AFSCME official admits embezzling $180,000 intended for ACORN affiliate

It's been said that there is no honor among thieves...

An AFSCME official stole $180,000.  Big news?  Not really.  Union corruption in the form of union bosses stealing from their members happens all the time.  What is surprising  is when union bosses steal from one of their own.

A former union official from Milwaukee has agreed to plead guilty to embezzling about $180,000 of union funds, according to federal court records.

Paula Dorsey, former president of District Council 48 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, withdrew the money from an account between 2004 and 2009 to finance her gambling habit, said Mel Johnson, an assistant U.S. attorney. Dorsey faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release, in addition to repayment of the estimated amount stolen.

The money was intended to fund Operation Big Vote, a national initiative to increase minority voter turnout.

More here.

So what is Operation Big Vote? Well, it appears to be one of the nuts from the fallen ACORN tree...

This year alone ACORN has registered 1,315,037 voters.

Although the organization prides itself for its registration efforts, it also has a long history of scandal. In the state of Missouri in 1986, 12 ACORN members were convicted of voter fraud. But that case was not an isolated incident in the state. In December 2004, in St. Louis, six volunteers pleaded guilty of dozens of election law violations for filling out registration cards with names of dead people and other bogus information. Authorities launched an earlier investigation after noticing that among the new voters was longtime St. Louis alderman Albert “Red” Villa, who died in 1990. The volunteers worked for “Operation Big Vote” — a branch of ACORN — in St. Louis.

Like we said...no honor among thieves.

__________________

“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

Cross-posted on RedState.

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

Gangland USA: A tutorial on union colors...

Once upon a time, you're at one of your children's softball games and your cell phone rings.  You recognize your home number and you quickly realize it's an emergency call from your teenager whom you left home alone (doing God knows what).

You sense the sheer panic on the other end as you ask what is the matter.  At first you think the house must be on fire, or something worse...

Your teenager exclaims in a rather frightened voice that hundreds of people are on your front lawn demonstrating about something.

Random thoughts quickly enter your mind:  Did I pay the lawn service? Yes, you reassure yourself.

Your teenager stammers that the goons on your front lawn are like a gang of thugs.

"What sort of gang?" you ask, "what do they look like?"

Flashes of Sons of Anarchy pop through your brain.

"I don't know, dad, they're not flashing any gang symbols that I know of...

...but they're all in colored shirts."

Now, if you were the one to get that sort of call, instead of Greg Baer, perhaps it would help you to know in advance some of the colors of the various gangs unions, so that you could identify the goons activists for the police (not that they'd do anything anyway).

The following is a quick tutorial on the colors of some of today's major street thugs unions.

The Purple Behemoth.

The Color Purple is synonymous with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and is probably the most recognizable today.

Green with envy?

Green is the official color of SEIU competitor AFSCME (which stands for the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees)

Seeing Red?

The Communications Workers of America have long been a red union (in a purely colorful form, of course).

Mellow Yellow.

Yellow is all-too-often the color for the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW).

Paint it Black (or whatever color they choose).

Never wanting to be dull, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters prefers black, but is happy in just about any color, as long as it bears two severed horses' heads.

Of course, the identification of marauding mobs of protesters by their shirt colors alone can get confusing if the mob is actually an astroturf organization of community activist like ACORN (red) or the NPA (a color combination).  If, however, you cannot tell whether it is a union or an astroturf organization (it is difficult, you know), just look for the union label.

We hope this short list helps you should you ever have unwelcome trespassers visitors on your front lawn.

__________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.”Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

Cross-posted.



All Photos: Creative Commons

The Inside Scoop? Former ACORN Co-Founder Wade Rathke offers his take on SEIU's Purple Palace Coup

Last Friday's stunning Purple Palace Coup at the SEIU (that is the rejection of the Queen of Labor and frequent White House visitor Anna Burger as the next SEIU president) seems to be a story filled with intrigue and back-room politicking among former friends-turned-bitter enemies.

Wade Rathke, (pictured at right) most famous for his role as the co-founder of the now-disgraced Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), is also the "Chief Organizer" for SEIU Local 100 in New Orleans.  On his blog,  Rathke lays the reason for Burger's rejection squarely at Burger's own power-hungry feet.

