Here’s something that doesn’t add up about Walsh’s story.
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As I commented to another poster, I am not convinced that our Frank Walsh is an actual person.
I tend to agree; there are lots of union carpenters, plumbers, electricians from Maryland and northern Virginia who’ve made a lot of money in recent years working on federally-funded projects in the D.C. area. Heck, Annapolis is less than 20 miles from Fort Meade, and there’s always something under construction at the base. Beyond that, outgoing Maryland governor Martin O’Malley spent tax revenue as quickly as he could collect it, and virtually all of those projects were union jobs. If Walsh didn’t want to drive to D.C., there should have been plenty of opportunities in Baltimore and even Annapolis.
As others have observed, Mr. Walsh may be one of those guys who was sent back to the union hall “early” because he was incompetent, or had the work ethic of a sloth. The other option, as you observe, is that Walsh is another creation of the NYT; somewhere, Jayson Blair must be smiling.
Someone at National Review or the Weekly Standard ought to contact Walsh’s local in Annapolis and see what their unemployment rate has been over the last four years.