Big Labor’s investment in Obama pays off
Big Labor’s investment in Obama pays off
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2009
“We spent a fortune to elect Barack Obama — $60.7 million to be exact — and we’re proud of it,” boasted Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, to the Las Vegas Sun this week. The behemoth labor organization’s leadership is getting its money’s worth. Whether rank-and-file workers and ordinary taxpayers are profiting from this ultimate campaign pay-for-play scheme is another matter entirely.
The two-million-plus-member union, which represents both government and private service employees, proudly claimed that its workers “knocked on 1.87 million doors, made 4.4 million phone calls…and sent more than 2.5 million pieces of mail in support of Obama.” It dispatched SEIU leaders to seven states in the final weekend before the election to get out the vote for Obama and other Democrats.
Through a series of local chapter takeovers, corporate shakedowns, and bully campaigns to destroy the reputation of executives who refuse to submit to their will, Stern and his scandal-plagued lieutenants have consolidated low-skill service workers to create a 21st century labor empire. The ubiquitous Stern now enjoys a prominent seat at the table of every major policy discussion at the White House, including economic recovery and health care radicalization.
Obama champions the SEIU’s top legislative priorities: expansive government health care (paid for with regressive sin taxes) and the Orwellian-titled “Employee Free Choice Act” to do away with private-ballot union elections in the workplace. (The initiative is “alive and well,” Stern said this week.) Obama has SEIU-blessed bureaucrats installed in every corner of his administration to carry out the agenda.
The SEIU scored not one, but two, Cabinet appointees: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. Stern dubbed Sebelius a “top choice” for the SEIU and lobbied for her confirmation. The SEIU pitched in with maximum campaign donations to Solis’s first congressional campaign and lent her nearly 300 rank-and-file canvassers and ground troops. “I wouldn’t be here, were it not for my friends in the labor movement,” she gushed. Indeed, over four terms in Congress, Solis has pocketed more than $900,000 in union campaign contributions.
Former SEIU chief lobbyist Patrick Gaspard, served as Obama’s campaign national political director and transition deputy director of personnel. During the 2004 election cycle, he led the radical, left-wing George Soros-funded group, America Coming Together (ACT) as national field director. SEIU poured $23 million of workers’ dues money into ACT in its failed attempt to put Democratic Sen. John Kerry in the White House. Under Gaspard’s tenure at ACT, the get-out-the-vote group employed convicted felons as canvassers and committed campaign finance violations that led to a $775,000 fine by the Federal Election Commission – the third largest civil penalty levied in the panel’s history. Gaspard was appointed White House political director shortly after Election Day 2008.
SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger was appointed to the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board to provide advice on “boosting the sagging U.S. economy” (translation: imposing new employment regulations on companies and expanding union membership rolls).
Within two weeks of moving into the White House, Obama immediately signed a series of executive orders championed by union bosses. The new rules authorized sweeping powers for the Labor Secretary that essentially blackball non-union contractors targeted by labor organizers and blacklist non-union employees in the private sector from working on taxpayer-funded projects. Such regulatory favoritism limits freedom in the workplace and raises the cost of doing business.
Another measure immediately adopted by President Obama requires that when a government service contract runs out–and there’s a new contract to perform the same services at the same location–the new contractor must retain the old workers. Mickey Kaus of the left-leaning Slate magazine dubbed the move the “Labor Payoff of the Day.”
The payoffs keep coming. Last week, Obama slashed the Labor Department’s funding to investigate union corruption – a welcome move for Stern, who has seen three of his closest hand-picked deputies resign in 2008-2009 over financial scandals involving rampant cronyism, nepotism, and embezzlement.
California officials also reported last week that the Obama White House gave the SEIU an unprecedented role in negotiations over federal stimulus funds. According to the Los Angeles Times, the union lobbied the feds to withhold nearly $7 billion in stimulus money from California unless it revoked a wage cut for unionized health care workers – which had already been approved by Democratic lawmakers as part of a budget deal forged in February. Top SEIU officials participated in a conference call last month on the issue; the Obama White House backs the union demands.
