One of the things that has happened in this country over the past fifteen years or so is the growing influence of the SEIU (Service Employees International Union). Their past president, Andy Stern, was the most frequent visitor to the White House during President Obama's first year in office. They are aligned with ACORN and generally have a lot of influence on elections. However, people are beginning to wake up and see that this influence is not always positive. Chris Christie is taking them on in New Jersey on the issue of salaries and pensions of public employees and will probably win, but I can guarantee that it will be an uphill climb.
The SEIU supported Bill Halter in a Democrat Primary for Senate in Arkansas. Former President Clinton and President Obama both supported Blanche Lincoln.
Politico.com reported yesterday:
"A senior White House official just called me with a very pointed message for the administration's sometime allies in organized labor, who invested heavily in beating Blanche Lincoln, Obama's candidate, in Arkansas.
""Organized labor just flushed $10 million of their members' money down the toilet on a pointless exercise," the official said. "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 victory by Blanche LIncoln is this preimary is interesting. Even the Democrats in Arkansas are not as liberal as the SEIU--Bill Halter challenged Blanche LIncoln from the left--he was more liberal than she was! Ms. Lincoln voted for Obamacare, but for the unions that was not enough. If I were a union member, I think I would be more than a little upset about how my union dues were being used. Unions were started to help their members receive fair wages and to make sure workers were treated fairly--not to control elections.
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