INTERNACIONAL
Largest public-sector unions spent eye-popping amount on left-wing politics — 86% funded by member dues
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EXCLUSIVE: The country’s four largest public-sector unions spent a combined $915 million on elections and progressive political activism during the 2024 election cycle, 86% of which came from member dues.
The Commonwealth Foundation, a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit promoting free-market policies, highlighted the massive political spending by the National Education Association (NEA), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) in a new report released this week.
The foundation published a similar report during the 2022 election cycle that found all four of these unions spent $708 million on progressive politics,
The report’s findings, particularly that 86% of the unions’ nearly $1 billion in political spending stems from membership dues, underscore criticism that these entities work more to push a political agenda than support their members.
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«What they’re doing when they’re making these political investments is they’re trying to get people into office that will raise taxes and increase the size and scope of government,» public sector unions expert Aaron Withe told Fox News Digital. «That’s the way that it’s been working for decades. That’s why you see the government grows every single year. That’s why you see taxes go up most every year as well.»
Withe, a critic of both public- and private-sector unions, said private-sector unions at least have an incentive structure based on a company’s or industry’s bottom line, but public-sector unions, Withe argued, are incentivized by raising taxes and growing government.
«When you look at union spending in politics, you have to remember that their goal — their primary purpose is a business — so they’re there to grow revenue. They’re there to gain more revenue than the year previously,» Withe pointed out. «The difference with the government union is that that revenue comes from public employees. And the way that you hire more public employees is by raising taxes on the private sector so that you can hire more bureaucrats.»
David Osborne, senior director of labor policy for the Commonwealth Foundation and co-author of the report, said «the big question» from his report is whether rank-and-file union members are aware of how their money is actually being spent.
«Years ago, [union members] could expect union executives to use dues to drive member services, including contract negotiations and grievance processing,» Osborne said. «Now, union members are unwittingly propping up left-leaning candidates and progressive causes like abortion, critical race theory and defunding the police.»
MY TEACHERS UNION CALLS IT REPRESENTATION. I SAY THERE ARE $114 MILLION REASONS TO SUE THEM
Presidents of the nation’s two largest teachers unions, pictured above, Becky Pringle, left, of the National Education Association, and Randi Weingarten, right, of the American Federation of Teachers. (Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for March For Our Lives)
According to the Commonwealth Foundation’s report, the findings show that approximately 25% of the group’s total spending — or $642 million — goes toward «representational activities,» which the report describes as «the spending category most closely tied to membership support.» Meanwhile, the unions also spent about a combined 33% of their total spending — or $845 million — on general overhead, union administration, staff benefits and other cost categories «linked to basic operations.»
But spending on elections and progressive political activism surpassed both those categories. Collectively, the unions spent around $755 million on federal elections and national progressive politics, while their state-level affiliates combined to spend another $160 million on state races and ideological causes. Of that spending, $650 million, or 86%, originated from union membership dues, according to the Commonwealth Foundation.
The report notes the unions also collect voluntary political action committee (PAC) deductions from members and their families, which allows the unions to collect money that can then go directly to candidates, something that is not supposed to be done with members’ dues money. The union’s federal PAC spending accounted for 14% of the group’s political spending, according to the report.
Protesters gathered at the D.C. Human Resources office in the Navy Yard neighborhood in Washington Sept. 1. (Fox News Digital/Emma Woodhead)
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«Government unions’ heavy use of membership dues money for politics — more than what they collectively spent on representational activities — underlines a disturbing trend: the growing, overt reliance by union officials to spend member dues rather than political action committee funds on their political and ideological agendas,» the Commonwealth Foundation says in its new report.
«Yet, much of this spending is possible only because of the lack of accountability and control over what powerful union executives do with members’ dues. Union dues, not the separately collected PAC funds, are the overwhelming power behind — 86 percent — of union political spending.
«Few members are aware that union leaders launder much of their dues through super PACs and 527s to back political projects. Even fewer members can effect change within their union to stop it.»
Fox News Digital reached out to the NEA, AFT, SEIU and AFSCME for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
labor unions,democratic party,democrats elections,politics,taxes
A principios de los años 2000, Robert Plant, cantante de Led Zeppelin, conducía por la costa de Oregón. Mientras escuchaba una emisora local, se encontró ante una situación inusual. El locutor propuso a los oyentes donar dinero con el fin de vetar “Stairway to Heaven” de la programación. Plant llamó, ofreció una suma considerable y la emisora aceptó el trato.
El músico, célebre por su voz en Led Zeppelin, explicó después que esta decisión respondió a su hartazgo. Llevaba décadas escuchando el tema en todos lados y quería poner fin a esa repetición. Esa acción marcó un punto de inflexión en su relación con la canción que lo acompañó durante gran parte de su carrera.
El episodio ocurrió en KBOO, una radio comunitaria de Oregón. Plant donó USD 10.000 para que el tema no volviera a sonar. “Estaba harto de escucharla”, confesó en una entrevista a NPR. No se trató de enojo ni desprecio, sino de saturación pura: su propio clásico se había convertido en una carga.
