There's A New King Of Campaign Spending And It Ain't Some Evil Group Of Foreign Companies

It's the union which represents all the cuddly, friendly and competent public employees sucking up all of our tax money.

Don't you feel better? Democracy has been saved!

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is now the biggest outside spender of the 2010 elections, thanks to an 11th-hour effort to boost Democrats that has vaulted the public-sector union ahead of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the AFL-CIO and a flock of new Republican groups in campaign spending.

The 1.6 million-member AFSCME is spending a total of $87.5 million on the elections after tapping into a $16 million emergency account to help fortify the Democrats' hold on Congress. Last week, AFSCME dug deeper, taking out a $2 million loan to fund its push. The group is spending money on television advertisements, phone calls, campaign mailings and other political efforts, helped by a Supreme Court decision that loosened restrictions on campaign spending.

"We're the big dog," said Larry Scanlon, the head of AFSCME's political operations. "But we don't like to brag."

...AFSCME's campaign push accounts for an estimated 30% of what pro-Democratic groups, including unions, plan to spend on independent campaigns to elect Democrats. It was made possible in part by a 2010 Supreme Court decision that permitted companies and unions to use their own funds to pay for certain political ads. That unleashed a flood of contributions and spawned an array of new outside political organizations, most of which were set up to help elect Republicans.

(via Brian Faughnan)

If I were Tom Friedman for a day and I could wish for some totalitarian measure to be imposed on the US, I'd wish for a way to make public employee unions illegal or at least prevent them from spending on campaigns. There's something deeply corrupting about employees bribing their managers (politicians) to shovel the money of the owners (citizens) to them.

Of course Obama, Pelosi, Reid and their assorted minions like Keith Olbermann and endangered House Democrats never seem to mention all this money flowing from unions. No, it's those damn corporations. How dare they fight to keep more of their money so they can hire people! Who the hell do they think they are?

You have to give credit to the public sector unions...they get their money's worth out of their bought and paid for politicians.

posted by DrewM. at 11:35 AM

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