SEIU’s enforcers have set aside another $10 million to un-elect any of its political beneficiaries who abandon their pledges to do the union’s legislative bidding. The campaign money was raised by slapping an extra $6 per-member fee on top of regular dues payments – and funneled straight to the union’s political action committee. Meanwhile, after spending a fortune to put Barack Obama in office, the union laid off a third of its D.C. field staff (in violation of its own employment protections, according to the workers) due to…budget troubles.
The laid-off workers are collateral damage in Big Labor’s pursuit of power. The only jobs guaranteed by SEIU’s merger with Hope and Change Inc. belong to the brass.
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Trackbacks
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- Ten Reasons The Republican Party Will Recover « Peace and Freedom Promises
- The U.S.A. at a tipping point :Conservative Nation
- Wednesday, May 13, 2009: Daily Handpicked Headlines :: Daily Uprising :: Join the Conservative Counter-Revolution!
- Nothing To See Here…. Obama was ‘bought and paid for’ by union
- Obama Full Supports Ending Secret Ballot For All Employees–Are Voters Next?–Employee Free Choice Act a.k.a. Card Check is Ballot Check Next? « Pronk Palisades
- SEIU spent $60.7 million to get Hussein Obama elected, and the SEIU is proud of it! | Fire Andrea Mitchell!
- Big Labors investment in Obama pays off - Conservative Republican Discussion Forums
- Obama Now Controlling State Budgets? — PatrioticMind.com
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When will organized labor become another taxpayer funded group?
They won’t be happy until they choke the living stuff out of all productive people and industries! Oh well, George, Benjamin, Thomas, it was a great ride while it lasted! Gentlemen,we have boatdrinks! (klink)
They already are:
SEIU…
Hmmmm…just a moment- let me rearrange a couple of letters…maybe add another letter over here and there and….
voila!…
ACORN
One feature of fascist economics as practiced by both Italy and Germany was the co-opting of labor into corporatist structures. They were given a seat at the table, along with the owners of big business, and all under the direction of a party leader, who made decisions on behalf of the STATE.
They got advantages in that structure that the market never would have provided them. Sound familiar?
On May 13th, 2009 at 10:14 am, Craig said:
Yes! Did you watch Glen Beck yesterday? He is connecting the dots very well! Can no one stop this horror?
Big labor is worse than big oil, at least you can buy shares of big oil make a profit.
Correction “…AND make a profit.” Should have put on my glasses this morning.
Unfortunately, it was painfully obvious.
You and I, Scrappy…and everyone who thinks as we do…working together.
These people are mafia. I don’t know about you, but I have heard a few tales about thugs like that. And to think that the POTUS is one of THEM! I pray every day for the safety of the ones speaking out against this evil.
More moves toward a fascist economy…
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124215896684211987.html
BIG BRO is now considering ways to cap the compensation of people in the financial sector who are NOT TARP recipients.
For those of you who know anything about economics, what happens when you put a price ceiling on anything, like rent controlled apartments?
Having worked for a union in the past (I won’t mention names, but the initials are NEA), I can tell you this should be no surprise to anyone paying attention.
Semi-bold prediction: When Obama’s time is finished in the White House and a Republican eventually takes over, there will be massive fraud and theft perpetrated by the union apologists. revealed at all levels.
I say this is semi-bold, simply because that’s what former NEA employees did when the Clinton Education Department was cleared out as Bush came into office.
Sounds like what the unions are collecting aren’t dues but more like “protection” money. If they were Italians they’d be arrested and charged under the racketerring laws.
When will these union members tell their unions to put the dues toward the welfare of their members and not using them for political fundraising? The Teachers Union comes to mind along with the SEIU.
Somewhere, Jimmy Hoffa is asking for a glass of icewater, and smiling.
That’s almost true, if you realize that all of the largest oil companies are state-owned.
The Union acts more like a PAC than what it was intended. What is the legality of what they are doing? I hope we can impeach this horrible president before he does damage that can’t be undone!!
Hope won’t do it, and neither can it be done in reality.
We have to fashion tools outside the box of Civics 101.
STARVE THE BEAST
Unions should’ve been abolished decades ago. Their usefulness ran out a long time ago. All they do is destroy corporations and raise consumer prices.
On May 13th, 2009 at 10:33 am,
Wasn’t it wage and price controls that led to the rise of benefits like employee health insurance and the explosion of medical care costs? Just askin’, as they say.
