Washington still inflating COVID death numbers........
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Biden’s pick for Labor secretary thrills union bosses... California no longer feels like a beacon of liberty........
FEBRUARY 2021
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LIVING LIBERTY A Publication of the Freedom Foundation
Alek Skarlatos, hero of 2015 terrorist attack on French train, joins FF team
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Freedom Foundation PO Box 552 Olympia, WA 98507
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t the Freedom Foundation, we like to believe all our staff members are notable for the courageous work they do every day in our battle against the foes of liberty. But the latest addition to our roster of heroes literally personifies the word. Alek Skarlatos, who joined the organization in January as national director of development, was one of three U.S. citizens who in 2015 disarmed a terrorist aboard a French passenger train, saving countless lives in the process. For his efforts, Skarlatos, an Army veteran of the war in Afghanistan, was awarded the Solidier’s Medal, in addition to the Legion of Honor by the French government. He later portrayed himself in the 2018 Clint Eastwood film, “The 15:17 to Paris” and was even invited to be a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars.” Skarlatos ran unsuccessfully for Congress from his home state of Oregon in 2020. “I was honestly trying my best to kill or restrain him,” Skarlatos said of grappling with a 31-year-old Moroccan national who boarded the Paris-bound train in Brussels armed with a Soviet Kalashnikov rifle, nine clips with 30 rounds each, an auto-
By JEFF RHODES, VP for News & Information
matic pistol and a box cutter. Skarlatos was on vacation with two friends and all three jumped the assailant moments after he began firing. Skarlatos wrestled the pistol from the terrorist’s hand and attempted to fire it, but the weapon failed. French president François Hollande hailed the exploits of Skarlatos, his friends Spencer Stone and Anthony Sadler, as well as British businessman Chris Norman, noting the men “faced (off) with terror” and “gave us a lesson in courage, in will, and therefore in hope.” Skarlatos in November lost a bitterly contested race for Congress with long-time Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio, who needed millions of dollars from out-of-state donors to hold off the young upstart. He became familiar with the Freedom Foundation during his campaign and was eager to join the team when the offer was extended. “We’re not only honored to have a man with Alek’s courage and character representing the Freedom Foundation,” said Aaron Withe, the organization’s national director. “We’re also excited to be working with someone with his energy and ideas. We think this is a perfect fit for us.” Skarlatos agreed. “Like a lot of people in this organization, I started out an admirer of the Freedom Foundation, and now I’m proud to say I work here.” As the Freedom Foundation continues its relentless growth into other states, Skarlatos will play a key role in securing financing. “We have big plans moving forward as an organization,” Withe said, “and Alek is going to be a major part of all that.”
VOLUME 32, ISSUE 1
Our mission is to advance individual liberty, free enterprise, and limited, accountable government.
Publisher: Tom McCabe Editor: Jeff Rhodes
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LIVING LIBERTY
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A PUBL ICAT ION O F THE FREEDOM FOUNDATION
CONTENTS PAGE 3 LEADERSHIP MEMO By TOM McCABE Mail-in ballots helped libs steal Washington’s 2004 governor’s race, and now they’ve gone national.
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PAGE 4 THE CASE FOR FREEDOM By MAXFORD NELSEN Freedom Foundation backs union transparency measure.
By ZACHARY STEBER Reprinted from THE EPOCH TIMES Washington still inflating COVID death rate.
THE FACE OF FREEDOM
What They Said & What They Meant
By JEFF RHODES Washington’s claim that COVID killed 99-year-old woman comes as a major surprise to her daughter.
PAGES 6-7 THE CASE FOR FREEDOM By AARON WITHE Reprinted from the REDSTATE.com Biden’s pick for Labor Secretary thrills union leaders — for all the wrong reasons.
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OREGON UPDATE
By HUNTER TOWER Pennsylvania no longer feels like a beacon of freedom. By MAXFORD NELSEN 2021 Washington legislative session opens with hearings on illegal capital gains tax.
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SPOTLIGHT ON CALIFORNIA
By PARKER HOLLINGSHEAD
“The labor movement and the Democrats are working people’s last hope. So we have to start acting like it. There’s too much at stake for business as usual. We need to change the conversation and remember who we are. ”
By SAM COLEMAN
SEIU 503’s federal reports show union’s membership in decline.
Unions respond to opt-out pitch with their usual lies.
By JASON DUDASH & MIKE NEARMAN Reprinted from the BEND BULLETIN
By SAM COLEMAN That 350-member hole SEIU 721 denies we blew in its membership just grew to 650.
Capitol staff gets raise for ‘COVID’ inconvenience.
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FREEDOM IN ACTION
By CHRIS TALGO Reprinted from THE HILL Inflated COVID-19 death counts could cause vaccination trepidation.
MARTY WALSH, Boston Mayor and President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for Secretary of Labor.
Nothing in this publication should be construed as an attempt to aid or hinder the election of any elected official or candidate.
Freedom Foundation’s Friends, Foes Weigh in On Our Actions.
