This is shaping up for another bad week for Hillary Clinton with stories on another undisclosed and unofficial email account that was used during tenure as Secretary of State as well as a New York Times story on the role of Sidney Blumenthal in seeking business with the State Department while continuing as an unofficial and controversial adviser to Clinton. However, the story that I found most interesting is a report that unions have been pouring significant money into the Clinton Foundation. The Foundation has been accused of being a conduit for donors and foreign governments to give money to the Clinton, who have used the Foundation to hire loyalists (like Blumenthal) and pay for luxury travel for the Clinton family. While some have denounced the Clinton Foundation a “slush fund,” the New York Times has offered a more tempered criticism of the Foundation for its business dealings and advancement of Clinton’s political interests. Yet, Clinton supporters insist that the Foundation has done important work around the world. The use of union funds to support the Foundation would in my view be the most serious of the past disclosures, though it has received less attention than the huge sums paid by corporate and foreign figures trying to influence Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.
The report appears to have been generated by a union watchdog group, the National Institute for Labor Relations Research (NILRR). I am unfamiliar with the group and it is likely viewed by the unions as a conservative political organization. However, the group has made specific and documented allegations that should be addressed. If it is falsifying information, both individuals and unions may be able to sue. However, at the moment, the allegations have not been refuted from what I can see.
The group says that
“U.S. Department of Labor’s union financial disclosure reports reveal that Big Labor gave at least $2,034,500 in union general treasury funds to Clinton Foundations. Union treasuries are funded mostly by compulsory union dues or fees collected from workers who would be fired for refusing to pay. . . As Mrs. Clinton became closer to her current run for president, donations amounts appear to have increased.”
Here is the most disturbing allegation: “Some of these ‘donations’ are categorized by the unions as ‘political’ on their financial disclosure report. One such union, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices, a national plumbers union, is listed as giving nearly $200,000 through two contributions in 2013; each of those donations was classified as a political activity. Such a designation would seem to confirm the view of many that giving to the Clinton Foundation was viewed as a circumvention of federal laws in supporting the Clintons and particularly Hillary Clinton.
I was surprised to see little mainstream coverage of this allegation. It is not enough to dismiss a source when that source is quoting from actual federal filings. There should be some response. I find it highly troubling to think of union dues being given to such a Foundation. I have also become increasingly concerned over the use of the Foundation to hire Clinton stalwarts who seem to have moved freely between the State Department (as with Blumenthal) or the campaign staff like a shadow campaign structure. The view of foreign government or unions that the Foundation was a facade for the Clintons themselves was obvious.
What disturbs me is that I could not find a single rebuttal to the story. Perhaps some of our readers can find a response and share it with us. I may also be missing something as to why this is not a major story. Union funds are largely dues generated and should be used to advance the interests of the union. As the grandson of a coal miner and one of the early UMW organizers in Ohio, I have always been highly sympathetic to unions and their need to organize. However, using such funds to support the Clinton Foundation strikes me as problematic. Perhaps there was a union initiative at the Foundation that I am not aware of that would justify over $2 million in contributions.
Has anyone seen a response to this allegation? I would really like the read the opposing view.
Labitokov, “union money?” Seriously?
Workers are FORCED by threats, intimidation, ostracism and rules to join unions and pay them graft (dues). The rationale for unions ceased to exist almost 100 years ago. Working hours, safety, child labor, etc. were addressed long ago. Individuals and families have some responsibility to prepare themselves, work hard, perform and achieve, don’t they. Or is the outcome of every person’s life a function of government? Geez! Let’s review the writings and practices of the Founders and the Preamble, Constitution and Bill of Rights. There might be something in there about the freedom of individuals to “pursue happiness.”
The Koch brothers have lots of money which, you may have heard, is something one earns that becomes private property. You are jealous of the Koch brothers and so you covet. Didn’t your mother teach you anything? Let’s say, maybe, respect. Floyd Mayweather has more money than you. Do you also covet his private property?
To COVET is a sin. To create an ideology (religion) on the proclivity of “low-information voters” to COVET is sinner (sic).
