Barack Obama recently nominated force-union-dues financed Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be the next Health & Human Services Secretary. Gov. Sebelius reported only 14 contributors in her October 28, 2008 PAC report – three $100,000 contributions came from the bloated forced-union-dues treasuries of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). (article link)
One major union, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), is likely to support Sebelius monetarily in her confirmation battle, since they represent thousands of nurses and health care workers. This article will show several monetary relationshiops between Gov. Sebelius and SEIU, and some connections between Gov. Sebelius and SEIU’s Anna Burger and Andy Stern.
SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger said on Monday: “Health care reform is crucial to fixing the economy, and with Kathleen Sebelius at the helm of Health and Human Services, we can be sure it gets the attention and sound management it deserves”
Sebelius’s Gubernatorial campaign received $32,750 from various SEIU groups in 2004-2006, but SEIU and Sebelius’ Bluestem Fund PAC were also major players in funneling money to the Kansas Democratic Party in 2006 in a complicated scheme, part of which is shown below:
Part of Complicated Money Scheme Used by Kansas Democrats in 2006 involving SEIU and Sebelius’ Bluestem Fund PAC
Kansas Union Politcal Finance Scheme
This complicated money scheme in 2006 was used to re-elect Gov. Sebelius and knock out prolife Attorney General Phill Kline.
Besides the monetary connections between SEIU and Gov. Sebelius and her PAC, Gov. Sebelius also joined SEIU’s Anna Burger, and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano on the campaign trail for Barack Obama in Indiana about two weeks after receiving the $100,00 check for her Bluestem FUnd PAC described above.
In addition to working with SEIU’s Anna Burger, in May 2008 Gov. Sebelius co-authored an article, Main Street, not Wall Street, should fix crumbling U.S. infrastructure, with SEIU president Andy Stern.
The SEIU support for Gov. Sebelius should not be surprising given all her past connections with SEIU.