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FREEDOM IN THE NEWS
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ACTION TIMELINE
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A PUBL ICAT ION OF THE FREEDOM FOUNDATION
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LEADERSHIP
Voter fraud enabled libs to steal the 2004 Washington governor’s race, and now they’ve gone national y now, it’s become painfully obvious the nation as a whole learned the same lesson during the 2020 election Washingtonians were taught in 2004: In a close race, don’t bet on the best candidate. Bet on the side with the means and motive to benefit from voter fraud. Back then, I was CEO of the Building Industry Association of Washington, which donated millions to Republican State Sen. Dino Rossi’s run for governor, giving me a frontrow seat for the nine-week melodrama that concluded with Democrat Christine Gregoire eaking out a razor-thin — and thoroughly compromised — victory. And the tool of choice was mail-in ballots. In those days, Washingtonians — like residents of every other state — voted primarily at polling places. So-called “absentee ballots” were available, but they were largely used by voters who either anticipated being out of town on Election Day and needed to vote ahead of time or were stationed overseas in the military. The practice ceased to be optional in 2011, when the state became among the first in the nation to vote by mail only. To hear liberals tell it, turning over the machinery of democracy to the tender mercies of the U.S. Postal Service is the right thing to do because it makes the voting process more convenient. But so does allowing people to vote without first showing proper identification — another popular leftist ploy — and both virtually assure more opportunities to cheat. In 2004, for example, Rossi held a healthy lead on election night, Nov. 2. But in heavily Democratic King County — by far Washington’s largest — more than 60 percent of voters had mysteriously decided to cast absentee ballots. While the world waited, Democratic operatives in the elections office stalled as party operatives tried desperately to manufacture more votes. At the end of the first machine count on Nov. 17, Rossi had 261 votes than Gregoire. Because the margin was well within the standard for a recount, however, a second tally was conducted on Nov. 24, with Rossi’s margin cut to 42 votes. At this point, government unions paid for a hand recount, and the game was on. King County Elections Director Dean Logan (surprise, a Democrat) announced on Dec. 13 that 561 absentee ballots had been wrongly rejected due to an administrative error. The next day, workers retrieving voting machines from precinct storage claimed to have found an additional 12 ballots, bringing the total to 572 newly discovered. On Dec. 17, county workers miraculously discovered a tray in a warehouse with an additional 162 previously uncounted ballots. Altogether, 723 ballots were discovered in King County during the manual hand recount. Gregoire was ultimately elected governor by 130 votes, with her entire margin of victory having been literally found by partisan Democrats in the days and weeks after two objective machine counts determined Rossi was the winner.
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LIVING LIBERTY
King County officials simply waited until the state’s other 38 counties By TOM McCABE, CEO had turned in their vote counts. King County then knew exactly how many votes needed to be manufactured to swing the election to Gregoire. Then, as now, the basic idea is still the same, and it starts with mail-in ballots that elections officials in heavily Democratic urban counties stubbornly refuse to finish counting until the rest of the state has turned in their totals and the Left knows how many votes it has to invent. You’d think by now conservative counties would know better and withhold their results until liberal strongholds like Seattle, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago and others with a documented history of vote fraud had already tipped their hand. How many times do they have to be disenfranchised before reality sinks in? In November, Joe Biden won 417 counties across the nation — a record low 17 percent — compared to Donald Trump’s 2,497. He also lost support among blacks and Hispanics, lost 18 of 19 so-called “bellwether” counties, lost Florida, Ohio and Iowa, and lost 27 of 27 “toss-up” seats in the House of Representatives. But after-election vote tabulating in the dead of night behind closed doors in liberal counties found just enough votes to swing the election. “When the Freedom Most people — even those Foundation says whose votes are invalidated by floods of bogus ballots — it exists to free would still be reluctant to go government back to voting on Election Day at their local precinct, employees from but there’s another way. mandatory union It takes money to pull off theft on such a staggering membership and scale, and in recent years dues, that’s only much of it has been funneled to liberal campaigns and half the equation. causes by government unions The other half is that have long enjoyed carte reducing the undue blanche to pick the pockets of millions of public employees. influence over the When the Freedom Foungoverning process dation says it exists to free government employees from purchased by this mandatory membership and powerful special dues, that’s only half the equation. The other half is interest with somereducing the undue influence one else’s money.” over the governing process purchased by this powerful special interest with someone else’s money. In 2004, and again in 2020, we were given a practical demonstration of how it happens, who’s doing it and why it has to be stopped.
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A P U B LICAT ION O F T HE FR EED OM FOUNDAT ION
THE CASE FOR FREEDOM
Washington still inflating COVID death rate
By ZACHARY STIEBER Reprinted from THE EPOCH TIMES Dec. 17, 2020
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death certificate analysis shows that the number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Washington state remains inflated, according to a new investigation. The Freedom Foundation, a free-market think tank, published research in May claiming the COVID-19 death total from the state’s Department of Health was inflated by as much as 13 percent by counting every person who tested positive for the disease, even if the death wasn’t caused by it. State officials subsequently admitted that some deaths reported as caused by COVID-19 ended up not being caused by the disease. A handful of deaths were actually from gunshot wounds, Katie Hutchinson, health statistics manager at the Washington State Department of Health (DOH), told reporters in a phone briefing. Officials were looking into 3,000 certificates that indicated symptoms similar to COVID-19 but were unclear as to whether COVID-19 caused the death. An internal email also revealed Hutchinson saying that “in theory,” the Freedom Foundation report author was “correct” in saying a person who tested positive for COVID-19 and died in a car accident a month later would be counted as a COVID-19 death. About one month later, on June 17, health officials reported a change in counting COVID-19 deaths. “Until now, when a death is reported as a COVID-19 death, it is because the person who passed away also tested positive for COVID-19. However, this method doesn’t just reflect the deaths of people whose deaths were caused by COVID-19; it can include someone who may have died of
other causes,” the department said in a press release. But a new analysis by the Freedom Foundation shows that Washington health officials are still over-reporting COVID-19 deaths, potentially by hundreds of deaths. The foundation analyzed nearly 2,000 death certificates and found no reference to COVID-19 on 170 of them. Another 171 only referenced COVID-19 as a possible “contributing factor,” the foundation stated. “Make no mistake. This isn’t an innocent accounting error we’re talking about,” Aaron Withe, national director of the Freedom Foundation, said in a statement. “This is a state agency under the authority of Gov. Jay Inslee that continues to misrepresent the number of people who have died of COVID even after it was already caught doing the same thing.” In an emailed statement, Mike Faulk, a spokesman for Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, told The Epoch Times: “These twisted political efforts to disappear those who have died from COVID-19 are unpersuasive and in very poor taste. We mourn the lives lost. We will continue to fight to save lives. You may contact the state Department of Health for more on their data collection and how it is vastly superior to whatever it is this unqualified dark money think tank is trying to accomplish.” The DOH and Washington State Health Secretary John Wiesman didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment from The Epoch Times. Inslee in May said the death count was based on “the official documents, the best
information we have from the local health officials.” “We’re making decisions on the best data that is available,” he said, criticizing “the conspiracy theories that are fanning people’s efforts to go out and do what this group did.” On Dec. 10, state health officials said they were making another change to how they report deaths from COVID-19. Instead of listing a preliminary cause of death, officials will only use the official registered cause of death on the DOH dashboard. Officials will no longer assume a death is caused by COVID-19 if the person who died tested positive for the disease more than 28 days prior to their death. Until the change, officials correlated positive COVID-19 lab results up to 60 days prior to death. The changes will provide “more precise reporting,” officials said in a statement. “These changes will result in an adjustment of death totals, including a removal of some deaths from figures made public. Initially, 214 previously reported deaths will be removed from the dashboard. We expect approximately 152 of those reported deaths will be added back once the cause of death is investigated and officially determined to be due to COVID-19. We anticipate this process will take about two weeks,” the DOH stated. The same situation has played out in other states, The Epoch Times found in July. At least 22 states have counted in their COVID-19 statistics cases or deaths that hadn’t been confirmed with a diagnostic test. These “probable” cases are determined based on symptoms and other general characteristics, the investigation found at the time. The definition was one of six ways the accuracy of COVID-19 data is diluted, The Epoch Times reported.
