The same release calls Blanche’s accusations that Halter’s debt has been paid off to be “lies.” This was in retaliation for Lincoln’s statements that Halter’s previous campaign debt had been retired by the unions.

According to the AP in December:

“The Service Employees International Union said it is soliciting contributions to retire the debt along with the help of other labor unions. Halter reported in October that his campaign still owed him more than $444,000 that he had loaned it. SEIU has met with Bill Halter, and finds him to be a great voice for working families with an extremely bright political future,” said Jon Youngdahl, the union’s national political director. “That’s why we’ve solicited contributions to retire his campaign debt and support his re-election campaign.”"

The amount retired by the SEIU is nowhere near $444,000 thanks to a legal cap of $6,000, according to blogger Tolbert Report, but their “solicitation” of more aid hasn’t hurt at all.

In fact, maybe Halter has a “bright political future” because “Several unions and the liberal grassroots group MoveOn.org this week have pledged more than $3 million to Halter’s campaign, greatly boosting his ability to compete with Lincoln, who had $5 million in campaign cash at the end of December,” according to the Arkansas News.

Three million is well more that $444,000….and more than Blanche’s $500,0oo. I find amusing that union backing is being used as a weapon on both sides.

Anyway, labor’s promise to get very involved in Democratic primaries is proving to be very amusing. As I am sure will be the next two months in Arkansas leading up to the May 18th primary vote.

“Efforts to organize Chester County Prison corrections officers into a union bargaining unit have failed, a union representative confirmed. In a vote last week, officers at the prison voted overwhelmingly against forming the Chester County Corrections Officers Independent Union, which would be allied with the Teamsters.  The tally against organizing was 155-35…“

Far from some conspiratorial explanation being thrown around as an explanation (think California’s NUHW VS. SEIU fight), turns out it’s was old fashioned boots on the ground by one employee who opposed the union. From The Mercury:

Unlike during past campaigns to form bargaining units among county employees, this effort apparently did not prompt extensive lobbying efforts against unionization by county administrators. [...] The prison source who identified the vote tally said the commissioners had not sent any mailings urging a “no” vote, although one officer who opposed the move took it upon himself to contact workers. The county’s administration “pretty much stayed out of it,” the source said.

Image courtesy of Ritscent.

Want to know why Wheeler, and not another state representative Greg Macpherson, got the nod? According to The Oregonian:

“Kulongoski acknowledged that “part of it” was the opposition that Macpherson would face among the state’s public employee unions. Macpherson worked with Kulongoski on a 2003 bill aimed at reducing the costs of the Public Employees Retirement System that angered many public employees.

When Macpherson ran for attorney general in 2008, Service Employees International Union, the largest of the state employee unions, gave more than $300,000 to his Democratic primary opponent, John Kroger. The unprecedented union contribution to an attorney general’s race helped power Kroger to victory over Macpherson.

But see, it wouldn’t be classy to say that unions didn’t like MacPherson (who is actually a friend of the governor) because he wanted to reform the pension system. The reason that SEIU local gives for the reason that Kroger (see image) was so flagrantly funded and MacPherson so not? The Oregonian explains in another article:

Arthur Towers, political director for the SEIU local in Salem, wasn’t making any big pronouncements about his union spending heavily against Macpherson if he got in the treasurer’s race.  He  insisted that a big reason the union gave so much in the attorney general’s  race is that the “members fell in love with Kroger,” and that candidates don’t come along like that often.

That’s right. Far from some political agenda, it was love.

But hey, Oregon is a unique place. In January, at the behest of their public sector unions, Oregon voted to increase their taxes for the first time since 1931. During the lead up to the tax bill’s passage, it is interesting to note that the leading anti-tax politician was indicted by none other than John Kroger.

From ABCNews:

The Oregon Department of Justice said Monday that Sizemore and his wife, Cindy Sizemore, are each charged with three counts of evading Oregon personal income taxes. Each count carries a maximum punishment of five years and a $125,000 fine. [...] Bill Sizemore called the charges a “political attack” by public employee unions and state Attorney General John Kroger, a Democrat who had union support.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

This morning the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) emailed me asking for comments and ideas “to help increase transparency, collaboration, and participation within DOL as part of the White House Open Government Initiative.”

The OLMS is the same agency that just rescinded a regulation requiring transparency in union slush funds (using the “T-1″ form). In fact, OLMS was so concerned that unions would be forced to file their first T-1 this month that they promulgated an emergency rule to eliminate the regulation. The result is that unions members and others will never get a chance to see how much money unions have in their rainy-day accounts or where it is.

So here’s my idea. The DOL wants to be collaborative. They’ve set up an “open” forum asking for ideas until March 19th.

I think your voice should be heard.

Image courtesy of the U.S Chamber of Commerce. The above document is the result of the Chamber’s request for information from the White House Council on Environmental Quality.