Monday, July 11, 2011

Michele Bachmann hearts the Koch bros.



A lot of Teamsters don't like Michele Bachmann. We know that because thousands of Teamsters booed the mention of the presidential wannabe's name at the 28th Convention. They also cheered and applauded when our sister Robin Kohl from Local 638 in Minneapolis walked up to the microphone on the floor and gave Bachmann what for.

Here's what Kohl had to say:
I’m from the state of Minnesota where Michele Bachmann lives.
(Chorus of boos)

I’ve never met her personally, but in case she’s watching — and she’s probably not because she’s a little too arrogant to give a damn but, Michelle, as I said, “Nice to meet you. My name is Robin Kohl and I’m from Minnesota.

Since you have the audacity to run for president and insult all these hard-working people in America, I just want to say one thing to you.

You better put your tea cup down and buck up. And on second thought, you better go to Wal-Mart and buy a whole case of lipstick, because when we stand together, you’re going to need it when we tell you — you’re going to need it to cover the size lips you’re going to need when we tell you to kiss our collective hard-working union, middle-class ass.
(You can watch it on the YouTube clip above, starting at 6:00.)

Bachmann, on her presidential campaign website, says she represents her constituents. It's important, though, to understand who her constituents are. They're the Koch brothers, the financial services industry and the corporations.

She has received $25,000 from Koch Industries.

And take a look at her campaign finance report:
  • $19,950 from Target, the union-busting retail chain.
  • $15,500 from Deloitte, a financial services firm that settled accounting fraud charges a few years ago for $50 million.
  • $11,150 from Ernst and Young, the accounting firm being sued for lying about Lehman Bros.' financial condition, which led to Lehman's collapse, which led to the global financial crisis, which caused the bank bailout and the recession.
  • $10,000 from the American Bankers Association (they're NOT your friend).
  • $10,000 from Citizens United, the "nonprofit" that successfully overturned federal campaign finance law so that corporations are now allowed to give unlimited amounts of secret money to help political candidates like Michele Bachmann.
Yup, she's a true Tea Partier -- a fraudulent populist who supports the authoritarian, extremist corporate agenda of the Koch brothers. Don't let her fool you.