Well, everyone's favorite gang of thugs is at it again. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has opened its books, and it turns out there is a lot of stuff they'd rather keep quiet in them.
Stuff like how the union bosses have funneled literally millions of dollars of union money to businesses that just happened, by some amazing coincidence, owned by close family members of union officials.
This is the union's idea of "family values." This is actually a step up, when "family values" used to revolve around Mafia families.
That still might make a comeback, though -- one of the promises Barack Obama has made in his quest for the presidency was to end the consent decree that keeps the Teamsters under federal supervision. This has kept the Mafia from getting overt control of the union again.
That the SEIU is doing appalling things should come as no great surprise. They have already spent over $24 million dollars this campaign cycle alone, and have pledged to spend at least six times that much.
They've also run afoul of campaign finance laws -- but, as far as I know, they haven't been called on it yet. They reworked their Constitution to require every single Local to contribute at least $6.00 per member to the SEIU's political action committee -- or they will be "fined" by the national chapter $1.50 for every dollar they fall short of that quota.
One minor catch: federal law mandates that contributions to PACs must be voluntary. Demanding contributions is... um... what's the word? Oh, yeah -- ILLEGAL.
Yes, I know that unions have done a lot of good in the past. Well, guess what? That was a long, long time ago. Over the last few decades, they've done far more harm than good. And even so, there's no karmic bank where they can trade past good deeds for present offenses. It don't work that way.
The SEIU is the fastest-growing union in the country today -- and is getting way, way too big for its britches. It needs to be slapped down, and slapped down hard.
Unless, of course, you're overly fond of these kind of thugs wielding unchecked political power. In which case, you must be in your glory at this triumph over democracy and the rule of law.
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Comments (8)
I think public labor unions... (Below threshold)1. Posted by CarlF | October 2, 2008 11:11 AM | Score: 10 (10 votes cast)
I think public labor unions (meaning for government employees) should be illegal.
1. Posted by CarlF | October 2, 2008 11:11 AM |
Score: 10 (10 votes cast)
Posted on October 2, 2008 11:11
2. Posted by GarandFan | October 2, 2008 11:27 AM | Score: 9 (9 votes cast)
And what will SEIU get for all it's money if the Democrats sweep the election? HINT: Card Check.
You too can have union thugs come to your house and make a presentation on 'benefits of joining the union". You'll then be given a pen and asked to sign a card endorsing a union shop. Secret ballot? Are you out of your mind?
2. Posted by GarandFan | October 2, 2008 11:27 AM |
Score: 9 (9 votes cast)
Posted on October 2, 2008 11:27
3. Posted by JLawson | October 2, 2008 11:36 AM | Score: 12 (12 votes cast)
Waiting for Paul to chime in on how wonderful unions are and how good it'll be for the country when union membership is mandatory in 3..2...1...
Think of it - the entire country could be as prosperous as Detroit!
3. Posted by JLawson | October 2, 2008 11:36 AM |
Score: 12 (12 votes cast)
Posted on October 2, 2008 11:36
4. Posted by Scrapiron | October 2, 2008 11:45 AM | Score: 10 (10 votes cast)
Unions started as the best thing that could happen to the working class. Now the unions are simply an arm of organized crime. The politicians across the country are so scared of the 'crime families' they bow and scrape to them as the Islamist do to their phony god.
4. Posted by Scrapiron | October 2, 2008 11:45 AM |
Score: 10 (10 votes cast)
Posted on October 2, 2008 11:45
5. Posted by OregonMuse | October 2, 2008 1:31 PM | Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Damn, JLawson, you stole my lines. But I'll chime in, anyway.
We're all waiting with bated breath for Paul Hooson's rebuttal. It will have the following characteristics:
1. It will be long-winded almost to the point of parody.
2. Most of the content will be useless and/or irrelevant.
3. It will read like a cut-and-paste job from an SEIU press publicity kit
4. Everyone who reads it will be less informed.
any most importantly:
5. It will ignore every substantive point raised by Jay Tea.
5. Posted by OregonMuse | October 2, 2008 1:31 PM |
Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Posted on October 2, 2008 13:31
6. Posted by SCSIwuzzy | October 2, 2008 2:20 PM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
OM,
You forgot the part about off-hand claims of personal success, wealth, (almost) education and ... cheap scooters.
6. Posted by SCSIwuzzy | October 2, 2008 2:20 PM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on October 2, 2008 14:20
7. Posted by Larry | October 2, 2008 2:28 PM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Emil Jones gave Obama the chair of the Illinois Senate Health Committee in 2003. The SEIU has more than 100,000 members in Illinois. For more information on SEIU tactics, see:
http://allnurses.com/forums/f323/rn-s-deserve-real-choice-288697.html
Or browse that site for various other threads.
You can see that there are opinions on all sides of the issue. What is stricking to me is that for whatever reason, hospital management is often on the side of SEIU instead of professional nurse associations. Somehow I don't think that has anything to do with quality representation for the nurses who are caught in the middle.
Most unions in Illinois have endorsed Obama's opponents (when he had them), while the SEIU has been loyal to Obama all the way.
7. Posted by Larry | October 2, 2008 2:28 PM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on October 2, 2008 14:28
8. Posted by Oyster | October 2, 2008 5:13 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Paul Hooson: "The elimination of the secret ballot is only to put teeth in existing laws. In China, they enjoy freedom ... my scooter ... my charity ... my real estate ... You DO know that I have toys, don't you?" at which point our eyes will roll back with eyelids fluttering closed and we'll all drop off into a deep slumber.
Does that sound about right?
8. Posted by Oyster | October 2, 2008 5:13 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on October 2, 2008 17:13