Chet Edwards Has His Own Radical Ties

In keeping with the huckster phrase "But wait! There's more..." it appears that connections to '60's radicals abound in this current election cycle. Thanks to Kyle-Ann Shiver, American Thinker readers are familiar with Sen. Barak Obama’s links to Saul Alinksy and Bill Ayers. However, for me, in researching Big Labor's campaign donations to my own representative Chet Edwards (D-TX 17), radicals are popping up much closer to home--thanks to the work of 60's radical Wade Rathke.

In researching campaign donations for Chet Edwards, I noticed that for a congressman in a non-union district in the right-to-work State of Texas, Edwards received a huge amount of money from unions. In fact, Edwards is in the top 20 of House members receiving money ($246,100) from labor organizations. But my Democratic Party congressman is not alone. In this 2008 election, Big Labor has funded Democrats with $47,609,244, or 91%, of all their political campaign donations. Although the closest auto manufacturing plant is in San Antonio (a non-union Toyota plant), Edwards has received $8,000 from the United Auto Workers Union. Your first step in determining who is funding your congressman is the Federal Election Commission Campaign Finance Reports and Data page.

However, it was not until I researched a $5000 donation from Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to Edwards that the big picture became abundantly clear: radicals have taken over labor organizations under the organizing direction of Wade Rathke. What makes this fact threatening to American capitalism is the Cloward/Pivens Strategy.

A Brief Introduction to Wade Rathke and the Cloward/Pivens Strategy

Wade Rathke is a former member of 60's radical group Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). SDS, under the organizing leadership of Tom Hayden, perpetrated the Chicago Riots at the 1968 Democratic Party Convention, the Columbia University takeover, and anti-Vietnam War marches in Washington, D.C.. After a national convention of SDS members in Austin, Texas, a new manifesto was written, with contributor Bernadine Dohrn (Bill Ayers' wife). Eventually, SDS evolved (devolved?) into The Weather Underground.

Rathke is the founder of ACORN and the labor group SEIU. Rathke also serves as chairman of the organizing committee for the AFL-CIO, whose president, John Sweeney, was a former president of SEIU. The purpose of these organizations is to put into practice a strategy penned by two Columbia University sociologists, Richard Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven, who sought to destroy capitalism through managed crisis. According to DiscoverTheNetworks.Org, the Cloward/Piven Strategy "seeks to hasten the fall of capitalism by overloading the government bureaucracy with a flood of impossible demands, thus pushing society into crisis and economic collapse." The method involves using:

"what are commonly called Trojan Horse movements -- mass movements whose outward purpose seems to be providing material help to the downtrodden, but whose real objective is to draft poor people into service as revolutionary foot soldiers; to mobilize poor people en masse to overwhelm government agencies with a flood of demands beyond the capacity of those agencies to meet. The flood of demands was calculated to break the budget, jam the bureaucratic gears into gridlock, and bring the system crashing down. Fear, turmoil, violence and economic collapse would accompany such a breakdown -- providing perfect conditions for fostering radical change."

Wade Rathke writes that he has been "a professional organizer for thirty-five years. (I have) worked for and founded a series of organizations dedicated to winning social justice, workers rights, and a democracy where 'the people shall rule.'" (In other words, according to Rathke, under America's current constitution the people do not rule.) Rathke's beliefs coupled with the amount of money coming from SEIU into Democratic campaign coffers should be startling enough. Is your congressman on this list?

However, Rathke's connection with the extraordinary breadth of the AFL-CIO with its many affiliated labor unions also making donations, makes it easy to see this is a real problem for the future of the nation as we know it today. How many AFL-CIO affiliated labor groups are listed as donors to your congressman at OpenSecrets.Org? Use this widget at Open Secrets to easily see the amount of cash flowing into Democratic Party campaigns and also your district campaigns from these interconnected unions. These are the facts of Rep. Chet Edwards:

• Misc. Unions (Includes SEIU) - $18,250

• Public Sector Unions - $47,250

• Industrial Unions - $48,000

• Real Estate (Includes Fannie Mae) - $70,000

• Building Trade Unions - $66,500

• Transportation Unions - $67,850

• Civil Servants / Public Officials - $9,500

• Education - $30,950

According to WSJ: "[SEIU] adopted a new amendment to its constitution at last month's SEIU convention, requiring that every local contribute an amount equal to $6 per member per year to the union's national political action committee. This is in addition to regular union dues. Unions that fail to meet the requirement must contribute an amount in "local union funds" equal to the "deficiency," plus a 50% penalty. According to an SEIU union representative, this has always been policy, but has now simply been formalized." This coercive method of fund raising may be unlawful. According to Dianna Furchtgott-Roth, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute: "Private sector union membership peaked in the 1950s at 36% of the workforce. Now, only 7.5% of private sector workers belong to unions. Yet the DNC will pay homage to the union agenda, including removing the right to a secret ballot for workers voting on whether or not to join unions, higher minimum wages, higher taxes, and extending mandated benefits, such as paid leave, to even the smallest employers."

The issues listed above are the reason why unions are funneling large amounts of cash into Democratic campaigns. SEIU has contributed more that $16,000,000 to Barak Obama. However, as an advocate of the Cloward/Piven Strategy, Rathke's purpose is not to lift up the downtrodden. The strategy is to destroy the capitalist system by pushing the entire workforce into union organizations. Individuals are then under control and are then used to increase demands from employers and government. When the union is unable to meet these demands, such as the current pension fund debacle for auto workers, the debt will be passed off to the American treasury. The long-term strategy is to destroy the American economy.

Radicals have been very busy since exploding onto the scene in the 60's. They have organized, recruited, and are now pouring incredible amounts of money into Democratic Party candidates' coffers. The question we must ask is what do they want in return. These are just a few of the issues of votes and government funding ACORN, SEIU, the AFL-CIO, and others want in return for their donation to my congressman's campaign to continue their war against America.

