Posted by
Jennine on Saturday, March 07, 2009 12:34:14 PM
Did I mention that I am a recovering Democrat? Obama is keeping me in recovery, which is a good thing. It was during Clinton's first term that I came to my senses. Prior to that I have been a Democrat who completely bought the old canard that Republicans were bought and owned by Big Money and Big Business. However, an interesting case came to my attention in the early 90's involving some very interesting people. The case involved a scheme to illegally fund and influence a union election. And the interesting people being investigated were Bill Clinton's Deputy Chief of Staff Harold Ickes, and Clinton-Gore fundraiser Terry McAuliffe.
When the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations Peter Hoekstra started looking into this Teamsters Union
scandal, he was asked by the Clinton-appointed U.S. Attorney for the
Southern District of New York, Mary Jo White, not to subpoena
McAuliffe, Ickes, and certain others on grounds that their
testimony might interfere with a criminal investigation that she and
the Clinton Justice Department were already pursuing. But after
Hoekstra agreed to White’s request, as he described it, "the entire Teamsters investigation has fallen into a black hole." Small players in the case pled guilty.
But, despite strong evidence against them, no criminal indictments were
ever handed down by White or the Clinton Justice Department against
McAuliffe, or Ickes. I was able to refresh my memory on this issue with information from DiscoverTheNetWorks.Org, which has a lot more information. There was also a Time magazine article about this issue at the time it was happening. So this information does not just come of my Right-Wing mind.
Call me crazy, but this seemed more egregious than the Big Money Big Business Republican concern I had. I also watched as Harold Ickes continued to support the Unions and intervene in an inappropriate way on their behalf from the White House. It soured me on Clinton, the Democrats and Unions.
Now comes card check. Cognitive dissonance is the only way to describe this administration. The secret ballot is sacred in America for every other election other than Union elections. Let's see, over the years, Unions have engaged in such persuasive activities as knee-capping in order to get votes. So card check may be an improvement, as at least the intimidation probably won't be as physical. But make no mistake, a union official confronting an employee in view of everyone in the work site and asking that person to sign a card is intimidation. And we all know this. The Democrats know this. It's just another pay back for the enormous amount of union dues given to the Democrats during elections without the consent of the dues-paying members.
It's time to burn up the phone lines and the email. We must stop this. Unions are part of the problem, they do not offer a solution to the economic crisis. And individuals deserve to be protected from the kind of intimidation that is at the very heart of card check. We have responsibility to stop this bill. Let's do our part. Call. Write. Call again. Write again.