Cumulative Donations
Unions vs. Koch Industries from 1989-2012
| Unions | |
| American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees | $47,869,048 |
| Service Employees International Union | $38,819,196 |
| National Education Association | $38,284,919 |
| International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers | $34,928,253 |
| American Federation of Teachers | $32,850,516 |
| Teamsters Union | $32,657,878 |
| Laborers Union | $32,629,200 |
| Carpenters & Joiners Union | $31,622,758 |
| Communications Workers of America | $31,271,197 |
| United Food & Commercial Workers Union | $27,981,755 |
| United Auto Workers | $27,926,225 |
| Machinists & Aerospace Workers Union | $27,379,727 |
| National Association of Letter Carriers | $22,699,084 |
| AFL-CIO | $22,263,800 |
| Sheet Metal Workers Union | $19,737,520 |
| International Association of Fire Fighters | $19,154,293 |
| Plumbers & Pipefitters Union | $19,010,856 |
| Operating Engineers Union | $18,232,474 |
| Airline Pilots Association | $17,281,597 |
| United Transportation Union | $15,263,410 |
| United Steelworkers | $15,123,146 |
| Ironworkers Union | $15,074,374 |
| American Postal Workers Union | $14,046,823 |
| Total $602,108,049 | |
| The Koch Brothers | Total $12,687,199 |
All of those numbers are dwarfed by what George Soros spends.
What is the airtime worth on MSNBC (i know not a lot) , because it is a 24/7 in kind donation to the Democratic party. CNN the same. Front page "news" on the New York Times, Washington Post, ABC, NBC, CBS, local papers? What is the value of the infiltration of the education system? We actually have people right here on Cafemoms, that think that FDR's policies got us out of the Depression and that the Democrats pushed civil rights. What is the value of that, and all the rest of the misinformation, for the Democrats? What about the social organizations posing as churches, what is the value of those "pastors" promoting the liberal agenda?
The hopeful part for me, is that even with all this spending the Democrats can never get the majority of the country to agree with them, for more that a moment.
I think corporations and leaders of industries have a PR problem. Whereas many people view unions as being a collection of individuals, corporations are not viewed the same way, yet really are quite the same in that they are a collection of individuals.
By viewing unions as a collection of individuals, people find it more acceptable for that money to be used to get their message out, regardless of whether each individual believes in that message or not. When a union donates to a political party it is seen as acting in the individuals interest, not in it's own interest.
But corporations are very similar to unions in that they too are made up of individual investors. 401Ks, pension funds, even the unions themselves make up the share holders of corporations. Yet corporations are not viewed this way, they are viewed as being owned by just one or two very wealthy people. So when a corporation donates to a political party, it is seen as these couple of people acting in their own best interest and against everyone else's.
My biggest problem is when either of these institutions is also a government agency. I feel it is a conflict of interest for a government agency to require payments that will be used to further it's own political interests. To me this is a tax to assure more taxes can be collected, which will in turn create a means for even more taxes.
Get the union and corporate money out of politics.
Sometimes people who are qualified and actually give a damn want to run but do not have the money to campaign. Stupid people who are willing to do as their told by the people who donate to their campaign end up running and whoever has the most money gets elected. Usually.
That shit needs to stop. It should not cost so much money to make a go for any politicial office.
So no big Corps are part of Super PACS?
In the words of MR, "corps are people too."
Unions = a bazillion people.
Koch = 2 people.
I'll take my chances with the bazillion people, rather than the two people.
Quoting UpSheRises:
Unions = a bazillion people.
Koch = 2 people.
I'll take my chances with the bazillion people, rather than the two people.
Nice math, but,
Unions actually are comprised of very few people, and they are at an all time low right now, and most of the membership has nothing to say about the directions of the union.
Bill Ayers: Obama Should Be Tried For War Crimes
Sarah Palin - love her, hate her, don't give a F***?
- Carpy
on Jun. 11, 2012 at 7:03 AM