My representative, Chet Edwards (D-TX 17) has radical connections. The question is, does your representative have these same radical ties?

Chet Edwards - Wade Rathke: WHY IT MATTERS

To understand the purpose of campaign funding for a congressman of Texas District 17 by trade and labor unions (see my previous post), we must have a basic understanding of the radical philosophy and political strategy of Wade Rathke. After all, we all are aware of that great voter block of the United Auto Worker's Union here in Texas 17. [wink] Why does the great majority of Edwards' campaign funding come from trade and labor unions not represented in our district? What are these unions getting in return from our representative in Washington, D.C.? Open Secrets.org gives eye opening information as to how Big Labor is by far the largest donating PAC to every committee memerbership in Congress this election cycle.

Wade Rathke and the Cloward/Piven Strategy

In 1966, Richard Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven, both sociologists at Columbia University, penned a strategy to destroy the capitalist system. They believed that as long as welfare kept the American poor satisfied, the poor would never rise up in revolution against the nation. Therefore, it was necessary to create a method to flood the system with demands until the entire American financial structure collapsed. An overloaded and overtaxed capitalist system would not be able to bear the weight of ever increasing demands.

It is important to note that none of these demands are for the benefit of the people for whom these radicals proport to care for and support. The purpose is solely for overwhelming the bureaucratic system with financial demands. It is therefore incumbent upon us to rid ourselves of the notion that their objective is to be a solution to social problems, no matter how beneficial and beneficent these ideas may seem at first glance. The purpose is simply to break the American treasury to further the cause of revolution.

Through ACORN, Rathke has almost achieved his radical goal through the current Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae mortgage and credit crisis. No member of the Democratic Party has gone on record criticizing Congress for this crisis, because either through corrupt willingness or by being an useful idiot dupe, this manufactured crisis was created for this very purpose.

Such a large scale attack is easier to discern than seemingly innocuous demands such as a request by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Union for respirators signed by Chet Edwards. Note the "crisis" of pandemic flu justifying the need for respirators for every State, County, and Municipal Employee, followed by the ever escalating requirements of instruction, fitting, and following OSHA guidelines. These are the hallmarks of the Cloward/Piven Strategy.

Another example is this education idea from brother radicals and friends of Obama, Mike Klosky and Bill Ayers, where students are encouraged to demand their "right" to an education in every way except actually disciplining themselves to learn. This idea has been adopted by the NEA, who also support the campaign of Chet Edwards. In both cases, ever escalating demands are placed upon the treasury with no indication of their need, practicality, or even evidence that such money spent would solve the problem. The very purpose is to always demand more without solving the problem and in most cases, to actually exacerbate the problem.

Remember the purpose is not to help the supposed recipients, but to foment unrest and revolution. Note in the passage below of quotes by William Ayers, that parents and family members are missing from the solution needed to properly guide our "neglected" children in the rites of passage. The more confusion in a child's education under the banner of "help", the better; especially if your goal is civil unrest, not well-educated children.

"Today's youth face special problems and also have special promise," said Ayers, UIC distinguished professor of education and co-editor of "City Kids/City Teachers" (The New Press). "Adolescence is a period of life that is in many ways neglected, but it is when kids need caring, thoughtful adults in their lives more profoundly than ever." Ayers added that he hopes the forums will eventually become "a site for scholars and youth workers to gather to share approaches in the interest of serving kids better."

When the AFL-CIO hires Rathke to teach his method of organizing skills to expand their union membership, they are supporting ever increasing demands and intimidation as the means to their end. According to Project Vote Smart, Chet Edwards supported the AFL-CIO through his votes in Congress 95%. Rathke's creation, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) gives Edwards an 84%. Edwards supports the interests of The United Auto Worker's Union 100%.

View the video at Edwards campaign supporter, the Laborer's Union, to see why Unions are out to buy Edwards' vote out from under the residents of Texas 17. Remember the hidden purpose is to increase demands on employers and the American treasury until the entire capitalist system defaults. The American treasury is not currently responsible for the union's pension plan, but the promise can be read between the lines. Repeatedly the video states: those not supporting Obama do so because of racism.

If unions are able to purchase the election of Chet Edwards, their reward will be the end of secret ballots for employees as to whether to form a union (H.R. 800 Roll Call 118) and the fleecing of the American treasury to fund the pensions of every union member. Unfortunately for these union members, nothing is being done through benevolence for them as individuals, but rather the callous manipulation of their fears to foment unrest and revolution while making increasing demands upon all taxpayers until the entire experiment of free market economics falls never to rise again.

Texas District 17 can not afford to re-elect Chet Edwards.

Chet Edwards Has His Own Radical Ties

Nearly one third of Edwards' campaign donations come from Labor Organizations and Unions. One of these contributing groups is the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) which is a member group of the AFL-CIO. The SEIU was created by and currently operated by Wade Rathke, who also founded ACORN.

Wade Rathke was a member of the 60's radical group Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) along with Tom Hayden. It was SDS, under operational leadership of Hayden that led the 1968 Democratic Party Convention Riots in Chicago. It was SDS that took over buildings on university campuses, in particular Columbia University. SDS organized several Viet Nam War Protest events in Washington, D.C..

At a meeting in Austin, Texas, SDS, along with its splinter cell, Revolutionary Youth Movement, wrote a new manifesto declaring, "You don't have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows." and SDS evolved [sic] into the Weather Underground Movement.

Today, Wade Rathke serves as leader of both SEIU and ACORN. He is also chairman of the organizers forum for the AFL-CIO, and is a co-founder and board member of the Tides Foundation. Both SEIU and AFL-CIO are donors to Chet Edwards' campaign.