What if someone invented a form of governance that facilitated the freedom of individuals to “pursue happiness.” You know, a government severely limited to security and infrastructure or Justice, Tranquility, Common Defence, Promote General Welfare securing the “blessings of liberty to ourselves and OUR posterity” (not to govt.) as freedom and free enterprise without interference by government.
What if someone established a restricted-vote republic with an environment conducive to freedom and free enterprise without interference by jealous parasites who covet success? Oops. China already did that, huh? The American Founders would be proud of the Chinese who have created a restricted-vote republic with an environment in which ambitious and capable people can endeavor and succeed without hindrance. The Chinese don’t suffer the parasites kindly.
“Who’ll Stop The Rain” falling on free Americans engaged in free enterprise. How long will free Americans have to suffer the sloth, indulgences and dictates of parasitic collectivists, to lazy for self-reliance?
______________________
“GOOD MEN THROUGH THE AGES, TRYIN’ TO FIND THE SUN”
Check this out at 2:27pm:
John Fogerty performed on the Voice finale.
“Who’ll Stop The Rain”
Long as I remember,
The rain been comin’ down.
Clouds of myst’ry pourin’
Confusion on the ground.
Good men through the ages
Tryin’ to find the sun.
And I wonder,
Still I wonder
Who’ll stop the rain.
I think the Clinton’s and their shady ways and shady “foundation” are extremely problematic. And I am not a supporter of Hillary. That being said I am tired of the false equivalency between union money and corporate money.
The Koch brothers alone spent $412 plus million to $153 million for the top ten unions in the US in the 2012 election cycle.
http://www.republicreport.org/2014/unions-koch/
Been to WI lately? Labor’s not even in this fight.
“…GOOD MEN THROUGH THE AGES, TRYIN’ TO FIND THE SUN.”
___________________________________________________________
“The only way to rebuild the American middle class is to rebuild the manufacturing base.”
Sorry, this is America under the Preamble, Constitution and Bill of Rights.
There is NO central planning. There is freedom and free enterprise.
America doesn’t “rebuild its manufacturing base,”
Americans engage in FREEDOM and FREE ENTERPRISE in their free “pursuit of happiness.”
Free Americans have no Marxist lexicon to use as a tool to control free enterprise. There is no such thing as an “economy” if free Americans are engaged in free enterprise. There are no tools of control and no “officials” to control free Americans engaged in free enterprise.
“Control of the means of production, “FIVE-YEAR PLANS,” and central planning are principles straight out of the Communist Manifesto. The Wright Brothers, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, Bill Gates, etc., were free individuals engaging in free enterprise without dictate from communist party headquarters in a controlled “economy” meeting or failing to meet “five-year plans.”
********
“Who’ll Stop The Rain” falling on free Americans engaged in free enterprise. How long will free Americans have to suffer the sloth, indulgences and dictates of parasitic collectivists, to lazy for self-reliance?
John Fogerty performed on the “Voice” in last night’s finale.
“Who’ll Stop The Rain”
Long as I remember,
The rain been comin’ down.
Clouds of myst’ry pourin’
Confusion on the ground.
Good men through the ages
Tryin’ to find the sun.
And I wonder,
Still I wonder
Who’ll stop the rain.
I went down Virginia,
Seekin’ shelter from the storm.
Caught up in the fable,
I watched the tower grow.
Five-year plans and new deals
Wrapped in golden chains.
And I wonder,
Still I wonder
Who’ll stop the rain.
Heard the singers playin’,
How we cheered for more?
The crowd had rushed together
Tryin’ to keep warm.
Still the rain kept pourin’,
Fallin’ on my ears.
And I wonder,
Still I wonder
Who’ll stop the rain.
“All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels and modified by mutual interests.
However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.” (Excerpt from Washington’s Farewell Address 1797_
DBQ:
“The Unions are not donating their OWN money but that which has been coerced from the members.”
That is one of my biggest problems with Unions. WHY isn’t this illegal? And if it’s not, let’s correct that. It is contrary to democracy.
