Free Republic

Teacher unions have strategically been pouring donations into Republican political campaigns, according to a report from the Daily Signal....... Teachers unions donated "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to certain Republican candidates’ state legislative primaries in states that tout school choice and parental rights bills, including Alabama, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas. The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy fellow Jason Bedrick told The Daily Signal that "the unions are terrified that parents are clamoring for more education choice, so they’re doing everything they can to stop it." He continued, "It’s obvious what’s going on here: In red states,...

The amendment, which was also introduced by Reps. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), would also allow states to set up public campaign financing systems that could restrict the influence of private wealth.

-the initiative received -- $250,000 last month to support a ballot measure that would ban payroll deductions for raising money for political purposes, ... Two days after the California Faculty Association Political Issues Committee put $350,000 into opposing it. -The initiative will start- a political slugfest that could total $50 million or more in campaign spending by the time voters decide on the measure in November.

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—California Republican interests have qualified a ballot measure that would severely curb the political influence of public and private employee unions while depriving Democratic political candidates of a major source of campaign cash. The measure, which bans political contributions through payroll deductions, qualified Tuesday for the November 2012 statewide ballot. With labor's primary funding source under attack, the measure sets up an expensive campaign season ahead for both sides. Funded in part by wealthy GOP donor and Stanford University physicist Charles Munger Jr. and backed by former Secretary of State George Shultz, the measure bans corporation and union contributions...

Courtesy Tom Forbes @ www.redcounty.com Someone needs to ask Pat O'Neill at the candidates forum in Uniontown tonight about why he just received a $3,000 donation from the United Pilots Political Action Committee based out of Rosemont, IL. You can see the PDC report here. http://www.pdc.wa.gov/rptimg/default.aspx?batchnumber=100278029&formtype=C3 That's more than they have donated to some candidates for Congress. http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/committees/united-pilots-pac-airline-pilots-association.asp?cycle=08 I don't get it. Sure, O'Neill used to work for United as a mechanic in Seattle before he retired. But United Airlines doesn't have any flights to Pullman/Moscow Regional Airport, and county commissioners don't have a whole lot of say over the...

California's prison guards have given Democratic gubernatorial challenger Phil Angelides a maximum $22,300 donation, but representatives for the powerful union say the contribution does not constitute an endorsement. "While we continue to evaluate the direction we are going to take in the fall, we do recognize that candidates have to be able to reach out to the voting public and voice their vision for California," said Lance Corcoran, spokesman for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA). The union has not donated to Gov. Schwarzenegger's campaign. The well-heeled union is believed to be sitting on a $10 million--or larger--war chest...

The hearing is just about the start. John Howard's case will be heard by the 4th Circuit to determine if there should be a new election, if Donna Frye's write-in candidacy was invalid and other related issues.