According to Rathke, the engineer for Burger's defeat may have been SEIU EVP Tom Woodruff.  Woodruff, according to Rathke, had gone 'ballistic' a couple of years ago when Burger tried to do become a multiple-term president of the Change to Win federation by changing its charter rules.

When Woodruff caught wind of this, he went ballistic! This was treachery in his view. A line had been breached even in Tom’s organizing principles. After confronting Anna and demanding that she back off of this amendment and allow leadership change and failing to convince her, the contest then became whether or not Stern would step in and get Anna to do right or not. Woodruff threatened Stern that he would resign if Stern did not honor the original C2W governance provisions and direct Anna to step back from this power grab. Caught in the crossfire between Anna, his old comrade back to his earliest days in Pennsylvania and Tom Woodruff, who had been the architect of much of Andy’s vaunted organizing successes, Stern backed Burger effectively calling Woodruff’s bluff. My buddies in the secretarial pool described the atmosphere as icy on the [SEIU's eighth] floor with weeks going by and top leaders clearly not speaking

Anna should have known then that if Tom stayed she now had a mortal enemy. With this leadership shift, Woodruff undoubtedly had been organizing an “anybody but Anna” coalition for the last two years as well. He also knows something that even the most disciplined of unions sometimes forget: unions are political institutions and union leaders are fundamentally all politicians.

Anna Burger, according to Rathke, also had more than her hunger for power that dragged her down: She had Stern fatigue pulling her down as well as deficiencies in style:

Anna Burger is nothing if not able, but she is also prickly to work with, brusque to some, and having been a Stern wannabe would have been trying to out-Stern Stern in molding herself to a chance at president. The big locals would not have felt they owed her much of anything, and would have chafed at the prospect.

[snip]

Anna was efficient, tough, and managerial. She is not charismatic, she always speaks so quickly even from the dais that she can often not be understood, and she did not have a long term, loyal base of followers on her team, despite her years of effective and totally committed service.

While Rathke states that the most able leader would have been 1199's Dennis Rivera, he would have also suffered from the wake of Andy Stern's divisive, top-down style:

Probably the most able leader in SEIU with Stern out of the picture would have been Dennis Rivera, the charismatic and wildly effective 1199 veteran, who played critical, early behind the scenes work in assembling the coalition to win health care reform. At the same time Rivera is person who sucks up all of the air in the room, and there seemed to have been “stern exhaustion.” The big locals created top down over the last decade and more all owed their existence and in most cases, other than [former SEIU-UHW leader Sal] Rosselli, their very positions to Stern often as appointed trustees or beneficiaries of master marriages. On a successor question they were going to get a voice, and they seem to have wanted a voice.

Rathke writes that Mary Kay Henry is a "fantastic choice."  In the end, he says:

She is not divisive, and there is huge pushback within SEIU now, growing over recent years, that some of the bare knuckles moves led by Stern, and often orchestrated by many, including Woodruff leading to C2W, and since then with UNITE-HERE and many internal messes, have heard the brand of the union that should be heralded as one of the few modern labor success stories. May Kay may not always deliver for you, but always makes you happy to see her, always has a hug for you, always a good word and a question about your partners and children. It is hard to believe that she was not the perfect compromise candidate.

This may be Tom’s revenge, but she will not be anyone’s puppet.

This is going to be interesting for all of us who care about labor and may just help unite SEIU again and eventually the entire labor movement.

Read the rest of Rathke's blog here.
__________________

"I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

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An ACORN is an ACORN (even if it's shaped like cashew).

Last week, we reported to you that the ACORN tree has allegedly fallen and the little nuts were scattering.  However, we also warned not to crack the bubbly just yet.

Well, turns out we were right.

Matthew Vadum over at Breitbart's Big Journalism has posted this interesting little piece about ACORN's effort to re-brand itself into other nutty groups.


ACORNrebrandingchart_Master -

Even if you take all of the nuts out of the tree and scatter them around, the problem is you've just planted a whole lot of nutty trees.

