Union bosses in Ohio and Washington, D.C. are – oddly enough! – opposed to the sensible government union reforms in Senate Bill 5. Exactly
how opposed? Combine yesterday’s cash and in-kind numbers from the Ohio Secretary of State with
the figures from July, and you’ll see that
unions have sunk more than $28 million into the campaign against Issue 2.
Out of
$30.5 million dollars given to We Are Ohio since the union front group was created this spring, the overwhelming
majority is directly from union bosses standing to lose a little power to Ohio taxpayers when Issue 2 passes. It’s been expensive convincing Ohioans that government union reform
will destroy the middle class and
return Ohio to the days of Jim Crow laws. Who has contributed the most to “We Are Ohio’s” dishonest smear campaign?
- Ohio Education Association (state NEA affiliate): $5.87 million
- AFSCME (D.C.) $3 million
- National Labor Table (D.C.): $3 million
- AFSCME Local 11: $1.94 million
- National Education Association (D.C.): $2 million
- Communications Workers of America (D.C.): $1.5 million
- AFL-CIO (D.C.): $1.5 million
- AFSCME Local 4: $1.46 million
- Ohio Federation of Teachers (state AFT affiliate): $1.26 million
- SEIU 1199 (New York): $1 million
- SEIU 1199 (Ohio): $1 million
It’s also worth noting that more than $100,000 of the non-individual
Ohio contributions are from the Ohio Democratic Party, and nearly every
individual donor who lists a profession is a union rep. This
could
prove donors’ selfless dedication to the happiness of Ohio government
employees (taxpayers and cruel “mathematics” aside)… but that
isn’t what my past few months of Ohio Education Association research
would suggest!
Get the facts about Ohio Issue 2, spread the truth before November 8th, and watch this space for more…
Follow me on Twitter: @jasonahart
Cross-posted at that hero, RedState, and BigGovernment.
Donations from unions aren't donations from "union bosses," Jason. If you think average union members support Issue 2, then you still can't read a poll (oh, wait, that was Bytor...)
ReplyDeleteZing! Got me.
ReplyDeleteDonations from union ARE from union bosses, Modern. The members have no say whether that money is taken in the first place, and then no say where it is spent.
Honestly, guys, the notion that they have "no say" what happens to the money is absolutely absurd. I know it would not help your hyperbole index at all, but you should at least have a consistent view of rank-and-file union members. They can't be helpless victims worthy of the public's sympathy for one argument, and calculating, greedy thugs for your next argument. I can't fathom for a second why you feel that your credibility as journalists is worth sacrificing so that you can make an angry, emotional and intellectually lazy point. The problem with most of these blogs is that the blogging ideologues can only conceptualize their detractors as absolutely out of their minds.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's because they aren't journalists. They are lobbyists trying to carry the flag for millionaires and billionaires.
ReplyDeleteAh, yes - caught red handed serving those shadowy "millionaires and billionaires."
ReplyDelete"Average union members" see hundreds of dollars a year siphoned from their paychecks, only to have that money spent on extravagant union boss pay and endless campaigns which 1) demonize union reformers and 2) sing the praises of union power.
Hopefully $30 million is not enough to obscure these plain truths from the taxpayers forced to foot the bill.
More factually incorrect information from Bytor. Unions are representative groups. There is a process in deciding whether to endorse or oppose issues. It's not decided by the heads of the unions, but by their representative councils.
ReplyDeleteTo say that the members have no say in endorsements is a blatant falsehood from a site that continues to use smear and innuendo because it has either no grasp of the facts or no concern for them.
Union members have more say on these issues than say businesses that belong to the Ohio Chamber of Commerce do.
Yet again, Jason Hart responds with his juvenile taunts, because he has no clue what he's talking about. He doesn't respond to the factual criticism, just more tired political rhetoric.
To say that unions=union bosses and not their members is a rhetorical falsehood. One of many employed by this site, which loses its credibility with every hackeyed post it produces.
Donations from unions are from union members, Bytor. If the rank and file were truly opposed to this spending and opposition to Issue 2, then you'd have more than partisans like Farmer and Sarah Dove, Kasich's two-person group called "Teachers for Kasich" out there.
Only Modern could put forth that an action imposed on people by force of law is a voluntary donation.
ReplyDeleteIf what you are saying were true, Modern, then every single member of those unions would be listed as an individual donor.
They aren't. Because the money was taken from them without their consent. And it was spent without their consent as to where it went.
Nice try Modern. Take your failed union glorification trolling somewhere else.
Bytor- How the dues is spent is decided in a representative democratic process inside any union. The members have a voice as to whether their PAC contributions are spent and its a heck of a lot more than a member of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce gets. Again, you repeat the lie with no evidence to support them. To say that union PAC contributions are spent with no ability of the rank and file to weigh in is a reckless false statement. It's not true.
ReplyDeleteNo, they wouldn't have to list every member of a union as a donation, that's just stupid. It's a donation by the members of the union. It's no different than any other PAC which reports the donation as coming from the PAC and not the PAC's donors.
Your ego just won't let you admit you are wrong. And you are wrong that union PAC contributions are not voluntary. If an union member doesn't want to contribute to the union's PAC they can opt-out of it. That's ALWAYS been the law in Ohio.
You're showing your ignorance on this topic with every thing you write.
Modern,
ReplyDeleteMoney is taken from every member whether they like it or not. Members have zero say. And by definition the people who run for union delegate positions are pro union. These are the people who decide where the money is spent.
So, let's say I am a teacher. My money is taken without my consent. And it is spent on "causes" I do not approve of. Without my consent.
Those are facts you cannot dispute.