Topic category:  Government/Politics

When ACORN founder Wade Rathke was asked about President Obama's performance, he reportedly replied that he was "disappointed," wished that Obama's "actions were more aligned with his talk" and lamented unfulfilled promises on bailouts, foreclosure, health care and immigration (http://theeprovocateur.blogspot.com/search?q=Wade+Rathke).

It's NOT that Obama doesn't want to deliver for his benefactors, of course, and since Rathke was interviewed on February 3, 2010, Obamacare finally enacted.

Rathke is no longer ACORN's chief organizer, but he's not exclusively devoting his time to ACORN International either. He's still running Local 100.

From http://www.unitedlaborunions.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=54:

"Founded in 1980 in New Orleans as an independent union by Hyatt housekeepers, laundresses, valets, concierges, door and bell staff who successfully organized the first union hotel since the 1930’s and by cafeteria, janitorial, and line workers at Tulane University, these lower wage workers in the hospitality industry forged the way for other workers who believed that one could organize – and win – in the south. Wade Rathke helped to organize these workers when it was the independent union in 1979, United Labor Unions, and has continued on as Chief Organizer ever since. The fight and spirit of these workers led them to affiliate with the Service Employees International Union in 1984, as Local 100. As part of SEIU, Local 100 quickly added service sector public workers particularly school support workers in East Baton Rouge and Jefferson Parishes, and now many other schools districts throughout Louisiana. In 1985 then Governor Bill Clinton granted Local 100 checkoff and representational rights for state workers, and since then Local 100’s banner has rallied hospital, homecare, and other state workers in Arkansas. In 1985 Local 100 had its first success in organizing nursing homes and now represents nursing home workers and community mental health and disability workers throughout Louisiana. In 1991 the passage of Senate Bill 92 signed by Governor Anne Richards granted checkoff rights to school support workers and Local 100 successfully organized these workers in the Houston and Dallas areas in Texas.

"Local 100 has continued to break new ground – organizing garbage workers throughout southern Louisiana, winning contracts for city/parish workers in East Baton Rouge and Orleans Parishes, organizing head start workers in Baton Rouge, Corpus Christi, and several locations in Houston, organizing weather observers around the country from Alaska to Florida from California to New York, and leading efforts to pass living wage laws in Houston and New Orleans.

"Now the union continues to make a priority of organizing lower wage private sector workers in the hospitality, janitorial, and other classifications in our jurisdiction. We also have become the union for health care workers as we move organizing efforts in both public and private hospitals in Arkansas and Louisiana. We are determined to organize head start workers throughout Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas in order to bring all standards to the level in our contracts.

"Local 100 has a big vision and a long road ahead, but is determined to continue to break hard ground and keep fighting. Local 100 leaders and members are used to struggling and winning and are committed to moving that spirit and success throughout our jurisdictions and geography.

"After more than 25 years as an SEIU local, in October 2009 Local 100 became independent again. We enjoyed our time with SEIU and are excited at once again being independent, having the opportunity to rebuild the United Labor Unions, and once again becoming Local 100 of the ULU with new partners on the cutting edge of labor organizing in the Middle South, North America, and the world.

Rathke had been an SEIU board member, and Local 100 had been part of ACORN.

ACORN, Rathke and SEIU all backed Obama.

Local 100 (www.unitedlaborunions.org) currently is celebrating the passage of Obamacare and looking forward to "immigration reform" and an end to the secret ballot in unionization elections.

An April 14, 2010 post titled "Al Green Goes To Bat For Local 100" reads;

"U.S. Representative Al Green, from Houston’s ninth district, called Local 100 one hour before the historic vote from the floor of Congress to let us know that 'We have 220 votes and we are going to pass the health insurance bill, be sure to let all your members know.'

"Rep. Green spoke at our Leadership Conference in Houston in 2008 and has always been a supporter of working people. Local 100 sent him a letter the next day thanking him for making us part of this historic moment in American history. We assured him if there was anything we could help him with in his next election to be sure to call. We will be there because he was there for us on health care.

"We also mention in the letter that there where two important fights coming up soon on immigration and EFCA and we knew we could count on him on both issues."

Local 100 also can be counted on to back First Lady Michelle Obama's seemingly apolitical "war" on childhood obesity. (ACORN disguised its pursuit of socialism by avoiding the word and asserting "human rights," but ACORN's People's Platform is socialistic claptrap:

"Our freedom is the force of democracy, not the farce of federal fat and personal profit. In our freedom, only the people shall rule. Corporations shall have their role; producing jobs, providing products, paying taxes. No more, no less. They shall obey our wishes, respond to our needs, serve our communities. Our country shall be the citizens’ wealth and our wealth shall build our country.

