Media Influenced by Unions to Protect Status Quo of Big Government

With less than 24 hours until polls open in most of the United States, the media seems to have taken on the role of the young boy with his finger in the dike, doing their best to plug leaks that will hurt incumbent and liberal Democrat candidates so that voters will not have critical information to help them decide how to vote.

The media would have you believe that in California, former Governor Jerry Brown has already won with poll reports showing Meg Whitman trailing and Barbara Boxer surging to a low single digit lead over Carly Fiorina. Sources associated with the Whitman and Fiorina campaigns have indicated that internal polling actually shows Whitman and Fiorina to be much more competitive than the media would have you believe, and in some cases, beating Brown and Boxer who represent the relics of failed Democrat ideals.

Americans have come to understand the phrase “all politics is local” as immortalized by former House Speaker Tip O’Neill; however, all local politics are not reported equally.

I would like to share with you three examples where the media has been protecting politicians and an explanation of how the media is being influenced in their decision to not report these stories.

First, on October 19, 2010, with news cameras present in studio and rolling, it was revealed on The Rick Amato Show that Congressman Bob Filner (D-CA 51st) was having an inappropriate relationship with a Southwest Airlines corporate lobbyist. It was also revealed that Congressman Filner who serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee agreed to sponsor legislation impacting aircraft maintenance.

All of this occurred while Congressman Filner received nearly $30,000.00 from airline and aviation special interest groups, including Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association PAC. Besides sexual favors, there seem to have been additional perks for the Congressman. At his urging, Filner received free airfare from Southwest Airlines for constituents to travel to Washington, D.C. The Congressman’s own office admits that it enlisted the support of Southwest Airlines to help with transportation expenses for the Chula Vista Park View Little League World Champions to travel to Washington D.C. where they met with President Barack Obama. He also arranged for airfare tickets for high school students from California’s Imperial Valley to travel to the nation’s capital, all free of charge.

It is unquestionable that Southwest Airlines has a large presence in the San Diego region and has regularly been rated one of the best companies in the United States. Perhaps Southwest Airlines is just being a good corporate citizen by offering free airfare; and corporate donations to Congressman Filner’s re-election may just be a way of showing gratitude for being willing to sponsor favorable aviation industry legislation; or perhaps not.

Secondly, there is the story from San Diego, once known as “America’s Finest City” which has rightfully earned the title of “Enron by the Sea”. San Diego City Council President Ben Hueso who is running for California State Assembly admitted this week to money laundering $25,000.00 in campaign donations by illegally funneling that money to a union controlled campaign committee to support Mr. Hueso’s brother, Felipe Hueso, who is attempting to replace Ben Hueso on the San Diego City Council. Although there has been some local media coverage for this particular story, one would think that an elected official publicly admitting to committing a felony would garner more media attention. One angle to this story that the media has thus far kept from the public is that Mr. Hueso was not the only elected official to break the law. California Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, (D-56th Assembly District) representing portions of Los Angeles County and nominee Henry Perea (D-31st Assembly District) who is a candidate to represent the people of Fresno, California also broke the law by making illegal donations to support the candidacy of Felipe Hueso for the San Diego City Council.

The third example of the media’s bias involves a relatively unknown race that in many circles would elicit yawns for being one of the most boring. That would be the campaign for San Diego County Assessor/Recorder/Clerk. Yes, even in California we vote on who should be issuing your marriage licenses. One important function that this office performs is assessing property values which the County of San Diego depends on for determining the amount of property tax to be collected from homeowners. With billions of dollars in upscale beachfront property to downtown high rise condominiums to mountain vista estates it quickly becomes evident how important this elected bureaucratic position is.

On Tuesday, San Diego County voters will be asked to decide between two candidates that most have never heard of, Ernie Dronenburg and David Butler. Mr. Butler is technically the incumbent in this race, having been appointed to the position in March 2009. This boring race has remained so, due to the local media’s refusal to report a discovery that David Butler, who is responsible for determining the amount of property tax that homeowners pay has been cheating on his own property tax. It seems that in 1992, Mr. Butler made a second story addition to his private residence but failed to disclose the true value of that addition. Records obtained from the City of Chula Vista and the County of San Diego show that his failure to properly report the improvements to his residence resulted in his escaping payment of tax on nearly $1.2 million worth of property value over an 18 year period. And then there is the aspect to the story where he tried to cover all of this up by instructing a county employee to alter tax records. One would think that the public would be interested in knowing about the veracity of the person responsible for determining the amount of property tax that others pay when he himself is not willing to pay his fair share. However, the media seems to think differently on this matter.

So, what do Jerry Brown, Barbara Boxer, Bob Filner, Ben Hueso and David Butler all have in common? Why does the media report certain stories and not others? The answer is simple: labor unions. Americans have come to know and understand the power of labor unions in politics, but that influence has now extended to our unofficial “fourth branch of government”, the media.

As editors evaluate the news worthiness of stories, they have to make a careful analysis to determine if the story is simply a “gotcha attempt” by a political opponent just prior to a contentious election. But more and more, those determinations are not based on the news worthiness of the story but upon politics. Television stations in California that rely heavily on the hundreds of millions of dollars being spent in political campaign advertisements are finding that if they run the wrong story they risk being boycotted altogether by one political party or the threat of a labor dispute action by their employee unions. Has anyone noticed that the number one television station in the San Diego market has no Democrat television ads? It certainly cannot be because Jerry Brown feels that confident he is going to win the Governor’s race. And what about those television cameras that were present to capture the moment that Congressman Filner’s inappropriate relationship with the lobbyist was revealed on The Rick Amato Show? The story was killed by a local news editor who happens to support the congressman. What about the absence of any news stories about a public official cheating on $1.2 million worth of property taxes? The one commonality that all of these stories have is the influence of labor unions over mainstream media.

Many Americans believe that this Tuesday they will simply vote for a new city council representative, congressman or governor. Some even believe that this is a referendum on public policies and economic factors; but the reality is that this election is more than just about people. It is about ideas. It is about the very essence of our republic and the democratic principles that our country was founded upon. We have accepted that labor unions have influenced our politicians and public policies but many have yet to grasp the influence that these same groups now have on the mainstream media and the information that you receive. As you vote this Tuesday, be sure to educate yourself so that the union tentacles that have a stranglehold on Washington, Sacramento or your local City Hall don’t strangle your voice to be heard or your vote.

Congressman Bob Filner (D-CA) kissing Southwest Airlines corporate lobbyist.

San Diegans for Healthy Neighborhoods – California Form 460