SethGecko13 (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} sethgecko13) wrote,@ 2008-01-28 15:01:00 |
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Anti-Union Republican Front "Education Action Group"
Today I got a piece of junk mail from some douchebag named "Kyle Olson" at some 501(c)4 front group called the "Education Action Group," complaining about the Grand Rapids Teachers Union has too much power and that teachers don't deserve good benefits and pay.
Like most front groups, their domain registration information is hidden by Domains By Proxy (a shady group that defeats the purpose of domain registration transparency by registering domain names on their behalf and only divulging the DNS info when subpoenaed). In spite of the postmark tracing to Grand Rapids, the return address is a post office box in Muskegon:
Education Action Group
PO Box 4582
Muskegon, MI 49444
Turns out Kyle Olson is a member of the Michigan Republican Party (in addition to being the West Michigan Director of the Michigan Association of Realtors), and a member of Mitt Romney's Michigan campaign team. Olson also lost a Muskegon County Commission race against Lew Collins in 2006. His brother, Ryan Olson, works with the anti-union/pro-school voucher libertarian think tank the MackinacInstitute Center. The general counsel for the "EAG" is Eric Doster (a partner at Foster, Swift, Collins and Smith, P.C.) who is also the Michigan Republican Party's general counsel.
I'm betting that the GOP formed the group so it can attack education funding without getting the stink on itself. The Michigan GOP wants to slash funding to schools - but that's WILDLY unpopular in Michigan - so their efforts have failed miserably. Hilariously, the EAG bills itself as non-partisan on its website.
The EAG has begun to assert itself in the press: MiBiz, a mention honoring Wayne Kuipers, the Grand Rapids Press ("Ridiculous recall effort fails," 7/30/07, and "MEA watchdog keeps eye on school funding - He sees his job as supporting boards that make tough calls on union contracts," 9/10/07), the Detroit News ("School boards must exploit chance to cut health costs," 10/4/07, and "Counter union influence on school boards," 11/9/07).
One of the things the EAG does is to collect data on campaign donations by teachers' groups and educators who donate to various political causes (something the EAG complains about). Apparently Olson thinks it's okay for the GOP, political candidates, libertarian think tanks, and Realtor's groups to use money to influence politics - but teachers shouldn't be allowed to do the same.
It's going to be interesting to see who funds the EAG; the Grand Rapids Press noted that the Olson refused to divulge who donates to the group (donations are not tax-deductible), in its 9/10/07 article the Press said it was going to look at the EAG's IRS filings and see (hopefully they'll keep their word and follow up on it). I'm betting it's going to be a who's who of anti-tax, republican, anti-public education / pro-voucher folks.
Today I got a piece of junk mail from some douchebag named "Kyle Olson" at some 501(c)4 front group called the "Education Action Group," complaining about the Grand Rapids Teachers Union has too much power and that teachers don't deserve good benefits and pay.
Like most front groups, their domain registration information is hidden by Domains By Proxy (a shady group that defeats the purpose of domain registration transparency by registering domain names on their behalf and only divulging the DNS info when subpoenaed). In spite of the postmark tracing to Grand Rapids, the return address is a post office box in Muskegon:
Education Action Group
PO Box 4582
Muskegon, MI 49444
Turns out Kyle Olson is a member of the Michigan Republican Party (in addition to being the West Michigan Director of the Michigan Association of Realtors), and a member of Mitt Romney's Michigan campaign team. Olson also lost a Muskegon County Commission race against Lew Collins in 2006. His brother, Ryan Olson, works with the anti-union/pro-school voucher libertarian think tank the Mackinac
I'm betting that the GOP formed the group so it can attack education funding without getting the stink on itself. The Michigan GOP wants to slash funding to schools - but that's WILDLY unpopular in Michigan - so their efforts have failed miserably. Hilariously, the EAG bills itself as non-partisan on its website.
The EAG has begun to assert itself in the press: MiBiz, a mention honoring Wayne Kuipers, the Grand Rapids Press ("Ridiculous recall effort fails," 7/30/07, and "MEA watchdog keeps eye on school funding - He sees his job as supporting boards that make tough calls on union contracts," 9/10/07), the Detroit News ("School boards must exploit chance to cut health costs," 10/4/07, and "Counter union influence on school boards," 11/9/07).
One of the things the EAG does is to collect data on campaign donations by teachers' groups and educators who donate to various political causes (something the EAG complains about). Apparently Olson thinks it's okay for the GOP, political candidates, libertarian think tanks, and Realtor's groups to use money to influence politics - but teachers shouldn't be allowed to do the same.
It's going to be interesting to see who funds the EAG; the Grand Rapids Press noted that the Olson refused to divulge who donates to the group (donations are not tax-deductible), in its 9/10/07 article the Press said it was going to look at the EAG's IRS filings and see (hopefully they'll keep their word and follow up on it). I'm betting it's going to be a who's who of anti-tax, republican, anti-public education / pro-voucher folks.
