#188178 - 06/23/10 08:30 AM
Most Times I Hate Those Damn Unions
|
ævory
Member
Registered: 04/04/05
Posts: 9657
|
Why the Arkansas Runoff is Important
Unions' $10 million message to Democrats: We bought you. We own you. You buck us. We destroy you.
Posted by LaborUnionReport (Profile)
Thursday, June 10th at 1:46AM EDT
8 Comments
Recommenders: Erick Brockway, Susannah, Diogenes314, penguin2, JadedByPolitics, Repair_Man_Jack, discerningconservative, Black River Wolf, itrytobenice, Kyle-MI, jeffdunetz
Union bosses suffered a seeming setback on Tuesday as Arkansas voters rejected the union attempt to make an example out of Blanche Lincoln. But the setback is not all that it seems.
The Black Sheep Survives the Slaughterhouse
From the beginning, Tuesday’s Arkansas Showdown was really more about the national Democratic Party and who owns it than it was about Blanche Lincoln. Blanche Lincoln was merely the black sheep sacrificial lamb who didn’t toe the line for union bosses and, therefore, whose throat needed to be slit to ensure that all the other Democratic sheep would fall back into line.
It was a union plan hatched long before Blanche bucked the union bosses. In fact, in 2008, the SEIU announced that it had set aside $10 million of its members’ money to “unelect” politicians who did not toe the labor line. Blanche Lincoln was the first major test case.
While the effort failed in Arkansas, the message to the rest of the Democratic establishment is simple and clear: We bought you. We own you. You buck us. We destroy you.
Unions work to tighten their noose on Democrats’ necks.
Notwithstanding the fact that neither the American people nor the media would stand for a corporation or group of corporations engaging in such blatant extortionate tactics, union bosses used their members’ money to make an example of Blanche Lincoln.
Although it failed in Arkansas, the fact that is, Arkansas is a Right-to-Work state and has a low number of union members compared to Forced Unionization states. This means unions had an uphill battle to begin with. The fact that unions wasted of $10 million of members’ money to send a message to all Democrats is the more important point.
Union bosses believe that, since they bought the Democratic Party, they own it and, therefore, Democrat politicians must obey their union masters or face the assault that Blanche Lincoln barely staved off.
The Faux-Family Feud
While the media is playing up the faux-rift between the White House and union bosses, the real story is that Labor is not licking its wounds.
Labor leaders were incensed by an undisclosed White House official’s assertion to POLITICO Tuesday night that the unions’ support of Halter amounted to “flushing $10 million” of their members’ money down the toilet on “a pointless exercise.”
“If even half that total had been well-targeted and applied in key House races across this country, that could have made a real difference in November,” the official said.
To the contrary, union bosses are pleased with the fact that they almost took Lincoln down:
…[U]nion leaders insisted Wednesday that forcing Lincoln into a runoff and coming within a few thousand votes of unseating her had achieved their goal — getting other wayward Democrats to think twice before crossing labor.
“If working families were able to accomplish this in Arkansas, imagine what they can achieve in other states,” said AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka.
Union officials were unified in praising the outcome as a strong warning to Democratic incumbents like Lincoln who have taken labor’s money and utterly defied them when it comes to votes. They are tired of the argument that Republicans would be even worse, so labor should tolerate the lesser of two evils.
“It’s been well worth it,” said American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees president Gerald McEntee. “We’ve gotten more publicity and been talked about in terms of powerful labor more than I’ve heard in the last 20 years.”
While Blanche Lincoln survived the unions and will likely fall in November, the union bosses succeeded in sending the message to the rest of the Democrat politicians who might be considering having a view independent of union bosses: Don’t even think about it.
For those that do not want to fall under the jackboots of today’s union bosses, the message is also clear:
In order to overcome the assault that unions are going to engage in leading up to November, Americans will need to be better organized, more strongly motivated, and, most important, they need to get out and vote.
__________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776
http://www.redstate.com/laborunionreport...e-to-democrats/
Edited by ævory (06/23/10 08:32 AM)
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#188194 - 06/23/10 11:48 AM
Re: Most Times I Hate Those Damn Unions
[Re: ævory]
|
shakey56
Member
Registered: 03/31/04
Posts: 1889
Loc: where the wild roadrunners roa...
|
How do you feel abt the businesses that own both parties, or is it just the unions?
_________________________
Against logic there is no armor like ignorance.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#188222 - 06/24/10 11:41 AM
Re: Most Times I Hate Those Damn Unions
[Re: shakey56]
|
paradocs
Member
Registered: 11/20/04
Posts: 2323
|
I suspect the situation will only get worse now that the Supreme Court has taken the cap off both corporate and union poloitcal spending -- although I suspect few unions could spend what a large corporation could spend. Look at the power the banks are wielding to stop regulation of such things as derivatives. It might be cheaper in the long run for a company like BP to simply buy enough politicians to excuse it from cleaning up its mess in the Gulf of Mexico than to actually clean it up.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#188227 - 06/24/10 02:27 PM
Re: Most Times I Hate Those Damn Unions
[Re: paradocs]
|
Paul I
Member
Registered: 02/24/00
Posts: 7913
|
Unions are a necessary organization to level the field of power and negotiation. That said, these bullying threats must be counterproductive in the long run. In fact, they're sickening.