———————

“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

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For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

ACORN's rotten tree has fallen...but don't get too excited.

According to Politico's Ben Smith, ACORN is folding...closing up shop...giving up the ghost...

An ACORN honcho sent an e-mail to Smith:

The ACORN Association Board met on Sunday March 21 and approved a set of steps to responsibly manage the process of bringing its operations to a close over the coming months. These include:

* Closing ACORN’s remaining state affiliates and field offices by April 1st; and

* Developing a plan to resolve all outstanding debts, obligations and other issues.

ACORN’s members have a great deal to be proud of--from promoting to homeownership to helping rebuild New Orleans, from raising wages to winning safer streets, from training community leaders to promoting voter participation—ACORN members have worked hard to create stronger to communities, a more inclusive democracy, and a more just nation.

However, before cracking the celebratory bottle of chablis, Smith's comment may give some pause:

ACORN was always a very decentralized group, with a great deal of its activity and power concentrated in local chapters from New York to Arkansas -- the strongest of which will survive.

This brings to mind a Greek hydra as ACORN's demise may only spawn many more mini-ACORNs.

-------------------

"I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes." Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

Follow LaborUnionReport on Twitter.

For more news and views on today’s unions, go toLaborUnionReport.com.

Cross-posted.

Despite their efforts, Teamsters get a C- in their attempt to imitate ACORN

They say that 'imitation is the best form of flattery.'  However, what happens when the imitators do a lousy job at imitating?

The Teamsters are known for a lot of things, not the least of which are violence, corruption, underfunded pension plans and closed companies.  However, one of the things the Teamsters are not generally known for is being overly creative when trying to draw attention to a cause.  At least that was the case until recently when they tried to pull off their best ACORN imitation at an auto show in Washington, DC.

Here is what it looked like:

[Note the almost-embarrassed looks on the dancers' faces, the out-of-step timing, as well as the lack of color-coordinated attire.]



Now here is what "real" creative demonstration looks like (a la ACORN):

[Note the color coordinated shirts, the on-time chants, as well as the look of almost-enthusiasm on the marchers' faces.]



While we give the Teamsters high marks for their efforts, their delivery and costumes were lacking.  Therefore, we've got to give them a C- overall.

Perhaps next time, the Teamsters can hire ACORN.  We hear those nuts are always looking for more parties to crash.
-------------------------------

“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776


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UPDATE: ACORN's Former Chief Organizer Comments on Union's "Pink Sheeting" Practices

Following our earlier post (based on a New York Times article) about union organizers who exposed the outrageous psychological warfare tactic known as "pink sheeting" that used on workers and themselves, ACORN's former Chief Organizer Wade Rathke posted the following on his blog:

Now in one of the rare articles we have about internal union business we get to read about tawdry internal affairs and psycho-babble mind games: kill me now!

....

I should disclose quickly that although I understand “one-on-ones” as a methodology, I have never been comfortable with their practice or their claims, largely because in my view they inappropriately elevated the role of the organizer in a way that both create a false mutuality with potential leadership and a distortion of the roles that would most effectively build the organization particularly around the issues of organizer-dependency and a conflation of organizers and leaders making them almost synonymous. It is neither the way I have trained or supervised organizers nor the way I have been involved in building organizations or organizing models. Nonetheless, I have always been respectful of the practice, despite my reservations, because I was confident that the best practices in the craft probably protected against some of these potential problems. In organizers’ shoptalk we used to kid about talking to organizers from other “schools” and having the conversation turn creepy when they started “one-on-one-ing” us and crossing boundaries on a personal level. But, realistically in doing leadership visits and building leadership relationships over time, all of us understood that real personal friendships would emerge and rigid protocols would evaporate over years of work and mutual understandings.

As the use of “one-on-ones” from community organizing morphed into some labor organizing, I think the adaptation got even more bent. In looking under the hood with HERE UNITE organizers, part of the construction of the “one-on-one” was more deliberately an effort to pull out of the organizers a core motivation for why they did the work that was deeply rooted in explaining their motivations, angers, and sense of powerless they shared with the workers based on intensely personal experiences in the organizer’s life. Divorces, family issues, dependencies, addictions, and whatever else frequently emerged as core issues for sharing in the one-on-one. Staff meetings and training sessions described to me were sometimes too eerily reminiscent of some of the old, hugely discredited Synanon sessions so notorious from the last years of the United Farm Workers under Caesar Chavez. [Emphasis added.]