"Government shall have its role: public servant to our good, fast follower to our sure steps. No more, no less. Our government shall shout with the public voice and no longer to a private whisper. In our government, the common concerns shall be the collective cause."

Likewise, it is naive to believe that the First Lady's campaign against childhood obesity is nothing more than pure altruism in action.

See a post titled "TUSE Local 100 Speaks Out on Reduced Hours" reporting that a couple of members "spoke with the HISD Board of Education on Thursday April 8th about their recent reduction in hours."

The post quoted one member lamenting that if the school board "would let us actually cook nutritious food for the kids instead of warming up processed food loaded with sugar, it would be better for them and it would be better for us.”

The other member said: "I'm asking the Board of Education to let me cook healthy food for the children of HISD, and to let me have enough hours to feed and house my child. We do a job that must be done to make society function correctly -- feed the children so their stomachs won't hurt while they try to learn. When we perform our job we should have an income that allows us to provide for our families, and four hours a day doesn't do it. As a single mom in today’s economy, I have no where else to go for employment, no one else to ask for help. Let me cook, let me raise my child in a decent environment, give me my life back, give me my hours back.”

They are "her" hours and somehow the taxpayers are supposed to provide, because she's entitled.

Local 100:

"TUSE Local 100 understands the school budget needs to be trimmed but it doesn't have to be on the backs of the 1,680 food service workers, some of the lowest paid employees in HISD. It does take less hours to warm up processed, sugar-coated food, but the children deserve a healthy, cooked meal which will enhance their ability to learn. Is the food service department functioning for the benefit of the children’s nutritional needs or for the profits of Aramark?

"Processed sugar-coated foods = less hours for workers = more profits for Aramark = less quality food for children!

"The fight continues: the next HISD Board of Education meeting is May 13th at 5:00 p.m. We expect many more TUSE Local 100 Food Service employees to attend the May meeting to put pressure on the Board to do the right thing and give us our hours back and let us start cooking healthy food for our children.

"STOP THE POP TARTS -- our kids deserve better and we do too."

Obama's really all about wealth redistribution and restricting freedom of choice (except the abortion choice). He really believes in single payer, but realized he had to reach that goal in steps.

Michael J. Gaynor

Biography - Michael J. Gaynor

Michael J. Gaynor has been practicing law in New York since 1973. A former partner at Fulton, Duncombe & Rowe and Gaynor & Bass, he is a solo practitioner admitted to practice in New York state and federal courts and an Association of the Bar of the City of New York member.

Gaynor graduated magna cum laude, with Honors in Social Science, from Hofstra University's New College, and received his J.D. degree from St. John's Law School, where he won the American Jurisprudence Award in Evidence and served as an editor of the Law Review and the St. Thomas More Institute for Legal Research. He wrote on the Pentagon Papers case for the Review and obscenity law for The Catholic Lawyer and edited the Law Review's commentary on significant developments in New York law.

The day after graduating, Gaynor joined the Fulton firm, where he focused on litigation and corporate law. In 1997 Gaynor and Emily Bass formed Gaynor & Bass and then conducted a general legal practice, emphasizing litigation, and represented corporations, individuals and a New York City labor union. Notably, Gaynor & Bass prevailed in the Second Circuit in a seminal copyright infringement case, Tasini v. New York Times, against newspaper and magazine publishers and Lexis-Nexis. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed, 7 to 2, holding that the copyrights of freelance writers had been infringed when their work was put online without permission or compensation.

Gaynor currently contributes regularly to www.MichNews.com, www.RenewAmerica.com, www.WebCommentary.com, www.PostChronicle.com and www.therealitycheck.org and has contributed to many other websites. He has written extensively on political and religious issues, notably the Terry Schiavo case, the Duke "no rape" case, ACORN and canon law, and appeared as a guest on television and radio. He was acknowledged in Until Proven Innocent, by Stuart Taylor and KC Johnson, and Culture of Corruption, by Michelle Malkin. He appeared on "Your World With Cavuto" to promote an eBay boycott that he initiated and "The World Over With Raymond Arroyo" (EWTN) to discuss the legal implications of the Schiavo case. On October 22, 2008, Gaynor was the first to report that The New York Times had killed an Obama/ACORN expose on which a Times reporter had been working with ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief.

Gaynor's email address is gaynormike@aol.com.