SEIU

SEIU, Stern Deny Federal Investigation

Rachel Slajda | September 28, 2010, 3:56PM

President of the Service Employees International Union Andy Stern

The SEIU is flatly denying reports of a federal investigation against the union and its former leader, Andy Stern.

The Associated Press reported this morning that the FBI and the Department of Labor are looking into a $175,000 advance Stern got for a book deal in 2006, and the approval of a contract for a former union official who was booted after it was discovered he did no actual work.

The sources, identified as "two organized labor officials," told the AP that they had been questioned this summer. Investigators, they said, were interested in Stern's book deal because the SEIU and its locals bought thousands of copies. They also asked about Alejandro Stephens, the former president of a California local, who was paid a $75,000 consulting salary until the SEIU realized he wasn't doing any actual work. Stephens was recently sentenced to jail for stealing tens of thousands from a voter outreach program.

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NFIB

Getting Back On Grover's Good Side? Small-Business Lobby Joins Anti-HCR Suit

Zachary Roth | May 17, 2010, 3:10PM

Grover Norquist

Is a key business lobby group back on the right-wing reservation?

Earlier this year, Grover Norquist, the long-time majordomo of Washington's conservative alliance, called out the National Federation of Independent Businesses for not doing enough to fight President Obama's agenda. "The biggest hole in the center-right bloc is that the NFIB is not being the tribune of the masses on this," Norquist told National Journal in February. "Why is that? That is a fascinating question."

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Health Care Reform

Fat Paydays For Key Players On Both Sides Of Health Care Debate

Justin Elliott | March 18, 2010, 2:55PM

Key players in the year-long fight over health care reform -- including heavyweights like PhRMA's Billy Tauzin and Karen Ignagni of America's Health Insurance Plans -- rake in huge annual salaries, according to tax filings.

New IRS rules require non-profits, including trade associations representing health care stakeholders, to disclose more salary information than ever before, a development first reported on by Roll Call.

So TPMmuckraker decided to take a look at what the lobbyists and leaders of these organizations make for a day's work.

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