Written In Stone

Raised Up
President Obama’s campaign raised about $60 million in May, a big increase from the previous month that includes money raised in the wake of his decision to publicly support same-sex marriage. (NYT 6/7/2012)


Count us as shocked that President Obama's "evolutionary" decision on gay marriage would have such immediate financial rewards. Just kidding!


Long Distance
Although Mr. Obama kept his distance from the state in the final weeks of the union-led recall effort, his party, his campaign team and his labor allies exerted an enormous joint effort there that proved to be mismatched for the organized and well-financed Republican apparatus. (NYT, 6/7/2012)


RedStateVT wonders whether President Obama purposely chose not to go to Wisconsin, not wanting to be associated with an effort that was trending away from his party; or whether recall supporters asked him not to come recognizing that his presence would hurt their efforts. We have not heard that question asked or answered.


And as to that huge Republican advantage in money and organization, we turn to the unimpeachable Coulter:


The left's "outspent" argument is ridiculous. Unions take money by force from members, hire hundreds of political operatives and give them salaries to work on campaigns, then call them "volunteers" so their work isn't reported as a campaign contribution. (Ann Coulter, 6/6/2012)


Raked Over
Democrats rake in huge sums as an indirect subsidy from taxpayers. You pay your property tax, your property tax funds county government payrolls, your county government gives a slice of that money to AFSCME and AFSCME gives some to like-minded politicians to stay in office. (Foxnews.com, 6/7/2012)


A good explanation for how the racket worked. Confidence men would call this a "long con." And then there is this from the same article:


Prior to Walker’s law, the state acted as an agent for AFSCME and other unions, automatically collecting dues directly from worker paychecks. Whether a government worker opted to join the union or not, the money came out. Unions defend the practice of compulsory dues payments on the grounds that if dues were optional, workers would opt out in droves and sap the power of the organization.


See, in the private sector - in which rational rules apply - if someone did not want a product or service, the company offering that product or service would have to improve the product or service thereby making it more attractive to potential buyers; or, if the company offering that product or service was not able to make it more attractive to potential buyers, that company would go out of business.