Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Union protest rages outside Ryan fundraiser in Vegas

Outside the Venetian yesterday in Vegas.
Our brothers and sisters from AFGE and the AFL-CIO showed up in droves outside a casino mogul's fundraiser for premium-wine enthusiast Paul Ryan yesterday in Las Vegas.

Zeke Miller at Buzzfeed has the story:
The protesters, from the American Federation of Government Employees and the AFL-CIO, gathered in the plaza outside the hotel with signs like "Paul Ryan: Hustling for the 1%," and "Romney/Ryan Road to Ruin." 
AFGE president John Gage, who was in Las Vegas for his union's convention, told reporters that they were there to demonstrate against Ryan's proposed cuts to the federal government and Medicare. 
"Romney Hood, Ryan Hood, not in our neighborhood," he said. 
"Ryan, Go Home," the union members shouted. Gage said his union has 300,000 members nation-wide and estimate that about 9,000 or 10,000 are from Nevada.
The casino mogul is Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire who owns casinos in Macau (foreign money, anyone?). ABC News reported,
Adelson and his wife, Miriam, have given at least $10 million to the pro-Romney SuperPAC Restore Our Future. They also gave $20 million to a SuperPAC supporting Newt Gingrich during the primary campaign. Adelson has vowed to spend $100 million to defeat President Obama. He recently accompanied Romney on his overseas trip to Israel.
They only call it class warfare when we fight back...