But then there’s the story of Judie Italiano. She led the city’s largest union, the Municipal Employees Association, for 24 years, until an internal investigation last May determined that she was using the union’s credit card for personal items “despite promising not to do so in 2006.”

Italiano is now suing the city for $1.8 million. Italiano, who retired from the union making $114,000, wants the city to pay her $86,000 a year in retirement benefits. The trouble is that she wasn’t a city employee, and under IRS regulations, she’s not eligible to receive benefits from the plan. In fact, her last city job was as a typist making $17,000 a year, which would entitle her to $7,700 per year.

Card check is the system where union organizers collect cards from workers to signal their intent to have union representation as opposed to having a private ballot election in the workplace.

This grossly mis-named piece of legislation is intended to boost union membership, put more money in the Big Labor Union Bosses’ pockets and help buy elections for candidates like Jeff Merkley.

What it takes away is disturbing: The right to a private ballot in the workplace when it comes to unionization.

Taking away this fundamental American right and replacing it with cards that people sign opens workers up to coercion, threats and intimidation by union organizers. It even allows organizers to visit you at home, when your family is there!

Other races and ballot measures in Oregon are talking about it: Rick Dancer, running for Oregon Secretary of State is against taking away the private ballot; Measure 64, dealing with campaign finance reform wants to stop unions and their “purchased” candidates from taking away the right to a private ballot and even a race in the State House between Representative John Lim and Greg Matthews has addressed the issue as Matthews has come out in support of taking away a private ballot by supporting the Employee Free Choice Act..  Even David Reinhard from the Oregonian has commented that it’s not getting much attention.

We’ve tried to get Jeff Merkley to talk about the issue: here, here,and here. But Jeff Merkley seems more interested in talking about the state of Georgia then the state of Oregon.

As Oregonians, we deserve someone who will stand up for Oregon’s interests, not special interests. 

Even as newspapers and columnists around the country like the Sun Sentinel in Florida, the Washington Post in Washington D.C. and our own Oregonian deride the act, Jeff Merkley supports it.

Even as bloggers, the new media for politics in the United States, point out the major flaws and hypocrisy with this grossly mis-named act, Jeff Merkley supports it.

Even as members of his own party, liberal icons like George McGovern speak out against it as being un-democratic, Jeff Merkley supports it.

Even though a survey shows that 94% of Oregonians believe employees should have the right to vote on forming a union by a private ballot election where each individual’s vote is kept private, Jeff Merkley supports it.

If you follow the money, the answer seems pretty clear: Big Labor Unions and the Union Bosses are contributing tens of thousands to Merkley’s campaign. Would you care to guess what the Big Labor Unions #1 priority is for Congress next year? You’re right: Passing the Employee Free Choice Act. You can bet that the people they supported will need to support their #1 priority.

Which all means that Big Labor, not Oregonians, are Jeff Merkley’s #1 priority.

The article says it well enough but doesn’t point out that Jeff Merkley, candidate for U.S. Senate, supports this deceptive piece of legislation wholeheartedly.  What’s worse, when confronted about the issue, he tries to either steer the conversation away from answering the question or avoid the question entirely.

When will Jeff Merkley honestly answer why he wants to take away a worker’s right to a private ballot?  Until he does, we can only assume that it’s because Big Labor Union Bosses, who are funding his campaign, know that it’s a bad bill and don’t want him to say anything.  Putting money in their own pockets seems to be the most important thing.

Read part of the article for yourself:

OK, you want to talk issues. You’re tired of talking personalities, character, experience and Sarah Palin’s eyewear. You’ve had it contemplating whether Barack Obama’s or John McCain’s campaign ads are more full of lies and distortions. You’re above all this bunkum. You want to talk about some substantive difference between the two presidential candidates that could shape the way we live — that could alter some basic American value — in the decades to come.

So here’s the issue. It’s a big one that’s below the surface and not getting a lot of attention, and it’s not the racial issue. It’s called card check.

Read more…………..

In it, we are reminded that “According to Big Labor’s logic, employees can only have a “free choice” when union officials stand over them and pressure them to sign the cards.   Employees who have been subjected to card check union drives have complained they have signed the cards as a result of coercion and deceptive practices.”

Jeff Merkley is running on a platform of supposedly helping the working man but what help is it really going to be when he has promised to help pass this deceptively-named piece of legislation?

How can Jeff Merkley run for office in an election where his supporters will have anonymity and protection of privacy to vote for whomever they choose and yet still support an act that would strip workers of their rights to a private ballot in the workplace?

Jeff Merkley has been wrong about a lot of things this campaign season including the Employee Free Choice Act, his opponent, and the State of Georgia.

What Jeff Merkley really needs apparently, is more time to look into his support for an issue that strips workers of their rights when he supports those same rights for people voting for him.