The union bosses in Nevada have mastered their trade. No, not actually representing the best interests of bricklayers, carpenters, public school teachers, or bureaucrats basking on the public payroll.
Those are all really just avocations to the union big boys. Their real trade, of course, is playing politics – and perfecting the art of what Winston Churchill called, “terminological inexactitude.”
In short, they lie.
For those who don’t subscribe to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a recent article entitled “CONSERVATIVE CAUSE: ‘Heavy donors’ behind initiatives” provides a case in point.
The article reports on a pair of popularly supported initiatives on the November ballot. Both would amend the constitution to help clean up government by banning corruption, and limiting the risk or appearance thereof.
The first initiative would make it a crime for anyone receiving a sole-source government contract to contribute to candidates or political parties until two years after the end of the contract. The second would bar public entities of any type from using tax dollars to pay for lobbyists (especially since many of those entities push causes the taxpayers oppose).
To most reasonable people, the initiatives seem … well, reasonable. But not to the union bosses. True to form, however, they don’t want to debate the issues on their merits. After all, it’s kind of tough even for experienced pros at backroom dealing to defend their shenanigans in the light of day.
So, they have resorted to what has become the last refuge of power-hungry predators: the courts. Operating under the guise of “Nevadans for Nevada,” the AFL-CIO has filed suit to keep both initiatives off of the ballot. To wit: If you can’t win, cheat.
And then, just to confuse the issue even further, they have turned to their stock in trade: terminological inexactitude. It would take a multi-volume compendium to go through all of their outright lies. So, let’s just take the top two from the Review-Journal article.
“All these things do is violate a whole bunch of people’s constitutional rights,” bellows AFL-CIO chieftain Danny Thompson. Ignoring for the moment Mr. Thompson’s rather imprecise grasp of the English language, one does have to admire his visceral grasp on demagoguery.
In the first place, nobody has a “constitutional right” to an exclusive contract with the government. And, in the second place, nobody has a “constitutional right” to pay off politicians for contract benefits. The truth is: most Nevadans (especially those “for Nevada”) are more than eager to rid their state of corruption, as well as both the appearance of it and opportunity for it. And, though it may come as a shock to Mr. Thompson, that includes union members.
In fact, you almost have to wonder why the union elite are so opposed to the dual anti-corruption initiatives. Unless, of course, they would interfere with the mastery of their trade.
Then, there is lie number two: “It prevents unions from having any political voice,” Mr. Thompson avers. “It takes one segment of the population and says, ‘You can’t participate in politics,’ but it allows corporations to do political activity without any restrictions.”
Oh, really? The initiatives, as Mr. Thompson well knows (but will never admit) apply directly to business as well as labor. Anyone, but anyone, who has an exclusive, no-bid contract from the state or its subdivisions would not be allowed to give money to the very politicians who decide the terms of that contract, support it, or have influence over it. Which is just as it should be.
So, what is Mr. Thompson’s real beef? In short, why lie? Well, the truth is, Nevada unions for years have used no bid-contracts and tax-backed lobbying to wield a coercive influence over office holders. And, now, they hate the very thought of having to play politics on a level field.
Hence, the terminological inexactitudes. Hence, the last-ditch, desperate effort to keep the vox populi from being heard at the ballot box. Hence, yet another Big Labor Big Lie.
ALG Perspective: The laws to block corrupting payoffs and government subsidies of political entities are coming – whether the union bosses like it, or not. As Kris Munn, chairman of Nevadans for Clean and open Government says: “We’re committed to making cleaning up government for the people of Nevada. And the best way to do that is to get these initiatives before voters and taxpayers and let them decide.” ALG will keep you posted as the union lawsuits to block the people’s will wind their way through the courts.
