Atlanta Weather

| Traffic

Search
Political Insider

On some timely campaign contributions by Delta Air Lines

1:50 pm September 6, 2011, by jgalloway

My AJC colleague Daniel Malloy today writes on the revival of the triangular fight involving Delta Air Lines, unions and the continued funding of the Federal Aviation Administration:

A stopgap funding measure expires in less than two weeks, and both Republicans and Democrats say they want to avoid a repeat of the 13-day shutdown in late July and early August. That stalemate forced 4,000 FAA employees — not including air traffic controllers — and 70,000 contract workers temporarily off the job.

Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines is a major player in the debate:

[T]he chief sticking point — a decision by the National Mediation Board to issue a new rule that makes it easier for employees in the airline and railroad industries to unionize — remains unresolved, and the clock is ticking….

Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., sponsored a resolution in the Senate condemning the decision, but it failed in a floor vote. House Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica, R-Fla., inserted a provision in a long-term FAA funding bill to overturn the NMB ruling, but the Obama administration and the Democrat-run Senate rejected that idea.

David Donnelly, director of non-partisan Campaign Money Watch, notes that Delta, through its political action committee, reported making few 2011 campaign contributions as of June 30 – but what it did spend was apparently well-targeted.

First there was the maximum $5,000 contribution to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, given on April 5. Not much of a surprise there.

The more intriguing contribution was another $5,000 given to U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., on May 15.

Only three months earlier, Miller had provided one of three Republican votes on the House transportation committee that nearly stripped the Mica provision – the one that Delta backed — out of the funding bill. From TPM on March 10:

The margin was so thin because three Republicans — Tim Johnson (R-IL), Candice Miller (R-MI), and Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ) — voted with the Democrats on that amendment. If they and other Republicans team with Democrats, they’ll have opportunities down the line to strike the anti-union language….

In committee, Miller, a former secretary of state, argued that unionization votes should be tallied democratically.

“It’s not pro-union, it’s not anti-union, it’s about fairness,” she insisted.

But on April 1, during a House floor fight to strip the NMB provision, Miller was the only one of the three Republicans to switch her vote. She joined the effort to keep the anti-union provision in the funding bill.

According to the FEC data bank, Miller also received, in May, a $2,000 campaign contribution from Stephen Gorman, Delta’s executive vice president, and a $1,000 contribution from Andrea Newman, a senior Delta vice president for governmental affairs.

- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider

For instant updates, follow me on Twitter, or connect with me on Facebook.

  • Print

29 comments Add your comment

Clinton "Skeek" Tyree

September 6th, 2011
2:13 pm

The politicians ought to be honest and just come right out and say it to the lobbyists: “Just write down what you want me to say and what you want me to do and I’ll do it ASAP. By the way, only twenties in the envelope, please!”

RNB

September 6th, 2011
2:23 pm

Delta’s concern over the NMB’s rule change is being exaggerated for political purposes. Delta has had four union preference elections since the NMB changed the rules in the middle of the game, and won them all.

kevin

September 6th, 2011
2:24 pm

and the follow up question that just never seems to get asked is how much money did the union give for votes?
In some sort of fairness for the “reporters,” it is probably hard to figure out how much money unions give…

messed up!

September 6th, 2011
2:29 pm

Delta – the repubilican tea party airline! with shirley Franklin as a Board member. Talk about blogging while blue! This City/State/Country is Funny! All in the same bed! Money, money, money…

JD

September 6th, 2011
2:37 pm

Kevin,

Look up ALPA (the airline pilots association, aka the pilots union, aka the airline union with money) on the FEC website. They have the same disclosure requirements as the corporate Delta PAC. There are no special exceptions for them…despite growing conservative belief that such preference exists.

yellowdog

September 6th, 2011
3:11 pm

none of them yet doing the right thing; without unions,, no one would bother altogether……there is no such thing as a corporation for the national good. look at the miners…people dont care…….what have we become? im with “messed up.” they are all the same…..yet the thought of a republican calling the shots scares me more……..get real folks.

findog

September 6th, 2011
3:15 pm

We could do away with elections and just do a fund raiser for the nation
Cut out the middle men and lobbyists and just put the money in the treasury and cut out the middle men
could probably balance the budget, pay off the debt, have money left for education

Denny

September 6th, 2011
3:20 pm

People forget or never knew that unions are the only reason that wages are more than a pittance. If you think that companies increase your pay because they like you or your work then you are fooling yourself. The rules for voting in a union in a company have always been slanted in favor of the company. Delta has forever paid their workers just a little more than the airline across the field in order to keep the unions out.

tom mitchell

September 6th, 2011
3:24 pm

Remember when Delta Airlines was considered a local Georgia company and everyone was so proud to have them headquartered in Atlanta? How did they succeed in tarnishing their good name so badly? Coca-Cola is just a step behiind them, too.

