New York Sun Salutes Sarah Palin’s Outreach To Union Members

By Gary P Jackson

One of the things that sets Sarah Palin apart from the heard of politicians out there, is she’s for real. She’s actually had to work for a living. She’s a self-made, successful woman.

The American people relate to her, because she can relate to us. She is, in fact, one of us.

When it comes to taking on the corrupt union thugs, Sarah again separates herself from the pack. As a former union member herself, in a family of union members, she understands it’s the corrupt, greedy union leadership, and some hand picked thugs, not the rank and file workers who are the problem.

Unlike others in the Republican Party, Sarah has no problem reaching out to the rank and file union workers, and as we are seeing, she has credibility among those workers.

We think the GOP could learn a thing or two from Sarah, if only they weren’t too “smart” to listen.

Our friends over at Jewish Americans for Sarah Palin sent us this from the New York Sun:

In this respect, Wisconsin can be a teaching moment. It puts at a premium politicians who, like Mr. Walker, have the grit for the fight. It also puts at a premium leaders with ability to reach out to labor and make this argument.

This is one of the reasons we’ve been savoring the strategy of Sarah Palin, who stepped onto the national stage by announcing that her husband, Todd, was a “proud member of the United Steel workers” and who herself is a one-time union member from her days as a telephone company dispatcher.

She is the only Republican who has pointedly reached out to labor and bid its rank and file to join the commonsense, conservative, constitutional cause.

We don’t mean to suggest this struggle is about Mrs. Palin, only that this is a moment to think about where the true interests of labor lie and about the possibilities of the labor movement.

The Cold War taught that there can be hinges in our history when free labor and free enterprise are on the same side. Government is a zero sum game for organized labor, as for the rest of us, while in the private sector the possibilities are wide open.

There is no natural limit to growth in private enterprise, in the creation of wealth by human ingenuity and effort. One of the things to watch for after the victory in Wisconsin is the one who can make that case to labor itself.

This is spot on. The Republican Party has ceded the union members, the rank and file workers, to the democrat party, simply because the thugs who run these organizations use member dues to buy-off democrat[and some Republican] politicians. The Republican Party has no idea how to reach these members.

As Scott Walker and Rebecca Kleefisch’s landslide victory in Wisconsin prove, you can reach out to union workers, if you are doing the right thing. It’s reported that 38% of union households voted for Walker and Kleefisch. That’s significant.

I know the GOP will want credit for the win, but it was all Walker and Kleefisch, along with Tea Party groups who were out there making a difference.

Like any other voter, if you have a compelling record, and solid proposals, union workers will be receptive. We used to call these men and women Reagan democrats. It’s looking more and more like we can start calling them Palin democrats.

Scott Walker and Rebecca Kleefisch prove that good, solid public servants are appreciated by the people they serve. But on a national level, only Sarah Palin gets it right.

The GOP could learn a lot from this woman, if only they smart enough to realize it.

Here’s a reminder of how Sarah does it, with a little Breitbart as a bonus:

Mitt Romney and his crew could learn a thing or two from “that woman!

“Class Warfare” Won’t Work on Governor Palin

By Stacy Drake

Something that became patently obvious after President Obama delivered his speech to the nation about the budget last week, was that not only is he now in campaign mode but his message will essentially be centered around what is considered “class warfare.” As Congressman Paul Ryan stated after the president’s speech:

I’m sincerely disappointed that the president, at a moment when we are putting ideas on the table, to try and engage in a thoughtful dialogue to fix this country’s economic and fiscal problems, decided to pour on the campaign rhetoric, launches re-election and passed partisan broadsides against us and making it that much harder for the two parties to come together with mutual respect of one another to get things done.

With entitlement debates ragging across the country, union involvement, and the left’s tendency to pit groups of people against each other for their own gain, it’s no surprise that team Obama would take this route. How effective his strategy is depends on who the Republicans pick to represent them in the 2012 election. It’s much easier to envision this political (and no doubt media driven) narrative could take hold if the GOP where to nominate a run-of-the-mill, milquetoast establishment Republican. The same cannot be said about Governor Palin, if she does decide to run. But that won’t stop them from trying.