Isaac:
“The only way to rebuild the American middle class is to rebuild the manufacturing base.”
Most American manufacturing cannot compete with overseas. As long as consumers choose based on price, it will never resurge in America. The only areas where American made is still worth the price to consumers is with children’s toys, because of all the toxic contaminants on those made in China.
Even American made furniture is so expensive it’s priced far out of range of most people. An example are clothespins. There are maybe a couple of companies here in the US who still manufacture them. They cost 10 times as much as their cheap, Chinese-made counterparts, and are far superior in quality. In my area of high winds, they are worth the splurge for me so I don’t have to pick up my clothes off the dirt. They have a niche market for eco-conscious people willing to pay 10 times more for a clothespin. But since the vast majority of people are still going to buy cheap clothespins at Big Chain Stores, there is not going to be an explosion of clothespin manufacturers at the level of a century ago.
If those American clothespin manufacturers went Union, the cost would go from 10 times as much to 50 times, and no one besides maybe Gwyneth Paltrow would bother.
Isaac:
“As far as unions go, unions are a result of a top heavy society. The further in one extreme the further the pendulum swings to the other. The worker is the most important ingredient in any society.”
I hear this a lot from people who have never owned a business. I do not know your personal history, but I have never heard a business owner talk like this.
My husband has had his own business for over 25 years. He started out pushing brooms, and eventually started his own company. He sank every dime he had into buying a small work truck, tools, etc, and spent 7 days a week cold calling, walking up to potential customers, and otherwise growing his business. He almost lost his house, but pulled through. When money was tight, he paid his guys instead of himself and ate Mac N Cheese. Nowadays, when customers take 9 months to pay, he still pays his guys before he pays us. Work Comp matches each guy’s salary by 30%, plus there are all the other costs of doing business. And the taxes we pay would make most employees faint.
I have to tell you, in this economy, there is a line down the street and around the corner for workers. There are very few people willing or able to put their own financial security at risk and every moment of their time to grow their own business. If a business fails, workers are out of a job and get unemployment. The business owner is financially ruined and can lose everything he or she has.
It is true that good workers and a good boss can create a smoothly functioning machine, but workers are not more important or sacrosanct. They risk nothing of their own and are guaranteed a paycheck.
Unions preach that Liberal mantra that the successful are the enemy, and pit the classes against each other. They say the business owner has few or no rights and the employee has more control than the boss. Time and again, it drives businesses into the ground. The people who hire Union for individual jobs are typically the government or massive corporations, because there is no way individuals can spend 5 times as much to hire Union. Unions get people who stack chairs at Carnegie Hall 6 figure salaries, more than the actual artists people come to see. More and more, they behave like Organized Crime. In some industries, like public education, you have to belong to the union to get a job, then you are forced to contribute to political campaigns you do not agree with. The teachers union makes it prohibitively expensive to fire a teacher for cause, so pedophiles get to retire on plump pensions or keep teaching if their behavior does not rise to a connectable offense, and bad teachers get to destroy kids’ education. And if the union is on strike and a non-union worker breaks the line, such as in Longshoremen, they are called Scabs and physically attacked.
Unions are hardly a paragon of liberty and justice for all.
Isaac:
Your response is exactly why politicians act with total unaccountability. They can do anything they want, and their constituents will continue to vote for them.
If lawless or otherwise repressible behavior drove someone out of politics, this behavior would stop, quickly.
It is we voters who enable them to continue.
Gigi de la Paz Union membership and influence in general has been declining for decades, starting about 40 years ago.
Some of the damage was self-inflicted by unions “over-reaching” for wage/benefit packages when southern right to work states and Chinese and Mexican outsourcing is an alternative for companies.
The unions used to primarily represent blue collar factory workers, truckers, etc.
The “mix” of union representation has changed dramatically in the past few decades…..increasingly white collar (NEA), public service employees ( police, firefighters, etc.)
Without looking up the numbers, I know that a.total union membership is WAY down, and b. the composition of membership by occupation has made the shift I mentioned.
