| Obama: Hearts union-dues, hides Madeline Talbott, enraged by TN, stimulates unionist-lawyers, hearts Angela Davis, hearts leftwing H8tred. Mismanagement: Carnahan fail, ACORN-SEIU fail, Rathke fail, the deep roots of union-backed fraud, Bertha Lewis fail, union big arrested, labor-state teachers strike again, CNN-Rick Sanchez shame, Mr. Indispensable fail, drain the SEIU swamp. International: VeneProg for life. |
Obama Stimulus creates or saves union-dues ... Public school teachers appear to have benefited most from the effort to save jobs with the $787 billion recovery package, which sent billions of dollars to states that were on the verge of ordering heavy layoffs in education. The teachers union lobbies were among the firmest supporters of Barack Obama in the 2008 election and the stimulus spending in early 2009. The national data on the effect of President Obama's stimulus plan won't be available until later this month. But based on preliminary information obtained by the Associated Press from a handful of states, the stimulus spared tens of thousands of teachers from losing their jobs. (washingtonexaminer.com)
Gaspard a Trojan Horse for Talbott ... [Patrick] Gaspard is a radical recruited by Obama to implement the radical agenda promoted by ACORN and its affiliates, especially SEIU. THAT is significant. Whether Gaspard was officially or unofficially ACORN’s political director in New York a few years ago is a distracting detail. Better that Vadum focus on the political corruption in which ACORN has been involved, especially its illicit coordination with the Obama presidential campaign, and let Smith try to refute that. Gaspard’s relationships with ACORN and now ACORN Chief Organizer Bertha Lewis are notable, but not as important as the relationships of Kelleher and Ms. [Madeline] Talbott to Obama, ACORN and even the ACORN 8. Go there, Mr. Vadum, and Mr. Smith won’t be able to distract or to dispute effectively. (therealitycheck.org)Bonus links:
• Summary of Saul Alinsky's 'Rules for Radicals'
• More Saul Alinsky stories: here
• 'Rules for Radicals' at amazon.com
Up to her eyeballs in union-backed fraud ... As Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan seeks a promotion to the US Senate, she has to expect a few questions about her past dealings with ACORN. After all, the Secretary of State ‘administers all statewide elections for both candidates and issues,’ as well as promulgates rules and guidelines, handles ballots and pollworkers, and generally oversees everything having to do with elections in the state. When a group like ACORN racks up more than a dozen convictions in the state, and submits tens of thousands of questionable or false voter registration forms, you have to expect that the Secretary of State is going to have the chance to explain what she did to fight corruption. But instead of bragging about what she has done to stop the criminal acts by ACORN and its employees, Carnahan has worked hand-in-glove with the organization for years. The Missouri GOP has asked for copies of all correspondence between ACORN and Carnahan’s office. The result is more than 1,400 E-mails - including these: (redstate.com)Related video:
Meet Robin Carnahan (D-ACORN)
Obama furious over Tenn Dem fail ... On October 13, Tennessee held a special election to fill the vacant State House seat, 62nd district. The results: Republican 55.7%, Democratic 41.4%, Constitution 2.9%. When this seat was up in 2008, the vote had been: Democratic 55.0%, Republican 45.0%. (ballot-access.org)
Don't miss Angela Davis ... Monday, Oct. 19, 5-7pm, Life Sciences Building auditorium, Room 001, Syracuse University. "Feminist Methods and Contemporary Quests for Social Justice." Angela Davis, Professor Emerita, History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, is one of the foremost progressive intellectuals and activists in the USA and internationally. She has lectured in all of the fifty United States, as well as in Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, and the former Soviet Union. She is author of five books, including Angela Davis: An Autobiography; Women, Race, and Class; Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday; and The Angela Y. Davis Reader. Presented by the Women's & Gender Studies Department, the Department of African American Studies, Future of Minority Studies Project and the LGBT Studies Program. Funded by the Chancellor's Initiatives. (suevents.syr.edu)
