Networks Ignore Alliances, Thuggery and Lobbying of SEIU

Networks Ignore Alliances, Thuggery and Lobbying of SEIU: "Members of the self-proclaimed fastest-growing union in North America have started fights at town hall meetings, share office space with ACORN and spent over $60 million to elect President Barack Obama.



The left-wing, 2.1 million-member Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and its president, Andy Stern, spent much of 2009 campaigning for health care reform that would include a government-run insurance plan, and for the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would make it easier to unionize. Critics of EFCA say it would result in worker intimidation (not something that would bother SEIU, if its recent history is any guide).



Well-connected, Stern was the most frequent White House visitor in the first six months of Obama’s presidency.



But ABC, NBC and CBS haven’t reported any of those things. In fact, a search of Nexis transcripts for all of 2009 only turned up one story mentioning either SEIU or Andy Stern. That was an Aug. 20 story from Jake Tapper of ABC which identified Stern as “a close ally of the President’s and the leader of a major union.”



While the networks ignored it, The Washington Post, New York Times and Wall Street Journal all reported Stern’s frequent visits to the White House, and The Los Angeles Times has reported that the huge union spent $60 million to help Obama get elected. Both the Post and the New York Times also exposed the close alliance between SEIU and ACORN.



The latest controversy that should have gotten the networks attention began Nov. 16, when two conservative groups, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) and the Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF), petitioned the United States Attorney to investigate Andy Stern for possible illegal lobbying activities. Their letter delivered to the U.S. Attorney said:



Specifically, it is important to determine whether those and related activities could constitute unregistered “lobbying” by Mr. Stern in violation of the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA), 2 U.S.C. 1601, et seq. In fact, Mr. Stern was a registered lobbyist for SEIU until January of 2007 when he terminated his registration.



On Nov. 16, BigGovernment.com mentioned a possible motivation for Stern not registering as a lobbyist – Obama’s opposition to working with lobbyists."