Freedom Foundation backs union transparency reg
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n mid-December, the Freedom Foundation submitted formal comments in support of a regulation proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) that would, if implemented, modernize and enhance financial transparency requirements for unions designed to discover and deter malfeasance by union officials by allowing union-represented workers to monitor their union’s financial and business dealings. OLMS oversees and administers the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), which was passed in 1959 following a lengthy Congressional investigation into corruption in the labor movement. Part of the law requires unions representing private-sector employees, even if they also represent public employees, to file publicly available financial reports annually with OLMS, which determines the specific reporting requirements through its regulations. These regulations were last altered by the Bush administration in 2004. DOL implemented additional enhancements to the reporting requirements in 2008, but they were rescinded by the Obama administration in 2009. During the Trump administration, DOL proposed three new regulations designed to promote
By MAXFORD NELSEN, Labor Policy Director
unions’ financial transparency and deter misconduct by union officials. The first regulation, proposed in May 2019 and finalized in March 2020, extended financial reporting requirements to certain union-operated trust funds, requiring them to begin annually filing a new Form T-1. The Freedom Foundation submitted a comment supporting the rule and suggesting various improvements, many of which were incorporated into DOL’s final rule. The second regulation, proposed in December 2019, would extend existing financial reporting requirements to “intermediate bodies” — union affiliates that organizationally exist below an LMRDA-covered national union headquarters but above its local union affiliates. The primary effect of the regulation would be to give union-represented public employees more information about how their union dues are spent. As with the T-1 rule, the Freedom Foundation submitted a comment to DOL backing the ruling and making suggestions for improvements. However, DOL has yet to issue
What’re you lookin’ at?
a final regulation. The third and most recent proposal would enhance the detail required in unions’ annual LM-2 reports and create a new “long form” LM-2 report for the nation’s largest unions. While the proposed changes are too many to explain in detail, the Freedom Foundation lauded several of the more significant changes and made several suggestions for additional improvements in its formal comments submitted to DOL. Among other things, the proposed changes would increase the level of detail surrounding unions’ political activities and lobbying. The regulation would also require unions to provide additional details about membership categories and participation and disclose more information about sources of union funds other than dues, potentially including for
eign business rela tionships. However, as the public comment period just closed, it is unlikely that DOL will finalize the proposed regulation before the upcoming change of administrations in January. On the campaign trail, Joe Biden clearly stated his unwavering support for labor unions, meaning DOL is unlikely to follow through with the regulation under his administration. Still, the years-long federal investigation into the corrupt dealings of the United Auto Workers — which resulted in 15 convictions of high-ranking union officials and will result in at least six years of federal oversight of the union — should serve as a timely reminder of the need to put the interests of American workers, who would benefit from increased union transparency and less union malfeasance, before those of crooked union executives.
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A PUBL ICAT ION OF THE FREEDOM FOUNDATION
THE FACE OF FREEDOM
Freedom Foundation complaint alleges CSLEA reporting only a fraction of its political spending
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n. Jan. 5, the Freedom Foundation filed a campaign finance complaint against the California State Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) alleging more than five years — and millions of dollars — worth of illegal political spending of its members’ dues. You may remember CSLEA as the union that attempted to continue deducting dues from more than 130 California lifeguards’ paychecks even after they submitted the forms necessary to opt out of union participation. We were successful in stopping dues for more than 100 of the lifeguards and launched litigation to fight for the others. Today, the Freedom Foundation continues to fight for the rights of CSLEA’s dues payers by exposing the union as the corrupt political machine that it is. According to CSLEA’s website, each member has $28 deducted per month that directly goes to political spending. In other words, CSLEA’s 5,123 members are all paying roughly $336 per year — a grand total of $1.7 million every year — to support the union’s favored candidates and causes. Since the deductions come out automatically — and have since the worker first agreed to join — it’s likely few even realize it’s happening … especially since it’s not listed on CSLEA membership forms obtained from lifeguards we helped leave the union. While $1.7 million is an eye-popping amount from a union that only represents about 7,000 members, it’s how CSLEA reports these kinds of payments that caught our attention. California Government Code 84302 clearly lists how an intermediary group is supposed to legally report campaign contributions that come from a single source and exceed more than $100 in a calendar year. CSLEA is required to report
By SAM COLEMAN, California Outreach Director
the contributor’s first and last name, street address, occupation and the name of their employer. However, on campaign finance documents, CSLEA simply lists the donors name as “From CSLEA as intermediary for individuals under $100.” How is that even possible? How can CSLEA clearly state on its own website that it collects $336 yearly from every member but the donations to their PAC is less than $100 per person? The answer is that CSLEA doesn’t have one PAC … it has five. In an attempt to conceal the name, amount and number of donors, CSLEA created multiple “shell” PACs whose only purpose is to spread money around in an attempt to flout campaign finance laws. In other words, it’s created a dark-money group. While CSLEA has five PACs on paper, only three have registered with the IRS. In other words, at least two of their PAC’s don’t exist, they only exist on paper. The good news is that California’s laws for campaign finance disclosure do not allow for this kind of clever accounting, and we believe CSLEA will be held to account for its misdeeds. We have filed this campaign finance complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) and will continue to provide updates as the story develops.