In an attempt to use this tactic against Governor Palin, the IAFF Local 311 Firefighters Union put out a ridiculous call to action last week. The union has since removed the text from their original posting, but not before Jim Hoft saved a copy of it. It read:

Saturday, April 16
State Capitol
11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Leave Station #1 at 11 a.m.
(Call J.R. for more info at 216-****)

Come one, come all, hear the call to . . .DUMP TEA! DUMP PALIN!

Please share widely. The puppets are coming, the puppets are coming! Corporate puppets Sarah Palin and “Americans” for “Prosperity” are rallying at our Wisconsin State Capitol on 4/16.

BRING PUPPETS — sock puppets, hand puppets, marionettes, shadow puppets, finger puppets and muppets!

BRING LIBERTY BELLS — that means cowbells, dinner bells, doorbells, jingle bells, you name it, and let’s ring in Wisconsin’s independence from corporate rule!

Let’s show ‘em how we really feel about big corporations passing the tax burden on to the rest of us!

The notion that Governor Palin is a “corporate puppet” is downright absurd, especially to those who are familiar with her actual record. That union is clearly banking on the fact that their members are ignorant, or at least willing to push lies.

Amanda Coyne, a journalist from Alaska who by no means is known for having a pro Palin bias, pointed out how wrong this is via her Twitter page:

Frankly the “Palin is a corporate puppet” meme is ridiculous. She’s a lot of things, but that she’s not.

Coyne knows Governor Palin’s history and she is aware that reality clashes with what the IAFF Local 311 was selling. The governor took on the oil companies and their relationship with the corrupt members of the GOP, directly in Alaska. There’s even a book titled “Sarah takes on Big Oil.” Corporate puppets don’t generally have books written about them on how they “took on big” anything.

It isn’t just Governor Palin that this class warfare angle won’t work on, it’s also the Tea Party movement as a whole. A typical class warfare strategy paints the left’s adversaries as greedy “billionaires” and “millionaires,” but the Tea Party consists mainly of working class, patriotic Americans who are also overtaxed and feel over burdened by government intrusion. That’s why the left tries to pivot to the phony “racist” meme all too often regarding Tea Party Americans. It’s much easier for them to lie and say tea partiers hurled racist slurs at Democrat politicians, than it is to lie and say a middle class patriot is really a selfish bazillionaire who wants to see poor people suffer.

The Tea Party is just as sick of the back room deal making and crony rewarded system, as they are about tax rates that hurt all Americans. This is one reason that Governor Palin’s message and record resonates with the Tea Party. As James Pethokoukis noted in his recent article about the governor’s speech in Wisconsin:

But as it stands, she arguably represents the purest expression out there of Tea Party passion and free-market populist rejection of Washington’s bipartisan crony capitalism. If she ran, her high-wattage appearance in Madison shows just how dangerous her candidacy would be to a field of solid but stolid opponents.

See, the professional left knows all of this. They may try to sneak a fast one by, as they did with that IAFF announcement, but it doesn’t pass the smell test. They can’t honestly make this argument against Governor Palin in the open without being called out on it. This is one reason they fear the governor over the Mitt Romney’s of the world. She effectively removes a powerful weapon from their arsenal of lies, one of which they depend on to win elections.

The left made fools of themselves last Saturday in more ways than one. But nothing looks more foolish than having one of Barack Obama’s (a man with more than his fair share of cronies) “rent a mobs” attempt to distort the character of Governor Palin by painting her as a “corporate puppet.” It’s obvious who the puppets are in this debate, and it certainly isn’t Governor Palin.

Dave Westlake Reads Sarah Palin’s Letter To Union Workers In Madison, Wisconsin

By Gary P Jackson

Dave Westlake reads Sarah Palin’s powerful letter to union members at the Tea Party counter rally in Madison, Wisconsin. The mere mention of her name has the crowd cheering loudly, as they do again and again as Westlake reads from the letter.

We must all stand with Wisconsin’s Common Sense Conservative Governor and legislature, who are trying to get a grip on out of control government. These out of control unions must be stopped or the nation will fall.

