Labor union might be behind Obama-Schwarzenegger funding fight
Officials in the governor's office say a politically powerful union may have had inappropriate influence over the Obama administration's decision to withhold billions of dollars in federal stimulus money from California if the state does not reverse a scheduled wage cut for the labor group's workers.
The officials say they are particularly troubled that the Service Employees International Union, which lobbied the federal government to step in, was included in a conference call in which state and federal officials reviewed the wage cut and the terms of the stimulus package.
California Secretary of Health and Human Services Kim Belshe said she could not recall another instance in which the federal government invited a significant stakeholder group into such government-to-government negotiations.
"The involvement of a stakeholder in this kind of state-federal deliberative process is unusual at best," she said. "This was really atypical and outside any norm I am familiar with."
EDITOR'S PICKS:
I'm shocked to find that gambling is going on here !
Captain Reynaud, your winnings, sir.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Posted by: Mike K | May 11, 2009 at 08:47 AM
Go Times! Don't bury this one even though your friends at CNN will do their best to kill it.
King Obeyme is dirty and has the dirtiest friends of any president in history, including Nixon.
His arm of corruption is the unions and their thugs. Shine the light of truth on them and watch them run like cockroaches.
Posted by: BeefMasterX | May 11, 2009 at 09:29 AM
right, because usually it is just Big Corpa cutting Arnie a fat check, and that's all the "input" that's needed in the (ahem) "democratic process" in the state of CA.
How dare those uppity workers start acting like they have skin in the game just because they do? Don't they know they need to shut up and wait for Big Business to tell them what is best for them?
Posted by: sheila | May 11, 2009 at 10:24 AM