By Uncle Irvin

Readers of this column know of the multiple times I have written about teachers' unions using taxpayer money for their own political purposes.

Of course teachers are not alone in this rip-off. All public employees who are unionized do the same thing through the forced checkoff of union dues from employee salaries.

Recently I discovered that a prominent Pennsylvania think tank, the Commonwealth Foundation, has been railing against this policy for years.

The Commonwealth Federation calls how taxpayers are forced to collect union political money, the GOVERNMENT UNION POWER CYCLE. First, government and school districts collect union dues, which turn into political donations by automatic checkoff, even from those union members who don't want that. Second, the union get the funds. Third, unions use taxpayer-collected funds to lobby for union policies and support candidates that are anti-taxpayer. Fourth, government and teachers' unions are the only groups to use taxpayer money to oppose laws like merit pay, or any means of reducing bloated public pensions, which is bankrupt in Pennsylvania.

The Commonwealth Federation also supports privatization of liquor, wine and beer, and many other public policy alternatives. That's why I made a personal contribution to the Commonwealth Foundation.