Ruh-roh: Kochs now aiming at winning small-town elections

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Ya gotta watch this Daily Show video about the Benedict Arnold Koch brothers promoting vicious lies in small-town elections. A candidate for city council in Coralville, Iowa, got support from the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity. He said it was like getting endorsed by the Manson family.

The Kochs are raising and spending money at a blistering pace. They're spending more money than the entire Republican National Committee. Since August, they poured $27 million into commercials hammering Democratic members of Congress, hoping to win more pro-Koch Republican lawmakers to their side. They've signaled that they expect to spend heavily to re-elect anti-worker governors like John Kasich in Ohio, Rick Snyder in Michigan, Rick Scott in Florida and job-killer Scott Walker in Wisconsin.

The Washington Post reported on the massive amounts of money Americans for Prosperity is spending already on the 2014 elections:

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has made just one small ad buy, last summer in Louisiana, while Karl Rove’s super PAC, American Crossroads, buffeted by weak fundraising, is participating in only one Florida special election right now. 

As of this week, Americans for Prosperity has spent more than $27 million on ads since August, putting it on pace to far outstrip its overall $38.5 million budget for the 2010 midterms.

It's part of their campaign to control government at all levels for their own enrichment. They've been successful so far. The Koch brothers' wealth increased $33 billion in three years.

Iowa Democrats to ALEC: Explain why you aren't unethical

The corporate dating service for state lawmakers known as ALEC has really, really infuriated Iowa Democrats.

For some reason (maybe because they wanted to seem 'bipartisan?), ALEC announced that all members of Iowa's legislature were members.

Even the Democrats.

Even the Democrats who never paid dues (which would be all of them).

House Democratic Leader Mark Smith sent a stinging letter to ALEC demanding all Democrats' names be removed from ALEC's membership list.

He also demanded to know who paid their membership dues, since the Democrats hadn't. He wrote:

If a corporation or other entity has paid dues to ALEC on behalf of Iowa state legislators, we believe such action likely constitutes a violation of Iowa ethics law.

The letter actually made three requests:

• Remove the names of Iowa House Democrats from the ALEC membership list.
• Identify who paid our membership dues.
• Explain why payment of ALEC dues can be made on behalf of a legislator without the legislator’s knowledge or consent.

The DesMoines Register picked up the story, noting:

ALEC has been the target of a withering, months-long campaign by Democrats and liberal groups, who say it’s a sharply partisan organization that allows corporate interests to write legislation and wield undue influence in state legislatures.

Looks like 2014 is turning out to be just as bad for ALEC as 2013 was. Such a shame.

Today's Teamster News 12.12.13

Teamsters Join Delegation Calling On IKEA To End Lockout  teamster.org   ...A representative from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters joined a delegation in Sweden this week to ask IKEA to end the abuse of its workers and stop the lockout...
Hoffa: Detroit Bankruptcy Doesn't Change Pension Obligations  Detroit News   ...Mayor-elect Mike Duggan and the City Council, elected by Detroit residents, should be put in charge of crafting a plan that will protect pensioners and give them both security and certainty going forward...
It's Time to End the Secrecy Surrounding TPP Huffington Post   ...The Teamsters, other unions and fair trade advocates have for years criticized a proposed Pacific Rim trade deal for its lack of transparency...
Study: Labor violations don't stop government contracts  Associated Press   ...The study from Democratic leaders on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee found that nearly 30 percent of companies hit with the highest penalties for federal labor law violations from 2007 to 2012 were also federal contractors...
Airline Deregulation: How Ideology Triumphed Over Evidence in the U.S. Airline Industry  Alternet   ...any rational cost-benefit analysis must conclude that deregulation has been a failed experiment...
Cellphone data spying: It's not just the NSA  USA Today   ...Local police are increasingly able to scoop up large amounts of cellphone data using new technologies, including cell tower dumps and secret mobile devices known as Stingrays...
Pensions Become Less Certain For Government Workers  Northeast Indiana Public Radio   ...The budget agreement announced Tuesday — if it passes — would raise revenue by making employees contribute more toward their pensions...
Americans Say Dream Fading as Income Gap Hurts Chances  Bloomberg   ...By almost two to one -- 64 percent to 33 percent -- Americans say the U.S. no longer offers everyone an equal chance to get ahead...
16-Year-Old Drunk Driver Who Killed Four Escapes Jail — Because He Is Rich  Alternet   ...Couch's attorney argued his parents were responsible for the teen’s actions because they had raised him to believe that wealth and privilege could shield him from consequences.  ... Apparently the judge bought that argument...
Billions of Tax Dollars Later, No New Jobs for New York  taxanalysts.com   ...Over nine years, the state of New York gave businesses roughly $10 billion, or almost $1,400 from each household, in a jobs program that eliminated 175,000 jobs at an average cost of $57,000. And that's just state-level subsidies, not those from industrial development agencies...
Pensions Aren't the Source of Detroit's Woes  Portside   ...Since 2008, Detroit has reduced its spending by more than $400 million. In the same period, city revenues have fallen by nearly $260 million, with a steep decline after 2011.  … And yet there is one expense that has, so far, been spared: service fees on derivatives that were sold to the city by banks backed by UBS and Bank of America. In fact, these fees are the only significant increase in spending over the past five years...
Far-Right Lobby Group ALEC Brags That All Politicians in Two State Legislatures Are Members  Alternet   ...Iowa has 150 in each column, and South Dakota has 105 in each column...