Psycho babble indeed.

To read our earlier post, go here or see below.

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SEIU CUT ALL TIES TO ACORN? [LMAO!]

According to the Queen of Labor, SEIU's Anna Burger, the Service Employees International Union has cut all ties with the corruptible and incorrigible ACORN.

See Burger's comments at 2:50 in the video below:



Do we believe that all ties have been severed between SEIU and its stepchild ACORN? Don't bet on it!

LABOR SHORTS #2: Exposing Today's Union Bosses One Skid Mark at a Time

Labor Shorts, Vol. 1, Issue 2

Welcome to Labor Shorts, where we expose today's union bosses one skid mark at a time.

In this week's issue, we bring to you the following briefs...er...shorts:

• Harkin Hopes for EFCA in Fall. Union-mastered Senator Tom Harkin "hopes" for an EFCA vote this fall, reports the Hill. [For more information on the hallucinogenically-named Employee Free Choice Act go here.]
• Goodbye Norma Rae. EFCA pushers invoke the spirit of the late Cheryl Lee Sutton (aka 'Norma Rae') as a means to draw support of the job killing legislation. What the proponents of no-vote unionization neglect to mention is that the textile plant that 'Norma Rae' helped unionize closed in 2003 [Listen to the NPR report here.]
• Kiddie Indoctrination Part Deux. We've seen the videos of kids eerily singing praises to the President, but those are considered educational anomalies. On the other hand, Michelle Malkin is posting how union indoctrination (including union organizing, complete with the creation of "peer education program about workers’ rights today") is built into the curriculum in the L.A. Unified School District.
• Boeing, Going, Gone? Despite its denial that it has made up its mind about transferring some of it 787 production to its recently union-free South Carolina facility, Boeing is seeking land clearing permits [perhaps to send a signal to its unionized workforce in Washington?].
• A Paper Tiger? The United Steel Workers (formerly the United Steel Workers of America) will learn tonight whether it will continue representation of 900 Virginia paper workers, many of them who are supportive of an independent union formed by former USW local officers.
• Let Them Walk and Carry Signs. Did you know that crossing guards are unionized in the State of Rhode Island? And, did you know the City of Warwick gave the crossing guards lifetime health care and pension benefits? No, really! Well, apparently the mayor of Warwick thought the same thing so he fired all the crossing guards. Problem is, the State Labor Relations Board ordered the city to rehire the crossing guards and pay them the salaries and benefits they would have been paid under the terms of their last contract. [Of course, at taxpayer expense.]
• Union Fundraiser: 'Raids Made Possible Only Through the Support of Members Like You.' The Willamette Reds report that the National Union of Healthcare Workers (the union formerly known as SEIU United Healthcare West) had a successful trip to the AFL-CIO Convention two weeks ago, receiving financial pledges from unions around the country. This will allow the NUHW to continue its fight against the Purple People Eater, otherwise known as the SEIU.
• Speaking of Union Raids... The Communications Workers of America (CWA) is raiding another union's 6,700 members in Suffolk, NY
• Goodyear's Steelworker Contract Saves 1/2 Billion+. The new contract covers 10,300 workers at plants in Akron, Ohio; Buffalo, N.Y.; Danville, Va.; Fayetteville, N.C.; Gadsden, Ala.; Topeka, Kan.; and Union City, Tenn.
• Everyone is NUTS over ACORN! Of all the czars and union stars proliferating the White House these days, Patrick Gaspard, former SEIU and ACORN front man and current White House Director of Political Affairs (think Karl Rove) has caught the attention of RedState.
• Where ACORN gets its Nutty Flavor. Union-Free America has posted where some of ACORN's green money making machine comes from. [Here's a hint: Unions.]
• Between a Rock and a Boulder. When teachers abandon school kids for picket lines, education gets short changed. However, in Boulder, CO, the school superintendent plans to use subs to keep schools open.
• Speaking of Rocky Relations in the Rockies. UFCW-represented grocery workers at Safeway and City Markets have rejected their employers' offers, setting the stage for a strike.
• Teamsters get a Time OUT. After representing workers at El Paso's Time Warner Cable for 30 years, the Teamsters were ousted (130 to 90) by TWC employees.
• ...And Bombs with Plans for FedEX. Teamsters' most recent efforts to run FedEx (into the ground) by busting founder Fred Smith's job into two were shot down by shareholders.
• Take this Shot & Shove it! Hundreds of health care workers in New York protest mandatory pig flu shots: When asked if he's willing to lose his job, Frank Mannino, RN, said, "Absolutely. I will not take it, will not be forced. This is still America." [Um... okay...]
• Don't Do the Crime if You Can't Do the Time. Only in New Jersey. Anthony R. Ambrosio pled guilty to five charges, including embezzlement of an employee benefit program, tax evasion and conspiracy, and now faces up to 25 years in prison and $6 million in fines. One of his charges was paying $20,000 (+/-) to leaders of the Operating Engineers Local 825.

