Quotes of the day

Unless you can show me what Levin has done lately, I say you’re the one who is inaccurate, stupid, and ignorant.

mizflame98 on February 23, 2010 at 1:48 PM

First of all, I did not say that you are stupid and ignorant, although you may be persuading me otherwise.

I said what you said was ignorant of that facts.

National Review Online – Called to the Principal’s Office – Judgement day for the NEA

December 03, 2003 By Kate OBeirne, Washington Editor

The nation’s largest teachers’ union may soon come to regret the educational-policy buzzwords “accountability” and “testing.” The Internal Revenue Service is currently auditing the National Education Association and students of the NEA’s political practices are betting that the powerful union’s “new math” approach to its returns will flunk under long-overdue examination. A convincing stack of documents collected by the Landmark Legal Foundation reveals that for the past ten years the millions of tax-exempt funds that the 2.7-million-member union spends on political activity has wound up amounting to “zero” on its tax returns.

“The IRS is potentially in the position, if it does its job, to collect tens of millions in corporate taxes owed,” says Mark R. Levin, the tenacious president of Landmark (he is also an NRO contributor) who first filed a formal complaint against the NEA with the IRS in 2000. The NEA claims it got a clean bill of health from an IRS review of its 1993 return, but that’s history. Landmark’s thorough critique begins with the union’s 1994 return and rests on recent evidence unavailable to the IRS during any previous review.

It is perfectly legal for the NEA to use members’ dues to support political activity. The catch is that such expenditures must be fully accounted for and taxes must be paid on any tax-exempt general revenues that are spent on politics. “Political expenditures” that must be reported on tax returns are those “intended to influence the selection, nomination, election, or appointment of anyone to a federal, state, or local public office….”

LANDMARK FORCES CALIFORNIA TEACHERS UNION

TO REFUND POLITICAL FUNDS TO TEACHERS

(LEESBURG, VA)…Landmark Legal Foundation won a significant victory recently when it forced the California Teachers Union (CTA) to offer full refunds to nonunion, fee paying teachers for a special $60 per teacher assessment that the union is using to fund a $50 million campaign to defeat ballot initiatives in the November 5 special election.

Landmark filed a complaint on September 14 with the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) documenting how the union’s special assessment would be used to retire a $50 million debt amassed for the sole purpose of financing a campaign to defeat initiatives 75, 76 and others on the November ballot. Under state law, teachers who are not members of the union, but who are required to pay a fee for collective bargaining representation, are allowed to seek a refund of any part of their fee used for political purposes. After Landmark filed its complaint, the CTA notified nonmember teachers that the full $60 surcharge will be refunded to all fee payers who request it by November 15, 2005.

Landmark Files IRS Complaint Against Colorado Teachers’ Unions

CEA, affiliate uses staff as campaign organization for state senate candidate

(LEESBURG, VA)… Landmark Legal Foundation, the organization that uncovered massive abuse of federal tax, election and labor laws by the nation’s largest teacher’s union, has filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), alleging flagrant and widespread violations of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) by the Colorado Education Association (CEA) and the Poudre, Colorado Education Association (PEA).

Landmark’s complaint details how the CEA and the PEA employed union staff members, including PEA’s president and office manager, for several weeks to work full time as de facto campaign managers for the 2004 candidacy of Democrat Bob Bacon for the Colorado State Senate. The costs associated with the unions’ expenditures on behalf of the campaign (staff salaries and benefits, travel expenses, etc.) are all required by the IRC to be reported on the unions’ federal tax returns as in-kind political contributions. Neither the CEA nor the PEA reported any political spending for the 2004 tax year.

“The leaders of the CEA and the PEA appear to have turned their unions over lock, stock and barrel to the Bob Bacon for Senate campaign,” explained Landmark President Mark R. Levin. “Hundreds of man-hours and tens of thousands in tax-exempt, teachers’ dues were used for no other purpose than to elect a candidate who would do the unions’ bidding in the state Senate.”