De acuerdo con Rock FM, Robert Plant enfatizó que la canción es una obra maestra en el aspecto musical. Sin embargo, con los años, se distanció del significado de sus propias letras. En 2019, reconoció que ya no podía identificarse con ellas. “Ya no escribiría esas líneas abstractas”, señaló. El cantante llegó a comparar la relación con su tema más célebre con la de un antiguo amigo: una figura cercana con la que no siempre se desea compartir momentos.
En 1988, Plant reafirmó esa postura. Declaró que sentía rechazo ante la posibilidad de tener que cantar “Stairway to Heaven” en todos los conciertos. Explicó: “Tuvo su importancia, pero después de tantos años, ya no es para mí”. Así justificó su negativa a interpretar el tema en vivo durante mucho tiempo, salvo en ocasiones excepcionales.
La reacción de la emisora ante la donación también sorprendió. KBOO solía recibir discos de Atlantic, la discográfica de Led Zeppelin, pero no dudó en aceptar el reto de Plant. Incluso, cuando Ahmet Ertegun, presidente del sello, conoció la historia, la consideró graciosa y la tomó con humor, según el propio Plant, en testimonios recogidos por Rock FM.
El contexto personal de Plant en esa época ayuda a entender su decisión. Después de años de giras multitudinarias y éxito global, el artista buscaba renovar su rumbo creativo. Iniciaba un nuevo capítulo junto a la banda Strange Sensation, con la que exploró raíces del blues y otros sonidos alejados de la nostalgia de Zeppelin.
Foto: REUTERS
Durante la gira Dreamland, Plant evitó la presión de recrear grandes éxitos del pasado. Eligió enfocar su energía artística en propuestas diferentes y así quedó reflejado en ese gesto simbólico: un portazo a “Stairway to Heaven”, pagando una suma para nunca oírla en esa emisora.
La historia confirma la relación singular que muchos artistas desarrollan con sus obras más famosas. En ocasiones, la demanda del público y de los medios puede volver agotador un éxito que, en su día, representó un hito en sus carreras.
Según Kenwyn House, guitarrista del evento benéfico en el que Plant volvió a cantar el tema en 2023, la interpretación en Oxfordshire partió de una subasta entre donantes. Alguien ofreció una suma significativa para escuchar la canción en vivo y el dinero benefició a una causa solidaria.
“Me gustaba la ideología de la canción, pero odiaba la idea de convertirla en un himno estático en cada concierto”, aseguró Plant. En 2007, durante el Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert de Londres, Led Zeppelin se reunió y él accedió a interpretarla, comprendiendo el valor excepcional del momento.
La reacción de Plant en Oregón representa un ejemplo inusual del poder transformador de la música en la vida de sus propios creadores. Optó por el humor y la decisión firme, priorizando el presente sobre la nostalgia. El episodio deja ver el lado humano detrás de la leyenda: la preferencia de seguir adelante antes que quedar atrapado en la repetición de un único éxito.
Esta experiencia destaca la singular conexión de Plant con su mayor clásico. Tras medio siglo de impacto cultural, el músico eligió el silencio sobre la repetición y confirmó, una vez más, la esencia inquieta que guía a los grandes artistas.
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Former special counsel Jack Smith undercut claims made by Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide and Jan. 6 Committee witness, while testifying in a recent deposition to Congress.
Smith told the House Judiciary Committee this month that he evaluated Hutchinson’s explosive claims as part of his investigation and prosecution of President Donald Trump related to the 2020 election, according to a transcript published Wednesday.
Smith said they had deficiencies because Hutchinson did not offer firsthand information.
Asked during the deposition how he would have approached cross-examining Hutchinson, Smith said he would have moved to prohibit a portion of her testimony from being used.
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Jack Smith, former special counsel, arrives for a closed-door deposition before the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C., Dec. 17, 2025. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
«If I were a defense attorney and Ms. Hutchinson were a witness, the first thing I would do was seek to preclude some of her testimony because it was hearsay, and I don’t have the full range of her testimony in front of me right now, but I do remember that that was a decent part of it,» Smith said.
Smith was also asked about specific claims Hutchinson had made, including that Trump was aware that some of his supporters would be armed at his rally and that Trump attempted to grab the steering wheel of his driver out of anger.
Hutchinson «was a second or even thirdhand witness,» Smith said, adding that other witnesses gave «different perspectives» than her.
Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Mark Meadows when he was White House chief of staff in the Trump administration, gestures toward her neck as she retells a story involving President Trump during House Jan. 6 select committee hearing on Capitol Hill June 28, 2022. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
«We interviewed, I think, the people she talked to, and we also interviewed, if my recollection is correct, officers who were there, including the officer who was in the car,» Smith said. «And that officer, if my recollection is correct, and I want to make sure I’m right about this, said that President Trump was very angry and wanted to go to the Capitol, but the version of events that he explained was not the same as what Cassidy Hutchinson said she heard from somebody secondhand.»
Smith noted that «a number of the things that she gave evidence on were secondhand hearsay, were things that she had heard from other people and, as a result, that testimony may or may not be admissible, and it certainly wouldn’t be as powerful as firsthand testimony.»
