Eight of them:

Allentown union official Nick Balzano has been a political punching bag all week because he threatened to file a grievance against the city for allowing a Boy Scout to clear a walking path in a city park.

Three days of taking body blows nationally from conservative pundits, a rebuke from the Lehigh Valley’s congressman and even a lashing from his own union led Balzano to voluntarily resign his position Thursday as head of the local Service Employees International Union.

Balzano said he and seven other executive officers of the local SEIU stepped down.

Via HolyCoast.com. Note that the SEIU itself hung Balzano out to dry: when your guys are already out there on camera beating up protesters and gadflies, it’s not a good time to start a fight with the Boy Scouts of America*.  I suggest that the various loyalists of that organization keep that in mind.

Moe Lane

*Not that it’s ever a good time.  Nobody smart in American politics messes with the Scouts. Boy or Girl Scouts.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

Ed Morrisey emailed to let me know about this story. This is huge and well done.

At 9 am ET today, Americans for Tax Reform and the Alliance for Worker Freedom will deliver a letter to both chambers of Congress and to US Attorney Channing Phillips in Washington DC, demanding a federal investigation of Andrew Stern, president of the SEIU. They will claim that Stern, who stopped registering as a federal lobbyist in 2007, has continued his lobbying efforts. They claim to have compiled evidence of Stern’s lobbying from the recently released White House visitor logs, media reports — and Stern’s own Twitter feed, in what has to be a first for the social networking service.

The organizations make out a strong case that Andy Stern is still lobbying and is in violation of federal law.

In seven months, Stern visited the White House 22 times, or more than once every two weeks.

With a pretty loose definition of what a lobbyist is, Stern most likely would be considered one. The problem, of course, is that we’re asking the Obama Justice Department to do the investigating.

Nonetheless, this is well done.

From the diaries by Erick

Union bosses have the federal government all sewn up. They’ve got a lock on the White House, they’ve got a lock on the Senate, as well as the House of Representatives. So, what’s the problem?

Immediately following the election, the President-Elect appointed the AFL-CIO’s Ellen Moran to be White House Communications Director (she has since moved on to the census-controlling Commerce Department), SEIU’s Patrick Gaspard to be White House Director of Political Affairs, SEIU’s Anna Burger and AFL-CIO boss Richard Trumka to his “Economic Recovery Advisory Board,” and SEIU’s Dennis Rivera is currently running the White House’s war on health care. On the day of Barack Obama’s inauguration, the newly-annointed President appointed hard-core union radical Wilma Liebman to the Chairmanship of the National Labor Relations Board. Since then, the Administration has appointed dozens (or more) of hard core unionists to various posts in the government and given union bosses some key wins early on like the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and union-only Project Labor Agreements. [For a broader list of union wishes fulfilled go here.]

So, why are union bosses getting antsy and feeling that they’re being shoved to the side?

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Just to repeat some of the things alluded to in this article (with some additions):

• We know that Patrick Gaspard is the White House political affairs director.
• We know that Patrick Gaspard enjoys the trust of the White House to perform sensitive tasks.
• We know that Patrick Gaspard is in fact one of the most quietly powerful people in this administration.
• We know that Patrick Gaspard was formerly an ACORN higher-up.
• We know that Patrick Gaspard was also formerly affiliated with SEIU.
• We know that Patrick Gaspard was seen by Big Labor as being a payoff for SEIU’s support.
• We know that Patrick Gaspard’s brother Michael represents ACORN (and that ACORN Chief Organizer Bertha Lewis kept contact information for Patrick Gaspard).
• And we know that links between ACORN & SEIU and ACORN & the White House have been minimized, downplayed, and outright sanitized recently.
• What we don’t know yet is whether the White House is going to do the same thing with the ties between SEIU and the White House.

Or whether this administration has ‘full confidence’ in Patrick Gaspard.  Which is Dizzy City-speak for ‘He’s cleaning out his desk right now.’

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

Misleading statements, (empty) threats of physical violence, harassing and disrespectful language, nap deprivation: the CIA is accused of employing these and other ethically troubling techniques in the interrogation of Khalid Sheikh “Bluto” Mohammad and other al Qaeda operatives in the War on Terror the Great Unpleasantness.

