Where does the SEIU get its political cash? Still won't say.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

In his attempted rebuttal to my column on whether unions are funding their political activities with contributions from foreign and illegal workers, the SEIU's Jon Youngdhal defended his organization by claiming that "most" of the SEIU's political work was funding through its Committee on Political Education (COPE) -- and that "to be eligible to contribute to COPE, you must be a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident."

In response, I pointed out that by the SEIU's own calculations, its political spending in the 2008 election was far greater that the spending the union reported to the FEC and the IRS for its COPE political action committee.

Now, in his latest missive, Youndahl admits that I am correct. He writes:

SEIU's COPE Federal PAC expenditures, as reported to the Federal Election Commission, were over $47 million in [the 2008 election] cycle, not the $40.9 million Mr. Thiessen stated. During 2008 (not the 2007-08 cycle, as Mr. Thiessen claimed) SEIU spent and reported to the IRS an additional $59,868,786 that did not come from the Federal PAC account and included money spent on activities directed by and directed to our own members. The two numbers do not reflect a "discrepancy" but rather sums from two different accounts used for different political purposes.

So while Youngdahl disputes my numbers, he acknowledges that his earlier statement was patently false.

"Most" of the money the SEIU uses for "political purposes" does not come from COPE (to which you must be a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident to contribute). "Most" of the SEIU's political spending, he now admits, comes from other accounts.

And who funds those other accounts? "Our own members," Youngdahl writes. Well, the SEIU's members include foreign workers and --

in this video -- illegal immigrants. Youngdahl has twice failed to answer my question, so I will ask it a third time: Do the SEIU's foreign workers and illegal immigrant members (who are by definition foreign nationals) contribute any money to the accounts that the union uses for "political purposes"?

Youngdahl does not seem to want to answer such questions for Post readers, and that is his prerogative. But thanks to the wisdom of American voters, he may well have to answer the questions of Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the incoming chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (a.k.a. the House's new chief investigator). Unlike your humble columnist, Issa will have subpoena power to compel the answers.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/11/where_does_the_seiu_get_its_po.html

[Ban Hammer 13,472]

this should be interesting as it develops.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

this should be interesting as it develops.

As if it will go anywhere.