Washington’s claim that COVID killed 99-year-old comes as news to daughter
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he grief of losing her 99-year-old mother to the effects of an accidental fall should have been enough to bear. But imagine Christina Frye’s astonishment, and then anger, when she discovered the state of Washington’s Department of Health had deliberately falsified the cause of death to make it appear her mother was a victim of COVID-19. And to top it off, Frye first learned about the state’s deceit when she saw the story on TV. Frye, a resident of Tumwater, Wash., just happened to be watching Fox News on Dec. 17, when Freedom Foundation Labor Policy Director Max Nelsen made his second appearance of the year with host Laura Ingraham to discuss the results of research clearly showing state health officials were overstating the number of COVID deaths to justify Gov. Jay Inslee’s decision to close businesses, kill jobs and compel Washington residents to walk around wearing surgical masks. After weeks spent trying to persuade to state to surrender the COVID statistics, Nelsen discovered literally dozens of cases in which the deceased had, at one point, contracted the virus but later died of something else entirely. When Nelsen originally announced his findings last spring, Inslee publicly denounced the Freedom Foundation and denied the numbers had been manipulated. But the Department of Health later discreetly announced — without acknowledging Nelsen or the organization — that it would change its reporting standards. But when Nelsen did a follow-up check in December, the same errors cropped up, including
By JEFF RHODES, VP for News & Information
the listing of a 99-year-old female whose death certificate listed the cause of death as injuries suffered in a fall. When Nelsen alluded to the case on Ingraham’s show, Frye thought the circumstances sounded familiar. She contacted Nelsen the next day and confirmed they were talking about her mother. “She did have COVID, but she had recovered,” Frye told Ingraham when she was interviewed on camera from the Freedom Foundation offices on Jan. 19. “We’re not sure how many other people have had to go through this, but my mom did not die of COVID. She had recovered and was moving on with her life.” Nelsen, whose analysis has even shown gunshot victims classified as COVID victims, delined to speculate about the state’s motives, but noted, “In government, there’s very little incentive for an agency to understate the severity of whatever problem it happens to be working on.” What can be dismissed as harmless budget-fudging during other times, however, becomes a far more urgent matter during a worldwide health “crisis.” “Health officials may think it’s OK to exaggerate a little if the end result is to make us all more aware of a serious situation,” Nelsen said. “But all things considered, I think we’d all just as soon hear the truth and make up our own minds.”
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What They
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What They What he said: “The Freedom Foundation is a group of rightwing extremists and Tom McCabe should be thrown in jail.”
What he meant:
“Meanwhile, left-
wing extremists should be free KEN BRANHAM to continue burn- The Dalles, Ore. ing buildings, Former member destroying Ironworkers 29 property and Facebook post threatening lives Dec. 28, 2020 ... and all in the name of peace and diversity. OK, I know it’s a recipe for anarchy and no one would support my vision if I were honest about it. That’s why we need to throw everyone with a different point of view from mine into prison.” n n n What she said: “All workers need strong unions so they have the power to bargain with their super rich bosses.” What she meant: “Including, of course, the strongest unions of all these days — those repre-
senting government employees, whose ‘super-rich employers’ are actually ordinary taxpayers like you and me. And in far too many cases, they’re bargaining with politicians CYMANTHA the unions BURKLE have already Elma, Wash. corrupted Facebook post with someJan. 1 , 2021 one else’s dues money. Tell me again which side has too much power.” n n n What she said: “The Freedom Foundation is all about keeping people poor and powerless to increase their own profits. Evil.”
What she meant: “In fact, the Freedom Foundation is engaged exclusively with publicsector unions, which claim to represent workers paid with tax dollars, not cor- BECKY KILPATRICK porate profits. Friday Harbor, Wash. On the contrary, Facebook post it’s the unions Jan. 2, 2021 who are desperate to keep these workers powerless in terms of their ability to decide for themselves whether to remain in a union or opt out. Evil.”
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A P U B LICAT ION O F T HE FR EED OM FOUNDAT ION
THE CASE FOR FREEDOM
Biden’s pick for Labor thrills union bosses — for all the wrong reasons
By AARON WITHE, National Director
By AARON WITHE Reprinted from REDSTATE.com Jan. 13, 2021
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oe Biden, the nation’s presumptive president-elect, signaled with his choice on Thursday of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to serve as Labor secretary that he means to keep his promise to craft the most union-compliant administration in history. Good news for the nation’s labor leaders, but not so much for the rank and file — and a looming disaster for the 89 percent of American workers who aren’t represented by a union but whose taxes will now be used to generate a handsome return on the sizeable investment unions made in Biden’s candidacy. Walsh, one-time president of the Boston Building and Construction Trades Council, checks all the boxes as far as the left is concerned. For the record, however, the official mission statement of the U.S. Department of Labor says nothing about unions. In fact, the agency exists to: “…foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the United States; (to) improve working conditions; (to) advance opportunities for profitable employment; and, (to) assure work-related benefits and rights.” For Democratic presidents, of course, those objectives can only be achieved through union membership, and the post must be filled by someone whose slavish devotion to organized labor is beyond question. Walsh fills the bill, and other union scions quickly voiced their approval. “Marty is a star, and he could hit the ground running as far as dealing with the issues and impact on working families,” American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) President Lee Saunders said even before the appointment was announced. “He’s a card-carrying union member who has executive experience running a large city. There’s no doubt he’d be a high-profile and passionate fighter for workers’ rights.” “I think Marty Walsh is a great idea for labor secretary,” echoed American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten, insisting he both understands labor and has a close relationship with the president-elect, which would be important in advancing a pro-labor agenda. And when the interests of Big Labor conflict with those of individual workers, there’s little question in the minds of Weingarten, et al, where Walsh’s loyalties must lie. Case in point, Biden has already publicly declared he supports changing federal policy so that “there is no Right to Work (laws) allowed anywhere in the country.” President-in-waiting Kamala Harris, likewise, was bitterly critical of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Janus v. AFSCME, which outlawed mandatory union membership and payment of dues and/or so-called “agency fees” for government employees. Harris preposterously asserted it is a “basic American premise” that all workers subject to union monopoly-bargaining control should be forced to bankroll the union as a job condition, whether or not they personally benefit from unionization. By definition, allowing workers to decide for themselves whether to support a union and its activities is entirely consistent with the DOL’s duty to “foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the United States.”
