<\/p>\n
Washington, DC (January 5, 2010)<\/b> \u2013 Apparently without conducting a field investigation, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) dismissed a complaint against one of the most politically active unions in America after evidence surfaced that union officials deposited illegally laundered dues money into its political action committee (PAC).\n<\/p>\n
\nCiting in part lack of sufficient funding to enforce the law, the FEC junked a complaint filed by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and two Alabama teachers who discovered a union scheme to divert convention reimbursements into the National Education Association (NEA) union\u2019s PAC.\n<\/p>\n
\nWhen attending the NEA\u2019s 2004 national convention, Daphne Middle School science department chair Claire Waites was deceived into supporting the NEA\u2019s PAC and was determined that it would not happen again. However, Waites and Assistant Principal Dr. Jeanne Fox, both members of the Baldwin County Education Association (BCEA), Alabama Education Association (AEA), and NEA unions, discovered the practice continues.\n<\/p>\n
\nIn July 2008, Waites and Fox attended the NEA\u2019s annual convention in Washington, DC as delegates of the BCEA. According to their sworn testimony, BCEA union president Saadia Hunter informed the educators that contributions in their names were made to a \u201cchildren\u2019s fund\u201d using money included in their expense reimbursements for their trip to the convention.\n<\/p>\n
\nAlthough Hunter told Waites that these contributions were not political in nature, they actually went to the NEA\u2019s PAC. Hunter later admitted that the money would be contributed to Barack Obama\u2019s presidential campaign. AEA union bosses also admitted to the educators that the PAC contributions were paid with BCEA members\u2019 dues.\n<\/p>\n
\nFoundation attorneys are considering a lawsuit against the FEC for shirking its duty of upholding the integrity of the political system, particularly since it is suspected this scheme affected many other teacher delegates to the union convention.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThe FEC made a conscious decision to not take these charges seriously,\u201d said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. \u201cWe suspect this scheme could involve many more teachers \u2013 potentially to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\nIt is illegal for union officials to encourage and solicit contributions under false pretenses and without informing workers of their right to refuse to contribute without any reprisal. Federal law also forbids campaign contributions made in the name of another person.\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington, DC (January 5, 2010)<\/b> \u2013 Apparently without conducting a field investigation, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) dismissed a complaint against one of the most politically active unions in America after evidence surfaced that union officials deposited illegally laundered dues money into its political action committee (PAC).\n<\/p>\n
\nCiting in part lack of sufficient funding to enforce the law, the FEC junked a complaint filed by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and two Alabama teachers who discovered a union scheme to divert convention reimbursements into the National Education Association (NEA) union\u2019s PAC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[888],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n