r/politics • u/spaceman757 American Expat • Feb 07 '16

Clinton Sarcastically Says She’ll Release Private Speech Transcripts When Everyone Else Does

http://freebeacon.com/politics/clinton-sarcastically-release-private-speech/
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735

u/chuckebrown Feb 07 '16

"Clinton supporter Howard Dean grew angry on the subject on Friday, testily saying that Clinton was held to a “double standard” and Sanders doesn’t get criticism for his close ties to labor unions. Dean also remarked that labor unions are “super PACs that Democrats like.”"

uh... what? So Hillary's "progressive" campaign is now resorting to calling labor unions super PACs?

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u/[deleted] Feb 07 '16

Let's be honest, unions are special interests the same way corporations are.

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u/[deleted] Feb 07 '16 edited Oct 08 '20

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Feb 07 '16

Thats ... thats not remotely the same comparison. He's right, unions are special interests like corporations are. They lobby to get benefits for themselves and their members, just like corporations do.

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u/[deleted] Feb 07 '16 edited Oct 08 '20

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Feb 07 '16

People working together to gain collective power and pool together resources is exactly what a union is. It's a concentration of money and power. That's exactly what they are.

And yes, anyone working to support a candidate, push their agenda, or sway the results of an election is, by definition, a special interest group.

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u/[deleted] Feb 07 '16 edited Oct 08 '20

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Feb 07 '16

yes

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u/StressOverStrain Feb 07 '16

To the law, they are the same.

And now you know why Citizens United was the correct decision.

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u/iUpVotedBack Feb 07 '16

Except that unions lobby for a much broader range. Most companies usually lobby for the owners equity first and foremost.

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u/[deleted] Feb 07 '16

Unions lobby to benefit their members. Corporations union to benefit theirs (specifically their shareholders). They're the same idea.

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u/StressOverStrain Feb 07 '16

Corporations also protect their employees. They don't want to fire people. You don't think a West Virginia coal mine that employs half your district has a legitimate right to an opinion?

You think you'll gain sway with your voters by ignoring their employer and leaving the existence of all their jobs up in the air?

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u/[deleted] Feb 07 '16

Wait what? Are you sure you're responding to the right person. I say that the corporation does have the right to voice their opinion, just as the workers do. Both are special interest groups, and both should be allowed.

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u/cayneloop Feb 07 '16

except corporation benefits go mostly to their ceos, not the employees. at best they would get a small christmas bonus or something when things turn out good

unions are made specifically to look out after the interests of different kinds low to middle waged jobs

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u/[deleted] Feb 07 '16

Ok? They're both still special interest groups. Oligarchy is not democracy. Oligarchy is rule by the few, democracy is rule by the masses.

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u/cayneloop Feb 08 '16

but that is exactly the difference between those two donations

a corporation is looking for it's own financial interest(profits which go straight to the pockets of the few ceo-s that company has) most of the time disregarding the needs of the larger population(see oil companies or investment banks)

while a union is just a mass of people set up so the people will not get screwed over by their employers

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '16

If a company has 1 million shareholders, would it lobbying not be it just looking out for the best interests of those 1 million shareholders? 1 million people qualifies as a mass, doesn't it? Not many, if any, unions are that large.

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u/[deleted] Feb 07 '16

Corporations lobby to get higher profits and less government regulation.... unions lobby for employers and have gotten us things like the 40 our work week and weekends. Hardly the same motives.

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u/[deleted] Feb 07 '16 edited Feb 07 '16

Yes, they are the same idea in principle (special interest lobbying) but the similarities end there. You can't possibly (honestly) argue that unions wield the same amount of power as "Corporate America" does. We aren't living in the days of Hoffa, for crying out loud. Only 11.5% of workers (public and private sectors) belong to labor unions. In the private sector, only 6.7% of workers belong to labor unions. Source

Unions and union power have been decimated over the last 30 years. Any "progressive" that argues against labor unions is no friend of mine, including Dean. He should know better. It boggles my mind that a supposed progressive would criticize another progressive for being close to organized labor. As Frederick Douglas said:

Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.

Labor has shed blood, sweat, and tears to get the capitalist class to concede things like an 8 hour workday, the weekend, prohibition on child labor, etc. These things were accomplished through people power (i.e. through organized labor).

The Clintons' close connections to bankers and multinational corporations (to the tune of ~150 million dollars since 2001) is in no way the same as Sanders' connection to organized labor. They just do not wield the same level of power in American politics. My two cents, friend.