By contrast, compelling millions of public employees to bankroll with their dues dollars a powerful special interest and the almost-exclusively ultra-liberal political candidates and causes its leaders prefer is the essence of oppression. Not surprisingly, while government employee unions are going gaga over Walsh’s selection, private-sector unions are somewhat more muted in their praise. According to Politico, the United Auto Workers and Utility Workers Union of America sent letters to Biden’s transition team backing another candidate, as did the National Nurses United, the Communications Workers of America and the United Farm Workers of America. That Biden chose to curry favor with actors like AFSCME, AFT, the National Education Association, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the Teamsters and others presuming to speak for millions of government employees only exposes the fallacy of the modern labor landscape. Where once unions were necessary to fight against child labor abuses and in favor of workplace safety standards, membership in
the private sector has shrunk to its lowest levels in decades because most of those duties have been assumed by government regulators, and workers see little reason to pay exorbitant dues for a service they no longer need. In the public sector, however, union membership numbers remain inflated because government employees are compensated with higher taxes rather than profits. And because, until Janus, workers had little hope of opting out, allowing unions to confiscate billions of dollars in dues every year with which to corrupt politicians only too willing to do their bidding. Modern unions in general and government employee unions in particular have morphed into little more than the funding arm of the political left. In recent years, with the passage of Janus and other reforms, the endless cycle of more government and less accountability had been slowed noticeably. Joe Biden, however, is determined to roll back these gains. And now we know his choice to be point man for the assault on our freedoms. Aaron Withe is national director for the Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy organization advocating for free markets and limited, accountable government.
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THE CASE FOR FREEDOM
Pennsylvania no longer a beacon of liberty
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uring December, Pennsylvanians got passed over yet again by state government and the elected leaders who are bought and paid for by the union bosses. According to a report by PennLive, state government officials made it almost impossible for homeowners and tenants to navigate and receive the federal CARES Act money allocated to them. Keep in mind, these are the same individuals who received more than $10 million in political contributions from the state’s union bosses to keep them in office and on the “right” team. As the report states, “Pennsylvania created two new housing programs to spend money it received under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act — $150 million for rent relief and $25 million for mortgage help.” Except the programs expired Nov. 30. The
By HUNTER TOWER, Pennsylvania Director
deadlines weren’t publicized and, as it turns out, $108 million was left unspent. Now where is that money going, you might ask: To the taxpayers? To struggling businesses? To newly unemployed Pennsylvanians? Nope. All $108 million “left unspent” will go to the state Department of Corrections. Let that sink in. How will the Department of Corrections help you pay bills or put food on the table? It’s beyond absurd what state government officials are doing with taxpayer money and federal relief aid meant for We the People. Your Freedom Foundation asked Penn-
sylvania Gov. Tom Wolf back in March to temporarily suspend public-sector union dues to grant relief to hardworking Pennsylvanians, and he snubbed his nose at that option. Now again, Pennsylvanians see him choosing to expand government instead of helping his constituents in need. After months of delays, Congress finalized a second round of federal relief, which will total $900 billion back into the nation’s economy with most people earning under $100,000 receiving a check of $600. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that if government would take its boot off the neck of the private sector, let people get back to business and earning their own living, the measly $600 checks wouldn’t be necessary and people wouldn’t be dependent on the government to pay their rent or mortgage.
Article VII, Section 1 Washington State Constitution: “All taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of property within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax and shall be levied and collected for public purposes only. The word ‘property’ as used herein shall mean and include everything, whether tangible or intangible, subject to ownership.”
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he first bill to receive a hearing before the powerful Washington State Senate Ways and Means Committee during the 2021 legislative session, which began this week, seeks to impose a capital gains income tax on Washington residents. Introduced by Sen. June Robinson (D-Everett), SB 5096 is the latest in a long-series of attempts to fuel government growth by layering a new income tax on top of the high sales, property, gas and business and operating taxes already paid by Washington residents and business owners. While proponents typically claim their income tax proposals target only the wealthy, Washington voters — perhaps knowing that new taxes have a tendency to creep in scope and raise costs for everyone — have consistently rejected attempts to impose a state income tax at the ballot box. The last time an income tax measure appeared on the ballot, in 2010, it was defeated by nearly two-thirds of state voters. Income tax proposals face legal hurdles, as well. Article VII of the Washington State Constitution requires that any taxes on property must be “uniform,” meaning that “the same class of property” cannot be taxed at differing rates. Common sense and Washington State Supreme Court precedent both confirm that a person’s “income” counts as their “property” and, therefore, must be taxed at a “uniform” rate.
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2021 Washington legislative session opens with hearings on illegal capital gains tax Progressive activists, however, have historically been uninterested in equal tax rates, seeking instead to impose punitive taxes requiring that, the more income one has, the larger percentage the state takes. When the city of Seattle in 2017 passed an income tax targeting only persons with income exceeding $250,000 per year, the Freedom Foundation and others challenged the tax in court on behalf of Seattle residents, and ultimately succeeded in persuading state courts to strike it down as unconstitutional. Unfortunately, some state policymakers — apparently both unconcerned by the precarious economic situation of many Washingtonians weathering the COVID-19 pandemic and Gov. Jay Inslee’s never-ending lockdowns, and unsatisfied with ballooning state budgets and increasing revenue from existing taxes — have decided this is the year to try to pile on new taxes.
By MAXFORD NELSEN, Labor Policy Director
As written, SB 5096 would tax capital gains income derived from the sale of certain types of property at a rate of 9 percent. Because lawmakers know targeted, unequal income/property taxes are subject to legal challenge, they’ve taken to calling their proposal an “excise tax” instead. And because of past resistance to income tax measures, SB 5096’s sponsor has included an “emergency clause” in the bill so that, if passed, the bill will take effect immediately and could not be placed on the ballot for a public vote via a citizens’ referendum. While the Freedom Foundation again stands ready to challenge this misguided and unconstitutional new tax in court if passed by the Legislature, it’s always preferable that bad ideas simply never become law.
