Angry Boy: thank you for collecting this data and putting it on your site. I would have never known this. It is not that I am against unions, I am against unions having too much political influence. Mayor Costas is an executive in a small town in Northern Indiana. Why did these unions feel the need to donate all this money? Do mayor’s have anything to do with unions or were they “investing” in something bigger. This is all above my pay grade. Thank you for putting this information into digestable (& entertaining) format. I enjoy your blog and have referred friends to the site.

LCS …

Honest, it is permissible and usually expected that upstanding Conservatives would be opposed to Unions. This get-rich scheme orchestrated by Union powerbrokers is usually thought of as “get from the workers, pay out most of it to the Union thugs, and give the rest to the Dems …so we can keep doin’ what were doin’.”

So if Jon Costas is supported by conservatives, and has actually helped unions see that conservatives are better for their long term future, that makes him a bad person? The unions are the jobs we all talk about, and they are starting to see conservatives as better partners. Good.

Litmus testing to the extent you are suggesting is sophomoric, I remember it was called third degree of separation in the 1950’s nd 1960’s when the fundies used it to control their congregations.

In NW Indiana the unions have always been strongly democratic. In recent years the democrats have foolishly stood in the way of improving roads and bridges and growth. Jon led the way by beating a 20-year incumbent who kinda forgot to repave the roads. He held taxes down while investing heavily in infrastructure, like our Governor.

I guess if a “true” conservative is one who stops investing in jobs and infrastructure then he aint that kind of dope. The unions noticed that Jon actually was providing leadership, and they responded by supporting him with some contributions, which all of you who are oh so ticked at McCain for denying you your right to donate should support. Free Speech and all.

Building bridges to labor and civil rights groups and business leaders and mayors of small and medium communities … that’s a strong leader.

Choose litmus testing … and join Eric Miller, Newt Gingrich, and Dan Quayle … watching from the sidelines. Choose leadership that will get things done … and perhaps we can win an election in November.

Jon promised the unions absolutely nothing, and you won’t find a single article in the papers about Jon giving them anything special. All they asked for in exchange for their support was openness, honesty, and transparency in what’s going on in town. Butterfield was notorious for his closed-door policy, and several unions didn’t like that, including Butterfield’s own police and firefighters.

Jon Costas has won $20M worth of state and federal grants to improve Valparaiso, create jobs, and put local union members to work. At least a few million of that $20M went to local union members–in the form of an honest day’s wages. The city’s fire department now has one of the best ratings in the state from the insurance industry. And crime is low and falling.

It hasn’t all gone the way of the unions. One of Jon’s first acts as Mayor was to significantly strengthen the city’s ethics ordinance, which he wrote as a Councilman, with the goal of significantly strengthening the Ethics Commission and eliminating any possibility of nepotism in the Fire and Police departments, which didn’t make those Chiefs very happy since firefighting and police work are often generational in nature.

You should also consider the history of unions in Valparaiso. There was quite a dispute in Valparaiso around 1995 when Jon was serving on Council. The Teamsters were demanding to organize the city’s employees, and the City Council voted No. Jon Costas voted No. The issue has never come up again and Jon refuses to let it be raised. He made it very clear that he has no intentions of allowing city workers to organize.

Jon’s philosophy, which dates from the time he pushed boxes of food around the back room of his dad’s grocery store, is that if you treat workers well they won’t feel compelled to join a union. Costas Supermarkets and their successor stores today are still not organized.

It’s a shame our party doesn’t get more union support. Republicans are the party of free trade, which benefits unions like the Longshoremen and Teamsters. We’re the party of lower taxes, less regulation, and a day’s wages for a day’s work. It’s too bad that Jon Costas is one of the few members of our party who has succeeded at bridging the gap between Republicans and trade unions.

The amount of money wasted on union contracts in cities like Valpo is enormous. Costas has wasted money as mayor and will waste more to the big law firms if he is Attorney General.

Tom, there is absolutely no evidence that any money has been wasted on contracts in Valparaiso. Jon Costas has been widely hailed as being extremely smart about how the city spends its money to get maximum impact. If you have such evidence, please share it.

Hey Daltonsbrief -

Do you really think making disparaging remarks about our former Congresman, US Senator and Vice-President is the way to win votes for Jon Costas, the mayor of a city of less than 30,000 population?

That really doesn’t work in the Fort Wayne area where many of the state delegates know Dan Quayle personally.

You can’t offend your way to victory.

Earl, I’m afraid that Ft. Wayne isn’t a good indicator of the rest of the state. And, the point I was making was that former VP Quayle isn’t electable. That doesn’t make him a bad person, or a liberal, that makes him unelectable.

I also said Newt Gingrich, and he’s one of my personal heroes. But, he won’t be our President. He’s a thinker, a loyal opposition, a writer and a prodder.

Dalton, I’m afraid that small town Valparaiso isn’t a good indicator of the rest of the state. And, the point I was making that the hubris it takes to disparage a former Vice-President who won two statewide elections and two congressional elections doesn’t really build goodwill for your candidate.

Earl, no disparagement intended, the conversation about who is electable though is very realistic. We just finished a Presidential primary season with a similar result … the electable Republican beat the guys with the endorsement of the conservative establishment. I’m sure you’ll find hubris in my inferring that Jon Costas is similar to John McCain too.