Alex Seitz-Wald of Salon takes a critical look at the claim that labor is an effective counterweight to conservative super PACs:

On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reignited a battle over money in politics when it reported that labor unions have been spending about four times more on political activity than was previously understood. Using public disclosure forms unions filed with the Labor Department, the Journal concluded that unions have spent over $4 billion on political advocacy at all levels of government since 2005.

“The result,” the Journal explains, “is that labor could be a stronger counterweight than commonly realized to ‘super PACs’ that today raise millions from wealthy donors, in many cases to support Republican candidates and causes.”

Four billion in seven years sounds like a lot of money, but lets put it in perspective. Seitz-Wald points out that if you stack organized labor up against all sources of corporate money in politics, business outspends labor by a margin of about 15-1. 

The WSJ claim is disingenuous for another reason. Conservative groups are already doing everything they can to undercut unions’ abilities to spend dues on political activity. So, regardless of what they may have done in the past, their future as a counterweight to the Republican cash machine is far from certain.

[Photo credit: Blue Robot, Creative Commons.]