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SEIU 503’s federal report confirms its membership still experiencing decline
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t the Freedom Foundation, we tell public employees when their union dues or fees support political causes. And most of the time, we get to tell workers they have a choice. The bad news just keeps coming for SEIU 503 — and the leftist politicians it exists to support with someone else’s money. Oregon’s largest government employee union had been on a de-
By PARKER HOLLINGSHEAD, Paralegal
cades-long winning streak prior to June 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed in Janus v. AFSCME that mandatory union membership and/or agency fees in the public sector are a violation of the workers’ Consti-
Oregon Update
A closer look at the successes being achieved by the Freedom Foundation’s office in the Beaver State.
tutional rights. Knowing the union had no intention of notifying its members of this landmark decision, the Freedom Foundation developed and distributed mail, emails, texts and other materials to SEIU 503 members all over Oregon to inform them of their rights. And it worked. SEIU 503’ 2017 LM-2 report filed with the U.S. Department of Labor claimed the union had 58,384 members/ fee-payers. However, by 2018 — the year Janus was decided — that number had already been whittled down to 45,741. And with fewer paychecks to be plundered came a major reduction in the amount of dues money the union was able to spend influencing Oregon politics. By the end of 2019, in fact, the Freedom Foundation’s Opt-Out Campaign cut SEIU 503’s political spending by more than 60 percent. This was a victory for the Freedom Foundation — and for the people of Oregon, who now won’t have to fund political causes they don’t agree with. And the trend has only continued. According to the union’s newest report, membership declined yet again in 2020 – for the third year in a row since Janus – meaning that, in total, SEIU 503 has lost at least 15,284 members/fee payers since the decision, resulting in a $3.6 million reduction in dues revenue and a $3 million drop in spending on political and lobbying activities. More importantly, however, thousands of free Americans were able to keep more of the money they had earned, rather than watching as it was confiscated by an organization that handed it over to candidates and causes they didn’t support.
Capitol staff gets pay raise for COVID ‘inconvenience’ By JASON DUDASH & MIKE NEARMAN Reprinted from the BEND BULLETIN Jan. 7, 2021
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n early-December memo from Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney and House Speaker Tina Kotek outlined state lawmakers’ budget for the six-month legislative session that kicks off this month. That budget should prioritize helping Oregon families and businesses safely resume their livelihoods, their educations, and their well-being, while recognizing the need to pare back on unnecessary government expenses to free up resources to address the COVID-19 pandemic. A memo from leaders Courtney and Kotek informed each lawmaker they could expect a 10 percent increase for the 2021 session, and legislative staffers will receive a monthly stipend to help offset potential costs and other inconveniences that come with needing to work from home. These inconveniences presumably include spending less on gasoline and other travel expenses during their non-commute. Working from home has saved most Americans hundreds of dollars in gasoline, reduced their food costs, and freed up countless hours of commutes. It’s hard to understand how savings for ordinary Americans are considered hardships that need to be remedied by more taxpayer dollars for government workers. While additional income is undoubtedly welcomed by those on the receiving
end, to Oregonians still waiting on unemployment benefits during their government-imposed hiatus from work, the increase seems incredibly tone deaf. Add government pay raises to the ever-growing list of examples showcasing how those in the private sector have been forced to bear the brunt of the economic impacts of the pandemic while government employees, who have never had to miss a paycheck— and who enjoy an estimated 13 percent compensation premium compared to their private sector counterparts— get to decide whose livelihoods are essential enough to survive. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown released her own budget recommendations for the next biennium, which include $190 million in salary increases and benefits for Oregon’s public employees. In the private sector, a CEO that wants to raise salaries has to find a way to cut other costs or increase productivity. Not so in government, were politicians who vote to raise public employee salaries are rewarded with the support and campaign contributions of public employee unions. It’s easy for politicians who have never worked in the private sector and have no fear of losing their livelihoods due to arbitrary, politically motivated and unconstitutional sanctions imposed on them to overlook that distinction. Meanwhile, 10,000 American
restaurants—nearly 17 percent—permanently closed in 2020. More than one-third of Oregon restaurant owners say they could close in the next six months, and Brown wants to fine and jail business owners who are fighting to stay afloat. What is the point of fining a business in danger of economic failure, beyond malicious punishment for refusing to obey government officials drunk with power? It’s bad enough that taxpayers aren’t getting a reprieve from their tax bills while suffering a government-imposed economic shutdown. It is a thumb in the eye of those taxpayers when the people who take their money expect to enrich themselves in the process. Americans and their businesses are suffering as a result of mandated shutdowns all over the country. Yet liberal politicians continue to spend taxpayer money that may soon cease to exist. Those politicians need to realize soon that the taxes that were previously generated from the businesses they shut down are not going to magically re-appear. Rather than pretending their edicts have no cost, our “leaders” in government should be cutting their own spending across the board in order to help the businesses and people who have suffered as a result of their arbitrary shutdowns. Jason Dudash is the Freedom Foundation’s Oregon director; Mike Nearman, a member of the Oregon House of Representatives, is a Freedom Foundation senior fellow.
LIVING LIBERTY
Unions respond to opt-out pitch with their usual lies
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n response to the Freedom Foundation’s spectacularly successful holiday opt-out campaign, SEIU 721 warned its members not to get “Scrooged.” Not surprisingly, whoever concocted this half-baked analogy couldn’t produce any examples from the Charles Dickens classic in which Bob Cratchit was actually reminded of his Constitutional right to end his union dues deduction and keep nearly $800 every year to pay for Tiny Tim’s medical care Instead of addressing the reason their dues payers are leaving in droves, SEIU 721 instead tries to hatch a conspiracy involving the Koch Brothers. You read that right. After members received another mailer, SEIU 721 then put out an even more unhinged piece that truly must be read to be believed. We’ve archived a version of that post just in case they ever realize exactly how insane they sound and decide to delete it. In this post, SEIU 721 claims once again that members should not cease their dues deduction because of the
Koch Brothers, and that the Freedom Foundation is waiting in the wings to stab public employees in the back. Never mind all the lawsuits we’ve filed on behalf of public employees, free of charge, alleging their own union forged their signature on membership documents in order to continue collecting dues money even after the employee had legally opted out. In the most cringeworthy section of their rant, unions instruct public employees on what to do if they are ever contacted with the alluring offer of choosing whether they want to continue paying union dues: “So, the next time they send you a flyer in the mail, PUT IT IN THE GARBAGE. The next time they send you a message to your email, SEND IT TO THE JUNK FILE. The next time they send you a text, DELETE IT.