'Queen of Labor' can't take the SEIU out of ACORN ... No organization likes bad publicity. And when allied organizations create it, disavowing ties to them becomes attractive. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has exercised that option - at least on the surface. On Wednesday, September 30, the union's secretary-treasurer, Anna Burger, told a congressional panel that her organization no longer has a working relationship with the New Orleans-based nationwide nonprofit "anti-poverty" network ACORN, an acronym for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. ACORN, as almost everyone in this country with a pulse knows by now, has been the target of federal and state investigations into a wide range of criminal activity. A very embarrassing and widely-aired private homemade undercover video hasn't helped its case. Yet all the same, the union's move looks like a case of bait and switch. (nlpc.org)
Jumbo unions stimulate labor lawyers ... How does SEIU treat its own members? The most recent stats from the federal National Labor Relations Board show that, between 1998 and 2004, there were 3,910 Unfair Labor Practice charges alleging violations of labor law by union officials filed against the SEIU. It could be worse. The Teamsters had 6,909 charges filed against them during the same period. That’s the group that wants to represent the Macon Police Department. In 2005, the NLRB reported 6,381 charges against unions. Eighty-two percent of them alleged illegal restraint and coercion of employees. Five hundred ninety four of the charges alleged discrimination by unions against employees. Since 2000, labor unions faced 13,815 complaints of race, sex, age, disability and religious discrimination filed with the EEOC. In 2005, the federal Office of Labor-Management Standards reported 114 new indictments and 97 criminal convictions of union officials for embezzlement, making false reports and other federal crimes. That same year, the Department of Labor’s Inspector General opened 103 new racketeering cases against union officials, referred 88 cases for federal criminal prosecution, obtained 322 new indictments, received 196 new criminal convictions and was awarded $187.9 million in restitutions, forfeitures and civil monetary actions. Does anyone else feel less secure when they hear talk of law enforcement officials joining an organization that is frequently the subject of federal criminal investigations? Our police deserve respect, but they won’t find it sleeping with the Teamsters. (macon.com)
William Tucker takes on Wade Rathke ... I found myself glued to the television last week as Fox broadcast its special investigation of ACORN. It was a terrific piece of journalism -- something worthy of 60 Minutes in its heyday. But the real fascination for me was personal. Wade Rathke, the 61-year-old founder of ACORN, is exactly my age and vintage (he went to Williams, I went to Amherst). He even looks like me. Moreover, he started the organization after going South to work in the Welfare Rights Movement in 1970. I was working for Welfare Rights in Clark County, Alabama in 1970. (spectator.org)
Union-backed fraud has deep roots ... The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the nation's largest non-partisan, individual membership association of state legislators, has identified several states which provide funding for ACORN and its affiliates, including New York ($415,000), Pennsylvania ($205,000), Georgia ($104,000), and Illinois ($100,000). In response, ALEC's members have passed a resolution calling on all states to conduct audits to identify and immediately end all funding to ACORN and its affiliates. (reuters.com)
Bertha drains the Rathke-SEIU swamp? ... Controversial activist group ACORN has fired the longtime companion of founder Wade Rathke over apparent concerns about a lack of "accountability" in her work leading the Louisiana chapter in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Beth Butler was the director of that chapter and close to Rathke, whose brother Dale was accused of embezzling about $1 million from the group a decade ago. A statement by ACORN chief executive officer Bertha Lewis did not specify why she fired Butler. (foxnews.com)
Typical union big stiffs injured workers ... The president of a national labor union was arrested Tuesday for allegedly taking $20,000 in bribes from a St. Louis lawyer, the U.S. attorney's office said. Edward W. Rodzwicz, president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, was supposed to kick the lawyer off a list of lawyers who are recommended to union members for use in dealing with work-related injuries, court records say. That lawyer had allegedly violated the union's code of conduct prohibiting contact with another lawyer's clients. Instead, Rodzwicz approached the lawyer in Little Rock, Ark., and asked for "an envelope" to keep that lawyer on the list, an affidavit filed in court by Special Agent John Borders says. (stltoday.com)