And, that, dear readers, concludes this week's Labor Shorts.

Best wishes for a productive and prosperous week's end.

For more news and views on today's labor unions, join LaborUnionReport's group on Linkedin or follow us on Twitter.

"I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes." -- Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

LABOR SHORTS: Exposing Today's Union Bosses One Skid Mark at a Time

Welcome to LaborUnionReport's Labor Shorts, where we expose today's union bosses one skid mark at a time.

You might ask: What is Labor Shorts?

Well, picture New York Times' labor columnist Steven Greenfield hooking up with Paris Hilton after she's done about two grams of blow:

Labor Shorts is a fast and easy way to keep you up to date and interested in a freak-show-kind-of-way on the latest union news.

For example:

• Accused nepotist and Colorado union boss Ernie Duran was ousted by UFCW members this week
• Biting the Hand that Feeds You. Pro-union security guards employed by a sub-contractor rallied this morning in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art to greet the museum's new president on his first day. Hmmm. Now that's client relations!
• Flunk them. UAW-represented teaching and research assistants, tutors and graders in the University of California have opted to strike this week. [Yeah. It's that UAW.]
• Sour Notes in Sarasota. The American Federation of Musicians has filed ULPs against Sarasota Orchestra Inc. for its imposition of its final contract offer. Horn blowers and other musicians are objecting to wage and pension cuts.
• Ted's Dead, But Dems Plod On. Following a hypocritical about-face maneuver in Massachusetts, Democratic Governor Devil [sic] Patrick is ready to announce Ted Kennedy's replacement...
• ...But Byrd's Down Again. Democrats' agenda hit another snag on Wednesday when the former KKK Exalted Cyclops and Senator Robert Byrd took a spill in his Maclean, VA home.
• NLRB Disses Dealers in Atlantic City. The union-controlled NLRB dismissed a decertification petition filed by dealers at AC's Trump Plaza.
• Nutty ACORN Hits Back. Filing suit against America's most famous 'pimp and 'prostitute,' lobbying congressional leaders, and going on a PR tour are part of ACORN's counterattack.
• Bad Call? The NBA locked out referees last week.
• AFL-CIO's New Boss Shows His Rainbow Colors. Gay Today reports the Trumka is fully behind the LGBT movement. [...and that matters how?]
• Don't Call them Communists. The AFL-CIO called for the end of the U.S. economic blockade against Cuba and the lifting of all travel restrictions to the island.
• Steelworkers Push For Trade War. Following their persuasion of Barack Obama to impose tarriffs on Chinese-made tires, the United Steelworkers filed another complaint on Chinese and Indian coated paper.

And that, dear readers, is LaborUnionReport's Labor Shorts.

For more union-related news stories, join LaborUnionReport's group on Linkedin.

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To join the other 1,500 decision makers and influential subscribers, get our exclusive newsletter by going here.

