-By Warner Todd Huston
The California State lottery is apparently in the purview of the state’s employees union, the Service Employees International Union. At least it is as far as the SEIU is concerned. Proving once again that unions think everything in the world is their business, the California SEIU has donated $300,000 to Proposition 1C, a ridiculous plan that would empower the state capitol at Sacramento to “borrow” up to $5 billion from state lottery coffers.
Yes, I agree with you that the lottery should have nothing at all to do with an employees union. But if it means absconding with more money in new and illicit ways, why, unions are all for that, naturally.
Prop 1C is called a lottery “modernization” measure that allows the cash-starved, and preternaturally corrupt state government to cull out up to $5 billion. It is supposed to be a loan. But, does anyone, anywhere think that the folks in Sacramento will ever pay back this “loan”? If anyone does, they are dumb as the day is long. No, what is far, far more likely is that if 1C passes, another $5 billion in revenue will disappear into the maw of the California State House never to be seen again… and worse, never to go for anything useful.
So, why does this union think it has any say in what goes on with the CA lottery? Are there jobs involved? Is there work rules or state laws concerning such things involved? Nope. It’s all just a giant money grab by the unions that want to take that state money for its own members.
But here is the main point I’m making: unions have metastasized from worrying about employees and their places of work into political policy-makers. Yet, they are not elected officials. They are not answerable to the voters nor, as far as they are concerned, the law. Yet here they are with pockets filled with billions of dollars of forced dues extorted from their membership, spending that money on causes that are only at best tangentially involved with workers.
In any case, this is yet one more example of union arrogance getting involved in things that have nothing whatever to do with them and heavily skewing the political playing field with their millions of dollars in political donations.
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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, RedState.com, Human Events Magazine, AmericanDailyReview.com, 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 and is currently the co-host of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Conservatism” heard on BlogTalkRadio. 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
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