September 20, 2008
With Their Own Money, They Will Rob Them
None can doubt that this is part of the "value add" of the union structure, but it still strikes the ear as sinister:
The organization opposing efforts to eliminate the state's income tax has received two-thirds of its funding from large teachers unions based in Washington D.C.The Boston Herald reports in Wednesday's editions that The National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers contributed a combined $1 million to the Coalition for Our Communities.
State finance records show that the group raised $1.5 million from unions and $100 from an individual donor.
How about that Orwellian name: The Coalition for Our Communities? Yeah, a coalition of unions to bleed our communities!
"Coalition for Our Communities" ??
You have to admit, if there is one thing the Unions do well (aside from screwing the Taxpayers), it is coming up with BS names & slogans.
It starts with "National Education Association", which has ZERO to do with Education and EVERYTHING to do with putting more Pay & Benefits into the pockets of already over-compensated and poorly performing Union members.
Another fine example is "Working Rhode Island", which has ZERO to do with "work" and everything to do with minimizing the amount of work their followers perform, while maximizing the amount of pay they receive.
Posted by: George Elbow at September 20, 2008 10:03 AMUnions LOVE front groups (and love to fund them behind the scenes) in order to hide the union fingerprints and make it appear that there is spontaneous / grassroots community support for the unions’ special interest positions (e.g., ACORN).
Or beyond ACORN, consider AARP (which is a de facto appendage of the DNC, which in turn is a de facto appendage of the unions).
It’s no mere coincidence that the moneybags behind the scenes of “AARP’s” push for socialized medicine (under the guise of “Divided We Fail”) is the labor union SEIU, which considers healthcare to be one of its targeted industries and which, SEIU knows, will be much easier to organize under a “single payer” regime - so that health care workers can become just as unionized and de-professionalized as public school teachers have.
Bet you can't wait until doctors and nurses "work to rule."
See this from National Review on AARP:
“They are not a seniors’ organization. They are just another Washington liberal left front group. If they really spoke for seniors, rather than neo-socialism, they would support measures like eliminating the death tax, or reducing or eliminating the capital-gains tax, or the taxation of dividends. It is seniors who have accumulated the most capital, and who receive the most dividends, because they have been around the longest. A true seniors’ organization would also speak up for gun rights, seeking to empower seniors to defend themselves when necessary.”
“But you never see AARP supporting anything like this. They are always posturing for still more taxes and government spending. They are always playing dumb as to the problems of Social Security and Medicare, other than to call for still more benefits and taxes. Following the organization’s preferred policies, including national health insurance, taxes, and government spending would soar in future years to close to 60 percent of GDP. Actually much more, because GDP would collapse in the face of this socialist onslaught. But we would all be in AARP heaven at that point.”
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=N2ZhYTFhNmM2MjZiMDE4NGFkZjcwM2ZjODU1OTZmMTU=&w=MQ==
But on a happier note, the Center for Union Facts maintains a web site exposing the, uh, “activities” of the teachers unions …
http://www.teachersunionexposed.com/
And CUF even has state-specific pages on that site, including one concerning Rhode Island’s teachers unions:
http://www.teachersunionexposed.com/state.cfm?state=RI
In turn, that page contains a summary (and link to the full report) of the National Council on Teacher Quality. NOTE THAT RI GETS ALL D’s AND F’s.
National Council on Teacher Quality Report Card: Rhode Island Teacher Policy
Meeting NCLB Teacher Quality Objectives: D
Teacher Licensure: D
Teacher Evaluation and Compensation: D
State Approval of Teacher Preparation Programs: D
Alternate Routes to Certification: F
Preparation of Special Education Teachers: D
""Coalition for Our Communities" ??"
Another fine phrase from the organization that brought us:
"It's for the children" [stage direction: hand over heart]
Posted by: Monique at September 20, 2008 3:25 PM"The National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers contributed a combined $1 million to the Coalition for Our Communities."
So, do you think, just maybe, that the Union's demands for ever smaller class sizes is not remotely related to "doing it for the Children", but rather, is all about increasing the number of dues paying Union hacks to ensure that they have this kind of money to throw around?
Posted by: George Elbow at September 20, 2008 8:41 PMIn view of the diminishment of student achievement concurrent with the diminishment of class size here in Rhode Island, George E, I would have to say "yes".