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A PUBLI CATION OF THE FREED OM FOU NDATION
By SAMUEL COLEMAN, Outreach Director
The next time they call you, HANG UP. And the next time they send some smiling snake to slither up to you at your worksite, TELL THEM WHERE THEY CAN GO. If that sounds harsh, remember: We’re facing some of the most uncertain times in our nation’s history and these frauds are trying to take away the one true shield we have to protect us … our union.” You need to look no further than how unions view the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, which affirmed the right of workers to decide for themselves whether a union was worth supporting with their dues. Protecting the right of free Americans to decide for themselves how to spend their own paychecks rather than giving a greedy special interest the ability to pilfer a percentage of it forever. What a radical concept.
Leak? What Leak? I don’t See any leak.
Spotlight on
California That 350-member hole SEIU 721 denies we blew in its membership just grew to 650 ... and still counting
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f you’ve been following the saga of SEIU 721’s response to the Freedom Foundation’s holiday outreach campaign, you already know that the union is in full-on panic mode after losing hundreds of members over the past few weeks. Attacks against the Freedom Foundation by SEIU 721 president Bob Schoonover, and doom-and-gloom headlines like “Don’t get Scrooged” – warning dues-payers of the insidious reality that they can choose to cease union dues deductions – have been plentiful. You’d think SEIU 721 would learn from its mistakes and try to prove its worth instead of attacking the Freedom Foundation and attempting to scare workers into union membership. But that hasn’t happened. In fact, SEIU recently doubled down on its incendiary rhetoric and posted a new story. The title? “100,000 jobless Americans – we could join them IF we lose our union.” This cheery missive was posted on Dec. 22, just in time for the holidays. Merry Christmas. The story paints a bleak reality for
By SAMUEL COLEMAN, Outreach Director
many Americans as they struggle to make mortgage payments, find work and even pay for necessities like food and clothing. This is a real problem, but not for the reasons SEUI 721 would have you believe. So what’s the cause of the problem? If you believe SEIU 721, it’s folks not signing their union membership cards. As previously reported, SEIU 721 was down more than 350 members just a few weeks after the Freedom Foundation launched an outreach campaign over the holidays. That number has since grown to more than 650. What SEIU 721 won’t tell you is that union membership isn’t the shield it’s supposed to be. Take for example SEIU 620, a union claiming to represent city employees in Southern California. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Santa Barbara was forced to lay off more than 400 employees – members of this
A closer look at the successes being achieved by the Freedom Foundation’s office in the Golden State.
SEIU local. The real world truth is that, regardless of membership, public employees owe their jobs to the stability of local budgets and tax revenue. If layoffs need to happen, they will. Unions cannot stop municipalities from becoming insolvent or raising extra tax revenue overnight (not that they won’t try). Ultimately, SEIU 721 knows this. But as the saying goes, never let a good crisis go to waste. If SEIU 721 can bend the truth, scare public employees into joining the union and con them into signing irrevocable membership contracts that will lock them into years of union dues payments all at the same time, they will. Thankfully, the Freedom Foundation is here to help. We’ve helped more than 650 SEIU 721 dues-payers end their union membership in the past few weeks, costing the union more than $520,000 every year – forever. And they’re just the beginning.
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FREEDOM in ACTION Had He ever Tested positive for Covid?
I thought so. Chalk up another death to the Virus.
Emails: “I applied to get out of the union, and I haven’t paid dues since. It has been, to date, the biggest raise that the union has ever gotten for me. Thank you all!” – MICHAEL n
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“Thank you for following up regarding my election to opt out of union dues. The Freedom Foundation website did assist me in generating a letter to opt out, and it was so easy to access and resulted in success.” – RICHARD n
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“Thank you for helping me in opting out of paying union dues. I couldn’t figure out how to do it on my own before I found your website.” – ABIGAIL n
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“I decided to donate after hearing about your organization suing the state of Washington for the involuntary mask orders. Thanks for defending our rights.” – ANDREW n
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“You and the Freedom Foundation “Rock!”, Rebecca. Thank you for your help and guidance.” – DAVID n
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““Thank you for checking up on this. It’s nice to know someone is out there trying to make sure the right thing is done!” – DEBRA “Thank you. I appreciate your help since they never responded to me.” –TAMI
Inflated COVID-19 death counts could cause vaccine trepidation By CHRIS TALGO Reprinted from THE HILL
Dec. 23, 2020
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ccording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 318,000 Americans have died from COVID-19. The pandemic has wrought pain and suffering on a massive scale. But reports are coming to light that suggest state COVID-19 death counts may be inflated, which sows public doubt, confusion and less trust in government. For example, in Colorado, a county coroner is disputing the state’s official COVID-19 death count, after the state counted two victims of a murder-suicide as fatalities of COVID-19. According to Grand County Coroner Brenda Brock, “These two people had tested positive for COVID, but that’s not what killed them. The gunshot wound killed them and it’s very misleading for you to put numbers out there saying these people died from COVID when that’s not what they died from.” Brock added, “I realize yes, you’re trying to keep count of the numbers, but you need to do it right, and these people did not die of COVID, they died of gunshot wounds and that’s how it needs to be listed.” What’s more, Brock says this problem is a statewide issue. “I got replies back from 80 percent of the coroners in the state all stating the same thing. They’ve all had the same problems, and these are in small counties, so it’s easy for us to keep track of our numbers,” said Brock. Unsurprisingly, the problem of overestimating COVID-19 deaths is not limited to Colorado. According to a new report from the Freedom Foundation, the same thing is occurring in Washington state. As the report notes, “Since the start of the pandemic, (the Washington State Department of Health) has attributed to COVID-19 the death of any person who tested positive for COVID-19 before their death. In May, the Freedom Foundation reported how this method resulted in the inclusion of deaths clearly unrelated to COVID-19. After admitting that it was attributing even deaths caused by things like
gunshot wounds to COVID-19, DOH announced it would take steps to clean up its reporting process and removed some of the most obviously inappropriate deaths from its COVID-19 tally.” However, the DOH has not implemented the necessary changes to ensure a more accurate count. As the report concludes, “The problem is when state officials represent this number to the public as the definitive number of deaths due to COVID-19, as they routinely do, without acknowledging the limitations of the information relied upon or providing context to help understand what the number really means.” In other words, when governments are not honest and transparent about how they are counting COVID-19 deaths, public trust in government declines. In fact, public trust in government has been decreasing for decades, reaching an all-time low of 17 percent in 2019. This is important because the federal government, in cooperation with the states, is in the midst of rolling out the largest vaccination program in history. If Americans are increasingly suspicious of their government and the data it produces, this will not result in the high degree of public confidence that is necessary for a successful inoculation campaign. Overnight Health Care: New Jersey Democrat thinks she contracted... Senate Democrats demand Trump address COVID-19 vaccine distribution Although it is difficult to determine the size and scope of the inflated death count on a national level, we can assume that the actual number of Americans who have died from COVID-19 is less than the government tally says. If the government is misleading the public about the actual number of COVID deaths, public trust in government will wane, which is the last thing we need as the government tries to convince millions of Americans to voluntarily receive a government-approved vaccine.
