David Reese – 3/18/14

This page was last updated on March 18, 2014.

Christiana off base; David Reese; Beaver County Times; March 18, 2014.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Rep. Jim Christiana, R-Beaver (in guest viewpoint Sunday in The Times) bends over backward trying to equate political corruption with union dues collections.

“He’s particularly amusing when he states that ‘your hard earned money is being used for political purposes,’ and the letter he penned proves that he is using taxpayer money for political purposes.

“Does he not know that dues deductions are a negotiated item in any union contract, whether it’s from a government or private entity? We won’t forget the he is a member of a political party that wants to suppress voting rights, and he voted for those bills.”

[RWC] Mr. Reese hopes we don’t read/reread Mr. Christiana’s letter. Contrary to Mr. Reese’s implication, Mr. Christiana wrote, “Union leaders negotiate contracts from state and local government to deduct union members’ dues and campaign contributions from employees’ paychecks, just like taxes.”

“Suppress voting rights” and “anti-voters rights” are leftyspeak for requiring a photo ID to vote.

“He is opposed to anyone who might think, act, or vote the Democratic ticket, ergo his animus toward union members and their political causes. This proposed legislation is brought to you via the Koch brothers and their A.L.E.C. anti-union, anti-voters rights, anti-abortion rights organization, who are in cahoots with legislators around the country, all determined to end union rights.”

[RWC] I missed Mr. Christiana’s “animus toward union members.” Mr. Reese equates “union members” with Big Union management. Otherwise, are we to believe all employees required to pay union dues are Democrats? During the 2008, 2010, and 2012 election cycles (two-year periods), PACs directed by Big Union management made 92%, 93%, and 90% of their contributions to Democrat candidates for a total of $176.3 million. Should we expect direct union spending on “Political Activities and Lobbying” to show a different distribution? Are we to believe only 7% - 10% of union-represented employees are Republicans? Keep in mind direct union spending on “Political Activities and Lobbying” greatly exceeds spending by union federal PACs. For example, according to their U.S. Department of Labor LM-2 forms (Labor Organization Annual Report), the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) spent $70 million in 2012 on “Political Activities and Lobbying,” the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) spent $21.5 million, the National Education Association (NEA) spent $39.9 million, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) spent $113.8 million, and the AFL-CIO spent $45 million. Those five unions alone spent $290.2 million in a single year on “Political Activities and Lobbying,” vs. $192.4 million by all union-related federal PACs over six years.

In case you don’t know, the Koch (pronounced “coke”) brothers are boogeymen to the left because they are wealthy and contribute primarily to conservative candidates and causes. If the Koch brothers contributed primarily to lefty candidates and causes, as do wealthy lefties like Peter Lewis (Progressive Insurance), George Soros (Wall Street hedge-fund manager), et al, they would be lefty heroes. For example, USW CEO Leo Gerard (a foreign national) once wrote of “Democratic benefactor George Soros.” The Koch’s are primary owners (84%) and operators of Koch Industries ($115 billion in annual revenue and about 60,000 employees as of July 2013). Here’s a summary of charitable donations made by the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation. Lefties are so deranged about the Kochs they (1199 SEIU, New York State Nurses Association, NAACP …”) actually staged a protest (3/8/14) at the site of the future David H. Koch Center, a new ambulatory care center at New York – Presbyterian Hospital in NYC to which Mr. Koch donated $100 million!

Does Mr. Reese really support killing unborn babies for convenience (“abortion rights”)?

“Rep. Christiana will be proposing right-to-work laws for our workers next; that’s also on the A.L.E.C agenda. Political corruption and union dues deductions are two different animals, Rep. Christiana!”

[RWC] “In cahoots with legislators around the country?” ALEC is the American Legislative Exchange Council. With “Legislative Exchange” in its name and its membership composed primarily of state legislators from across the country, what does Mr. Reese think ALEC does? Heck, the ALEC website home page even includes a link labeled “Model Policy.” If these folks are trying to hide what they do, they aren’t doing a very good job. In any case, there are “think tanks” for every ideology and they all propose legislation – including initial drafts – to their political/ideological allies. I’m sure it was an honest omission when Mr. Reese didn’t mention leftist think tanks like the Brookings Institution, Center for American Progress, and so on. If you think members of Congress or their staffs wrote the bulk of the Obamacare bill, think again. When think tanks, activist groups, etc. propose legislation that would benefit leftist causes, does Mr. Reese complain?