November 6, 2012

September 6th, 2011
3:36 pm

Folks, if Delta Employees vote to unionize, prices will be going up…….count on it. Another reason not to fly.

Mr Chips

September 6th, 2011
3:37 pm

OK. Note the time. 3:33 pm on Tuesday, the sixth of September. I’ve been banned by Kyle Wingfield GOP Brownshirt Nazi Gestapo wannabees. I had plenty of access untill they realized who I was. I am a very real danger to their ideology of hate, secession and war.

What is the topic here? Timely soft money that directly affect corporate profits? Well, finally somebody brings up the classics.

The Founding Fathers made sure that King George could not tax the Corporations. We have to live with that, people.

We have to live with that.

cs

September 6th, 2011
3:44 pm

attacks on unions is another reason i am NOT voting for republicans anymore in the forseable future.

cs

September 6th, 2011
3:45 pm

delta deadbeat airlines. no money to pay taxes the rest of us have to but money to lobby and give to campaign crooks?

BIg Hat

September 6th, 2011
3:56 pm

…and don’t forget that when “we’re just good ol’ family, we’ll take care of everybody, shucks” Delta Flight 191 bought the farm in Dallas, two years later they had their good ol’ boy lawyers arguing in court that any unmarried male over 30 killed in the crash was “probably a homosexual and would probably get AIDS and die soon” so their lives weren’t worth much money anyway. Good ol’ corporate citizen Delta can burn in eternity for that.

Mr Chips

September 6th, 2011
4:05 pm

Kyle Wingfield, a hack’s huckster, has banned me from his blog. He claims that I am the incoherent, babbling one. He insists that the Tea Party isn’t the sheep’s clothing for the secessionist in the Tea Party. Folks, we are in very real danger of a secession by the states of North and South Dakota and who knows what else? Kyle is either in league with them, or he’s simply ignorant of the movement.

The Tea Party’s platform is so easily decoded into a popular trend only because it’s so generic. Cut spending. Small Government? What does that mean? Tea Party would end tomorrow if they defined, “cut spending”. They wont. They’re not stupid.

the money and the motivation behind the well-meaning patriots in the Tea Party are aimed at nothing less that secession.

Secession. Tea Party. Ask Oprah. She’s too commercial to admit it. You see, she used to feature secessionist white aryan supremicists on her show. They told her in no uncertain terms what they would do. The Tea Party is their vehicle to power.

Fact. Vote Accordingly.

JD

September 6th, 2011
4:06 pm

Nov 6th up there brings up a stupid point, but something that needs addressed. For one, Delta is unionized to a fairly big extent already…that has not caused prices to go up. But I bring your comment up for a good reason: people always attribute cost increases, tax revenue decreases, increases in unemployment or inflation to stuff that is extremely marginal, but, more importantly, stuff that they do not agree with.

Never mind ever rising costs for security or fuel, never mind the bankruptcy 10 years ago, never mind the fact that airlines have never been profitable and have always had difficulty attracting investors…costs are only going up because of unions: this is the logic of the right wing and to Nov. 6th. This is the case across the board.

President Obama is not to blame for the economy, market actors are to blame for the economy. President Obama is not to blame for unemployment, market actors are to blame for unemployment. President Obama is not blame for high gas prices, oil speculators and market actors are to blame for higher gas prices.

Why is it that people are so afraid to confront the facts when they are inconvenient for their ideology?

Mr Chips

September 6th, 2011
4:09 pm

Kyle Wingfield spent a lot of time in Europe. I charge that he was approached by secessionists then and there, and they offered him a fortune if he could write his way into some sort of social-engineering default into the Tea Party by using trolls, hate, and racism.

He knows a good deal when he sees it.

Big Hat. that’s why evil persists when good men do nothing Boy, could I have destroyed those legal arguments.

