Not Pretty at All: White House and AFL-CIO Argue after the AR Sen. Race.

White House official: 'Organized labor just flushed $10 million down the toilet'

A senior White House official just called me with a very pointed message for the administration's sometime allies in organized labor, who invested heavily in beating Blanche Lincoln, Obama's candidate, in Arkanas.

"Organized labor just flushed $10 million of their members' money down the toiled on a pointless exercise," the official said. "If even half that total had been well-targeted and applied in key House races across this country, that could have made a real difference in November."

Lincoln relied heavily both on Obama's endorsement, which she advertised relentlessly on radio and in the mail, and on the backing of former President Bill Clinton, who backed her to the hilt.

Lincoln foe Bill Halter had the unstinting support of the AFL-CIO , SEIU, AFSCME, and other major unions. And labor officials Tuesday evening were already working to spin the narrow loss of their candidate, Bill Halter, as a moral victory, but the cost in money and in the good will of the White House may be a steep price to pay for a near miss.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0610/White_House_official_Organized_labor_just_flushed_10_million_of_their_members_money_down_the_toilet_.html?showall

AFL to White House: 'Labor isn't an arm of the Democratic Party'

The major labor federation AFL-CIO took sharp objection tonight to a White House official's assessment that they'd "flushed $10 million of their members' money down the toilet" in the "pointless exercise" of supporting the failed bid of Bill Halter to unseat Senator Blanche Lincoln.

"If that's their take on this, then they severely misread how the electorate feels and how we're running our political program. When we say we're only going to support elected officials who support our issues," said AFL-CIO spokesman Eddie Vale. "When they say we should have targeted our money among some key house races among Blue Dog Democrats --that ain't happening."

"Labor isn't an arm of the Democratic Party," Vale said. "It exists to suport working families. And that's what we said tonight, and that's what we're gong to keep saying."

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/

Americans for Job Security (AJS) is a Virginia-based 501(c)(6) group that OpenSecrets.org describes as "a pro-Republican, pro-business organization" headed by David Carney.<1> The American Insurance Association launched the group with $1 million in seed funding in 1997. AJS runs "issue ads" that attack liberal and moderate candidates nationwide, but is not required to disclose its political contributions or expenditures.<2>

In 2002, for example, AJS ran over $1 million in ads attacking Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, who was running for the US Senate from NH in opposition to Republican John Sununu. In the 2008 rematch between Shaheen and Sununu, AJS again funded ads attacking Shaheen. <3>

Complaints have been filed with the FEC stating that AJS should lose its 501(c)(6) status, which is reserved for "business leagues and trade associations" rather than groups that seek to influence elections. <4><5>

According to the organization's own website, "For more than ten years Americans for Job Security (AJS) has been at the forefront of an explosion of the marketplace of ideas. During this time AJS has put forth a pro-growth, pro-jobs message to the American people. From the beginning our message has been a simple one: free markets and pro-paycheck public policy are fundamental to building a strong economy and creating more and better paying jobs."<6>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_for_Job_Security

* New SEIU president Mary Kay Henry, in an interview with Glenn Thrush, tells the White House to stuff it: "We'd do it again in a heartbeat."

* Conversations we wish we'd overheard: Marc Ambinder reports that former SEIU chief Andy Stern called the White House, taking issue with their urinating on unions and telling them to knock it off.

“We worked like hell to get the Senate and we worked like hell to get the White House, and our people are saying, ‘What the hell are we getting out of this?’” said Gerald McEntee, president of AFSCME, which shelled out $3 million to back Halter in Arkansas.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/06/the_morning_plum_28.html

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38343.html