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FREEDOM in the NEWS ON AIR
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Dec. 16, 2020
Dec. 23, 2020
Inflated COVID-19 death counts could cause vaccine trepidation
Washington analyst: State mislabeled drug, injury deaths as COVID-related
“In May, the Freedom Foundation reported how this method resulted in the inclusion of deaths clearly unrelated to COVID-19. After admitting that it was attributing even deaths caused by things like gunshot wounds to COVID-19, DOH announced it would take steps to clean up its reporting process and removed some of the most obviously inappropriate deaths from its COVID-19 tally.”
“ ‘We found cases of people who on the death certificates died from meth overdose, from alcoholic liver disease ... there were several cases of death certificates in which the certifier completing the death certificate noted that the person had COVID in the past but had recovered before they died,’ said Max Nelsen, labor policy director for the Freedom Foundation.” IN PRINT
ONLINE
Dec. 23, 2020
Guest Opinion: Salem-Keizer School Board needs an overhaul “The unfortunate truth is that for several years the board has been subject to capture from outside forces. This school board is among the most right-wing public bodies in the state of Oregon – a point of pride for organizations including Right to Life, the Freedom Foundation and others associated with deconstructing public schools.”
ON LINE
Nov. 13, 2020
Seventh Circuit weighs challenge to Wisconsin’s Act 10 “Max Nelsen, the labor policy director at the Freedom Foundation, said, ‘If you happen to make it through that 60-minute orientation and you don’t sign up for union membership, It’s entirely possible that you’ll start receiving phone calls or emails or maybe a visit to your home on a Saturday morning from union organizers trying to get you signed up.’ ”
If they’ll lie about how your mother died, what else would they lie about? Tumwater, Wash., resident Christina Frye’s 99-year-old mother died last year in a fall. That was tough enough to take. But to make matters worse, the state of Washington deliberately misclassified her death as a COVID-19 fatality because she had at one time tested positive for the virus. Christine didn’t even realize what had happened until she saw the Freedom Foundation’s Max Nelsen being interviewed on Fox News about the fraud. Makes you think, huh?
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ACTION TIMELINE SPOTLIGHTING SOME OF THE FREEDOM FOUNDATION’S NOTEWORTHY ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE PAST MONTH Dec. 22, 2020 The Epoch Times publishes an article highlighting Freedom Foundation research demonstrating that Washington state Health Department officials were inflating the number of COVID-19 deaths in the state by classifying anyone who had ever contracted the virus and eventually died — regardless of the cause — as a COVID victim. Freedom Foundation National Director Aaron Withe is quoted saying, “Make no mistake. This isn’t an innocent accounting error we’re talking about. This is a state agency under the authority of Gov. Jay Inslee that continues to misrepresent the number of people who have died of COVID even after it was already caught doing the same thing.” Jan. 5, 2021 Alek Skarlatos, 2020 candidate for Congress in Oregon and hero of the 2015 Thalys train attack, joins the Freedom Foundation and national director of development. Skarlatos, on vacation with three friends in France, saved countless
By the Numbers The Freedom Foundation’s Christmas opt-out campaign throughout the month of December resulted in more than 3,000 public employees in Washington, Oregon, California, Ohio and Pennsylvania bolting from their government unions. lives when he successfully helped disarm a Moroccan terrorist who had boarded the passenger train in Brussels armed with an AK-47 rifle, 720 rounds of ammunition, a Luger and a box cutter. He was awarded the Legion of Honor by the French nation, as well as the U.S. Soldier’s Medal. He later portrayed himself in a motion picture about the incident directed by Clint Eastwood. Jan. 7, 2021 A guest opinion co-authored by Freedom Foundation Oregon
Director Jason Dudash and Senior Fellow Mike Nearman (also a member of the Oregon State House of Representatives) in the Bend (Ore.) Bulletin chastises the Legislature for awarding each lawmaker a 10 percent increase for the 2021 session, and legislative staffers will receive a monthly stipend to help offset potential costs and other inconveniences that come with needing to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. These inconveniences presumably include spending less on gasoline and other travel expenses during their non-commute. Jan. 13, 2021 Both RedState.com and The Daily Wire publish articles authored by Freedom Foundation National Director Aaron Withe warning that Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, nominated by President-elect Joe Biden to serve as Secretary of Labor, is little more than a union stooge — thus fulfilling Biden’s dubious campaign pledge to make his the most union-friendly administration in history. Jan. 19, 2021 Tumwater, Wash., resident Christina Frye appears on Fox News to discuss with host Laura Ingraham how her 99-year-old mother, who
died several months earlier in a fall, was deliberately misclassified by Washington state health authorities as a victim of COVID-19. Frye was watching the same show on Dec. 17, when Freedom Foundation Labor Policy Director Max Nelsen made his second appearance in less than a year with Ingraham to accuse the state of inflating the COVID death numbers by including everyone who had ever tested positive for the virus, whether or not the actually died of it. Until she heard Nelsen describe her mother’s case on national television, Frye had no idea the state considered her mother a COVID victim.
It was true then, and it’s true now. “The tax on capital gains directly affects investment decisions, the mobility and flow of risk capital ... the ease or difficulty experienced by new ventures in obtaining capital, and thereby the strength and potential for growth in the economy.” -- JOHN F. KENNEDY, 1961