SHOCKING: SEIU-Backed ACORN Officials Caught Telling 'Pimp' & 'Prostitute' How to Lie to IRS, Claim Child Prostitutes as 'Dependents'

While new revelations about SEIU-funded ACORN may not be that shocking anymore, the most recent allegations do seem to stretch the senses of even the most cynical.

A video tape made public today by Andrew Breitbart's BigGovernment.com shows ACORN officials allegedly telling a woman posing as a prostitute how to lie to the IRS, as well as how to claim "child prostitutes" as 'dependents.'

View video (in two parts) below:





According to NPR.com:

ACORN's biggest union backer, the Service Employees International Union, gave more than $4 million to the community organization and its affiliates from 2006-07, according to Dept. of Labor filings. One SEIU local union, the Illinois Homecare Workers and Home Childcare Providers, sprouted from ACORN's organizing efforts and pays rent to ACORN.

ACORN's affiliates also pick up money from the Change to Win labor federation, the Food and Commercial Workers Union and the United Federation of Teachers, among others.

The question will be: Will President Obama's Justice Department investigate this? Or, will it be swept under the union-made rug?

Hat-tip to LaborUnionReport reader "Jill"

ACORN'S TAX PROBLEMS

Perhaps ACORN goes to the same CPA as Treasury Secretary Tim Geitner as it seems that, unlike the vast majority of Americans, both have their problems paying their taxes.

This from the Healthcare Horserace:

Pelican Institute for Public Policy, the premier think-tank in Louisiana, uncovered evidence last week that proves that the far-Left activism group, ACORN, and several “closely-related groups” owe more than $1 million in backed state and federal taxes. These findings, validated by Orleans Parish court records, also indicated that the organization “paid off more than $1.1 million in late bills since January of 2008.”

The organization, based in New Orleans, La. and operating in partnership with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), has accounts delinquent since 2004, including one tax bill totaling $545,000. ACORN (Associations of Community Organizations for Reform) and its affiliate companies have outstanding federal tax liabilities of $1 million and four Louisiana tax bills of at least $28,000. In March 2008 alone, nearly $1.2 million in federal tax liens were filed against ACORN and its related groups with only some of them being cleared upon payment.

Read the entire article here.

MONDAY MAYHEM: UNIONS & THEIR DASTARDLY DEEDS DONE (NOT SO) DIRT CHEAP

It's Monday evening and it was a hot one today. While the air-cooled Harleys were parked in the shade, we felt it an opportune time to share the some of the latest and (not so) greatest news on the hallucinogenically-named Employee Free Choice Act as well as what else today's union bosses are up to.

Another Harley Strike?

First and foremost, on a subject near and dear to our hearts (as well as other body parts), the International Association of Machinists is scheduling a strike vote on September 20th at the Harley Davidson plant in York, PA.

With 2,000 jobs at stake, this is a seemingly suicidal tendency on the part of the IAM as it comes on the heels of Harley's ultimatum that it needs to trim costs or it will (like Caterpillar before it) leave York, especially following the three-week strike just 2 1/2 years ago.

Arlen Specter's Little Purple Pill & Its Ugly Stepchild ACORN

If you you've been reading our blogs, just when you think Arlen Specter (D-R-D PA) is heading into proverbial town hall hell with flaccid poll numbers, it seems as though he just takes a little SEIU Purple Pill, mixed with some mixed nuts at ACORN, and WHAMMO! his poll numbers start to rise again.

According to a Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll, Specter is once again back in the saddle, riding a five point lead over his Republican rival Pat Toomey.

While it does seem hard to believe that Pennsylvanians would support a man who switches his opinion and his party likely more often than his underwear, it may be that Specter's Viagra-like poll numbers are due to the cover he's getting from the Purple People Eater union known as the SEIU.

The SEIU and its ugly stepchild known as ACORN have apparently been astro-turfing for Specter by busing their storm troopers to Specter's town hall meetings to avoid more embarrassing 'senior moments' for the octogenarian politician who, it seems, has forgotten who he works for.