Bottom line, they worked hard for their reward. If we want to defeat them, we have to out work them and put up candidates that we can unite around and serve as a CONTRAST to what we have now.
Dishwater warm RINOS are not going to cut it.
I wish I could agree with you, but I don’t. I seem to recall that the largest unions are public employee unions. They aren’t destroying corporations, they’re destroying the education system and the rest of the country along with it.
WTF is happening to our country?
Our government “educated” neighbors elected a cabal of communists as their masters, from whom constitutional protections are a small defense.
Well, yes and no. When you cap wages (compensation) you see a response in creative ways to compensate people via some unusual means…like benefits packages that run around the controls.
But the real rise in health care costs came after Teddy Kennedy dreamed up the HMO debacle.
But more globally, you see a SHORTAGE (which is always an artificial thing created by messing with the market).
You see an diversion of scarce things (like talented, smart people who know how to manage financial firms well) into other areas.
You see a degradation in quality of whatever you are controlling.
I could go on, but Dr. Sowell will say it better in Basic Economics.
This can’t be legal. Doesn’t this infringe upon the role of our elected representatives to appropriate funds and provide oversight in their distribution?
AND??? This is the ONE and democrats. So what if its illegal?
Do you actualy think they care about the law???
It is more apparent every day that they do not care about law, rules, or anything else that might get in their way.
‘It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.”
Joseph Stalin
“Democracy is indispensable to socialism.”
Vladimir Lenin
“Always remember the first rule of power tactics; power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.”
Saul Alinsky
“Markets are designed to allow individuals to look after their private needs and to pursue profit. It’s really a great invention and I wouldn’t under-estimate the value of that, but they’re not designed to take care of social needs.”
George Soros
Obama is putting in place Hugo Chavez election strategies. With the complicity of the RNC foisting RINO’s like Crist on us, there’s almost no way we will vote our way out of this.
One of the domestic enemies of conservatives is the GOP. The sooner people wake up to that, the sooner we can start a party that WILL stand up for the rule of law, national sovereignty, and the Constitution. The GOP WILL NOT!
Which is why Americans have…like no other people in history…voluntarily formed organizations by the dozens to respond to those needs, and funded them with the money they have thanks to capitalism.
The idea that a problem is so big that only government can handle it is a LIE.
Proof…Katrina and New Orleans.
In the course of human events, rarely have so many, worked for so few, to bring about their own ultimate de-evolution into the miserable state to which humanity is reduced to under socialism!
Rah Rah shish-kom-ba!
The sell out continues
We can express righteous indignation all we want but Republican administrations do the same thing using corporate executives.
What it really comes down to is this: elections have consequences and mean things. If you’re disgusted with Obama being in the pocket of Big Labor then get yourself motivated and actively work against their agenda.
It’s Snowballing!
Are the internet and talk radio strong enough to get the truth out to enough people? How else to provide info?
With the MSM, public education system and behind the scenes ‘moneymen’ furthering the ‘left’s’ agenda, how does a populous get to hear a different side?
I’ve been to 3 Tea Parties and now local talk radio is sneaking discussions that the TP’s are fizzling out (possibly a strategy to down play).
They already are in WA state. We are supposedly a right to work state; yet the unions came in a “negotiated” a contract with the state to make all state workers union workers. If you were not a union worker prior to this contract you either had to join the union and pay your dues, not join the union and pay the dues or face termination. Here is a copy of the termination letter form the WSFE.
Not sure how far it has gone or not gone.
Is that for real? Surely this is illegal?
If so, the Mafia were pikers compared to the unions.
Doesn’t chap hold himself out as a labor lawyer?
If so, where is his spirited defense of SEIU’s political involvements?
And I’ve a question: if unions exist to protect the health and safety of their members, why do SEIU members need protection from the government?
(never mind that ordinary private citizens DO need protection against the predations of this government)
What about killing the D.C. vouchers program?
It was, in fact, WWII wage controls that led to the bizarre health insurance situation this nation is in. Since employers couldn’t entice prospective workers by paying them more, adding tax-exempt health insurance benefits was a clever end around play.
… and a point of clarification. Although the majority of workers in SEIU may be considered low-skill, there are college-educated professionals working in government who have no choice but to join up or pay dues anyway.
