Pro-Dean Union Fined for Breaking Campaign Finance Laws

NewsMax ^ | 11/12/03 | Wires

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Service Employees International Union's political committee and three New York City union groups have agreed to pay $262,000 in penalties for campaign finance violations, including improper record-keeping. The civil penalties, announced Wednesday by the Federal Election Commission, involve violations from 1998 to 2000.

SEIU's political campaign committee, known as COPE, paid $75,000 in penalties last December. Under an agreement reached with the FEC last month, New York's Health and Human Service Union 1199, Local 1199 Federal Political Action Fund and 1199 SEIU Federal Political Action Fund shared an additional $187,000 in fines.

Among the violations, the FEC found that in transferring political contributions from their members to each other, the groups sometimes violated a rule that requires transfers to come within 30 days of the donations' receipt. In some cases, the transactions weren't reported as transfers to the FEC, it said.

In another decision disclosed Wednesday, the commission dismissed a complaint accusing Reform Party officials of misusing public funds for the party's 2000 convention.

Unions Make It Official

SEIU and another major union formally delivered their support to presidential candidate Howard Dean on Wednesday, giving the Democrat front-runner an army of supporters and extra cash in his bid for the party's nomination.

The executive board of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees voted unanimously to endorse Dean.

The endorsements were expected, with news coming last week that AFSCME, 1.5 million members strong, would coordinate with the 1.6-million-member SEIU in making known their preference in the nine-way race.

"We have a candidate who represents our values and who can defeat this president," AFSCME President Gerald McEntee said. "AFSCME is going to mobilize the largest and most aggressive grassroots campaign this nation has ever seen. Together with Governor Dean, America's working families will take back the White House in 2004."

McEntee formally announced the endorsement at a news conference with Dean and SEIU President Andy Stern.

"SEIU's members are the heart, the soul and the decision-makers of this union," Stern said in a statement. "And as the members learned more and more about the candidates, it became clear that there was an overwhelming enthusiasm among them for Howard Dean."

There is no longer any doubt that Dean is the front-runner, topping his rivals in every measure of a successful candidate: money, organization, momentum, polls and endorsements. However, he still lacks the support of many party leaders and activists; they question whether he has the temperament to win, and worry that liberal aspects of his record will be easy targets for Bush.

Dean has successfully used the Internet to outpace his rivals in fund raising, and he has attracted large, boisterous crowds. In particular, he has caught the attention of voters outside the party's traditional base, making his candidacy attractive to McEntee and Stern.

In a statement, Dean said he was honored by the endorsements. "Your support means a great deal to the grass-roots movement we are building across this country, and working together over the coming months we will take our country back."

With the endorsements, Dean added 3 million highly trained, highly motivated campaign workers from the ranks of the two unions. He also secured an answer to critics who say he has failed to court minorities (both unions are racially diverse), refused to expand his base beyond the Internet (unions are a key part of the Democrat base) and showed a lack of commitment to Medicare (SEIU's main issue is changing health care).

Any Confederate Flags in This 'Rainbow'?

Flanked by black and white union members, Dean made a passing reference to the diversity issue by talking about "the rainbow that is in this room."

McEntee's endorsement was particularly vexing for Dick Gephardt, John Kerry and Wesley Clark, all of whom had at one point thought they had AFSCME'S nod in hand.

Gephardt, a U.S. congressman from Missouri and former House minority leader who has carried labor's banner in Congress, has the backing of at least 20 unions, but AFSCME and SEIU were two of the most coveted prizes.

In Iowa, the split among labor unions sets the stage for closely contested caucuses, where historically one in three attendees comes from a union household.

Veteran activist Phil Roeder said AFSCME and SEIU were the "best two field organizing unions" in the state. "Gephardt probably still has the upper hand, but Dean certainly made a big jump in his direction," said Roeder, who supports Kerry.

The unions, the two largest under the umbrella of the AFL-CIO, also are rivals, with both representing public employees and health workers. They have clashed in efforts to organize new members and over their top leaders' influence in the labor movement.

But Stern and McEntee recently extended olive branches after realizing they had to unite if they had any hope of defeating President Bush in 2004.

Though SEIU has been on Dean's bandwagon for some time, AFSCME's endorsement was a surprise to people in labor and political circles.

McEntee at first made it no secret that he was intrigued by Kerry because of his record as a decorated Vietnam War veteran. But Kerry's campaign stumbles and his failure to ignite the Democrat electorate sent McEntee to Clark, whom he urged to get into the race.

Clark was a late entry, embarking on the campaign in September, and in the first week, he fumbled over whether he would have backed the congressional resolution authorizing the war in Iraq. McEntee closed the door on Clark when he decided to bypass Iowa, where AFSCME is strong with about 13,000 dues-paying members.

McEntee was key to Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign success by providing crucial, early support when other unions were backing Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa.

McEntee's desire to back a winner ultimately led him to Dean, and to Stern.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

But there's no governing legal authority!

[b4its2late]

No Controlling Legal Authority.

[cake_crumb]

"No Controlling Legal Authority."

Motto of the Democrat party. Wasn't McStain's CFR bill supposed to put a stop to this stuff?

[<1/1,000,000th%]

I can never remember.

[Recovering_Democrat]

Huh? Wait a minute...I thought Unions were exempt from all laws. Those laws were made for us rich Republicans and corporate fatcats, dontcha know. Not for those hard workin' blue collars in the unions.

[Recovering_Democrat]

With the endorsements, Dean added 3 million highly trained, highly motivated campaign workers from the ranks of the two unions.

Isn't this hyperbole? 3,000,000 HIGHLY motivated union members? That is an oxymoron.

I don't even think the unions are that monolithic.