The Spectre of EFCA in September

Speaking of Senator Specter-the-Spectre (the man just who can't make up his mind when it comes to the delusionally-dubbed Employee Free Choice Act), on Friday, the Democrat-turned-Republican-turned Democrat Senator told an audience of left-wing bloggers in Pittsburgh that he wood vote for cloture on EFCA.
This means, contrary to his statement in March that he was opposed to EFCA, he is once again fully for it AND, if all Democrats are in alignment, EFCA will pass as written (see caveats below).

Here's Our Current Prognosis on EFCA...A Lot of IFs:

• Nothing before September 8th (when the August recess is over)


• IF Democrats Mary Landrieau (LA), Mark Pryor (AR), Blanche Lincoln (AR) and Dianne Feinstein (CA) all vote along party lines the Senate will pass EFCA as written.


• IF Senators Byrd and Kennedy are back in town


• NOTE: It will be a surprise if a "frail and failing" Ted Kennedy is able to re-enter the Senate chambers to cast a vote and, it is unknown how long it will take for his successor to be named and pressured into supporting EFCA


• IF the Health Care debate sucks all of the oxygen out of Washington, it is remotely possible (though doubtful) that the Democrats may become so embattled with intra-party fighting that it will not be able to focus on another highly contentious bill until after the mid-term elections.
  
• Utilizing our favorite motto: Hope for the best, prepare for the worst…

On a Lighter Note: Shark Attacks are Down, BUT…

A brighter side to the recession if we've ever heard one...

The good news is: According to Surfer magazine's July '09 issue, shark attacks in 2008 dipped to their lowest level in five years.

Apparently, more Americans are skipping out on their annual pilgrimages to the beach, which means less tasty morsels for those hungry man-eaters swimming in the deep.

The bad news is… [Click here to find out]

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With best wishes for a productive and prosperous week!

LaborUnionReport.com
"I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes." Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

TOWN HALL VIDEOS: SEIU, TEAMSTERS & CWA OUTNUMBERED AT 'NO SHOW' CONGRESSMAN'S TOWN HALL MEETING

Apparently, Congressman Tim Bishop (D-NY) didn't want to face angry consitutents so he failed to show up at a town hall meeting where he was expected.

Nevertheless, the unions sent their squads out. Unfortunately for them, however, they were apparently outnumbered by ordinary citizens.

[Warning: Coarse language at the very beginning.]







In this video, ACORN astroturfers were allowed into a St. Louis town hall meetings while other citizens were not.

SOCIALISM UPDATE: AS OBAMA VIDEO SURFACES, JOKER POSTERS APPEAR & AMERICANS SHOUT AT CONGRESS, WHY AREN'T MORE AMERICANS EMBRACING CHANGE?

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR: IF IT QUACKS LIKE A DUCK...

Let there be no mistake, the current President of the United States favors socialized medicine.

If Americans were listening carefully to the rhetoric during last year's campaign, they would have heard that the plan that was being pushed by then-candidate Obama is, in fact, socialized medicine. Regardless of whether it is called "single-payer," "universal coverage," or, now, [the buzzword of the day] the "public option," it is socialized medicine.

As more Americans have started to realize over these past few weeks, the current majority (and a few in the minority) party in Washington wants to the government to control health care. The only debate left open is not the principle, but the cost. In other words, comrades, do you want the Red pill or the Pinko pill?

Lest there be any remaining doubt, Breitbart has posted a video wherein the President specifically advocates for a government takeover of health care.



JOKER POTUS POSTERS APPEARING ACROSS THE COUNTRY?

...And while the White House may wonder why posters like this are mysteriously popping up, we suspect there will be many more appearing over the weeks and months ahead. [So far, these posters have appeared in Los Angeles and Atlanta, according to NewsBusters.]

SHOUTING DOWN GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRATS

In the meantime, as the videos below illustrate, Americans opposed to the government takeover are becomimg more vocal and, in some cases, shouting down their elected representatives.






Meanwhile, as unions and their fellow pushers of the government healthcare takeover spend up to $20 million on advertising and canvassing in August [see our Saturday post on the 10.2 billion reasons the AFL-CIO, SEIU, et al, are spending other people's money are sending ACORN squads out to neighborhoods].

WHY UNHAPPY?

We close this post with just one question:

As America moves closer to the socialist ideal that many on the left have preached, pushed, and mandated, why are not more Americans happy?