Yeah, but don’t forget wage and price controls imposed by Nixon…no conservative he.
Look into the effect of the Ted Kennedy HMO thrust. You will see a lot.
Organized Labor
Organized Crime
Chicago Politics
No difference
How Brazen
Beck has had ACORN/SEIU segments since last friday, he said yesterday that if he comes up dead, and it looks like an accident, please look into it(to the police)….
Scary..
My neighbor is a public health nurse, member of SEIU, and did not know this was going on until I told her. She lamented the bankrupting of the state of California, but I told her about the SEIU shakedown-by-fed-threats scheme. The SEIU had not communicated this plan to its members. She’ll probably lose her job when funding fails. Elections have consequences, Dearie.
SEIU and ACORN = RICO
break em all and follow the money.
It would be a crying shame if something bad happened to their money drop house in the big easy.
Poorly phrased on my part. I meant “contributed to”, not caused the increase.
No, I don’t.
This union is behind the campaigns for Props 1 through 6 in California, which we will likely defeat next week.
Birds of a feather
Flock together
The union did what any sane organization would do. It looked it supported the candidate closest to its views. But it’s not like the union paid Obama to adopt those views. Obama supported health care reform and card check when the SEIU was supporting other candidates in the Democratic primaries.
My correction is closest to the truth.
Chicago politics at its best
Basic fascist economics.
Co-opt big business.
Co-opt big labor.
Put it under control of the STATE.
Direct the economy.
There are very few patriots left in America. The men and women of the current and past generations who laid their lives on the line, the Founders who lost everything in their support of this country…
The “leadership” and power brokers of today cannot que up fast enough to take part in the dismemberment of their own country, all for their own personal enrichment. They have not shown any of the attributes you would expect of a legitimate citizen of the United States, and they behave more like opportunist mercenaries. What a collective slap in the face to those men and women who stood and continue to stand in the gap for us.
I always tell my wife, when she’s wondering how to vote on whatever proposition is on ballot, to vote the opposite of what the unions are backing.
you don’t even have to know the issues….just vote opposite. Never go wrong
Glen Beck said it best on his show today. The politicians in DC are corrupt. Can’t put it any plainer than that. Corrupt traitors. I pray they get their punishment soon.
In turn, Obama did what any sane candidate with loose morals would do. He aligned his position to gain the support of the union.
It takes two.
I do not think a government this corrupt will be changed by the normal electoral process.
Oh, I think it is much, much deeper than that. BIG BRO is a fascist in his economics. He sees unions as both a power base to exploit, and a manifestation of the “people” to whom he is going to spread the wealth. They are the down-trodden victims of market capitalism. They are his chosen people.
He will lift them up, like Mussolini and Hitler lifted up the favored organized labor in their nations, far beyond where law or market forces could take them. You can see it in what he did with Chrysler. He will give them ownership they have not earned, and could not have but for BIG BRO’s largess.
And they will be his people. And there will be more of them, as the picture becomes more and more clear.
A new order for America is being ushered in.
Errah, most Union members; they can claim a legitimate skill or specialized trade. For these folks it’s extorsion, racketeering and felony theft. Three skill their membership can bank on.
“…blackball non-union contractors targeted by labor organizers and blacklist non-union employees in the private sector from working on taxpayer-funded projects. Such regulatory favoritism limits freedom in the workplace…
Limits freedom in the workplace? Is that what it does, Michelle? Well, whip them with a wet noodle!
This is taxation without representation. Pure and simple. Our taxes fund projects and then the tax-paying individual has no right to work on that project? This is tyranny!
Exactly what I do Ditkaca, that is good advice. I look immeadiately at who endorses the proposition and if any union is on it, i go for the opposite. Wished more people would learn to do that. Anything that sounds “good” here, people will fall for. I always try to tell people I know, if it sounds too good to be true, then it is. Look it up.
I saw an article (did not read it yet) that Ahnold warned that California has lost tax payer revenue for the first time since 1938? Must be all those feel good propositions that the dummies voted for then realized that they were taxed up the wazoo then took off for Arizona. Problem is, they will do the same thing there until it is time to move to Montana and do it to them. Crazy.