InfluenceUpdates Podcast 49 Notes 11/8/2018
Thanks for tuning in, IÕm Michael Watson and this is the Influence Watch Podcast. In this episode: Big left-wing influencers spend tens of millions pushing ballot measures that went down to defeat based on provisional returns, the United Auto Workers hire non-union contractors to build their embattled former president a lakefront cabin, and a liberal actress breaks with the WomenÕs March over its ties to bigoted, anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
1. As votes continue to trickle in across the nation in the midterm general elections, we can say with confidence that a number of big-time liberal influencers lit scads of money on fire pushing controversial ballot measures rejected by the public.
a. Tom Steyer, through his NextGen Climate Action political action committee, spent $22.25 million (plus another $200,000+ in in-kind support) pushing a measureÑProposition 127Ñto raise ArizonaÕs required ÒrenewableÓÑread, whatever environmentalists are okay with, at least until it becomes independently financially viable (see natural gas, which was a green-backed lower-pollution Òbridge fuelÓ until, suspiciously, hydraulic fracturing made it economical to recover on a major scale)Ñenergy percentage to 50% by 2030. 
i. For good measure, another Steyer-backed environmentalist group, the League of Conservation Voters, chipped in an additional $1 million.
ii. As of press time, Proposition 127 was losing by a margin of approximately 70-30.
b. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a California-based organization which grew by (and collects federal funds through Medicare for) providing health services to poor Angelinos suffering from HIV and related conditions, spent over $22 million to push a California measure (Proposition 10) which would have expanded rent control (a particularly bad idea given the stateÕs affordability crisis, given that almost all economists can agree that rent controls reduce the quantity and quality of housing). 
i. Three labor unionsÑthe California Teachers Association, California Nurses Association, and American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees AFSCME local 3299Ñchipped in a combined $1 million or so. One might joke theyÕve never seen a bad economic idea they didnÕt like. A union-backed advocacy group, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, also pushed the measure.
ii. Even the liberal California electorate saw past the scheme, defeating it by roughly 20 points as of press time.
c. Massachusetts labor unionsÑspecifically, the Massachusetts Nurses Association, with support from the California Nurses Association and American Federation of TeachersÑspent over $10 million pushing a ballot measure which would have dictated patient/nurse staffing levels.
i. This is a common tactic by health industry unionsÑthreaten or push a ballot measure which would make administering hospitals extremely difficult or expensive, and use the danger that the public, which doesnÕt fully comprehend the implications of the measure, will pass it to force policymakers (usually less-left-wing Democratic legislators and centrist-leaning governors in a Democratic state) to give in to union demands.
ii. With the urging of Massachusetts media (including the liberal Boston Globe), voters rejected the measure by 40 points as of press time.
iii. The SEIU hospital-workers local (United Healthcare Workers West) in California spent $17 million on a similar tactic in California, backing a measure which would have limited payments for dialysis treatments; it too failed.

2. The United Auto Workers union has egg on its face after it emerged that the union had hired non-union contracting firms to conduct work on a cabin the union is building at its Walter and May Reuther UAW Family Education Center on MichiganÕs Black Lake.
a. The union-owned cabin at the union-owned resortÑalso home to the union-owned Black Lake Golf Course, which became a symbol of the UAWÕs fiscal distress and membership decline in the 2000sÑis a perk the UAW grants to its former presidents, and Dennis Williams, who was replaced by Gary Jones this summer, is ready to kick back.
b. The problem for Williams is that the UAW he led is under federal investigation for a massive kickback scheme between the union and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) during the most recent round of contract negotiations. Senior UAW officials allegedly took $1.5 million in bribes from a Fiat Chrysler executive; while the union denies that bargaining was compromised, the Justice Department continues to investigate. 
c. Williams himself was implicated in the plea bargain testimony by a former UAW official, who alleged Williams had directed the diversion of certain funds from union training centers to cover union expenses. Williams has not been charged.
d. While it remains to be seen what will come of the wide-ranging federal investigation into corruption at the UAW, what is clear is that union ÒsolidarityÓ ends at the bottom line. It just happens to be the unionÕs bottom line.

3. And the light item involves giving kudos to a liberal Hollywood actress. You heard that rightÑtelevision actress Alyssa Milano, who has made headlines recently for get-out-the-vote efforts for liberal candidates like Texas Democratic Senate candidate Robert Francis OÕRourke, told LGBT-community newspaper The Advocate that she would not speak at future WomenÕs Marches due to some of the marchesÕ leadersÕ close ties to Louis Farrakhan, leader of the extremist group Nation of Islam.
a. To get an idea of why Milano, who has spoken at WomenÕs Marches in the past, might want to dis-associate from the group, recall that in February 2018, WomenÕs March, Inc., co-president (and March co-organizer) Tamika Mallory attended a Chicago speech given by Farrakhan, during which he took numerous derogatory swipes at Jewish people. Farrakan, echoing ancient and modern anti-Semitic tropes, denounced the ÒJewish controlled media,Ó called Jews Òchildren of the devilÓ and members of the Òsynagogue of Satan,Ó and blamed Jews for the Òdegenerate behavior in Hollywood turning men into women and women into men.Ó 
b. Because they appeared to endorse FarrakhanÕs rank bigotry, Milano said she wouldnÕt speak at future WomenÕs Marches if the organization is still led by Mallory and her colleague Linda Sarsour, who has also associated with Farrakhan.
c. Especially in light of the recent neo-Nazi attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue, it is critical that people on the Left and the Right oppose anti-Semitism wherever it appears. Kudos to Milano for putting whatÕs right before what is politically convenient.
ThatÕs our show for this week. If youÕre listening to this on Youtube we encourage you to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher and if you have subscribed, thank you and please leave us a five-star rating. WeÕll see you next week!