Hillary Clinton – a megalomaniac gone wild. She seeks power for power’s sake. Lead me to that section of the Constitution; of the written intent of the Founders.
Unions – a desperate measure for desperate times. Somebody look out the window, let us all know if you see any desperate times out there. See any coal mine cave-ins as part of the daily schedule? See any forced 16 hr. days of hard labor, exposed to weather, without breaks, lunch or medical assistance available. Ya know what I see. Government workers, auto, aerospace, electrician, teacher, police, fire, etc. unions obtaining ridiculous pay levels for unskilled or overeducated/overqualified people who don’t come close to 100 degrees in a mine shaft, all-nighters on a factory assembly line or other forms of exhausting, miserable and unsafe working conditions that existed at the outset of the industrial age. America is bombarded by teachers union TV and radio commercials, in which it Is impossible to show extreme or inhuman working conditions…these people have air conditioned workplaces – and how about those firemen,? They could overdose on Ping-Pong, huh, after they put out an average of 3 fires a year? Ooo! Let’s not forget those hard, hard working college professors. In California, the college professors are so overworked, they’re going on strike for more money – $200k just doesn’t cut it anymore, huh? Not to worry; all the other parasitic government workers in California; they’ll all get “comparable pay” after the strike.
The “dictatorship of the proletariat.”
There should be a law against money-grubbing, unethical and unnecessary politicians and unions. Seems like they’d be obsolete by now, especially with the potential for digital governance and education through home computers, big screen monitors, class lessons on CD and automated classrooms.
Max,
Unions were not founded in America. The idea was brought over to the America’s with the pilgrims. In parts of Europe laborers formed guild’s, which later developed into unions.
Originally unions protected and defended jobs that were often given to favorite friends or family members. Early unions in this country prevented unskilled labor from moving in on skilled workers jobs as well as protecting the workers from unfair firing and unfair wages.
Since the 1920’s many unions have become more corrupt, developing into Big Brother agencies where the labor leaders live off the fat of the land, demanding unreasonable favors for the workers. They also don’t give each union member a right to vote their way. The unions brain wash and manipulate union workers to always vote democrat. These unnecessary over the top perks, benefits, and manipulative ways by fat cat labor leaders have forced corporations to look for cheaper labor in other countries.
Until we stop putting all the blame on corporations and look at ourselves and our unions, we will continue to dig a deeper hole in our economic woes.
Peter,
How many billions did the Demo’s get from the Unions, Sachs and Goldman, Hollywood celebs, Las Vegas Casinos, Buffet (a billionaire), and more.
The Democrat’s accumulated more money from the above contributors and others, compared to the Republican’s.
You forgot George Soros and his many media outlets.
Hillary Clinton has raised $2 billion for the election through the Clinton Foundation and will have over another billion dollars through her PAC so that she can, in her words, “make history” by radically transforming the freedoms we’ve enjoyed in this country as it’s supreme leader, controlling the state’s surveillance assets and monopoly on violence. She has a long and sordid history, displaying a wanton disregard for the rule of law, truthfulness, transparency, and basically anything or anyone who stands in her way to power.
The Koch Brothers are two of the many DONORS to a PAC that has raised $889 million for issue advocacy in the next election, but has not supported any individual candidate. Their stated and financially supported philosophy is preserving the freedom of individuals from government coercion through education, with no personal control of any government agencies or assets. And despite the supposed charitable purpose of the Clinton Foundation, the Kochs give ten times the charitable money away, supporting hospitals, cancer research, and other endeavors across the country.
It’s no wonder then that rational people think Clinton’s actions (and lies about them) are worse than anything the Kochs have done, and her potential actions are a much clearer and greater threat to the country than anything even the most fevered conspiracy-theorists attribute to the Kochs’ intentions.
Hillary and Bill will have to reveal their tax returns. And, the tax returns for the Foundation. And bank records from the Foundation showing were money was spent. One question is whether money was taken out of bank accounts and received by someone in cash. Did Bill and Hillary have salaries from the Foundation? It is not too hard to unravel. We need the documents. She cannot win the nomination unless she reveals this stuff.