Hat tip: Karen Allen @Organize4Palin

Sarah Palin: Union Brothers and Sisters: Seize Opportunity to Show True Solidarity

From Sarah Palin:

Union Brothers and Sisters: Seize Opportunity to Show True Solidarity

The union-led school closures and demonstrations in Madison have left most ordinary Americans shaking their heads in disbelief. Months ago, I penned a message to my fellow union brothers and sisters when I found myself on the receiving end of union boss Richard Trumka’s wrath. Yesterday’s demonstrations reminded me of the full-page ads taken out against me when I put my foot down in dealing with union demands while I served as governor.

My message then and now to good union brothers and sisters is that you have another option. You don’t have to kowtow to the union bosses who are not looking out for you, but instead are using you. You can join millions of other union members in a commonsense movement to help fight for the right causes in our great country – for budgets that share the burden in a truly fair way and for commonsense reforms that take power away from vested interests like union bosses and big business lobby groups, and put it back where it belongs – with “We the People.”

Here we are still struggling to get out of a deep recession and coping with high unemployment, record deficits, rapidly rising food prices, and a host of other economic problems; and Wisconsin union bosses want union members out in the streets demanding that taxpayers foot the bill for unsustainable benefits packages. 

I am a friend to hard working union members and to teachers. I come from a family of teachers; my grandparents, parents, brother, sister, aunt, and other relatives worked, or still work, in education. My own children attend public schools. I greatly admire good teachers and will always speak up in defense of the teaching profession. But Wisconsin teacher unions do themselves no favor by closing down classrooms and abandoning children’s needs in protest against the sort of belt-tightening that people everywhere are going through. 

Union brothers and sisters: this is the wrong fight at the wrong time. Solidarity doesn’t mean making Wisconsin taxpayers pay for benefits that are not sustainable and affordable at a time when many of these taxpayers struggle to hold on to their own jobs and homes. Real solidarity means everyone being willing to sacrifice and carry our share of the burden. It does no one any favors to dismiss the sacrifices others have already had to make—in wage cuts, unpaid vacations, and even job losses—to weather our economic storm.

Hard working, patriotic, and selfless union brothers and sisters: please don’t be taken in by the union bosses. At the end of the day, they’re not fighting for your pension or health care plan or even for the sustainability of Wisconsin’s education budget. They’re fighting to protect their own powerful privileges and their own political clout. The agenda for too many union bosses is a big government agenda that only serves the union bosses themselves – not union members, not union families, and certainly not the larger community. Everybody else is just there to foot the bill; and if that bill eventually takes the form of thousands of teachers and other public sector workers losing their jobs because the state of Wisconsin can no longer afford to keep them on the payroll, that’s a risk the union bosses are willing to take as long as their positions are secure. Union brothers and sisters: you are better than this and you deserve better. Don’t be led astray.

One final word of warning to my fellow Americans: back in 2009, I warned about what would happen if states accepted short-term unsustainable debt-ridden “Stimulus Package” funds. Accepting those funds allowed states to grow government, increase already unsustainable levels of spending, kick the can down the road on reforming entitlements, and create public expectations that they would continue financing these new mandates once the federal funds ran out. States were not in a position to grow government and take on new financial commitments then, and now the chickens have come home to roost. As goes Wisconsin today, so goes the country tomorrow.

~ Sarah Palin

Governor Palin Wont Play the Special Interest Game

By Stacy Drake

Last week, Jonathan Bernstein filled in for Greg Sargent on The Plum Line. Mr. Bernstein wrote a piece during that time about Governor Palin, which was yet another left-serving piece trying to diminish her ‘electability.’ The article was titled, “Is Sarah Palin toast,” after all… His article was filled with what adds up to be nothing more than a lecture on how Governor Palin isn’t doing what he (and many members of the political punditry class, apparently) feel she should be doing. He did however, point out something very important in his analysis. He wrote (emphasis mine):

As for proving herself trustworthy to interest group leaders and Republican politicians, well, I haven’t seen any reporting that even hinted at that.

