Dan DiSalvo's new report for the Manhattan Institute points to the enormous resources that government unions garner through dues to spend on influencing policy in lobbying and political advertising. Increasingly, union leaders find themselves being called by the media to justify this enormous spending, and their justifications can be wildly creative, according to Mike Antonucci at the blog Intercepts.
As Antonucci points out, the NJ Education Association explained its record $11 million in advertising expenditures last year, a record for the group, on the need to due battle with Republican nemesis Chris Christie.
But then the California Teachers Association told the LA Times that it spent a whopping $6.5 million on lobbying alone last year, the most of any California group, despite the election of a friendly Democratic governor, because members are demanding the group speak out against growing calls to cut education spending.
Democrat or Republican governor, it seems times are just tough for teacher's unions these days.
Join the conversation