Oppressed teachers force kids to repeat collective bargaining lesson ... Teachers in an eastern Pennsylvania school district are heading to the picket lines for the second time in as many years. The Saucon Valley School Board voted unanimously Tuesday night to reject the latest contract offer from the teachers, who have been without a contract for more than a year. There are about 2,500 students in the district in Hellertown, near Bethlehem. Eric Stever, spokesman for the Saucon Valley Education Association, says the teachers plan to stay out for 15 to 17 days, the maximum time allowed by state law. (cbs3.com)
New Prog CNN anchor exposed ... Here is what is real. Rick Sanchez ran over a man and left the guy for dead. It was December 10, 1990. Sanchez was leaving a Miami Dolphins game when he ran over a man. Sanchez fled the scene for two hours. Finally, Sanchez came back. Two hours after the incident, Sanchez was still drunk — well above the legal limit. But Sanchez was a well known Miami reporter with lots of friends on the police force. He was never charged with the hit and run. He just pled no contest to DUI. The man Sanchez hit and ran away from? He died in 1995, paralyzed and in a nursing home. This is the guy who decided to take to television this week and moralize against Rush. (redstate.com)
It's all about Mr. Indispensable ... The Democrat trying to unseat popular billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg lobbed multiple attacks at him during their first debate Tuesday, calling him a liar and saying he spends an obscene amount of money buying votes and support for his policies. City Comptroller William Thompson Jr. sought to portray Bloomberg as opportunistic for political moves he has made, including changing his lifelong party registration from Democrat to Republican to avoid a crowded primary in 2001 and persuading the City Council to extend the term-limits law last year so he could run again. "At each and every level, it hasn't been about the people of New York City, it's been about you," Thompson said. (google.com)
Labor-state out to drain ACORN-SEIU swamp ... The ACORN scandal will widen with more investigations underway. In a number of states, attorneys general Spitzerized banks, and ACORN ended up with windfalls. MinnPost.com looks at the situation in Minnesota, where the settlement with Capital One was used to fund ACORN. Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is believed to have presidential aspirations, so cleaning up ACORN abuses would be a real plus in earning primary support from the base. In addition Michelle Bachman, who has a growing national following, is calling for Gov. Pawlenty to appoint a special prosecutor. With two Minnesota-based national figures demanding answers, look for more news out of Minnesota. (americanthinker.com)
New Progs H8 U.S. traditions ... According to the left, I am now a member of a treasonous group. I cheered when President Obama and his newly made-over milquetoast wife made asses of themselves in Copenhagen while attempting to wheedle the Europeans into granting Chicago the 2016 Olympics. And I gnashed my teeth when the Nobel Prize Committee decided to fete Obama with the Peace Prize. So, that makes me an America-hater. “Why, oh why, do conservatives hate America so?” asks Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post, singling out Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck as paradigmatic of the conservative “hate America” movement. “The problem for the addlebrained Obama-rejectionists is that the president, as far as they concerned, couldn’t possible do anything right, and thus is unworthy of any conceivable recognition.” No, Eugene, that isn’t the problem for us. Here’s our problem: President Obama seeks an America that resembles modern France far more than the free and prosperous America our forefathers fought and bled and died for. President Obama’s America is not America: It is the United Nations writ large, with socialist redistribution at its center and moral relativism at its core. I root against President Obama’s America because I don’t want to see it become a reality. (cnsnews.com)International Collectivism
VeneProg voters: Can we have our term limits back? ... Most people in Venezuela think Hugo Chávez’s term in office should end no later than 2012, according to a poll by IVAD. 27.9 per cent of respondents say Chávez should leave in 2010 after a recall referendum, while an additional 36.3 per cent say he should only stay until the 2012 election. Additionally, 15.3 per cent of respondents say Chávez should not leave until 2021. Only 12.8 per cent of respondents want him to remain in power indefinitely. In the next election, 39.8 per cent of respondents would vote for Chávez, while 42.4 per cent would not. (angus-reid.com)