I am for hire. I am a genius, as you all know. I can destroy any platform, liberal or conservative. I choose justice. I will fight for justice as God give me the light to see that justice.

Go ‘head. Make my day, Kyle.

Can't believe what I'm hearing

September 6th, 2011
4:12 pm

Why don’t all the unions pool all their money and start their own businesses, then they wouldn’t have to complain anymore. It shouldn’t take them long to show the world how to run a profitable company without government(taxpayer) funding.

Mr Chips

September 6th, 2011
4:17 pm

JD. I appreciate your sentiment. But what are market actors? Are you saying that all the world is a stage?

Look, nobody can predict the stock market. We have been stuck at 10K or 11K since the mid nineties, man. If you tried to play that market, then you are broke.

Oil? It seems to be the only thing that nations will go to war 4. That’s what scares me. Why is it not a coincidence that the bible’s holy land is so drenched with oil? What did God know and when did he know it.

We are marching lock-step into Armeggedon, man. And your opinions, though entertaining and well written, represent the majority of saints who wanna be in that number, you know, when the saints go marching into Armeggedon.

Me? I’m opening another bottle of wine. Enjoy destroying each other my fine friends.

Cobb Voter

September 6th, 2011
4:23 pm

This is a very cynical article. I expect better from Galloway.

Mr Chips

September 6th, 2011
4:24 pm

The unions can’t pool their money because their funding is so shallow. They would drown in debt. The unions themselves, as the enemy of pure capitalism would be sitting ducks for corporate tactics.

No, we, as a people, must decide what entreprenurial opportunity means. Does it mean that one person may reap the benefits of our hungry stomachs and open a restaurant that poisons us, like Mikdy D’s????

I don’t think so. We get hungry because we are human. Why should any one man benefit from that reality? We need safe transportation because we are human. Why should a handful of moguls benefit from that reality? What has capitalism done for us lately?

I say we unite and decide as a nation. The Tea Party would rather kill me to death than allow a national dialogue concerning our future.

Believe it.

Mr Chips

September 6th, 2011
4:27 pm

We. As People. Must decide our future.

ANd F the Tea Party. (a small minority of 15 minute wannabes who’s only chance for relevance is to hate and hate and hate, both inwardly and vocally.

Perry 2012; Hate is the new love.

RGB

September 6th, 2011
4:38 pm

Conceit is a weird disease. It makes everyone sick but the one who has it.

Quoshanique

September 6th, 2011
4:40 pm

“…Miller was the only one of the three Republicans to switch her vote. She joined the effort to keep the anti-union provision in the funding bill.”

I normally dislike vote buying but in this case it was an anti-union buy so I’ll hold my nose and give her a thumbs up.

If Delta ever goes to an all-unionized workforce they’ll evolve into the next Eastern Airlines. For those too young to remember Eastern was the poster child for inefficiency and rude, indifferent customer service. They went bust.

Mr Chips

September 6th, 2011
4:49 pm

BTW: Kyle, ESAD.

You are a traitor, you horrid man. The proof is in the fact that the Tea Party arose within days of the innauguration. The organization couldn’t have been in place that fast if indeed it was reactionary. it was anticipatory.

Kyle Wingfield is a traitor. He would rather the shia muslims rule than the black president democratic white house that calls the shots now.

mum

September 6th, 2011
5:13 pm

You may blame unions for our ills, but the rest of us willingly went along with it so we are all responsible. In today’s hyper-partisan world, where would unionized workers go if the company shipped jobs overseas? Seems to me that the age of winner take all in bargaining is done.

Alabama Communist

September 6th, 2011
11:23 pm

Corporate Sales Pitch of the Day………” Delta is ready When our Corporate Check Clears”

Shawn

September 9th, 2011
10:15 pm

Our politicians are for sale to the highest bidder. It is hard to imagine anyone believing that Delta’s CEO Richard (Dick) Anderson is looking out for the employees best interest. He only cares about his own bonus that is derived from how much he squeezes from the employees.

Kevin

September 12th, 2011
3:40 am

Corruption 101 . The people of this great country are tired of it. I will not vote REPUBLICAN unless I see a viable non corrupt politician. Delta air lines and their payoffs and insider trading is out of countrol. Where are the enforcers of INSIDER TRADING? Good new means sell. BAD NEWS means BUY. Follow it folks. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/it?s=DAL+Insider+Transactions