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Posted on 09/30/2002 10:18:43 AM PDT by supportnospin.com
WorldCom rings a bell, Enron is a household name, Arthur Anderson has been found guilty, and the name “big business” has been tarnished. So why is it when you say “International Brotherhood of Teamsters”, it doesn’t raise eyebrows or spark speculation of accounting scandal? In case you missed it – which is highly likely being the coverage was almost nonexistent (a search for “union lawsuit” only turns up accurate results on FoxNews.com; nothing on ABCNews.com, CBSNews.com, or CNN.com) – the Teamsters have been slapped with a class action lawsuit for allegedly using crooked accounting methods to hide union dues spending.
The Teamsters allegedly used Thomas Havey, LLP, the largest union accounting firm in the nation, to justify forced union dues. What’s in question is Thomas Havey, LLP’s methods of financial assistance, especially since a firm partner – Frank Massey – plead guilty to federal criminal charges of “aiding a federal conspiracy to defraud the United States” just last month.
What exactly did he do? He helped union officials hide how they spent over $1.5 million in union dues. The scary part is that Thomas Havey, LLP is the auditor for “over 700 collectively bargained, multi-employer and single-employer plans with total assets of over $42 billion”, according to FoxNews.com. (By most definitions, that would qualify for “big business”.)
The largest union accounting firm has been charged with cooking the books and a partner of the firm has already been found guilty of aiding a conspiracy to defraud the United States. So why aren’t we hearing about the union accounting scandals all over the media? Bias? You decide.
Something else to consider is what this is going to do to the Democratic Party. The war on Iraq has already caused a family feud within the Democratic Party, and this certainly isn’t going to help. Two special interest groups own the Democratic Party: trial attorneys and unions. So what happens when the trial attorneys attack the unions? Someone has to take sides, or possibly lose out on a lot of money.
Business has long expressed their dissent with frivolous lawsuits to no avail. The Institute for Legal Reform at the United States Chamber of Commerce has even launched paid advertisements to bring attention to the abuses of our judicial system that are taking place across the country. What was the liberal response to such ads? Attacks. Liberals attacked the advertisements for misstating facts (not true) and accused the Chamber of trying to protect “big business” from having to pay legitimate settlements for legitimate lawsuits (again, not true). Now, the union-owned-liberals are, or will be very soon, open ears to the campaign against frivolous lawsuits – which puts them in opposition to the trial lawyer- owned-liberals who thrive on frivolous lawsuits. To put it in perspective, liberals are suffering the consequences of their own liberal ideology. (We all knew this time would come.)
The Democratic Party is suffering profusely. They are split on what to do with Iraq and now they will be split on what to do with trial attorneys because if history says anything of what we are to expect in the future, this lawsuit against the Teamsters will be followed by many more lawsuits being filed against every well financed union in the nation. The rhetoric has already begun with the Teamster’s spokesman denouncing the lawsuit as “frivolous”. Unions will now join the ranks of tobacco companies, asbestos manufacturers, and fast food chains. I can’t resist…we told you so!
Two special interest groups own the Democratic Party: trial attorneys and unions. So what happens when the trial attorneys attack the unions? Someone has to take sides, or possibly lose out on a lot of money.
LMAO!!!
Congressional Democrats -- often seen whistling complacently as they walked past the graveyard -- can now begin writing their epitaphs.
Laughing all the way to the polls... then to the bank.
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