PrintJanuary 7, 2009
SEIU chief met with Blago
It bugs me that this doesn't get the attention it deserves. Kirs Maehr writes in the WSJ:
Andy Stern, head of the nation's fastest-growing labor union, met with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich last fall around the time that federal prosecutors allege the governor was discussing ways to sell the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama for a lucrative union position.Mr. Stern, president of the 1.9-million-member Service Employees International Union, met with Gov. Blagojevich on Nov. 3, the day before Mr. Obama was elected. Tom Balanoff, who is head of SEIU in Illinois, also attended the meeting. Mr. Balanoff was previously identified as an unnamed SEIU official in a complaint brought by the U.S. attorney's office against the governor. This is the first indication that Mr. Stern had met with the Illinois governor during the period under investigation.
The SEIU was a very generous funder of Blago. In turn, they got benefits. Then Blago goes back to the well and tries to get more. How is that not pay to play? Because it is a union and not a business? So what? Stern and others will get higher pay if their union grows...plus the message to other unions is to pay up or you won't enjoy the preference that the SEIU does.