Hutchinson became a key witness in the Democrat-led Jan. 6 Committee’s investigation into the U.S. Capitol attack, testifying privately several times and publicly. Her testimony dominated headlines, but her claims became a point of scrutiny for Republicans, who found the committee’s work lacked credibility because its only Republican members were two vocal anti-Trump lawmakers.
Hutchinson served as a top aide to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in the final months of Trump’s first presidency, giving her an inside look at internal discussions among White House officials in the aftermath of the 2020 election.
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The Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol in 2021. (Julio Cortez, File)
In a highly publicized hearing in June 2022, Hutchinson testified under oath about what she said were warnings inside the White House about the possibility of violence on Jan. 6 and Trump’s alleged awareness that some supporters attending his rally would be armed.
In another claim that was later disputed by other witnesses, Hutchinson also recalled conversations about how Trump attempted to grab the steering wheel from a U.S. Secret Service agent because he wanted to go to the Capitol and not the West Wing.
Hutchinson testified that she was told that the president «said something to the effect of, ‘I’m the effing president, take me up to the Capitol now,’ to which [the agent] responded, ‘Sir, we have to go back to the West Wing.’ The president reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel.»
Hutchinson had not mentioned that particular story in any of her prior interviews with the committee. She later said she withheld it at the direction of her former lawyer, Stefan Passantino.
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Smith was asked about Hutchinson as part of a more than eight-hour closed-door deposition this month that centered on his investigations and prosecutions of Trump related to the 2020 election and Trump’s alleged retention of classified material.
Smith defended his investigative practices, including subpoenaing Senate and House lawmakers’ phone data. He also defended some of his prosecutorial decisions, including seeking gag orders against Trump and bringing an unusually slimmed-down superseding indictment against Trump after the Supreme Court ruled that Trump had some presidential immunity protections.
justice department,capitol protests,congress,washington dc,politics
INTERNACIONAL
Netanyahu warns of ‘eighth front’ ideological battle for American hearts and minds with Christian leaders
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a meeting with Evangelical Christian leaders in Florida today to underscore Israel’s reliance on faith-based allies in the United States, as divisions inside the U.S. over Israel’s war and U.S. support continue to surface.
The meeting came days after Netanyahu held talks on Monday with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, amid growing debate within conservative circles over the scope of American backing for Israel and the direction of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
Speaking to the leaders, Netanyahu said Israel has emerged «in many ways victorious» from what he described as a «seven-front war,» but warned that an additional front now looms in the West.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with leaders of the Evangelical Christian community in Florida, accompanied by members of the Israeli delegation. (Amos Ben Gershom / GPO)
«There’s an eighth front,» he said, describing a struggle «for the hearts and minds of people, especially young people in the West, and for me especially in the United States.» He framed that effort not only as Israel’s fight, but as a broader one. «It’s our common Judeo-Christian civilization’s battle,» he said.
The prime minister argued that this ideological front requires the same resolve as military action. «There are some people who believe that faith should be silent and terrorism should be understood,» Netanyahu said. «Faith should speak its voice and terrorism should be confronted, not understood, confronted and defeated.»
Pro-Palestinian Muslim protesters hold a banner saying «From the river to the sea..» and chant at a demonstration calling for an end to Israeli attacks on Gaza. London, UK, Dec. 9, 2023. ( Andy Soloman/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Netanyahu repeatedly emphasized the historical and ideological bond between Christian Zionists and Israel. «You are representatives of the Christian Zionists who made Jewish Zionism possible,» Netanyahu said, crediting U.S. Christian support as central to the reestablishment of the Jewish state. «I can say that we have no better friends.»
TRUMP PICK FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ENVOY VISITS HOLY LAND, CITES STRONG US-ISRAEL BOND
President Donald Trump listens as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during an arrival at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (Alex Brandon/AP)
Netanyahu told the group he had spoken with Trump the day before and described what he sees as global threats facing Israel and its allies. He pointed to «two forces,» identifying «radical Shiite Islam,» led by Iran, and «radical Sunni Islam,» which he said is led by the Muslim Brotherhood.
He also highlighted persecution of Christians in multiple regions, saying Christians are being targeted «in Syria, in Lebanon, in Nigeria, in Turkey, and beyond,» while arguing that Israel plays a unique protective role. «One country protects the Christian community, enables it to grow, defends it, and makes sure that it thrives,» Netanyahu said. «That country is Israel. There is no other. None.»
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People hold an Israeli and US flag in front of a large group of anti-Israel protesters march outside The Grove shopping center on Black Friday, carrying a giant banner reading «Shut it Down for Palestine» in Los Angeles, Nov. 24, 2023. (David Swanson/AFP via Getty Images)
Netanyahu said Israel is working toward broader cooperation to assist Christian communities under threat worldwide. «We are joining an effort to have basically a United Nations of countries that support Christian communities around the world,» he said, adding, «Just as you are helping us, we want to help back.»
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, who attended the meeting, later wrote on X that Evangelical leaders’ commitment to Israel was «inspiring» and said shared values would «fortify the bond between both our nations.»
benjamin netanyahu,israel,donald trump,evangelical,christianity,wars
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