The Reality: Fat Cat Government Unions vs. Underfunded Kochs

Keep these figures in mind next time a union stooge tells you Wisconsin's budget reforms are a battle between poor, destitute unions and the comic book supervillian Kochs who are buying elections.

Twelve of the twenty-one biggest campaign bankrollers in the United States are unions, funneling close to a half-billion dollars into the bank accounts of Democrats. The Kochs, whom Democrats claim fund everything, clock in at #83.

The Kochs have spent a little less than three percent of what unions did, $11 million from the Kochs to nearly $350 million from the unions. And ten percent of that Koch money went to Democrats, so in reality the Kochs are an even greater disadvantage.

The AFSCME, the nation's biggest government union, alone blows the Kochs out of the water. They've pumped over $43 million into the pockets of candidates, four times what the Kochs gave, making just one government union the nation's third-biggest campaign bankroller.

Only two groups are bigger, #2 AT&T (which split its contributions almost evenly between Republicans and Democrats) and #1 ActBlue. The single biggest campaign bankrolling special interest in the nation gave 99% of its $51 million-plus bankwad to Democrats. In fact, of the top 21 campaign contributing groups in the country, only four gave a majority of their contributions to Republicans.

So keep that in mind a well-funded union stooge tells you they're fighting "big money" in Wisconsin.