-By Warner Todd Huston
Wouldn’t it be nice to get a break on your property taxes? Florida’s Governor Crist is trying to give the folks there just that with his Amendment 1 plan that will see a five-year, $9.3 billion property tax reduction to homeowners. But, guess who is against if. Yep, it’s unions.
Apparently AFSCME and the AFL-CIO aren’t too happy with the tax cut. And, it isn’t just unions in Florida, either. Apparently, unions from outside the state are poking their nose into the state’s politics.
Behind the uniformed army of public servants fighting Amendment 1 are lesser-known but powerful labor organizations, such as the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the national and state chapters of the AFL-CIO.
AFSCME donated $100,000 and the group claims 1.4 million members nationwide. The state chapter claims more than 110,000 active members, with seven regional offices and a professional staff of 33.
Another labor group, the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, claims 1.9 million members in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. It gave $200,000. Teachers unions, through either the Florida Education Association or the Florida Public Education Defense Fund, gave more than $400,000.
The AFL-CIO, both the state and national, gave about $2,000 in in-kind donations.
So, national union organizations are flooding money into the state to defeat a proposal that will save the tax payers money.
What is it that unions always claim? That they are for the “little guy”?
I guess the unions don’t feel that the “little guy” should have their bloated taxes cut so that they can afford to won a home!
Yep, it’s great that these caring unions are out there tryin’ to help all them “little guys,” isn’t it?
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Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as newsbusters.org, townhall.com, New Media Journal, Men’s News Daily and the New Media Alliance among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of publiusforum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston