieutenant Governor race. He has in past been pro-life but a Democrat in Texas could probably win a general election but will it hurt in the primaries?

It is quite likely that these two Democrats will raise large campaign funds and be able to form statewide political support networks to challenge the Republicans.  Whereas in the past the Democratic Party did not receive much funding from traditionally Republican sources such as business interests with the change at the national level there will likely be a significant flow of money to these heavy hitters. Many moderate Republicans wanting to keep a Texas influence in Washington may vote for one of these two candidates unless a very strong Republican emerges.

On the other hand, it is already being rumored, that the Texas Democratic Party will not likely support a progressive candidate because it wants a win rather than to push a liberal agenda.  Both Mr. White and Mr. Sharp have been in contact with minority leaders across the state seeking to get those early endorsements from South Texas Hispanic and the urban African American voters. The prominent African American Mayor of Dallas, Ron Kirk, has conveniently been removed from contention because he will be the new U.S. Trade Representative under the Obama administration.

Tony Magaña grew up in McAllen Texas, attended Texas A&M University, served as an officer in Army Reserve, and holds a doctorate from Harvard University. The co-founder of Contempo Magazine has participated in Valley business for over 20 years.He is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

American labor leaders are looking to Obama and the Democratic majority in the Congress to finally pass (H.R. 800), the Employee Free Choice Act of 2007 which passed the House but was held up in the 2007 Senate by a cloture vote. Labor leaders proclaim that change is needed in worker organization law because the current law is too skewed to management. Overall in the United States only about 12 percent of all American workers are unionized. They note that over the past 20 years in the private sector there has been a significant decrease from nearly a quarter of the private sector workforce being unionized to only about 9% currently.  Real wages have decreased steadily while worker productivity has increased over that same period they maintain. Unionized workers make an average of 28% more in wages and have a sixty percent greater chance of having health insurance than unorganized workers.

Labor proponents complain that the Federal government has for some time hampered organization efforts through a weak National Labor Relations Board which has allowed thousands of illegal firings. Current law requires that any company with at least three employees and a gross income of three million dollars must have a majority vote by secret ballot to become a unionized work place. Under the new law, if a majority of employees sign a card favoring unionization then a mandatory negotiating process would immediately proceed within ten days.  The law would provide for mandatory Federal arbitrators to oversee negotiations who have wide authority over company matters such as budget outlays, plant shutdowns, retirement funds, number of employees, elimination of subcontracting or outsourcing, and health care coverage.

Historically Hispanics and especially Hispanic women have had very low numbers in union organizations.  Less than 10% of the Hispanic workforce is unionized in the United States. Many Hispanic political organizations and Hispanic legislators including Henry Cuellar and Rueben Hinojosa from South Texas voted in favor of H.R. 800.

While the Northeast and Midwest United States which have had traditionally high levels of union workers are suffering the most severe economic crisis the State of Texas which has very low levels of unionization has been much less affected by crisis.  The highest concentration of Hispanics in the United States can be found in the region along the South Texas-Mexican border called the Rio Grande Valley(RGV).

The RGV like other areas of the old South has seen steady growth in jobs and their economy compared with the Northeast and Midwest. Competitive low wages, cheap land,  very business friendly state and local governments, trade with Mexico, a local cultural tradition of working hard ethos, and minimal mortgage crisis debt compared with other parts of the country have allowed the area to have continued economic growth.  Another important factor has been the symbiotic relationship that seems to occur between native Hispanic business owners and immigrant workers who share a cultural identity and values.

All is not perfect in the “Valley” as it is called by locals.  Despite the tremendous growth in Hispanics who attend college and availability of advanced education in the region there is a major brain drain of young college graduates out of the area. Very low living expenses allow a working population to live better than they other would in other regions of the country but still they have overall comparatively low wages which are “unsustainable’ according to the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council. Most low skilled low wage employees work for small businesses. The region is extremely dependent upon current free trade agreements with Mexico to maintain the local economy which is in peril by the new administration.

The RGV will see significant and perhaps devastating changes if the Employee Free Choice Act becomes law.  Hundreds of outside union organizers are expected to come to workplaces like local restaurant chains, automobile dealerships, construction companies, hospitals, school districts, grocery stores, and other businesses.  Hispanic owners of businesses will not be allowed to advise or discuss unionization at all with their employees.  There is a risk that rivalry between competing unions would allow coercion of workers whose employee cards would allow public scrutiny of not only whether they support a union but also which union they might want. The conservative Heritage Foundation reported  documented cases of workers who suffered threats to their families when the card check system publicly revealed their opinion against unionization.

While it is unfair to say the unions demands for high wages and benefits is only cause for the economic downturn in the “Rustbelt” it was clearly a contributory factor. What will happen to the competitiveness of the Rio Grande Valley and other areas in the South if they have to immediately deal with wage increases of 28% or more? What will happen to the symbiotic relationship that has been instrumental in the advancement of Hispanics in the Southwest between Hispanic management and labor when it has a new outside labor mediator imposed?