Is there anything in politics that is not about power? Union leaders are like thugs. They have no respect for the sacrifice
people went through in the 20's and 30's to create an organization for railroad and coal workers.
_________________________
"...only the shadow knows"
_________________________
"...only the shadow knows"
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#188231 - 06/24/10 02:52 PM
Re: Most Times I Hate Those Damn Unions
[Re: Paul I]
|
flicka
Member
Registered: 04/06/00
Posts: 24616
Loc: SLO County, CA - 66.122.77.142
|
I agree that unions are a necessary evil, but I think they've always been thug type organizations. It always cracks me up when nonunion workers start griping about pay. I hear things like, "If every concrete finisher would demand $150/day, we'd all be better off..."
Hmmm...sounds familar.
Edited by flicka (06/24/10 02:52 PM)
_________________________
"A lot of things were acceptable--until we stopped accepting it." -- Al Sharpton '12
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#188307 - 06/27/10 08:04 AM
Re: Most Times I Hate Those Damn Unions
[Re: flicka]
|
ævory
Member
Registered: 04/04/05
Posts: 9657
|
I agree that unions are a necessary evil, but I think they've always been thug type organizations.
You defeated your own start here. Yeah, they were necessary but because they started out with some hidden agendas and political clout they thus were evil (your word). I know they were necessary way back when but they didn't have to start out necessarily Evil.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#188316 - 06/27/10 03:14 PM
Re: Most Times I Hate Those Damn Unions
[Re: ævory]
|
flicka
Member
Registered: 04/06/00
Posts: 24616
Loc: SLO County, CA - 66.122.77.142
|
I agree that unions are a necessary evil, but I think they've always been thug type organizations. You defeated your own start here. Yeah, they were necessary but because they started out with some hidden agendas and political clout they thus were evil (your word). I know they were necessary way back when but they didn't have to start out necessarily Evil.
I don't think they started out with hidden agendas. They stood/stand for decent pay & a safe work environment. Unfortunately, they had to be 'thug' organizations because of the resistance from employers. I've never met an employer who was welcome to unions.
I only used the phrase "necessary evil" because despite unions often undesirable qualities, workers wouldn't enjoy the benefits of decent pay & safe work environiments without them.
_________________________
"A lot of things were acceptable--until we stopped accepting it." -- Al Sharpton '12
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#188328 - 06/28/10 06:45 AM
Re: Most Times I Hate Those Damn Unions
[Re: flicka]
|
Navigator
Junior Member
Registered: 05/16/10
Posts: 19
|
Unions unfortunately are going away as corporate owned polititions run our country. The middle class was nice but temp. The US is now going back to Barons and serfs, a few company owners and the rest of the population that work for piddling wages. Prepare for this economy as best you can...
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#188389 - 06/29/10 12:25 PM
Re: Most Times I Hate Those Damn Unions
[Re: Navigator]
|
Paulwa_dup1
Member
Registered: 02/12/05
Posts: 4951
Loc: Washington
|
two types of people..used and users...population is the used...guess who the unions are? Sometimes it is good but most of the time not good overall.
Paul
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#188848 - 07/10/10 09:39 AM
Re: Most Times I Hate Those Damn Unions
[Re: paradocs]
|
brasstownjim
Member
Registered: 10/01/08
Posts: 48
|
I suspect the situation will only get worse now that the Supreme Court has taken the cap off both corporate and union poloitcal spending -- although I suspect few unions could spend what a large corporation could spend. Look at the power the banks are wielding to stop regulation of such things as derivatives. It might be cheaper in the long run for a company like BP to simply buy enough politicians to excuse it from cleaning up its mess in the Gulf of Mexico than to actually clean it up.
Mess? What mess the great klan Gov, opps great Gov of Miss. clearly stood up before the mics and stated otherwise and so it must be so. Wait he sees oil on his beaches now there is a mess
typical
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#188851 - 07/10/10 11:42 AM
Re: Most Times I Hate Those Damn Unions
[Re: brasstownjim]
|
paradocs
Member
Registered: 11/20/04
Posts: 2323
|
Rep. Joe Barton of Texas got in hot water last month for his apology to BP. Tar balls from the BP spill are now washing up on Texas shores. Nothing from Barton about that, yet. According to the July 1 issue of THE WASHINGTON SPECTATOR, Barton has collected over $1.67 million from the oil indudtry during his time in office. As Jay Leno remarked, "It's hard to bite the hand that bribes you."
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