He suggests that one must be cozy with “interest group leaders,” as in special interest group leaders to survive in politics. Is their any question why so many of our ‘public servants‘ seem to have their priorities mixed up?

Another thing Mr. Bernstein does in his article, is to list Governor Palin’s detractors on the so-called right. Those being the members of the establishment that have been taking shots at her lately.

When you couple the two together, you end up with history repeating itself. This is not the first time Governor Palin has refused to ingratiate herself to special interest groups. Nor is it the first time that Republicans have been her detractors, if not outright political enemies.

Do you remember the name Lyda Green? For those of you who don’t know, Lyda Green was the Republican State Senate President in Alaska during much of Palin’s term as governor. Shortly after McCain picked the governor to join the national Republican ticket in 2008, Green took a public swipe at Governor Palin by saying:

“She’s not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president? Look at what she’s done to this state. What would she do to the nation?”

Left-wing media publications lapped this quote up. The fact that Lyda Green was the Alaska State Senate President, a Republican, and from Wasilla no less, was all they needed to pounce on this story as a ringing indictment against Governor Palin. There was one little problem with that however. You see, Lyda Green was an old political foe of Governor Palin’s, with ties to the Veco scandal, and the “Corrupt Bastards Club.” In response to Green’s swipe, Greg Pollowitz at National Review Online wrote:

Doesn’t the far left understand that conservatives — the base of the Republican party — do not care what Alaska Republicans think of her? Alaska Republicans symbolize everything that we think is wrong with the Republican party.

For a good example of the type of stunts Lyda Green pulled on Governor Palin, Dennis Zaki (of all people) wrote a piece for the Alaska Report in January of 2008 called, “Lyda Green refuses to support Alaska’s troops.” He wrote:

Alaska Senate president Lyda Green is trying to block governor Sarah Palin from seeing her son graduate basic training Thursday at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Palin sent a letter December 18th asking lawmakers to schedule a joint session of the House and Senate to hear the speech at 6 pm on the first night of the legislative session so Palin could make a 9 pm flight that night to Seattle.

The 6 pm timeslot would allow Palin to catch a flight she had paid for and booked in advance.

Green claims that the traditional time is 7 pm and it should stay that way.

Senate Majority spokesman Green’s lapdog Jeff Turner claimed the reason the speech can’t be at 6 p.m. because the storms over the weekend interfered with many of the flights into Juneau and senators would be coming into town throughout the day Tuesday. Yet, a check with Alaska Airlines showed over 150 available seats Monday, and 125 seats available today from Anchorage. That’s not counting legislators already booked on flights. Turner’s claim is obviously a smokescreen.

A mother supporting her child at boot camp is as real as it gets.

Green has some explaining to do to her constituents in Wasilla with family members in the military.

And support our troops

Fellow C4P Contributor Adam Brickley live-blogged the governor’s speech at that joint session on his “Draft Sarah Palin for VP” site. He reported some of Green’s expressions, which you could see on camera while the governor was delivering her speech:

4:00 PM: Senate Pres. Lyda Green is seated right behind the podium, I’ll be watching her face the entire time. It’s produced by KTOO Juneau, and there are in fact two commentators for analysis.

4:05 PM: Palin lists the accomplishments of here first year; Green looks very teed off, I just watched her roll her eyes.

[…]

4:11 PM: New camera angle, can’t see Lyda Green’s face anymore. Wondering if that is purposeful.

Adam also wrote about the initial dust-up here.

Lyda Green wasn’t the only Republican in Alaska who had problems with Governor Palin. There was good reason for this. The Alaska Republican party was corrupt and not only did Governor Palin refuse to play along, she also brought public attention to the shenanigans her own party members were partaking in. This didn’t go over very well with the party leaders, but it earned Governor Palin the respect of the public, who later elected her to be their governor.

Just look at the state of politics today and the amount of public trust that has gone by the wayside due to a lack of ethics by our elected representatives. The negative effects of special interest serving politicians and their cronyism in this nation are drastic. Take for example, President Obama’s relationship with the unions. How convenient for them that so many pertinent (and enormous) economic decisions he made over the last two years directly benefited them. Why wouldn’t this be the case considering how often Obama hosts union bosses at the White House? When it comes to President Obama’s policies… Look for the union label.