The crucial issue of health care coverage has been a disaster when it has been handled by management-labor negotiations as evidenced by the General Motors dilemma. No doubt health care costs too much and is too little available to workers, but the solution to this problem will not come from this platform but instead must be solved by national legislation restructuring the health care system.  Enacting this labor law reform before health care reform is a recipe for disaster.

Taking away the low cost labor advantage and especially in the environment of a mitigated free trade agreement while result in higher unemployment for the low wage low skilled Hispanics who make up the majority of the RGV workforce.  Not only will existing businesses be affected but there will be placed a severe inhibition for new entrepreneurs to start new businesses in the area. The rare regional success in the current economic crisis will be turned into another “Rustbelt”.

Many in the Hispanic community are aware of the union corruption so virulent in our neighboring country to the South. The Democratic Party was so incensed at the lack of fairness to workers that in 2001 they sent a letter to Mexico demanding that secret ballot should be used in all union elections.  How can it be possibly that American members of Congress believe that Mexican workers should have the right to secret ballot in union elections but American members should not?

The right to workers to organize is a cherished and essential tradition, however, at the same time America has seen fit that some aspects of the worker-employer relationship should come under general legal supervision such as minimum wage standards.   American workers need more protections in their security of employment and health coverage but these should come under general employment law standards.  Corporate transparency must be increased so that patterns of unfair labor practices are able to be found and punished. The founders of the Constitution intended that individual states would be laboratories of innovation in commerce and this concept would be crushed by the sledge hammer effect of the Employee Free Choice Act.

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Tony Magaña grew up in McAllen Texas, attended Texas A&M University, served as an officer in Army Reserve, and holds a doctorate from Harvard University. The co-founder of Contempo Magazine has participated in Valley business for over 20 years.He is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

The recent arrest and exposure of the Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is being presented by many in the liberal biased mass media as a unique extraordinary aberration of politics in America today.  Mr. Blagojevich did not arise in a vacuum but was able to rise to hold the most powerful office in his state coming from an underprivileged background under the careful influence and advice of many power brokers including his father in law Alderman Mell, Senate President Emil Jones (also an important Obama mentor), and convicted pay to play fundraiser Tony Rezko.

Jones, Rezko, and recently named Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel have had more than frequent interactions with Governor Blagojevich for many years.  Rahm Emauel was hand picked to replace Blagojevich’s Congressional seat when he made the move to governor. Although Obama denies close ties with Blagojevich he was clearly more than just supportive of the Governor in his most recent re-election campaign were he and Emanuel played key roles and made frequent strong public endorsements despite growing questions of improprieties towards the governor.

There is strong evidence that Rahm Emanuel is recorded more than once speaking with Blagojevich as reported separately by Fox News and the Chicago Sun-Times. Mr. Emanuel hesitated taking the Chief of Staff job many insiders are saying because he was hoping the get a shot at the Senate appointment so it is impossible to imagine that Emanuel is in the dark about what was going on. The Sun-Times also noted that it was very unusual and significant for Mr. Emanuel not to have been present at the recent Obama news conference. His absence can only mean he wanted to avoid questions about what he knows or said about the Blagojevich affair.

Since becoming a Senator, Mr. Obama has on numerous occasions called for complete transparency in governmental leaders decisions. He has stated that all organizations, persons, documents, and schedules should be publicly posted. In addition he has stated that no deliberations should be held in secret regarding government activities except for national security or to protect privacy matters.

The selection process for the replacing the Illinois Senate seat for Mr. Obama represents a clear and intentional deviation from Mr. Obama’s previously stated policies.   No one is suggesting yet that Mr. Obama would partake or suggest or approve of such bartering for personal gain. However, the real question and perhaps the most important question is what would Mr. Obama do if he knew another very important Democrat was doing wrong? Obama and or his staff had the duty and the responsibility to immediately report any wrong doing they perceived was being done by Blagojevich. Some have contemplated that Mr. Obama did work with Federal prosecutors but his own statement that he has had no contact with them would seem to rule out that possiblity.

Has Mr. Obama been so naive in his ascension to power in the corrupt world of Chicago politics that he could not see any problems with Governor Blagojevich. This would make the President elect a truly gullible and manipulated servant of those less well intentioned. No, it would seem more likely that like many other politicians have done in the past he was not himself a directly corruptible figure but like a race horse wearing blinders avoided seeing the the situation around him so he could get to the finish.

Tony Magaña grew up in McAllen Texas, attended Texas A&M University, served as an officer in Army Reserve, and holds a doctorate from Harvard University. The co-founder of Contempo Magazine has participated in Valley business for over 20 years.He is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

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