Here in Pennsylvania, the National Education Association has saturated the airwaves with an ad comparing GOP senatorial candidate Pat Toomey to the infamous fictitious Gordon Gekko, complete with dubbed clips of actor Michael Douglas’ line “Greed is good”.  It’s a slick ad-very well produced. And it’s a political hatchet job, pure and simple.  

For the teachers’ largest union to stoop to character assassination and what might be considered the vilest libel were it not part of an electoral campaign sets a poor example for young people.  The reputation of educators is likely to take a hit from this sordid episode.

This ad confirms what many of us have known about the NEA for a long time: Its primary focus is political power, not improved education.  Not once does the anti-Toomey ad mention kids, schools, teachers, or anything related to education.

The NEA should be free to support the candidates of its choice, but without its existing privilege of being tax-exempt.

Other ads have tried to tar-and-feather Toomey by associating him with Wall Street and China, venues where he has worked for approximately a year each. In today’s world, such experience is a valuable asset.  We need people on Capitol Hill who have some first-hand familiarity and understanding of those places. 

Politically correct liberals denounce as bigotry to cite a group affiliation in a negative way (think PBS, Juan Williams, and Muslims).  To say that Toomey is tainted and untrustworthy because he once worked on Wall Street is extreme exaggeration.  Yes, some Wall Street crooks committed fraud and damaged our country, but what fraud has Toomey committed?  Double standard, anyone?

We’ll know by Wednesday morning if this sordid smear campaign against Pat Toomey was successful.  If Toomey wins, I hope he leads the charge in Congress to terminate the NEA’s tax exemption.