About Me 0086: Making Money Working

Actually, these bastards are going to end up hanging themselves on a couple of points (not my words, but family deeply involved in the legal business as lawyers and law professors).

First, there is a little point of technicality called the “Equal Protection Clause(s) of the U.S. Constitution, which pretty pointedly states that it is not exactly legal to try to deny guaranteed rights (under the constitution) from any one group of citizens. This is what ultimately torpedoed much of segregation (and Jim Crow laws) in the Deep South, and why the attempts to impose a modern day equivalent in Arizona are unlikely to survive a constitutional challenge. Trying to deprive these state union members of legally recognized rights, in organizations that are recognized as legitimate under both state and federal laws, is going to set off a whole minefield of legal issues, and could extend way beyond just the rights of union members to seek representation for collective bargaining purposes. Such as the rights of any number of groups to organize and hold meetings about common points of interest. Not too great an extension to say that if this bullshit can fly (what the Spotted Wanker is pushing in WI) than some other governor with a rubber stamp legislature could turn his attention to stripping rights from gays. Or blacks. Or Jews. Or whoever the hell these goons feel like ganging up on. That is why the poem from the 1930s has never lost any of its power…”first, they came for the trade unionists, but I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a trade unionist…” (apologies if this quote is not completely accurate or otherwise misstated) )

Second: the little abomination that the Gang of Five on the Supream Court gave us a year or so ago (Citizens Inebriated) actually contains a little bouncing betty of its own that could very well go off in the faces of Govs Wanker, Sacitch, Krysty, and J.O. Daniels. Since this ruling extended the concept of “personhood” to both corporations and unions, to try to deny them any right to operate within the legal framework that they were organized under deprives these “persons” of the freedoms of speech, association and movement. Which means (once again, quoting law school trained family) that either the courts have to uphold these rights for the unions (as individual “persons” as guaranteed by the Federal (and most state) constitutions, or they have to declare that these attempts at stripping or limiting union rights have to apply to major corporations, also.

There are two NPR executives in the video, identified as Schiller and Director of Institutional Giving Betsy Liley. Neither executive works in NPR's news division. They are shown having lunch with potential NPR donors, who were really working for O'Keefe undercover. In the video, they pose as representatives of a Muslim organization that is considering making a $5 million donation to NPR.

Schiller, who announced last week that he is leaving NPR, makes repeated criticisms against the Tea Party, saying the group is racist.

"Tea Party people" aren't "just Islamaphobic, but really xenophobic," Schiller says. "I mean basically they are, they believe in sort of white, middle-America gun-toting. I mean, it's scary. They're seriously racist, racist people."

He goes on to say, "The Tea Party is fanatically involved in people's personal lives and very fundamental Christian. I wouldn't even call it Christian. It's this weird evangelical kind of move."

In the video, Schiller says that NPR, which is partially funded by government money, would be "better off without federal funding."

"The problem is that if we lost it now, a lot of stations would go dark," Schiller said.

Schiller's remarks come only one day after NPR President and CEO Vivian Schiller (who is unrelated to Ron Schiller) told an audience at the National Press Club that federal funding for NPR was essential.

"Government funding is critical because it allows taxpayers to leverage a small investment into a very large one," she said, according to prepared remarks. "It is seed money. Station managers tell me that 10 percent plays a critical role in generating the other 90 percent that makes their broadcasts possible."

A movement to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps subsidize NPR along with the Public Broadcasting System, is making the rounds among some congressional Republicans, including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who released a statement Tuesday afternoon in response to reports of Ron Schiller's comments in the undercover video.

"As we continue to identify ways to cut spending and save valuable resources, this disturbing video makes clear that taxpayer dollars should no longer be appropriated to NPR," Cantor said.

"Not only have top public broadcasting executives finally admitted that they do not need taxpayer dollars to survive, it is also clear that without federal funds, public broadcasting stations self-admittedly would become eligible for more private dollars on top of the multi-million dollar donations these organizations already receive."

Tea Party representatives were also quick to decry Ron Schiller's remarks, using his suggestion that NPR would be better off without government money as an opportunity to call for defunding the organization.

"Mr. Schiller himself candidly admits in the video that NPR doesn't need federal funding, and welcomes the opportunity to slant their reporting without the oversight of the taxpayer," said Mark Meckler, national coordinator for Tea Party Patriots, in a statement. "At a time when the country is upside down by more than a trillion dollars, can we really afford to provide huge subsidies to entities that openly state that they don't need the money? Let's take his advice and pass legislation that would defund the clearly biased news organization that is out of touch with Americans across the country."

– CNN Political Producer Shannon Travis contributed to this report.

Updated 4:35 p.m.

About Me 0086

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Making Money Working

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