In Part I of our series, we looked at donations to Sen. George Allen from illegal immigrant employing/abusing company Smithfield Foods. In Part II, we examined an even WORSE bunch of miscreants (and Allen contributors), the folks at Koch Industries, America's largest privately-owned oil company. Today, in Part III, we delve into the Orwellian bizarro world of the "National Right to Work Committee."What on earth is the "National Right to Work Committee" (NRWC), and why does it matter that they've given $10,000 to George Allen? According to Public Citizen's "New Stealth PACs" site, which "shines a spotlight" on "non-profit groups with 501(c) tax status exploit loose regulations and lax oversight to spend millions of dollars influencing elections while keeping secret the identities of their donors:"
The National Right to Work Committee (NRWC), which works toward laws that prohibit "compulsory unionism," has used advertisements both to help candidates it supported and to urge incumbents to pursue the organization's objectives.[...]
The NRWC has reported to the IRS in 2000, 2001 and 2002 that it had zero expenditures for political activities. In effect, the group claimed that none of its communications mentioning the names of candidates were intended to influence the outcomes of elections.
Given that NRWC's ads were typically broadcast close to Election Day, that claim can be questioned. In some cases, the group attacked candidates who held no public office when the ads ran, including ads criticizing U.S. Senate candidates Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) in 2000. Those ads were part of a $1 million ad campaign by the NRWC.
The NRWC says it is a coalition of 2.2 million Americans. In each year from 2000 to 2002, the group has received 25 percent to 40 percent of its money from fewer than 175 people or organizations, each of whom gave more than $5,000, according to its reports to the IRS.
Fascinating, eh? It gets worse. Morton Blackwell, a member of NRWC's board of directors, is also the Treasurer of the Free Congress Foundation, a far-right extremist group which focus primarily on "the Culture War," and Executive Director of the Council for National Policy, another far-right extremist group whose mission is "transforming the United States back to it's 'godly' heritage" while "pushing a raw capitalist and expansionist policy coupled with an aggressive authoritarian approach to governance." Wonderful.
The NRWC is headquartered in Springfield, Virginia, which could be one reason it's so generous to George Felix Allen. However, you don't need any Virginia connection to understand the NRWC's affinity for Allen. Aside from its extreme anti-labor position, the NRWC was described by the United Auto Workers in New Hampshire as "seek[ing] to lower the state+óGé¼Gäós wages and living standards, as they+óGé¼Gäóve done in 22 other states." Somehow, it doesn't seem inappropriate in the least bit that a group like NRWC would be giving large sums of money to George Felix Allen. Just look at Allen's record when it comes to working people.
In late June 2006, Allen voted against a bill in the U.S. Senate that would have raised the minimum wage to $7.25 from $5.15 by January 1, 2009. In response, Jim Webb issued a statement on Allen's vote that said:
There are 153,000 Virginians earning an embarrassingly low $5.15 an hour minimum wage and while the same members of Congress, including George Allen, voted against raising that wage, they were voting to give themselves a total $31,600 in pay raises since they last raised the minimum wage. That is unfair, selfish and wrong.
"Unfair, selfish and wrong?" Yeah, that sounds like a George Allen Republican alright. So I guess we shouldn't be surprised that Allen receives ZERO ratings from the Service Employees International Union, the American Federation of Government Employees, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, etc. And, of course, Allen never met a tax cut he didn't like, but only to those who need it least. According to "Where's George Allen", "If it's just more money for people who already have plenty it's not relief, it's gravy." You can say that again.
No wonder why the NRWC supports George Felix Allen so heavily. They're perfect together!
They've wholesaled entire industries such as furniture and textiles to other countries, and outsourced stacks of other jobs as well. These actions by greedy international corporations that claim on paper to be American are amoral, if not immoral. If you give me the chance, I will become the leader of those who oppose the outsourcing of American jobs. Some say the train has left the station on that issue. I say to you, the corporations who want to betray the American worker need to pay a higher price for a ticket on that train.
Webb has also stated:
I believe that the internationalization of our economy, plus out-sourcing, has caused a situation where the health of the financial sector no longer is an indication of the health of the economy. Along with this, such things as Corporate CEO compensation packages are totally out of control, and often are based on how badly the average worker has been ripped off.I saw a set of charts about a week ago which show a startling reality. The first chart showed "after-tax corporate profits" as a percentage of our GDP, which are at an all-time historic high. The second showed wages and salaries as a percentage of GDP, which are at an all-time low. And in the middle, as we all know, are the good jobs that have gone overseas.
We must try to correct this very dangerous bifurcation in our society.
I'd like to hear George Felix Allen say something like THAT!!
If they claim to be a trade or business organization, they can get that IRS designation, as long as they do not spend on political activities, as you have noted.
The group that was making robo-calls in the Kaine Campaign, some other group from NOVA, sounds like they practice very similar tactics. Another shell shill group run by the GOoPers. I will look for their name.