Laws Are for Other People

Member Group : Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania

January 14, 2015:

Last summer, we learned that a number of union bosses had never bothered to register as lobbyists. The year before that, we found out that unions were exempt from stalking and harassment laws.

This week, we learned that the union-backed Pennsylvanians for Accountability did not file returns with the IRS on time and could be fined up to $50,000. According to an article from the Philadelphia Inquirer:

"The new tax document indicates Pennsylvanians for Accountability spent $725,500 for its various anti-Corbett messages in 2013, which it classified as a ‘public education campaign.’ This included both television and online ads…But Department of Labor records and tax documents reviewed by the Center for Public Integrity show three unions combined to give Pennsylvanians for Accountability $1.11 million – 90 percent of the money it raised between Sept. 1, 2012, and Aug. 31, 2013, the tax year covered by the return."

To make matters more interesting, one of the union activists listed as an incorporator of Pennsylvanians for Accountability does not know who runs the organization.

The ironic thing is that some of the unions backing Pennsylvanians for Accountability, like the SEIU have been vocal critics of so-called "dark money" groups. However, when it comes down to it they’re more than happy to not only take advantage of the system. And, they are not even ensuring that the organizations benefiting from union largess are following the law.

Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania (CAP) is a non-profit organization founded to raise the standard of living of all Pennsylvanians by restoring limited government, economic freedom, and personal responsibility. By empowering the Commonwealth’s employers and taxpayers to break state government’s "Iron Triangle" of career politicians, bureaucrats, and Big Government lobbyists, this restoration will occur and Pennsylvania will prosper.