» The Purple People Beaters

That would be the purple-shirted members of the SEIU--the Service Employees International Union—who (literally) swung into action outside a town hall meeting in Missouri and became infamous on YouTube and national media.

The union “Purps” also turned out in force at President Obama's town hall in New Hampshire. SEIU brought its people in by chartered buses after getting special tickets from the White House.

And why shouldn’t the president give ‘em freebie tickets? He owes them! After all, the SEIU spent $61-million to help elect him. The union also set aside $10-million to push Obama’s agenda in its post-election “Change That Works” campaign, and pledged more, including 30% of the union's resources and hiring over 1,000 workers in 35 states.

Many, like Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fl), have asked SEIU to be a “sponsor” of their town halls. “Enforcers” might be a better word.

One news account of a Castor’s town hall reported, “Tractor sized bouncers (union thugs) manhandled the overflow crowd, injuring several. . . . Eyewitnesses report SEIU/ACORN members roughing up seniors, pushing little old ladies against a wall and literally tearing a man's shirt.”

Strong-arm tactics are SEIU’s strong suit, even outside town halls. In her book, Culture of Corruption, Michelle Malkin writes, “The SEIU seeks membership growth through aggressive ‘corporate campaigns’ that have a blunt message to employers, “Let us unionize your workforce or we will destroy your reputation.” Its president, Andy Stern, sums up his leadership philosophy thusly, “We prefer to use the power of persuasion, but if that doesn't work we use the persuasion of power.”

Stern told the Las Vegas Sun, “We spent a fortune to elect Barack Obama--$60.7 million to be exact—and we're proud of it.”

» NPR exposes ACORN-SEIU $$ Connection
NPR reports that ACORN's cofounder, Wade Rathke, also founded SEIU

ACORN's affiliates pick up money from the Change to Win labor federation, the Food and Commercial Workers Union and the United Federation of Teachers, among others.

The Bauman Family Foundation gave $350,000 to ACORN's American Institute for Social Justice. George Soros' Open Society Institute gave $300,000 to that institute and $250,000 to ACORN proper. The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation gave the institute $1.8 million.

JPMorgan Chase Foundation gave $2.4 million to ACORN
Bank of America Charitable Foundation gave $1.4 million
Citigroup's foundation gave $1.5 million
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: $1.4 million
Ford Foundation $1.3 million

And on and on and on and on .... But,

ACORN's biggest union backer, the Service Employees International Union, gave more than $4 million to the community organization and its affiliates ...

» SEANC-SEIU Packs Political Punch

In May of 2008, SEANC officially voted to become an SEIU affiliate and now carries the name SEIU Local 2008. With this affiliation SEIU, both national and local, intends to flex its political muscle in North Carolina as never before. Under a five-year partnership approved by the SEANC Board of Governors in February 2004, SEANC agreed to provide the political infrastructure and the political workers and SEIU the money to push forward a common legislative agenda.
In 2008, the SEANC-sponsored EMPAC focused campaign support heavily on Democratic candidates, endorsing 26 Democratic candidates in the NC Senate and only 6 Republicans. For the NC House, endorsements were bestowed upon 59 Democrats and 14 Republicans.

SEIU spent $635,000 in North Carolina in 2006 in political advertising, public opinion polls, and get-out-the-vote efforts, more money than any business PAC in the state. In 2006, the organization FairJudge.net (supporting state Supreme Court candidates) received more than 10 percent of its total budget from the union, and state legislative candidates in 2004 received over $650,000 in contributions from SEIU. The SEIU money and money from the North Carolina Association of Educators allowed Democratic state candidates to heavily outspend the Republicans and helped Democrats solidify their control in the state legislature.

According to third quarter reporting for the 2008 elections, the SEIU federal PAC threw $1,810,569 into North Carolina's political campaigns this year. And late reporting by SEANC indicates that the separate state workers' PAC gave $194,800, though the PAC failed to comply with deadlines for third quarter reporting (Red Clay Citizen, 11/19/08). Clearly the two combined had a dramatic impact on campaign coffers and get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts statewide.

The merger of SEANC and SEIU represents perhaps the most significant labor initiative in North Carolina since the 1930s. The combination of manpower and money is a powerful force in politics, and should be taken seriously.