The Return of Nikki Tinker

Nikki Tinker has decided to stay in the Congressional Race. Her's her own press release about her filing the paperwork.
http://www.tinkerforcongress.com/News As you probably have read, I'm not a big Nikki Tinker fan. Maybe it's the seeming contempt she has for the voters or her being on the wrong side of worker/management relations. Or maybe its the emptiness of her campaign.
Here's what I wrote a couple months ago.

http://polardonkey.blogspot.com/2006/01/more-on-nikki-tinkers-candidacy.html
Well Ms. Tinker has updated her website and even put some issues. Lets have a quick look.
Healthcare: "Congress should also fund initiatives to help small businesses purchase affordable private coverage." Ok, this is policy crap. Is this really going to give healthcare benefits to 45 miilion people? How about we start by making wal-mart pay for health benefits, especially since they are the largets employer in the state. Even better we could really get serious and create a growth in job creation by providing single payer healthcare system. Ms. Tinker do you think every American is entitled to healthcare?
Crap policy intiative two: "I also favor publishing physicians’ charges so that consumers can comparison shop." WTF? 70% of all healthcare costs are directed towards only 10% of the population. Where are doctors going to post this? Do we need to create a new bureaucracy to administer this. Or should we just mandate all doctors get websites. Are webdesigners big Tinker donors? (Trust me, I don't think so. But we will get to donors shortly.)

Loansharking: Wow, I agree that this is a big problem. "I oppose charging exorbitant interest rates on our low-income, undereducated citizens. Consumers needing emergency cash are entering into expensive, high risk loans, using their automobiles as collateral. According to the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), car title lenders charge consumers 300% annual interest in some states for small cash loans secured by the title to their car. These are cars that are owned by the consumer and are not subject to any mortgage or lien." SInce hardly anyone's heard Ms. Tinker answer questions in public, I have to ask. Is Tinker willing to promise never to take money from financial companies and banks that make money off of these tactics? Does she think Harold Ford Jr was wrong for supporting the bankruptcy bill? Will she push for legislation that limits interest rates?

Foreign policy: Apparently Nkki Tinker does not know that the United States is in a war in Iraq. The 9th congressional district is overwhlemingly democratic and opposed to this war. If she can't even make a statement about it, how will she be willing to stand up to Bush and the republicans foolish continuation of the war. Does Tinker support Harold Ford Jr's vote in support of military action against Iraq?

My favorite part of Tinker's website is Nikki Promises section.
Promise 1 – "Access. I believe that an elected official and their staff should be accessible to ALL of its voters, and that the needs and concerns of ALL constituents should be heard in Washington, D.C." This is funny. Voters can't get access to her now. When is she going to talk to us? She doesn't talk to voters now. Why would she if she got elected.
Promise 2- "Economic Development. If elected, I want to perform economic development in these areas. I have met with business leaders and expressed my dedication to helping to improve opportunity in these areas. I think that if in fact we are ONE Memphis, we should focus our efforts on improving areas that need the most help. I am hoping that my presence in the community will invite and encourage the presence of other business leaders to that community." I guess working for the a subsidiary of a union busting company really helps with economic development. Hey everybody in Binghampton and Orange Mound. Rejoice, rejoice, Nikki Tinker and Memphis Tomorrow are coming to help your economic development. Just look at all they done for you already.
Promise 3- "I believe that children emulate what they see everyday. Our children need to see me and other leaders of our community on their way to and from school." Maybe Ms. Tinker's economic development child mentoring plan is tied to her campaign strategy of put up big billboards. That's right big billboards of Nikki Tinker in front of every school in the 9 th Congressional district. Is this really a plan or an edifice complex.

Here is the real nuts and bolts of Tinker's campaign.
Tinker gets 40% of campaign donations from out of state. Not a good sign. That's more than any other candidate. Even when Harold Ford Jr ran the first time, he got only 20% from out of state. By 2004, he got 60% from out of state. Using Harold as a model (especially considering she was his campaign manager),at Tinker's current pace, if elected, she'd be getting 80% of her campaign contributions from out of state by 2014. She would be the official US representative of Billings, Friedman, & Ramsey, just like Harold is today.
Who are Tinker's biggest business sector donors. 1) Lawyers and lobbyist ( In the age of Abramoff, do we really need a DLC dem in the pocket of lobbyists.) 2) Transportation 3) Finance/Insurance/Real Estate (Already standing up to those predatory lenders Ms. Tinker.)

