Thanks to Drew (California) for the heads up on this news report. After years of blatantly violating tax laws, the NEA (National Educational Association) is finally being audited by the IRS. Reg Weaver, the union president, is trying to spin this as a free speech issue.
The NEA will not be silenced… We have a right to be involved in politics.
This is a red herring. This is a free country and people can say what they want. However, this is also a country of laws. Tax-exempt organizations are required to document any and all expenditures on political activities and pay taxes on these activities. Under Weaver’s active leadership, the NEA has been defrauding the government for years. The Associated Press reviewed the NEA’s filings from years 1993 through 1999, reporting in a series of stories that the NEA has said on its tax returns that no union dues were spent on politics...
So if the NEA has spent any money on political activities, they have been deliberately lying to the government and defrauding the government of taxes. According to the IRS, a political activity is any activity intended to influence the selection, nomination, election or appointment of anyone to a federal, state, or local public office. Is there any evidence that the NEA has been engaging in political activity?
The AP stated that the IRS audit was due to a complaint by the Landmark Legal Foundation. I found the foundation’s web-site and looked at some of their evidence and complaints. I was especially struck by this finding:
The NEA spent $76,400,000 To fund the UniServ program in 1999-2000 NEA Budget. A nationwide network of more than 1,800 NEA-funded affiliate employees who, according to one account, act as the largest army of paid political organizers and lobbyists in the U.S., dwarfing the forces of the Republican and Democratic national committees combined.
$76 million dollars! And this was just one incident out of many. The NEA has 2.7 million members, including many captive members from states that require people to pay union dues even the teacher does not want to join the union. Who knows how much of the taxpayer funded teachers’s salaries are being used to fund NEA political activities?
I am thrilled to see the IRS investigating the NEA. I hope the criminal leaders of the NEA go to jail. I also hope that the publicity generated by this will inspire more states to protect their citizens by passing right-to-work laws. It is an outrage that people can be forced to pay union dues against their will in a supposedly free country.
My regular readers know that I am a political independent. I don’t have much respect for either party. The compulsory union situation is yet another reason why I scorn Republicans. If the Republican Party actually thought for a change, they would have passed a national right-to-work law as soon as they had a majority in the Senate. Let me give you a visual image of the impact of compulsory union membership.
Is it a coincidence that the overwhelming majority of the free states voted for Bush while the majority of the compulsory union states voted for Gore? I think not. If the Republican parties ever had the balls and brains to pass a national right-to-work law, they would deprive their opponents of millions of dollars in illegal funds. They would also reap the gratitude from millions of workers who are currently forced to pay dues against their will. But I would be surprised if the Republicans had the courage and foresight to free these Americans. And they will continue to earn my scorn.
Much thanks to the 'pessimit' for the starter tips. Now congress can get right to work (mmmm.. kewl) cleaning up the work place so the deadbeats can be shown the door.
Tho', I'd hate to see OSHA go. OSHA is my principle joy when vacationing in foreign countries. That is, I become acutely aware of those places where the U.S. government interferes in my life....
Speaking as a union member, all you would have to do is repeal these Federal laws to get what you seek:
<a href="http://getuponline.org/docs... Labor Relations Act</a>
<a href="http://www.dol.gov/dol/comp... Labor Standarads Act of 1935</a>
You might also consider repealing these:
<a href="http://www.multied.com/docu... Act of 1947</a>
<a href="http://www.dol.gov/dol/comp... Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959</a>
And while you are at it, you might also campaign for the repeal of <a href="http://www.dol.gov/dol/comp... Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 and the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978.
And you can't leave out <a href="http://www.dol.gov/dol/comp... Occupational Safety And Health Act </a>
You are going to be very busy working for the repeal of all of these laws.
May your minor children toil in a coal mine.