This being a cruel world, however, we must recognize that there is a time and place for everything. We can employ one of the liberal’s favorite tools, situational ethics, to define when the use of violence, lies, threats and torture-ish techniques are morally acceptable.

Judging from the stated and unstated attitudes of President Obama and Attorney General Holder, there are instances in which the use of such coercive tactics may be ignored or even condoned. The following situational guidelines for coercion and threats of violence are offered in the interest of clarity.

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Tim Bishop (D, NY-01) is having something called a “health care reform rally” on Thursday, at (of all things) SEIU’s Hicksville NY offices (1199 Duffy Ave, starts at 1 PM). This is otherwise known as “over twenty miles outside the borders of NY-01.” Bishop is of course one of the first Democrats holding down a Red district (NY-01 is a R+0) to discover that his constituents are paying attention to his votes: he rather famously canceled his future in-district meetings. Presumably he assumes that his constituents won’t drive twenty miles to complain.

Meanwhile, Leonard Boswell (D, IA-03) has at least decided to stay in-district for his “health care listening post” - barely.  Although his district includes Des Moines, Boswell has instead decided to travel 80 miles east this week to the Sigourney Public Library (Thursday, 2 PM).  He won’t be actually having any meetings on the subject in the Des Moine area (where the vast majority of his constituents live) for another two weeks.  Still, at least he’s having them; apparently being D+1 can make the difference between in and out of district.

Neither one of these two Congressmen are freshmen, and neither were considered to be hardline liberals before this Congress.  And both of them are clearly not interested in facing their constituents just quite yet.  Very interesting, that.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

I wrote the other day about Sen. Ben Cardin’s (D-MD) townhall in Maryland. Senator Cardin, you will recall, had his townhall co-sponsored with the SEIU and ACORN.

Additionally, his office sent an email to the AFL-CIO, which then forwarded it out, asking Obamacare supporters to attend the event in order to fill the seats and keep out pro-America supporters¹.

The whole thing was another example of leftist astroturf being masqueraded before a willing media as authentic grassroots, complete with a certificate of authenticity signed by George Soros.

Check out this article showing just how planned the astroturf is. The article came out on the 4th of August.

Organized labor plans two mass mobilizations in August — and beyond — on health care and on the Employee Free Choice Act, interviews at the AFL-CIO Executive Council show. . . . The health care mobilization already started, and was going even as the council met. Unions arranged for 50,000 phone calls to be funneled to Congress on the issue on July 28. And on July 27, the Alliance of Retired Americans, the AFL-CIO’s affiliate for union and other retirees, arranged two conference calls, of 100 people each, to talk health care campaign strategy, Alliance President Barbara Easterling added.

And the Employee Free Choice Act mobilization aims at the fact that Democrats now lack the 60 votes needed to shut off a planned GOP-led filibuster against the bill.

What? How can that be authentic?

The answer, my friends, is blowing in the wind — AFL-CIO workers wear t-shirts made in China, not Brooks Brothers suits. Therefore, they are authentic.

Let’s also note the part about the Employee Free Choice Act — the pressure for it, like healthcare, is union generated, union powered, and union fake. The only thing authentic about it is the passion the unions have for pushing the fake pressure campaigns before they go bankrupt under the weight of their own union contracts.

(Via RS Diarist rechief) Turns out that the Drudge rumor was right: Pelosi & Hoyer really did write an op-ed with the title ‘Un-American’ attacks can’t derail health care debate. And it’s precisely what I expected, too.  Which is to say, an op-ed that can write this:

Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American.

…without even a hint of a sign of a suggestion that the authors mean by that condemnation the physical violence done to conservatives by SEIU members (noted here and here).  Which is actually not surprising: they don’t.  It’s them that are doing it, so it’s by definition OK.   And if you don’t like that observation of mine, then the Democratic party’s leadership is perfectly welcome to prove me wrong by issuing a terse statement saying that they do not support SEIU’s violent tactics.  Until then, they can own the actions of their blueshirts.

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This is Elston McCowan.

