Thousands of home-based health care providers have been forced into a union because they receive assistance from the state while they take care of loved ones who are disabled. The Service Employees International Union receives close to $6 million annually in forced dues from this abusive arrangement. 

House Bill 4003 would end this injustice by clarifying that Michiganders who care for relatives in their own homes are not government employees, and hence are not appropriate targets for government unions. That bill has passed the House but is stuck in the Senate. While we wait for the Senate to act, the SEIU continues to siphon money that was meant to help families.

Here's another example of where that money might be going, drawn from the SEIU's 2010 LM-2 report:

Americans United for Change received $300,000 from the SEIU in 2010, all of it designated as "political advocacy."  AUC claims that it has "challenged the far right conservative voices and ideas that for too long have been mistaken for mainstream American values" through campaigns like the Bush Legacy Tour.

AUC hopes to restore "the traditional progressive values that have defined America." Toward that end it is now featuring a video inquiring about GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney having a Swiss bank account. Romney seems to be a particular focus for the organization: Since the beginning of February the group has released five news releases targeting him.

Over the past year, AUC has also taken positions in support of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka "Obamacare"), including the controversial contraception mandate and its narrow exception for religious employers.

Americans United for Change is one of many groups that Michigan taxpayers may be funding with money that was intended to go to the families of people with disabilities.

Monday: The Center for American Progress Action Fund

Previously:

Clean Economy Development Center

Change That Works

Applied Research Center

Brave New Foundation

The Atlas Project

Change.org

SEIU Healthcare Michigan

Ballot Initiative Strategy Center

America Votes

Colorado WINS

Benenson Strategy Group

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