Randi Weingarten Touts Access To Voting

AFT President Weingarten on Twitter:

Voting is the cornerstone of our democracy. Elected officials shld encourage, not block access to the ballot #NCVotingRights #ThisIsOurSelma

— Randi Weingarten (@rweingarten) July 14, 2015

Voting is the cornerstone of democracy says Randi - oh, the irony, coming after the furor of the last few days.

She's right, of course.

Voting is the cornerstone of democracy - it's the way we get to have a say in how we are governed.

Would have been nice to get some say in the AFT endorsement process for the 2016 election.

Instead, like everything that the AFT and/or UFT does, the process was tightly controlled and kept in the hands of a select few beholden to Randi Weingarten.

If Weingarten were honest, she'd tweet something along the lines of "Loyalty oaths are the cornerstone of AFT democracy - we control everything via the loyalty oath and patronage system."

Because that's how this endorsement went down, despite the leadership protests to the contrary about polling members.

Thing is, the curtain was pulled back a little with the Clinton endorsement and the backlash - many people were able to see how the union is run by the leadership with little regard for what the rank and file members think, feel or want.

The counterattack from the leadership to the backlash - which amounts to, too bad if you don't like the Clinton endorsement - has only underscored how little the leadership thinks or cares about the rank and file.

But reckoning is coming, you can be sure of that.

The Supreme Court has taken up the Friedrichs case and is widely expected to rule that people cannot be forced to pay union dues.

Let's see how well the AFT leadership strategy of "You don't like what we do, too bad!" works in a post-Friedrichs world where union dues can no longer be compelled.

You'd think the AFT leadership would be concerned about this and be adjusting their strategy now, treating the rank and file with courtesy and concern instead of with their customary disdain and contempt.

But you'd be wrong if you think that they might adjust pre-Friedrichs.

Instead it's same old same old, with Weingarten talking democracy and voting rights and all that good stuff on the Internet and in speeches while continuing to run the AFT like a Stalinist.

Perhaps Weingarten and the cronies and yes people around her are incapable of adjustment.

Perhaps the arrogance they suffer from does not allow for adjustment.

Whatever the case, they're simply doubling down on how they run the union, calling all the shots, insulting and/or shouting down anybody who doesn't agree with them, and continuing down the road to extinction.

Like I wrote earlier this week, I'll continue paying my dues because I think it's the right thing to do - but you can bet a whole bunch of other people will quit paying the minute they can.

Let's see how "powerful" the AFT leadership is when the dues money these parasites live off of gets cut in half.

Cuomo, Mulgrew Patronage Stories Show How Nepotism, Corruption Runs Deep In The System

Two separate stories showed up in the newspapers today showing how big a problem nepotism remains in the political system.

The NY Times revealed that Governor Andrew Cuomo uses jobs at New York State’s economic development agency to pay off political friends, associates and donors for favors and/or contributions.

The NY Post revealed UFT President Michael Mulgrew's sister, Kathleen Mulgrew-Daretany, has been hired by the NYCDOE for a $75,828 a year management position after an 11 year absence from the DOE.

Mulgrew-Daretany had been in English teacher but left the DOE on child care leave and worked as the chief operating officer for "Brienza’s Academic Advantage, a Brooklyn-based company that sells teacher-training seminars and student tutoring."

The company went from making $5,109 from the DOE in 2002 to $10.9 million in 2012 when they received an after school tutoring contract with the city.

In both the Cuomo patronage story and the Mulgrew-Daretany DOE gig story, you see that connections and political favors, not experience or expertise, were the primary drivers for employment.

For example, the Times found:

the agency hired 23-year-old Andrew Moelis, a University of Pennsylvania graduate, for another new position, strategic planning associate, at a salary of $75,000 a year.

Shortly before Mr. Moelis’s first day of work, his father, Ron Moelis, a prominent real estate developer, gave $25,000 to Mr. Cuomo’s re-election campaign, according to the records.