Elston K. McCowan is a former organizer – now the Public Service Director of SEIU Local 2000 – and board member of the Walbridge Community Education Center, and is a Baptist minister, has been a community organizer for more than 23 years, and now, he is running for Mayor of the City of St. Louis under the banner of the Green Party of St. Louis.

[ed: This was from before the election.  McCowan is now a former nominee of the Green Party.]

All of that sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?  Well, except for the position with the SEIU and the whole Green Party thing (think Cynthia McKinney).

The problem with McCowan is that he is something more.  McCowan is a thug.

You’ve actually seen McCowan before.  He was in a video that has been played on just about every blog on the right, mentioned on countless radio programs and has even seen play on cable news.  The video sparked the protest that I attended on Saturday outside of the SEIU office here in St. Louis.  See if you recognize him now.

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Those were the words of Kenneth Gladney.  These words however were spoken by his lawyer since Gladney was under heavy medication as a result of the beating he took at the hands of SEIU thugs.

If you can’t see the video it is of a speech by St. Louis Tea Party’s Bill Hennessey and the attorney for Kenneth Gladney.

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From my email box. It’s being billed as an SEIU event.

TODAY, August 7th, at 2:30pm EDT, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is hosting a call with health care activists and SEIU members to discuss what needs to happen in order to win health care reform, and to directly respond to accusations and distortions from opponents. At the end of the call, Gov. Sebelius will also answer your questions on health care reform. Here’s the log-in details:

To join by phone, follow these instructions:

1. Dial 1-888-567-1599 and
2. When prompted, enter access code 9363997

Or, to join via the web, visit the following address: http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=61226

At right is an invitation Florida State Rep. Betty Reed rushed to get printed for the healthcare event in Florida last night. Click it for a full sized PDF version.

There are a few points that are worth noting:

1. Kathy Castor was able to keep this event off her official schedule and under the radar until the last minute because she was not hosting it.
2. The SEIU was all in from the very beginning with this event.
3. Betty Reed tried to have Florida taxpayers pay for the event and printing of the invitation. She was denied by the legislature because of SEIU involvement.
4. Had it not been for RedState, Rush Limbaugh, and others, Kathy Castor would have been able to sail through last night talking only to union goons without having to answer to her voters.

I noted last night the coverage of the Kathy Castor event in Florida. The only video or photographs of violence coming out of that event show Democrat operates shoving and pushing senior citizens opposed to Obamacare.

The original Tampa Bay Online story about the event reflected that. Jon Henke notes the story has now radically changed — having passed through the reporters hands and on to the editor for the morning paper.

No longer does it just recite the facts of the event, but it downplays SEIU involvement, despite the local Democrat party billing the event as hosted by the SEIU, and it inserts a bunch of Democrat talking points irrelevant to the facts on the ground.

This is what we’re dealing with in this fight for freedom.

Here’s what a reporter on Fox-2 KTVI in St. Louis says:

Michelle Anselmo: Opposition groups were online telling everybody there would be a show of force coming out here tonight to show their disgust really with the President’s healthcare reform plan.

Then late this afternoon the Democrats issued their own press releases telling anyone who supported this plan to come out.

Got that? Anti-Obamacare citizens made known they would show up to tell Russ Carnahan to oppose Obamacare.

Russ Carnahan and the Democrats then send out an all points bulletin to Democrat groups to show up.

Who does Carnahan get to show up?

The screen shot below is from Michelle Anselmo’s report:

Not only was it the SEIU, but on the ground reports to RedState confirm that the Democrats gave priority seating to pro-Obamacare supporters and had a special entrance for a large contingent of SEIU thugs.

Early reports coming in from Florida indicate the hastily scheduled townhall with Kathy Castor ended badly, as predicted, because of SEIU thugs.

The event was conveniently held in a forum where only 250 people could fit. 1000 people showed up. SEIU members were given reserved seating that took up at least half of the 250 seats. As people came in who visibly oppose the Democrats healthcare plan, SEIU members barred access to the room.

According to local media

Some say they were barred because they are against President Barack Obama’s agenda to change the current health insurance system.