Then there is the case of my own former governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnold’s ties to the environmental lobby are so deep, he’s even related to them. He wasted a lot of money and time while in office serving this specific interest group. A million pet projects, with the Kennedy family always standing nearby. Of course, all of this came to a head a few days ago when he commuted the sentence of Esteban Nunez, the son of one of his environmental advisers. This decision was a gross miscarriage of justice for the family of the victim. San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith issued a statement after learning about the commutation that said:

“Esteban Nunez — the son of former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez — is a criminal who was sentenced by an experienced and well-respected Superior Court judge. Arnold Schwarzenegger reduced the sentence by over half to help his political crony’s son. In doing so, he undermined the judicial system and has jeopardized public safety.”

This was Schwarzenegger’s final appalling act towards the citizens of California, and one he will never live down.

They say “elections have consequences,” and they most certainly do. Part of those consequences happen to be the price society pays to tend to the needs and desires of special interest groups and political backscratchers. The American people have had enough of this kind of behavior from our elected officials. Governor Palin not “proving herself trustworthy to interest group leaders” is a good thing! She is not bought & paid for like so many political figures. Governor Palin was not willing to play the games in Alaska and she isn’t going to start playing them now. Going along with this unfortunate status quo would make life easier on her no doubt, but at what price?

Shortly after Governor Palin resigned in 2009, Karl Rove and others suggested she rent a place in Washington DC. The reason for that was to bring her in to their own game. So she could rub elbows with the power brokers of the nation’s capitol. She didn’t take their advice, and remained in her own home with her family in Alaska. When she’s not there, she is traveling the country, rubbing elbows and talking with the people she believes should be the real power brokers in this country… The American people.

Union Members Respond to Sarah Palin’s Plea

By Stacy Drake

In the comment sections where her plea was posted, that is…

I’m sure you will be hard pressed to find many union members who will go on record stating this sentiment, given the environment they find themselves in these days. However, the internet is a place many find able to speak their mind without fear of retribution.

Scanning through the comment sections of both Governor Palin’s Facebook page, and certain articles on this topic, I saw some comments that I found interesting. They had been left by union members who viewed Governor Palin’s statement as factual and words they obviously identified with. I wanted to share some of them but I have omitted their names because they are not public figures (emphasis mine).

• As a proud current card-carrying IBEW member for seven years I was just discussing this very topic with my Dad (another IBEW member) earlier this evening. I am very upset and deeply concerned about Obama and what his liberal/socialist cron…ies are doing to our country. What angers me further is that the leaders back at the AFL-CIO continue to back these morons as they run for office. […] I work hard for my paychecks and I don’t wish in any way to discredit the values that unions are SUPPOSED to stand for. I owe the IBEW my current middle-class standing and without the training and bargaining strength of my union I would not be able to support my wife and children as my father did. Keep it up Sarah, there are many union members out there that share my sentiments.

• Go Sarah I’ve Been a union member most of my life construction labor ,uswa and teamsters plus 3yrs. USMC.I’m 72 now and I back you 100%

• Took me 24 years of union membership to finally realize where the union bosses real loyalties were. I withdrew last November after the thuggery that supported shoving national healthcare down our throats. I’m with you 100% Sarah! To my union brothers and sisters: Those that say they represent you are not your friends…. they view you as nothing more than a paycheck. Stand with us and help us take our country back!

• I am a member of a local trade union. We are not the problem with the country. Trade Unions are not SEIU and do not like being lumped together with them. Many of us are quite conservative and fewer and fewer of my local brothers and sisters that I talk to are supporting Obama and his agenda. Historically the Republicans have not supported labor and have driven us away. There does need to be some kind of balance between business and its workers. That being said, I have never gotten a job from a poor person, so I don’t hate the rich. I have not voted Democrat in years and I can assure all that the bunch in the White House now has me in every bit the uproar that all of you are.

