Ed Schultz Funded By Unions?
Remember when Ed Schultz was upset by revelations that Fox News had donated $1.5 to the Republican Governor’s Association which, in turn, helped elect people like Wisconsin’s Scott Walker? A man who has become a whipping boy for the unions thanks to his labor law reforms?
Well, it turns out that Schultz has been raking in big money from the unions, all while attacking the unions’ enemies like Scott Walker:
In fiscal 2011, Schultz received $190,000 from the Communications Workers of America for what the U.S. Department of Labor categorized as “representational activities.”
For swag like that, you’d think Schultz could at least get it right about the CWA name. Instead, he invariably refers to it as the “Communication” Workers of America when its president, Larry Cohen, is a guest on Schultz’s radio show, as Cohen often is.
Schultz also received $9,900 in fiscal 2011 from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), putting his union haul for the year at almost $200,000.
This represented a fivefold increase over the $37,350 Schultz received from unions in fiscal 2010 — $15,000 from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), $14,850 from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and $7,500 from the Communications Workers of America.
All together, Schultz has raked in over $337,000 from the unions over the last seven years, with a big uptick in payments (not surprisingly) coming after he started his MSNBC show in April of 2009. MSNBC is claiming that all of Schultz’s “speaking fees” were donated to charity, though that hardly exonerates Schultz from this cozy relationship with the unions.
The unions characterized the payments – disclosed to the Labor Department in accordance with federal law – as being for “union administration,” “political activities” and “representational activities.” I can’t imagine that Schultz was spending his free time down at the union headquarters stapling forms and licking envelopes. I don’t think he was representing the unions in contract negotiations when off-the-clock.
Clearly, these are payments to Schultz in exchange for being a pro-union voice in the media. Which is all well and good, I guess, but it’s something an ethical person would disclose so that viewers know the fat-head blowhard they’re seeing on their television screens is more than a man with an opinion, but actually a paid operative.
And Schultz has a history of this sort of pay-to-play. Before he was a national media personality, he was a talk radio host and sports broadcaster here in North Dakota who was, I think it’s fair to say, right of center. He drifted left over the years, but it wasn’t until a group of Democrat politicians got together – including North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan – and raised funds to get Schultz a national radio show that he made the sharp left turn to where he’s at today.
Tags: Asshats, ed schultz, North Dakota News