Democrat event organizers slammed one senior citizen into the wall as he and his wife tried to enter. The couple were opposed to Obamacare and made it known.

Kathy Castor, for her part, showed up, spoke briefly, then fled the scene claiming it was not really her event.

As Swamp Yankee noted earlier today, the AFL-CIO is going all-in on the healthcare debate. Their plan, in their own words, is to “organize major union participation in Congressional Town Hall meetings.” Unlike the spontaneous rejection of socialism springing from our grassroots, Big Labor plans to service their symbiotes in government by putting up money, transportation, and talking points in order to influence the healthcare debate and, ultimately, shut you up.

There’s a word for that. I can’t think of it. Rhymes with mastro murfing I think.

Of course, also unlike the senior citizens Obamacare proponents happily smear as an unruly mob, big labor is absolutely ready to use intimidation and scare tactics to get their way. Hey, it’s what they do.

You may be wondering, though, whether they may have a good point. After all, if the unions exist for the purpose of advocating for the rights of workers, couldn’t their support of Obamacare be seen as part of that mandate? Um, could you please stop laughing? I’m going somewhere with this!

So OK, let’s have a look at just how well Big Labor takes care of “the little people” then, shall we?

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Trying to avoid middle class workers opposed to Obamacare, Congresswoman Kathy Castor (D-FL) has schedule a last minute townhall for tonight. She’ll be surrounded by union goons from the SEIU to feed middle class voters to alligators if they dare criticize Obamacare.

If you live in the Tampa area, you should show up. Just remember, the union goons are going to do their best to pick fights with you so they can get video for TV a proof that you guys are a mob. Don’t let them win, but get your questions asked.

Date: Thursday, August 6, 2009
Time: 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: Children’s Board
Street: 1002 E Palm Ave
City/Town: Tampa, FL

Last week, the New York Times reported that the inaptly named “Employee Free Choice Act” was losing the most controversial and highest-profile provision: card check. Card check legislation, contrary to the title of the act, would take away fair choice for employees by doing away with the secret ballot, opening workers to intimidation from both the unions and the employers. As has been belabored at Redstate, destroying the secret ballot takes away the worker’s freedom to vote his conscience without fear of retribution.

The labor unions, special interests, and Democrats pushing for it not only know this, it’s the point. Intimidating workers into voting to unionize would vastly increase the size and power of the unions and, by extension, the Democratic party. These are all things you already know.

So in light of the Times article, is card check dead? Are workers rights being protected? Don’t answer too quickly.

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The SEIU is furious

.
according to Yvonne Walker, president of the SEIU Local 1000.

If that was all you heard about the budget deal struck by The Governator and legislative leaders yesterday, you’d already know that the people of California had won this round. As Krempasky wrote earlier today, Arnold drew what appear to be astounding concessions from legislative leaders in dealing with severe budget shortfalls.

The details as they come out in future days may blunt enthusiasm, but the shorthand is simple. If the SEIU hates it, and NPR hates it, it was good for California and good for conservatives everywhere.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t exactly my kind of Republican. He’s squishy on a lot of issues I care about. He seems a little too concerned with the opinion of some in the media. All that said, how can you characterize the news today that California political leaders have reached a budget deal as anything but a crushing win for the Gov? No new taxes, deep budget cuts, some reform to the state’s welfare system AND access and fees for offshore oil drilling?! [insert Conan joke about lamentations]

SRSLY? Holy crap.

Don’t get me wrong - the deal’s not perfect by any means. And folks with many more accounting degrees than I will find reasons to object to some of the shifts of both revenues and costs. And don’t forget - the very existence of the budget standoff that Arnold just won is a direct result of the failure of several of his key ballot initiatives.

But as I was driving to work this morning, listening to NPR lament the deal as one of the sharpest contractions in government anywhere in the country in recent memory, I couldn’t help but smile. When the chips were down, Arnold held firm. Well done, sir.

If this means (to steal the phrase) that Arnold’s back on the juice - can we pass it around at the next RGA meeting?

P.S. And meanwhile, across town - while Arnold was winning almost every concession he asked for..the SEIU is authorizing a strike. Good luck with that.