• The FB post by Ms. Palin is so close to the hearts of many union workers. […] Members as “mere followers” while the “union leaders” acting as “the boss”. The end is always the same. Union leaders become as “rich” as the devil while the members remain “poor” and needy. This is true in my family’s case. I am a liberal democrat but beginning to see the beauty and wisdom that is Sarah Palin. I’m almost there!

I’m not pretending that there has been some massive sea-shift in regards to union political support over one Facebook posting. I live in a state run by SEIU (thank you Jerry Brown) so I understand very well how unions operate. That said, I also understand that most union members are not left-wing radicals, which is what one pretty much has to be these days to agree with the current direction of the country. I do find these comments encouraging, however, and I hope that Governor Palin’s plea sparks a conversation within the union rank-and- file.

I think Governor Palin was both bold and wise to answer attacks from AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka, in this manner. Not only did she expose him for the “thug” that he is, she also made his members think twice about about what it is their leaders are doing for them. I cannot recall any other national republican since Reagan, who attempted to go around the union leadership and talk directly to union members themselves. Given the antics, and the practices of union leaders, I know there are many more members who will identify with the sentiment in the Governor’s statement to them.

Sarah Palin Implores Union Members To Break With Leadership On Backroom Deal

Sarah wasted no time today as she came out swinging early against the late night backroom deal Barack Obama made with the unions, exempting them from the so called “Cadillac tax” on the top of the line insurance policies that some employers offer.

Anyone who even remotely follows politics knows that Obama owes his entire career to the union thugs at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), a division of ACORN.

With that in mind, it’s not surprising that Obama would bow to pressure from his union thug masters. I mean why not, he has bowed to everyone else!

Sarah’s call to action is pretty self explanatory:

Union Brothers and Sisters: Your Leadership Doesn’t Get It – You Deserve Better

In the latest to come out of D.C.’s backroom health care deals, President Obama yesterday cut a doozy of a deal with labor union bosses. The fed’s health care plan must be so bad that even union bosses had to go to D.C. to say they wanted out. So… to keep their support for a flawed plan they got an exemption to provisions in the deal that others did not. Small business owners, our families running America’s mom & pops, did not get this deal. Ask yourself: why did union bosses get special treatment? And when did our country’s unions get on the wrong track with moves like this that hurt their good members and put them in such a bad light?

Good hard-working, pro-free-market, pro-America union members should join in opposition to their union bosses’ sweetheart deal. Coming from a union background and living in a world with many union memberships among my family and friends, I know that average members will be embarrassed by their bosses’ deal, which basically only delays the heavy tax on their health care plans until 2018 and in the meantime unfairly leaves many fellow Americans in a much less “enviable” position.

Union members don’t want to stick it to non-union colleagues in the private and public sector. Their union leadership is not helping them in the long run, they’re certainly not helping the rest of America, and unfortunately some union bosses are making all union members look bad, selfish, and anti-business with this Big Government backroom deal.

I know that ordinary union members don’t want to hurt their fellow Americans, just as ordinary Nebraskans didn’t want to stick it to the rest of the country with a sweetheart deal on Medicaid subsidies. I urge union members to make their voices heard. Please, call your leadership – don’t put up with these special-interest politics – tell them to fight for all Americans who want common sense health care reform, not this flawed boondoggle.

– Sarah Palin

Obviously, Sarah speaks with great moral authority here, as there are indeed many union members in her family, including her husband Todd. It’s deals like these that only further cement the union thug image in people’s minds.

Unions are already looked at in an incredibly poor light. This backroom deal does absolutely nothing to help that. This sort of thing is just one more reason why many states, including mine, have tough “right to work” laws that severely limit union activities.

I share the same sentiment Sarah has for the average union worker. Most are hard working, all-American people. It’s management, leadership that is corrupt beyond belief.

Also, like Sarah, I see deals like this, and the sweetheart deals that Ben Nelson got for Nebraska, and Mary Landrieu got for Louisiana, both exempting their states from the harmful effects of ObamaCare, as a sure sign that America needs to pull out all stops when it comes to killing ObamaCare before it ever becomes law!