Could it be coincidence that a 23 year old just out of UPenn receives a $75,000 a year gig at the New York State economic development agency a few days before his daddy gives Sheriff Andy Cuomo $25,000 so he can get re-elected governor and keep cleaning up the corruption in Albany?

Probably not.

And could it be coincidence that the company Michael Mulgrew's sister helps to run receives $10.9 million from the NYCDOE in 2012 just as Mulgrew is selling his membership out on APPR, Danielson and a host of other reforms the city and the state want?

Probably not.

The quid pro quo is built into the system and these are hardly the only people engaging in this kind of stuff.

But given how Sheriff Andy was busy accusing the Buffalo teachers union and district of "borderline ethical and legal fraud" for making a memo of understanding that no teacher would be fired under the APPR evaluation system for the first year because it is untested and unproven, I find it interesting that he is engaging in real fraud by soliciting campaign funds and favors from donors and handing out jobs to their family members in return.

Similarly, given how Mike Mulgrew plays in public like he's fighting the good fight against the DOE, I find it interesting that his sister's company received a $10.9 million dollar contract from that same DOE at the same time Mulgrew is agreeing to all kinds of reforms that the people at the DOE want.

Just two more indications of how corrupt and nepotistic this political system in NYC and NY State is and how selective the enforcement of rule- and law-breaking is.

NY Times: Cuomo's Patronage Gives State Jobs To Friends, Associates And Donors

The Times takes aim at how Governor Andy pays back his political "friends," associates and donors:

ALBANY — New York State’s economic development agency created a new position last June, and then found a candidate to fill it: a young man named Willard Younger, who had just graduated from Colgate University with a degree in classics and religion. He became a special projects associate, at a salary of $45,000 a year, according to state personnel records. His father, Stephen P. Younger, is a lawyer and power broker in legal circles who was a member of one of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s transition teams. He has also donated $26,000 to Mr. Cuomo’s campaigns over the years, disclosure records show.

The next month, the agency hired 23-year-old Andrew Moelis for another new position, strategic planning associate, at a salary of $75,000 a year. 

Shortly before Mr. Moelis’s first day of work, his father, Ron Moelis, a prominent real estate developer, gave $25,000 to Mr. Cuomo’s re-election campaign, according to the records.

Since taking office in 2011, Mr. Cuomo has repeatedly pledged to bring a new approach to Albany, where politicians of both major parties have long rewarded supporters with jobs that are not open to the general public. 

But an investigation by The New York Times into hiring by the agency, the Empire State Development Corporation, shows how Mr. Cuomo’s administration has engaged in some of the same patronage practices that have often prevailed here. 

The investigation was based on personnel records obtained through a Freedom of Information request, as well as campaign finance and other state records. Numerous interviews were conducted with state officials, employees and outside experts. 

While some of the new employees at Empire State had experience in economic development, others did not. Some of the jobs were not open to competition, and were filled with little input from the agency itself. 

Empire State has also hired friends of Mr. Cuomo who may help form his political brain trust should he decide to run for president in 2016. 

James P. Rubin, a former State Department spokesman, was hired at the agency in 2011 as counselor on competitiveness and international affairs, with a salary of $150,000 a year. Mr. Rubin’s appointment was seen by political consultants as a move by Mr. Cuomo to add a foreign policy hand to his stable. 

Empire State hired 49 people in the first 20 months of the Cuomo administration, according to personnel records obtained by The Times. Nearly a third were the governor’s political associates, donors and friends, or their relatives, the records and interviews show. 

At least seven of the new hires with connections were placed in newly created positions.

Cuomo is as big a crook as anybody else in Albany.

He is holier than thou, however, and that is going to come back to bite him.

This Times article, which exposes Governor Andy's patronage system quite handily, is just the tip of the iceberg that will aim at the Good Ship Cuomo should he choose to run for president in 2016.

Governor Andy needs just that kind of scrutiny.

He's on record saying his Albany is cleaner than any other in recent memory because he is so above board in his ethics.

Doesn't look like that statement will stand up to scrutiny.

Read the rest of the article and you'll see just how many jobs Sheriff Andy has handed out as political favors.