SEIU Members Allege Election Fraud

These days, whenever we hear about "election fraud," it is usually used in the same sentence as the word ACORN. However, now, a local union of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU)--the same union that is seemingly joined at the hip with ACORN--is being accused of "[m]ultiple violations of law and irregularities" in an election to choose the local's leadership.

According to blogger Adios Stern:

the folks down at SEIU 221 had themselves an election. Boy was it a doozy, too. Out of a total voting population of 7600 or so eligible members, only 750 (that's roughly 9% of all eligible members) decided to cast a ballot. The results, not surprisingly, favored the incumbent Stern-appointed president and her slate...

However, that is not the end of the story. A group of SEIU members are calling for a new election stating (in part):

Many members did not receive mail ballots, notice of election, and/or the candidate statements voter information booklet, which were supposed to be mailed to all members of Local 221. Many members who did not receive said election materials report that they have not changed their address and have received other mailings from SEIU Local 221, including a mailing done by the Unity Slate to campaign for this election. Mailings for candidates/slates were done by Select Mailing, using member name and address data provided by Local 221.

Matthew Fitch stated in an email of July 22, 2009, that 7137 mail ballots were mailed out (fewer than the 7,692 members reported in the local’s 2008 LM-2) and that 652 of these were returned by the post office. Thus, it appears that 1207 members in good standing did not receive a mail ballot. It is likely that these same members also did not receive the mailed notice of election and did not receive the mailed candidate statements voter information booklet (which also contained the notice of in-person polling locations and their dates and hours of operation). With only a total of 750 ballots cast, this 1207 number would clearly be determinative of the outcome.

To read the entire post, go here.

It seems the union doesn't fall far from the ACORN in this case.

Protestors on Steroids? Inside ACORN & SEIU's 'Muscle for Money' Program

As an update on the SEIU & ACORN partnership, the Washington Examiner is running a Special Report on the SEIU's "Muscle for Money" program. According to the Examiner:

Corporate and political officials who defy workplace and community organizers risk being made objects of scorn by bright red-clad protestors in public and private, courtesy of an activist union and its close allies in the nation’s most controversial liberal non-profit advocacy group.

It’s officially called the “Muscle for Money” program within the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) where it was started, and unofficially by the same name among activists of Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN).

ACORN is under investigation in at least 14 states over voter registration fraud allegations stemming from the 2008 presidential campaign. The group endorsed President Barack Obama, despite federal laws barring partisan political activities by tax-exempt groups.

Muscle for Money includes multiple techniques for creating highly aggressive, organized efforts both to pressure businesses and officials to support the activists’ agenda or to discredit and intimidate opponents of their agenda, according to present and former ACORN members.

SEIU has funded Muscle for Money activities in the past and continues to finance corporate shakedown efforts across the country as part of this program. SEIU locals 100 and 880 have been identified as allied organizations on ACORN’s web site.

That information has since been removed from the ACORN web site, but U.S. Department of Labor LM-2 financial disclosure forms show over $600,000 in transactions between these same locals and ACORN operations in recent years.

[Emphasis added.]

Further on, the Examiner states:

Some of the more prominent Muscle for Money targets to date have included the Carlyle Group, Sherwin-Williams, H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt, Liberty Tax and Money Mart, according to Anita Moncrief, a former ACORN employee and now an ACORN 8 member.

“The idea is to go to private homes where wives and children are present and stand outside so the family members of a company official could be harassed and subjected to intimidation,” said MonCrief. “Protestors would also go to company functions like banquets where they would be as disruptive as possible.”

For more information on the SEIU, go here. For more information on the ACORN 8, go here.

As a post script: Last month, the Examiner also reported that ACORN is changing its name and attempting to silence its critics.

SEIU + ACORN = President Obama

Glenn Beck did a pretty good job of tying the loose strings of the SEIU's Andy Stern and those nuts over at ACORN together and back to Obama with about a one minute clip.

Although this is just the tip of the iceberg and doesn't explain why SEIU is so interested in socialized medicine, it does make for a good sound byte for anyone who is interested in doing more research.