I don't know how I missed this last fall...
By Ben Shapiro
James O’Keefe’s new
Project Veritas video is a stunning exposé of union corruption surrounding
so-called “shovel ready” jobs. In typically irreverent Project Veritas style,
O’Keefe introduces a new company: Earth Supply and Renewal. What do they do?
O’Keefe explains:
That's the setup. O'Keefe's Project Veritas then takes this newly-created, non-existent company - a company dedicated to digging and filling holes - and asks for help from local union bosses to move subsidies for Earth Supply and Renewal through legislatures. After all, they argue, even if we're just digging ditches and refilling them on the taxpayer dime, at least we're creating new union workers.
And, unbelievably, the union bosses are only too happy to help. They couldn't care less about wasting taxpayer dollars. And, that's precisely what they say...
First, our excavation specialists insert their shovels into the ground and remove the soil. This presents the problem of an existing hole in the earth, creating a dangerous situation that could lead to hazards, including but not limited to tripping, falling, and bodily injuries.
Then, there is the renewal process. At Earth Supply, we train professional backfillers to renew the soil in place of the existing hole, restoring the earth to its original condition.
Some folks say we're just digging ditches and filling them back up again. But, it's about more than that. It's about jobs.
That's the setup. O'Keefe's Project Veritas then takes this newly-created, non-existent company - a company dedicated to digging and filling holes - and asks for help from local union bosses to move subsidies for Earth Supply and Renewal through legislatures. After all, they argue, even if we're just digging ditches and refilling them on the taxpayer dime, at least we're creating new union workers.
And, unbelievably, the union bosses are only too happy to help. They couldn't care less about wasting taxpayer dollars. And, that's precisely what they say...
John Hutchings, director of the Labourers' International Union of North America (LIUNA) New York State Labourers' Organising Fund (NYSLOF), explains:
Right now
it’s all about jobs. It’s awful hard for anybody to vote against like a jobs
bill right now…
He agrees that even if there are sites where this ditch digging and filling has no environmental programme, legislators will decide, 'it's a job programme for the labourers.' And, when some of the Earth Supply and Renewal 'employees' explain that they literally dig a ditch, then fill it up again, Hutchings says:
'It sounds like, it almost is exactly the same as where we were with Green Jobs, Green New York.'
Green Jobs, Green New York was a $112 million state plan that was designed to create environmentally-friendly jobs. And, it was sponsored, in large part, by unions.
Anthony J Tocci, business manager of the Local 601 for LIUNA AFL-CIO, goes even further. He says that he'd be willing to help find public funds just to dig and fill ditches:
Hey, if
people are willing to give you money, if people will give you the money, that’s
fine.
And, Hutchings adds:
You know,
the Green Jobs, Green New York, between us, a lot of it is bullshit… even if
it’s bullshit, I think as long as people are working, that’s not bull, you know
what I mean?
Tocci and Hutchings say that this is just the sort of stuff that happened under FDR in the 1930s with the Works Progress Administration. 'They dug the roads up, put'em back!' says an animated Tocci.
You just
wanna get the money. Then you figure out afterward.
Hutchings then explains the economic theory behind all of this:
Well, I
think, I think the key thing is, even if it’s bullshit, I think as long as
people are working, that’s not bull, you know what I mean? Then you’re doing a
service. If there are people working, there are people paying taxes, there are
people paying goods, there are, you know what I mean… You’re doing right by the
economy… anything that brings work into a community is a plus…
And, of course, the union benefits. Says Hutchings, 'It's a win-win for everybody. Everybody understands that part of it.' Especially the unions, who will be including 'employees' of Earth Supply and Renewal in their collective bargaining from now on.
Finally, Hutchings talks about union buddies in government:
What we do
is we have, uh, three, we have three, um, lobbying firms. We have, in the city,
we have Tom McMahonn, who his brother used to be the Congressman, in Staten
Island. We have upstate, we have one for the Democrats, we have Tom Harnet, who
works for Meyer Suozzi, he used to be the Commissioner of Labor, I believe…
And so we
have them for the Democrats, he usually takes care of the assembly. On the
Senate side, we have Powers and Company, who used to be the Republican chairman
of New York State, so he takes care of the Senate and that’s controlled by the
Republicans. So that’s what we kind of, so when we go for a bill, you know,
you’ve got to get approval of the Senate and Assembly and then the Governor’s
got to sign it, well, we have a lobbyist for the Republicans and we have a
lobbyist for the Democrats, and that’s how we try to push our agenda through,
so we tap into people like, uh, Citizens for Democratic, um, Citizen’s Action,
Foundation for Working Families, those types of groups that are pretty much
believe in you the kind of things we do, work programs and things like that, so
you, like for Green Jobs, Green New York, we needed a huge lobby.
And, they are also tight with New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.
The union bosses have a lot to answer for now that our states' fiscal outlooks are so bleak. But, it seems they're too busy worrying about where to find the next buck from the taxpayer - even if that buck goes to a pay a union 'worker,' who's just 'renewing' and 'supplying' the earth.
See the raw, unedited footage of this investigation here.
Thanks Andrew for the
tip.
Related...
New Jersey
SEIU Boss Exposes Himself: Why, Yes, We Do Use Union Dues To Buy Politicians
By:
LaborUnionRepor | 2 October 2012
Back in July,
ACORN-aficionado James O’Keefe exposed New York union bosses caught on tape
showing their appreciation for the concept of taxpayer-funded “shovel ready”
jobs–that is the idea of digging holes only to fill them back in
and getting the government (taxpayers) to fund the make-work project. Well, Mr.
O’Keefe and his hidden camera team have been at it again–this time exposing how
how beholden Democrat politicians are to unions like the SEIUs.
In his latest video,
O’Keefe catches New Jersey SEIU boss Rahaman Muhammad explain
doing business with Democrat politicians like New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez.
According to a press release from
O’Keefe’s Project Veritas explains:
In a previous report released in July, top New
York union bosses were caught in candid discussions regarding a federally funded
program known as “Green Jobs, Green New York,” with one leader calling much of
the $112 million program “bullshit.”
“This is significant because labor unions are
some of the biggest beneficiaries of taxpayer-funded jobs,” says O’Keefe. “If
they’re intentionally propping up paper jobs, then they’re complicit in the
fleecing of taxpayers.”
The latest video from Project Veritas captures
Newark SEIU President Rahaman Muhammad laying out in explicit terms the nature
of the relationship between his union and lawmakers like Democrat Senator
Robert Menendez.
Project Veritas: “So that means you’re
going to get the union dues…”
SEIU: “Exactly!”
Project Veritas: “…to your campaign.”
SEIU: “Exactly! It benefits them.”
Warning: If you are offended
by union bullshit, you may not want to watch this video. However, if you are
not offended, be sure to watch the whole thing.
O’Keefe’s video is just
another example of how far union bosses have gone in buying the Democratic
Party and, in part, why the SEIU put 100,000 boots on the ground to
re-elect Barack Obama.
http://tinyurl.com/pg7mmr9
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