Senate Sends ACORN’s Rathke Endorsed NLRB Nominee Back to Obama

Rather than carryover National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) nominee and current AFL-CIO and Service Employees International Union lawyer Craig Becker until next year like most of president Obama’s nominees, the U.S. Senate sent a message back to the President about his nominations. While not a severed horse head in his bed … it is like the canary in the coal-mine.

Right after the Becker nomination, The National Right to Work Committee posted this President Obama Personnel Alert video regarding Becker (link here) along with the Committee’s Becker Alert report (link here).

The report highlights the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) Founder Wade Rathke’s ringing endorsement of Obama’s Becker nomination. Rathke wrote, “Here’s a big win no matter how you shake and bake it: Craig Becker being nominated for a seat on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)!”

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Tags: collective bargaining, Craig Becker, forced union dues, home healthcare workers, Keith Kelleher
Posted Jan 5th 2010 at 4:49 pm in ACORN, Big Labor, Justice/Legal, Obama | 5564293 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/dloos/2010/01/05/senate-sends-acorns-rathke-endorsed-nlrb-nominee-back-to-obama/Senate+Sends+ACORN%E2%80%99s+Rathke+Endorsed+NLRB+Nominee+Back+to+Obama2010-01-06+00%3A49%3A39Don+Loos

SEIU! SEIU! SEIU!: Obama Pledges to “Paint the Nation Purple”

SEIU Local 880, based in Chicago, is one of the largest SEIU union locals. It was founded and has been long controlled by ACORN and Wade Rathke. This recently uncovered video shows presidential candidate Barack Obama discussing his long and close ties to SEIU. This is not your typical political pandering. This is someone who feels at home, talking to close friends and family.

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Tags: ACORN, acorn scandal, Barack Obama, community organizer, SEIU
Posted Oct 12th 2009 at 3:43 pm in ACORN, Big Labor, Obama, Politics | 1569878 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/publius/2009/10/12/seiu-seiu-seiu-obama-pledges-to-paint-the-nation-purple/SEIU%21+SEIU%21+SEIU%21%3A+Obama+Pledges+to+%22Paint+the+Nation+Purple%222009-10-12+22%3A43%3A05Publius

Census Cut Ties With ACORN; It Should Cut Ties With SEIU, Too

The U.S. Census Bureau delegated work to outside groups for the federal 2010 census.  Following the release of undercover videos showing ACORN workers helping a fake pimp and prostitute illegally secure housing, the Census Bureau terminated its partnership with ACORN.  The House and Senate voted to block federal funding for ACORN and ACORN-related affiliates, including SEIU.  While the Census Bureau terminated its partnership with ACORN, it left its close connection with SEIU intact.

Given SEIU’s co-location with ACORN in Chicago and SEIU’s intimate financial relationship with ACORN, we should take action to protect the public from the corruption of the 2010 census. To defend the integrity of the process, the Census Bureau should end its close relationship with ACORN’s close sister organization, the SEIU.

Official filings show that SEIU, referenced in the U.S. Attorney’s indictment of Governor Rod Blagojevich, contributed more than $4 million to ACORN and its affiliates since 2006.  According to recent Department of Labor filings, the SEIU employs ACORN Founder and ACORN International Chief Organizer Wade Rathke.  Mr. Rathke was recently exposed for running a cover-up of an embezzlement scheme run by his brother.

In Chicago, SEIU Local 880 and SEIU Local 1 contributed more than $230,000 to ACORN groups in Illinois and Texas since 2006 – the most recent to “support election efforts.”

SEIU Local 880, which until recently boasted it was founded by ACORN, used an ACORN e-mail address on its Web site and tax filings, was co-located with an ACORN “tax center” and employed the former president of ACORN Illinois, according to official records.   Recently, the IRS terminated is relationship with ACORN tax preparation offices.

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Tags: ACORN, ACORN Chicago, acorn scandal, Census, Rod Blagojevich
Posted Sep 29th 2009 at 8:46 am in ACORN, Big Labor, Politics, State Politics | 1015852 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/mkirk/2009/09/29/census-cut-ties-with-acorn-it-should-cut-ties-with-seiu-too/Census+Cut+Ties+With+ACORN%3B+It+Should+Cut+Ties+With+SEIU%2C+Too2009-09-29+15%3A46%3A13Rep.+Mark+Kirk+%28R-IL%29

SEIU: ‘One of the Pillars of the ACORN Family’

Part of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now’s (ACORN) rotten core includes a very cozy relationship with Big Labor.  In fact, in many instances ACORN and Big Labor are one and the same.  In 2008, Big Labor funneled ACORN millions of dollars for so-called organizing activity.  But, that is only the tip of the Big Labor iceberg.

ACORN controls or significantly dominates several Big Labor unions and organizations.  ACORN created and controls SEIU 100 (Gulf Region) and SEIU 880 (a recently expanded SEIU mega-local that covers Chicago, Illinois, Indiana, and Kansas).

ACORN founder S. Wade Rathke referred to mega-union SEIU 880 as “one of the pillars of the ACORN Family.”

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President Andy Stern hand picked ACORN’s Rathke to direct SEIU’s nationwide organizing projects.

In addition to Rathke’s and ACORN’s SEIU involvement, Rathke controlled Louisiana HERE Local 100, was Secretary-Treasurer of a New Orleans based AFL-CIO labor organization, and served on the board of a hotel employees union organizing committee.

A search of financial disclosure reports (UnionReports.gov) filed with the U.S. Department of Labor for the years 2000 and 2006 disclosed the following positions that Rathke held in labor unions while he concurrently served as ACORN’s Chief Organizer:

Wade Rathke DOL Reported Union Positions (2000,2006)

ACORN’s connections extend to several other Big Labor funded organizations such as the Wal-Mart Alliance for Reform Now (WARN), Site Fighters, and Community Labor Organizing Center (CLOC).

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Tags: ACORN, AFL-CIO, Andy Stern, Barak Obama, Big Labor
Posted Sep 16th 2009 at 7:30 am in ACORN, Economics | 2918249 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/dloos/2009/09/16/seiu-is-one-of-the-pillars-of-the-acorn-family/SEIU%3A+%27One+of+the+Pillars+of+the+ACORN+Family%272009-09-16+14%3A30%3A28Don+Loos