As reported in the Denver Post, this is the kind of story that Big Labor would rather sweep under the rug. A union attorney exposed for his racist, vulgar email messages sent to Ryan Frazier, a leading supporter of Amendment 47, and also (apparently) for practicing law in Colorado without a license. It wasn't like the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) had much choice but to get rid of DeAngelo Starnes - otherwise a natural ideological fit. It is not insignificant to note that UFCW has spent nearly $5 million on state issue campaigns this year - mostly to fight Amendment 47 (Right-to-Work) but also to spread lies about Amendment 49 (Ethical Standards) and Amendment 54 (Government Contracting Reform). Only the National Education … [Read more...]
Barack Obama Would Play Jimmy Hoffa by Getting Union Bad Guys Off
Yesterday the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards reported its 900th conviction of union leaders for criminal activity. From the press release:During the month, OLMS obtained three convictions, seven indictments and court orders of restitution totaling more than $80,000. The office’s totals for fiscal year 2008 (which ended on Sept. 30, 2008) are 102 convictions and 130 indictments, with restitution of more than $3.2 million. The bulk of the cases involved the embezzlement of union funds. “The triple-digit numbers of indictments and convictions obtained by OLMS in the 2008 fiscal year demonstrates that criminal activity in unions is still a major problem. This problem points to the critical role … [Read more...]
More Sarah Palin Tidbits
A source in El Paso County tells me that this Saturday's John McCain-Sarah Palin event in Colorado Springs has long since exhausted its 10,000 ticket supply and has put thousands more on waiting lists. I'm told this is bigger than President George W. Bush's appearance in Colorado Springs in 2004 - not surprisingly, as the conservative base has received its biggest jolt of inspiration since Ronald Reagan was running for President. Also, remember in last night's speech when Sarah Palin pointed out that her husband is a member of the United Steelworkers Union? Today, National Right to Work sends an open letter to Todd Palin informing him that he is inadvertently helping to fund attacks against his wife but can get some of that money back. … [Read more...]
Morning After Soundbite Reflections on Colorado’s Primary Election
This, of course, is the reason why I preferred someone other than Mike Coffman to win the 6th Congressional District primary:Gov. Bill Ritter is poised to appoint a new secretary of state — no doubt a fellow Democrat. Republican Secretary of State Mike Coffman won the 6th Congressional District primary. As the district is heavily Republican, Coffman is expected to win the seat in November. Among the names often mentioned as possible appointees to the $68,500-a-year-post are House Speaker Andrew Romanoff and Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon. Both Democrats are term limited. What's done is done. Fox is in charge of the hen house now. On the up side, the Democrats' phony watchdog group Colorado Ethics Watch will have to look for … [Read more...]
Amendment 47 Moves Past Frivolous Legal Attacks to Make Public Case
A common and repeated tactic of the Left this year has been to throw frivolous legal challenges at ballot initiatives they don't like in an effort to keep Coloradans from deciding the issues themselves. Well, last Thursday the Denver Business Journal reported that a judge has tossed out legal complaints against one certain initiative:A Denver District Court judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit from opponents of Amendment 47, the so-called “right-to-work†ballot initiative that would bar labor unions from collecting mandatory dues in workplaces that engage in collective bargaining. Incidentally, the same publication endorsed Amendment 47 only days before (subscription required). Meanwhile, Fred Barnes at the Weekly Standard has an … [Read more...]
Colorado’s Initiative Deadline Today
In Colorado, today is the last day initiative proponents can hand over their signatures to the Secretary of State to certify measures on November's statewide ballot. By the end of the day, we should have a fairly clear idea of how crowded the ballot will be -- though we have to await the roughly two-week certification process. Currently, the ballot contains: Amendment 46, the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative Amendment 47, the Right-to-Work Amendment Amendment 48, the Personhood Amendment Amendment 49, the Ethical Standards Initiative Another measure to clean up the government contracting process turned in more than 120,000 signatures a few days ago, and figures to make the ballot, too - likely as Amendment 50. Last week we … [Read more...]
Union Leaders Push Economy-Busting Initiatives to Make Election Interesting
Face The State reports that Big Labor interests are about ready to turn in their signatures on four ballot initiatives that would bust Colorado's economy. You know, it's union leaders' way of protesting Amendment 47, aka Right-to-Work, which would prevent the forced collection of union fees from non-members. Setting aside the Presidential race and even the U.S. Senate showdown between Bob Schaffer and Boulder liberal Mark Udall, this may be a very interesting election season in Colorado yet. … [Read more...]
Double Whammy for SEIU
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), one of the biggest boys on the Big Labor block (they spent nearly $1 million in 2006 just on Colorado's elections), has taken a one-two punch today. It doesn't look good for them. First, the Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF) is urging the U.S. Department of Labor to investigate SEIU's pension funding scheme. AWF's Brian Johnson writes at National Review about SEIU's pension hypocrisy:Unions often champion themselves as protecting rank-and-file workers from corporate greed and malfeasance. Yet DB pension plans, managed by union officers, are often plagued by insolvency, threatening to leave members with little in retirement. For example, the SEIU National Industry Pension Fund — which … [Read more...]
AFL-CIO Tells IRS with a Straight Face It Spends No Money on Politics
Do you ever wonder why there's such skepticism about Big Labor's support of legislation that attacks workers' ballot privacy, not to mention Big Labor's opposition to legislation that gives workers more freedom over their earnings? Underreported news like this from the Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF) would give a satisfactory answer. Here's the letter from AWF to the Internal Revenue Service:On behalf of the Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF), and rank-and-file working Americans, I urge you to investigate the apparent incongruence contained within the 2005-2006 tax filings by the AFL-CIO. According to their annual LM-2 financial disclosure form filed with the Department of Labor, the AFL-CIO spent $41,620,583 on political activities … [Read more...]
Betsy Markey Out of Touch on Big Labor Bill: Boon for Marilyn Musgrave?
Colorado's mega-rich liberals Tim Gill and Pat Stryker have it in for conservative Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, who has represented northeastern Colorado since 2003. They have spent countless amounts of money trying to unseat her in the past two election cycles, and are committed to doing it again. This time they believe they have a winning candidate in Democrat Betsy Markey, someone to fulfill their obsession. But this video clip of Betsy Markey trying to explain her position on the poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act shows that Tim Gill and Pat Stryker still have some work to do with their out-of-touch candidate: As the Labor Pains blog points out, this is the same Betsy Markey who has sought to woo small businesses but struggles to … [Read more...]