Today's Teamster News 04.14.13

Billionaire Koch brother wins $12.38 million bad wine verdict  UPI   ...A New York jury this week awarded oil industry billionaire William Koch $12.38 million in damages in his beef with Internet mogul Eric Greenberg over bad wine...
Lloyd Blankfein's $21m haul makes him the world's best paid banker  Guardian   ...Goldman Sachs paid its chief executive, Lloyd Blankfein, $21m last year – and granted him a further $5m in bonus shares in January...
Dems fear Obama Social Security cut will haunt them in 2014 races  The Hill   ...Although Democrats have long-championed the retirement program, they say Obama's plan to reduce payments for future beneficiaries through a chained consumer price index (CPI) has weakened their stance and opened the door for Republicans to vilify the president...
In Spite of the Recovery, More Workers Are Borrowing From 401(k)s  Bloomberg   ...One statistic about U.S. household finances is so startling that it deserves its own post: Nearly one in three employees say they took a hardship loan or distribution from their 401(k) retirement accounts last year, up from one in four in 2011...
Michelle Rhee’s Reign of Error  Taking Note   ...Michelle A. Rhee, America’s most famous school reformer, was fully aware of the extent of the problem when she glossed over what appeared to be widespread cheating during her first year as Schools Chancellor in Washington, DC...
Highland result suggests RBS bankers no longer above the law  Ian Fraser   ...Finally, we have evidence that banks and bankers are not above the law in the United Kingdom. It seems the courts have finally woken up to the fact that allowing them to lie, cheat, deceive and defraud without legal impediment may not be a particularly good idea...
IOSHA inspectors say quotas threaten worker safety as feds begin probe  Indianapolis Star   ...Documents indicate Indiana’s workplace safety agency is trying to boost the number of inspections it conducts without hiring new staff — a strategy that some employees say will discourage complex workplace investigations and endanger workers...
My Word: All workers should have state plan's security (opinion)  Orlando Sentinel   ...the trend should be reversed with all workers having a secure plan such as the Florida Retirement System...
Prison company: Workers falsified staffing records  Associated Press   ...A private company that operates Idaho's largest prison acknowledged Thursday that its employees falsified nearly 4,800 hours of staffing records over seven months last year in violation of its contract with the state.

Today's Teamster News 4.04.13

Missouri 'Right to Work' bill adopted by State House panel  Associated Press   ...Paying union fees could no longer be a condition of employment in Missouri under a bill endorsed by a House committee...
Japan reaches basic agreement with U.S., will join TPP talks in July  The Asahi Shimbun   ...Prime Minister Shinzo Abe confirmed with Obama during a summit in February that the elimination of all tariffs without exception will not be a prerequisite for Japan's participation in the talks...
Fast-Food Workers Plan Second Strike for More Pay  New York Times   ...Ms. Verges, 29, says she definitely plans to walk out on Thursday when the movement to raise wages for the city’s fast-food workers holds its second big job action. The movement’s leaders are predicting that twice as many workers — more than 400 — will engage in a one-day strike at 60 to 70 McDonald’s, Domino’s, Taco Bell and other fast-food restaurants...
As mad as hell! Fury as judges nix ‘no-fault’ Wall Street deals  New York Post   ...A growing number of federal judges have had about as much as they can take with Wall Street firms paying hefty fines to settle probes into serious wrongdoing — without admitting any guilt or any executive taking the fall...
Bank website attacks reach new high: 249 hours offline in past six weeks  NBC News   ...The heavier-than-usual outages are the result of a remarkable, sustained attack that began seven months ago and repeatedly knocks banks offline for hours at a time, frustrating consumers and bank security professionals alike...
Judge: Right-to-work challenge alleging OMA violation will move forward  Detroit Free Press   ...An Ingham County judge on Wednesday morning rejected Attorney General Bill Schuette’s request to dismiss a lawsuit by labor supporters who allege Michigan’s new right-to-work laws were passed in violation of the state’s Open Meetings Act...
Walker threatens to take austerity national  The Cap Times   ...Of course Scott Walker is running for president...
CAFTA Labor Standard Enforcement Moving At A Snail’s Pace  USLEAP   …According to USLEAP, the experience of CAFTA labor complaints to date is not encouraging. The worker protections under CAFTA are weaker than those that existed under U.S. trade policy prior to CAFTA, with lower standards and weaker sanctions…
Republic/Allied Strike Spreads to Cleveland-Area  Youngstown Vindicator   …Teamsters Local 377, which represents 103 workers at Republic/ Allied Waste in Youngstown, has taken its strike to the Cleveland area, where it set up picket lines Monday…
BLET To Celebrate 150 Years  BLET   …On May 8, 2013, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen — the oldest labor union in North America — is celebrating the 150th Anniversary of its founding in Detroit, Michigan…
Iowa Teamsters Endorse Braley For U.S. Senate IBT …Teamsters Local Unions in Iowa unanimously endorsed Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA) for United States Senate. With more than 10,000 members across Iowa, the Teamsters Union is committed to helping Braley in his bid for Senate…