High court to weigh in on union political giving

[Omaha Steve]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/288888_weadues1.h...

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

High court to weigh in on union political giving

By RICHARD BERMAN
GUEST COLUMNIST

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether the Washington Education Association has to ask permission before using teachers' money for political purposes. This despite a ballot initiative the voters passed in 1992 requiring unions to do exactly that.

To get an idea of why Initiative 134 passed so resoundingly -- by 72 percent of voters -- consider the fact that almost 90 percent of the tax-paying public does not participate in "public" funding of elections.

Almost no one says yes to election funding on IRS 1040 forms because Americans don't want their tax dollars going to candidates they don't support. Laws like Initiative 134 preserve this freedom for union members, just as taxpayers who support Democratic politicians don't have to have their money going to Republican candidates for president, and vice versa.

And that's not counting the millions coming off those checked boxes received by the quixotic campaigns of candidates charitably described as "fringe." Lyndon LaRouche, the perennial candidate, has actually received $6.4 million from the federal treasury. John Hagelin of the Natural Law Party, meanwhile, has received more than $1.75 million in tax money to do things like explain how, in Kosovo, he would have sent in "Yogic flyers" whose transcendental meditation spreads peace via "a quantum-mechanical consciousness field."

FULL story at link above.

[Solo_in_MD]

1. Bad Link, try this one

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/288888_weadues1.html