SEIU kickbacks (or Michigan Proposition 4)

So, I first heard about this back when Jennifer "Blown Away" Granholm was our governor here in the great state of Michigan.  Essentially, if the state is assisting with payments for a home health aide, that aide must be a member of the SEIU and pay union dues, essentially adding about $32 million and growing every second into the coffer of the SEIU since September 2005(www.michigancapitalconfidential.com).  This was a blatant kickback for the union from Governor Granholm as a payback for their support during the previous election. 

Since this happened, not only are the home health aides upset at being forced to join a union and pay dues, taxpayers who do not want their money confiscated in such a scheme are upset, and people who believe in the right to work are upset.  So upset, in fact, that they worked, from a grassroots level, to get this thievery overturned in the house and senate.  The unions saw that they were going to lose and bought themselves several good politicians, but it wasn't enough and the law was passed and signed by Governor Snyder.  You'd think our story would end here, but it doesn't.  The unions sued to keep their little scam going and lost.  Yet they're still getting the money because it's still in court.  The Attorney General issued a decision stating that this wasn't right, but still getting the money.  And now, the union is trying to pass a proposal that writes this whole scam into the Michigan constitution via Proposal 4.

What kills me is that the advertisements they're running all say that they're for "quality health care".  Riiiiight.  SEIU being for quality health care is like the UAW being for productive workers or the Teamsters being against organized crime.  So, essentially, you've taken the exact same people that were working as home health aides before, forced them to take money out of their pockets and give them to you, and you're telling me that without you forcing them to pay you what amounts to 'protection' money, suddenly we'd have bad healthcare?  What I don't get is that people seem to be buying into this garbage.  Even the BS organization behind the petition that got the proposal on the ballot in the first place is bullshit:  Citizens for Affordable Quality Home Care.  What utter crap.

What needs to happen is that the health care professionals who were unionized against their will, without their knowledge (until the first union dues deduction was removed from their check), need to stand together and present their side of the story.  But, unfortunately, because they don't make much money, no politician or special interest group is willing to stand up and buy them some air time or tell their story.  Maybe someone with some balls will stand up and help them out against the millions of dollars of SEIU purchased advertisement.

And maybe monkeys will fly outta my butt.