You think the freakin’ unions have no power?
You’re delusional.
Now, I’m not going to talk too much, so that we can skip to the raw numbers. However, you ought to know that I’ve been tracking donations to 527 groups (tax-exempt political organizations) since early last December. The post that I made that tracked donations from last December to the end of this past January is here. When I checked back at the start of March, I didn’t find any different numbers. Without further ado, the numbers – after 2 months of no updating.
The numbers from my last post:
| Contributor | Total |
|---|---|
| Plumbers/Pipefitters Union | $631,408 |
| American Fedn of St/Cnty/Munic Employees | $510,000 |
| American Federation of Teachers | $393,611 |
| Ctzns for Better Schs In Support of Sanc | $370,387 |
| Sazerac Co | $300,000 |
| United Food & Commercial Workers Union | $300,000 |
| Democracy For America | $271,214 |
| Teamsters Union | $265,194 |
| United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners | $253,175 |
| Friess Assoc | $250,000 |
| Chief Oil & Gas | $250,000 |
| John Templeton Foundation | $232,000 |
| American Dental Assn | $205,986 |
| EMILY’s List | $201,000 |
| GFI Group | $200,000 |
| Brico Fund/Time Out Enterprises | $195,000 |
| Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers | $180,020 |
| National Assn of Realtors Members | $172,500 |
| Iabsoriw | $150,000 |
| Renaissance Technologies | $150,000 |
| Citadel Investment Group | $150,000 |
| Sheet Metal Workers Union | $150,000 |
The numbers as of today, May 1st, 2012 (with increased donations marked in green and unions marked in boldface).
| Contributor | Total |
|---|---|
| Service Employees International Union | $4,404,000 |
| Plumbers/Pipefitters Union | $2,275,643 |
| United Food & Commercial Workers Union | $1,701,128 |
| Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc | $1,402,075 |
| American Federation of Teachers | $1,232,777 |
| American Fedn of St/Cnty/Munic Employees | $1,130,060 |
| Operating Engineers Union | $1,122,500 |
| Carpenters & Joiners Union | $961,884 |
| National Assn of Realtors | $846,695 |
| Perry Homes | $750,000 |
| Bluegrass Democratic Attorney Generals | $590,000 |
| Laborers Union | $495,445 |
| John Templeton Foundation | $432,000 |
| American Dental Assn | $420,215 |
| Ironworkers Union | $375,000 |
| Citizens for Better Schools for Sanchez | $370,387 |
| EMILY’s List | $350,500 |
| Elliott Management | $345,000 |
| Democracy For America | $331,933 |
| AFL-CIO | $320,000 |
Only one group did not increase donations. Before, there were 8 unions on the list. Now, there are 10 up there.
Since the last time I checked (just over two months ago):
The SEIU was not even on the list before – so they must have made at least $4.254 million in contributions.
The Plumbers/Pipefitters Union made over $1.644 million in contributions.
The United Food & Commercial Workers Union donated over $1.401 million.
The American Federation of Teachers? Over $949,000.
The American Federation of State/County/Municipality Employees? They gave at least $621,000.
The Operating Engineers Union (another group that just showed up on the list) contributed more than $972,000.
The Carpenters and Joiners Union (aka United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners?) Over $708,000.
The Laborers Union (a newbie to the list)? Looks like $345,000+ is their magic number.
The Ironworkers Union (also debuting here)? $225,000+ is what they forked over.
The AFL-CIO (once again, a newcomer) gave over $170,000.
Remember, for those who are new to the list, I’ve had to subtract away $149,999 from their donations, since the previous lists bottomed out at $150,000.
The total donations from unions over the last two months: Over $9,886,925. That’s nine million, eight hundred and eighty-six thousand, nine-hundred and twenty-five dollars.
The total donations overall from unions on this list: $13,572,537. Updated (I had previously not included donations from unions knocked off the list): $14,175,751
Fourteen million, one hundred seventy-seven thousand, seven hundred and fifty-one dollars.
Let that sink in a little.
Given the unions’ reputations to donate mostly to Democrats, you can be assured that most of this money went to defeating conservatives nationwide.
Teamsters, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the Sheet Metal Workers Union got knocked off the list – maybe they’ll make a comeback over the next month. Who knew watching this could be so much fun? And also so painful?
After all, not only has the number of people using food stamps increased twofold under President Obama, but the number of people in poverty has increased by 8 million. I guess that doesn’t bother these unions too much though.
Source: Open Secrets
Spotlight: (Young) Conservatives Against Savage
I got some substantial views today from my anti-Dan Savage pieces (here and here), so I decided to spotlight some other conservatives who are fighting the fight against the left!
The first is Amy Miller, a law student who hands it to the left with some good writing, actual reasoning skills (something not often found among those of us who are products of the liberal public education system), and – get ready for it – logic. Amy’s blog is here. One of her latest posts is about Dan Savage, so be sure to check it out. You can probably ignore the dumb liberal comments at the bottom of the page – unless you’d like to reply to their idiocy like I did.
Another is a blogger who goes by the name “Taoist.” This blogger isn’t actually a Taoist, but is someone who believes strongly in our democratic republic, free-market capitalism, and freedom (you know, things that the Left consistently fights against). Their blog is here – be sure to read if you’re into common sense!
Keep up the fight! The Left’s narrative is unraveling at last, but our work is not done!
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Posted by Alberto Pardo on May 1, 2012
http://bestsocialprogram.wordpress.com/2012/05/01/spotlight-young-conservatives-against-savage/