Most tellingly, Ford & Harrison are still a donor.You remember Ford & Harrison. Ms. Tinker worked for them in Alabama.
What is Ford and Harrison LLP? Here's the firm describing itself. "Ford & Harrison is committed to providing assistance to employers to allow their management teams to successfully deal with government agency investigations, collective bargaining, or union organizing drives by helping to provide the necessary knowledge and insight to deal with these issues."
http://www.fordharrison.com/fh/about/default.asp
"Ford & Harrison clients, located throughout the United States, include air carriers, manufacturers, print and broadcast media, building and defense contractors, hospitals, medical clinics, automobile dealerships, supermarket and restaurant chains, retailers, and many other small, medium and large employers.
Representative Clients
• Aaron Rents, Inc.
• ABX Air, Inc.
• Alaska Airlines, Inc.
• American Airlines and American Eagle
• American Apparel Inc.
• Ardent Health Services
• Arkansas Best Corporation
• Atlantic Southeast Airlines
• Automobile Dealers Educational Assistance Foundation (Cleveland, ADA)
• Callaway Gardens Resort
• Central Parking Corporation
• Champion Enterprises, Inc.
• Clear Channel Communications, Inc.
• Coats North America
• Coca-Cola Bottling Company Consolidated
• Comair, Inc.
• CommScope, Inc. of North Carolina
• Computer Sciences Raytheon (CSR)
• Continental Airlines
• Corrections Corporation of America
• Danka Office Imaging, Inc.
• Darden Restaurants, Inc. (parent company of Red Lobster & Olive Garden)
• Delta Air Lines
• Dillard's, Inc.
• Family Dollar Services, Inc.
• FedEx Corporation
• Florida Rock Industries, Inc.
• Footstar Corporation
• Freightliner
• Gate Gourmet International
• General Shale Products Corporation
• HCA Inc.
• Hendrick Automotive Group
• The Home Depot, Inc.
• Life Care Centers of America
• LIN TV Corporation
• Lockheed Martin Corporation
• Long Beach Medical Center
• Mississippi Power
• Nike, Inc.
• Nortel Networks Limited
• Northern Services Group, Inc.
• Oldcastle, Inc.
• Palm Harbor Homes, Inc.
• Publix Super Markets, Inc.
• Renal Care Group
• Republic Airways Holding, Inc.
• Sonic Automotive, Inc.
• Spartanburg Regional Medical Center
• Spherion Workforce Architects
• TIMCO Aviation Services
• Towers Perrin
• Trader Publishing Company
• Triad Hospitals, Inc.
• Regions Financial Corporation
• US Airways
• Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
• WindowRama Enterprises, Inc.
• Worldspan L.P.
• Wyle Laboratories, Inc."
http://www.fordharrison.com/fh/about/clients.asp

(I'm sure all these Firms are on the BuyBlue website.)

"Our attorneys and staff strive to be partners with our clients by creatively, efficiently and effectively meeting their employment-related needs with the objective of minimizing their need for legal services. We accomplish this by...
• understanding the business of each client;
• using our experience and resources to achieve our clients' business objectives;
• taking ownership of our clients' problems;
• providing attorneys who are accessible, responsive and practical.
http://www.fordharrison.com/fh/about/commitment.asp"

Here's a list of her major donors.
Clark & Clark $4,200
Pinnacle Airlines $3,850
Northwest Airlines $2,500
Baker & Hostetler $2,100
John Teague & Assoc $2,100
Memphis Grizzlies $2,100
University of Alabama $2,100
Rossie, Luckett & Ridder $1,750
Baker, Donelson et al $1,500
Burton Capital $1,500
Broadcast Capital Inc $1,000
Buckman Laboratories $1,000
Cushman Wakefield $1,000
DLA Piper Rudnick et al $1,000
First Tennessee Bank $1,000
Ford & Harrison $1,000
Henry Turley Co $1,000
McGehee Realty & Development $1,000
Queen B Ranch $1,000
Rose Foundation $1,000
Spherion Corp $1,000

Good luck with the campaign. The 9th Congressional district is looking for another DINO