by flory
Since I try not to spend my spare time wading thru the murkier corners of the internets, I don't know anything about Publius' Forum except that it showed up as a link at Naked Capitalism, where there's generally good economics posts and interesting links.
Except, not always. In today's news, Publius is trying to make the case that there's something fishy in Andy Stern's resignation from SEIU. Something fishy involving the black guy in the White House, naturally. All roads lead there. Only thing is, neither of his/her bits of evidence support.....much of anything:
As F. Vincent Vernuccio reports in the Washington Times, Stern has left the SEIU in pretty shabby shape.
SEIU has seen its liabilities skyrocket during the past decade. The union's liabilities totaled $7,625,832 in 2000. By 2009, they had increased almost by a factor of 16, to $120,893,259. Meanwhile, SEIU's assets barely tripled, growing from $66,632,631 in 2000 to $187,664,763 in 2009.
I dunno, maybe this person has trouble with numbers containing two commas, but lets try some basic math: 2000 assets of $66.6 million less 2000 liabilities of $7.6 million equals 2000 net worth of $59 million. 2009 assets of $187.6 million less 2009 liabilities of $120.9 million equals 2009 net worth of $66.7 million. Exactly how does an increase in net worth of $7.7 million leave the SEIU "in pretty shabby shape"?
So there's Argument #1: The Innumeracy Files.
Then we have Argument #2: Politicians Do Stuff.
For those unaware former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is under federal indictment for trying to sell the Senate seat that Obama left when he won election to the White House.
The accidental release of an un-redacted motion filed by Blagojevich's legal team has the following nugget of interest:
Blagojevich's defense team basically alleges that Obama told a certain labor union official that he (Obama) would support Valerie Jarrett's candidacy for the Senate seat. Jarrett, referred to as "Senate Candidate B", is now a senior advisor to the president.
Obama told a labor union official -- the innuendo being it was Stern -- that he would support a woman he's known for years as a senate candidate. As opposed to what? He should only support porcupines? The key to the Blago indictment is that he was trying to sell the Senate seat. Do you see any reference to money anywhere in that paragraph?
I don't think even Publius knows what point he/she's trying to make here. But I'm pretty sure Presidents talking to labor union officials about endorsements isn't actually illegal.
Not to mention, if this is all Blago's defense team has got -- he's fucked.