InfluenceWatch Podcast

Episode 111: Fighting California's Union "Gag Rule"

February 27th, 2020  |  6 mins 32 secs

9th circuit court of appeals, abortion, big labor, citizens united, conservative, department of labor, fast-food, gag rule, janus, left. right, liberal, libertarian, nlrb, obama, obama administration, seiu, trump, trump administration, unions

In this episode, the National Labor Relations Board hands a major setback to the SEIU’s $180 million corporate campaign to unionize restaurants, local officials and free-market groups push back against California’s “gag rule” against discussing government workers’ Janus rights, and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds the Trump administration’s rule withholding federal family planning funds from organizations that perform or refer for abortions.

Episode 110: What the Green New Deal Would Mean

February 24th, 2020  |  10 mins 5 secs

alexandria ocasio-cortez, aoc, environment, green, mitch mcconnell, new york, saikat chakrabarti, seiu, senate, service employees international union, texas public policy foundation, u.s. economy, union, united states

Last year, the hard-left—pressure groups like the Sunrise Movement, politicians like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and labor unions like the Service Employees International Union—presented the “Green New Deal,” a package of radical environmentalist policy demands that ranged (according to an “FAQ” document that the Green New Dealers denounced and memory-holed shortly after its release) from banning air travel to retrofitting every building in the United States. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell denounced it as a “radical, top-down, socialist makeover of the entire U.S. economy”; Saikat Chakrabarti, one of Rep. Ocasio Cortez’s close allies and a former aide, admitted the Green New Deal was “a how-do-you-change-the-entire-economy” plan.

But what would the plan actually mean for consumers and families? Today, I’m joined by Jason Isaac, Senior Manager for the “Life: Powered” project at the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) to dig into that question and other issues related to energy both in Texas and nationally.

Episode 89: Leftist ThinkProgress Shuts Down

September 12th, 2019  |  6 mins 18 secs

big labor, conservative, constitution, corporate, freedom foundation, libertarian, progressives, rights, seiu, think progress, thinkprogress

We say good riddance to the liberal blog ThinkProgress after its corporate parent shuttered it, the Freedom Foundation forces the SEIU to respect a worker’s legal and constitutional rights, and “progressives” take aim at technological progress to boost Big Labor.

Episode 82: Democrats Scratch Big Labor’s Back

July 30th, 2019  |  7 mins 12 secs

big labor, conservative, controversial, democrats, environmentalist, lena wen, ousted, planned parenthood, progressive, seiu, union

Congressional Democrats return a favor for the support of the Service Employees International Union, we take a deep look at a controversial environmentalist funder, and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America ousts its leader.

Episode 74: Union Sexual Harassment Hypocrisy

May 23rd, 2019  |  8 mins 31 secs

board member, cap, center for american progress, conservative, conspiracy, election, establishment, georgia, gubernational, liberal, lobby, mcdonalds, metoo, seiu, sexual harassment, thinktank, union

The SEIU and its allies hit McDonald’s for sexual harassment while one of SEIU’s most powerful local unions looks set to promote an officer accused of sexual harassment, a board member of the establishment liberal think tank Center for American Progress continues to promote conspiracy theories about the 2018 midterm elections, and the Washington Post is shocked, shocked to find a conservative activist conducting conservative advocacy.

Episode 57: Fast Food Under Attack?!

January 17th, 2019  |  7 mins 17 secs

alex caputo-pearl, american federation of teachers, arun gupta, arun gupta nlrb, bds, ben sasse, boycott divestment and sanctions, code pink, codepink, constitution, dccc, democrats, diana furchtgott-roth, fake news, far-left activists, fight for $15, fight for 15, house majority pac, influence watch, knights of columbus, lausd, mcdonald’s, moveon.org, national education association, national fast food workers union, national labor relations board, no religious tests clause, proposition 13, seiu, service employees international union, united teachers los angeles, women’s march

Two multi-year labor union campaigns reach their climaxes as Democrats introduce a $15 minimum wage bill at the behest of the Service Employees International Union and the radical teachers union in Los Angeles goes on strike, far-left activists celebrate the controversial Women’s March by distributing literal fake news, and the Senate re-affirms the No Religious Tests clause of the Constitution.

Episode 51: The Draft Beto Scam

November 29th, 2018  |  7 mins 37 secs

amalgamated bank, andy stern, beto o’rourke, big labor, civil asset forfeiture, democracy alliance, democratic coalition against trump, draft beto, foundation for moral law, influence watch, institute for justice, judicial watch, keith mestrich, labor unions, nathan lerner, pacs, political action committee, scam pac, scam pacs, seiu, service employees international union, southern poverty law center, timbs v. indiana

A repeat creator of dubious “Scam PACs” makes one to “draft” failed U.S. Senate candidate Robert Francis O’Rourke, strange political bedfellows define a Supreme Court case on property rights, and Big Labor’s bank makes bank banking for Democrats.

Episode 24: Local Union Scams

May 17th, 2018  |  42 mins 18 secs

afl-cio, amazon, big labor, business, card check, city officials, cronyism, government, head tax, independent contractor, influence watch, jobs, labor council, labor unions, left-wing, neutrality agreements, progress alliance of washington, real change, seattle, seiu, seiu 775nw, special interests, taxes, transit riders union, union loophole, unions

Local unions regularly manipulate their cronies in government to enact unfair policies for their own benefit. We detail such union scams across the country, with a special focus on a local union supported “head tax” preventing Amazon from expanding in Seattle.

Episode 21: New York's Left in Disarray

April 26th, 2018  |  39 mins 20 secs

acorn, afl-cio, andrew cuomo, ballot line, bill de blasio, communications workers of america, cynthia nixon, democrat, democratic party, labor unions, local 1, local 32bj, make the road new york, movement for black lives, new york, new york communities for change, new york state, retail wholesale department store union, seiu, united federation of teachers, working families organization, working families party

New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo got a shock when the left-wing Working Families Party, important in his previous election, instead endorsed his primary opponent actress Cynthia Nixon. This race is representative of the splits riling the modern Left.

Episode 10: De Blasio’s New York

February 8th, 2018  |  39 mins 23 secs

berlinrosen, bill de blasio, campaign, corruption, democrat, democratic party, fight for $15, mayor, money, new york, new york city, nyc, politics, progressive agenda committee, seiu, seiu 1199, service employees international union, special interests, working families party

Who is Mayor Bill de Blasio? Who wanted him in office and why? And why ought we be concerned about him and his potential run for president?