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June 27, 2009

UAW begs for tax relief - for their golf course

Rick Moran
I believe the biggest change in Washington with Democrats in power has to be the way that unions are systematically being enriched at the taxpayer's expense. It has now gone beyond rewarding organized labor for their massive, unprecedented help electing Obama and the Democratic majority as much of the stim bill sought to do. Now it is simply a matter of filling union coffers with taxpayer cash. Soon, it will be changing the law to make it much easier for unions to organize non-union shops.

Then, the New Left's dream of a Government-Union coalition to run the American economy will be complete. Long ago, leftists recognized the potential of this symbiosis and it appears that after decades of patient effort, they are about to succeed.

In the meantime, about all we can do is sit back and fume as stuff like this happens:

When it comes to the GM and Chrysler bailouts, U.S. taxpayers merely suspect they're really being asked to dig into their pockets to rescue the United Auto Workers union. But taxpayers in Michigan's Waverly Township are in no doubt. The Detroit News reports the UAW has appealed to the state tax tribunal to dispute $3 million in property taxes the town assessed on the union's nearby Black Lake golf resort. Yes, golf resort. Now led by UAW chief Ron Gettelfinger, the union has long owned 1,000 acres of forested land in western Michigan for an "education center," and in 2000 used union funds to add a luxury golf course, along with amenities such as a fitness club. What's more, the property, valued at $33 million, has been losing money ever since, some $23 million just in the last five years.

A couple questions naturally come up: If the UAW can't run a golf club, how can it run Chrysler, of which it is now majority owner? Also: The club is part of $1.2 billion in union-owned assets built up from member dues mostly to support a "strike fund." Why does a much-shrunken UAW need a strike fund by now sufficient to finance a multi-week, catastrophic strike that would throw the entire U.S.-born auto industry into bankruptcy once more?

The Wall Street Journal asks why not use that "Strike Fund" to finance the health and pension fund at Chrysler? The answer is self evident - the union wants to keep that fund as a club to threaten both the government and Chrysler.

Bailing out a union golf course by giving the bosses tax relief is evidence of what a brave new world it truly is. They are not even pretending anymore. The unions and their partners in government will milk this economy, enriching themselves and their cronies in the process.

Don't know about "hope," but it certainly is a "change," isn't it?

Hat Tip: Ed Lasky







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