UNIONS OWE CAREGIVERS MILLIONS [4] WITHE T O LE AD NATIONAL E XPANSION [4] L&I OFFICE DUE FOR A FIRS T AMENDMENT LESSON [9]
LIVINGLIBERTY A PUBLICATION OF THE FREEDOM FOUNDATION | NOVEMBER 2019
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Best AG Union Money Can Buy FERGUSON FILES YET ANOTHER UNION-ORDERED SUIT ALLEGING PDC VIOLATIONS
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Freedom Foundation PO Box 552 Olympia, WA 98507
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ashington Attorney General Bob Ferguson on Oct. 8 demonstrated once again his loyalties are with the puppetmaster government employee unions who make his mouth move rather than the voters who elect him to office. For the third time, Ferguson — known as “Sideshow Bob” by those who’ve watched his antics for years — has filed a lawsuit against the Freedom Foundation alleging it failed to disclose non-monetary, in-kind contributions made to a political campaign. This time, the action claims the Freedom Foundation was required by the state’s public disclosure laws to file paperwork explaining informational work its employees did to warn the public about Initiative 1, a 2016 ballot measure in the city of Olympia that proposed an income tax of 1.5 percent on households with incomes of $200,000 or greater, with the proceeds ostensibly earmarked to fund college tuition for city residents. Initiative 1 ultimately failed at the ballot box, but was strongly supported by public-sector unions, who know more tax revenue means bigger government — and, by extension, more dues-paying members. For its part, the Freedom Foundation doesn’t dispute that it: n published a staff-member-authored guest opinion in The Olympian explaining at length how the tax spelled out in Initiative 1
By JEFF RHODES Managing Editor was just as unconstitutional as every other soak-the-rich scheme dreamed up by the Left because it treats taxpayers differently based on their earning power; n allowed a staff member to testify before the Olympia City Council making the same constitutional argument; n discussed the merits of the tax on a weekly radio show produced by the Freedom Foundation’s in those days; and, n submitted an amicus brief authored by Freedom Foundation attorneys in a lawsuit filed by the city against a group of activists attempting to scuttle the initiative. None of these actions, however, involved raising money, donating money or directly telling city residents how to vote. “As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, the Freedom Foundation can’t electioneer, but it can educate,” said Freedom Foundation CEO Tom McCabe. “Forming a corporation doesn’t mean you’ve waived your First Amendment rights to free speech. Heaven knows Bob Ferguson’s union friends are free enough with their opinions.” More to the point, Ferguson — who has banked more than $350,000 since 2000 in campaign contributions skimmed from the paychecks of public employees — has shown little interest in pursuing far more egregious campaign finance violations committed by his union cohorts. In the past five years alone, the Freedom Foundation has filed more than 20 PDC complaints against labor unions and their associated front groups attempting to conceal tens of millions of dollars in campaign activity from both the public and their own members. And on at least a dozen occasions the unions have either been found guilty or been forced into a settlement agreement. See AG LAWSUIT Page 4