There are three examples of the ongoing fight against leftwing teacher’s unions and the alliance with the left against parents and students best interests.

Dear Friends,

Landmark Legal Foundation is presently engaged in a two front battle – the most ambitious and arguably the most important we’ve ever faced. It is quite literally a battle for America’s future.

We’re confronting the nation’s chief obstacle to substantive education reform – the NEA – not only at the national level, but in the states where the union spends millions in tax exempt funds on unreported and hence illegal political activities. In the coming months we will launch the first wave of complaints against key NEA state affiliates. In addition, the Foundation will undertake a major outreach initiative to regional, national and specialty media and key opinion leaders to garner attention and caste the spectrum of public debate where it belongs – on the actions of a union that has no respect for the law. Landmark’s complaints and public outreach efforts will bring to the state unions the same unremitting and unwelcome scrutiny from governmental agencies and the media that has resulted in a full IRS field audit and Labor Department investigation of the national union.

We are also challenging what may be the most insidious legacy of modern liberalism – judicial activism and the radical judges who use it to advance an extremist social agenda. America’s courts have become the final bulwark for the advocates of big government who have been defeated time after time at the ballot box at the local, state and federal level. Through an aggressive and multifaceted public education campaign, Landmark’s Judicial Reform Initiative is helping to reshape the public debate and crystallize public sentiment about the mission of America’s courts and the proper limits on their authority. With the Roberts Nomination to the the Supreme Court currently before the Senate – as well as the ongoing controversy about filibusters in the Senate over nominees to federal district and appeals courts, this has become one of Landmark’s highest priorities.

It is not an overstatement to say that we are at one of the most pivotal junctures in Landmark’s history. What we do in the months ahead will literally set the course for our efforts for years to come. The complaints we’re going to file could create significant public and legal pressure on the NEA that may force the union to finally comply with federal tax, election and labor laws. And the battle over the next Supreme Court nominee could help shape the scope and reach of the Court’s power for the next generation of Americans.

We do not know how these battles will be resolved, but we do know that we will do everything we can to achieve the goals we’ve set. We never promise more than we can deliver, but we deliver everything we promise. And we know that the success we achieve is due directly to the individuals and organizations who support our efforts. Now, more than ever, Your support will make a difference.

Sincerely,

Mark R. Levin

President

Brian1972 on February 23, 2010 at 2:01 PM

About Mark R. Levin

Mark R. Levin is president of Landmark Legal Foundation. Previously he served as Landmark’s director of legal policy for more than three years. He has worked as an attorney in the private sector and as a top adviser and administrator to several members of President Reagan’s cabinet. Levin served as chief of staff to the attorney general of the United States, deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education, and deputy solicitor of the U.S. Department of Interior. He holds a B.A. from Temple University, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude, and a J.D. from Temple University School of Law. He also served on the Cheltenham Township (Pa.) school board.

Brian1972 on February 23, 2010 at 2:17 PM

Brian is on Levin’s payroll or something. Brian has been ranting now for two days. Levin has really become a childish whinner, and I guess his digs fit his voice as both are very, very annoying. I agree, Levin is NOT in Beck’s league, and that is why Levin is #7 in talk radio and Beck is #3.

mobydutch on February 23, 2010 at 3:45 PM

Ok, look. This is the truth. Levin is upset at Beck for lifting things from him without attribution, and he doesn’t like his goofy style. He also doesn’t like the flirtations with the isolationists like Ron Paul. That is his right.

When you are talking about advancing the conservative movement, Levin wins hands down. No contest. Period.

Some of you seem to have some emotional attachment to this man Beck, and I’m starting to think he has a cult following.

(kidding about the cult….relax)

I’m not hating on Beck, as I said I like the guy and what he has put together at FOX. To say he has surpassed Mark Levin or Rush Limbaugh as some have is just complete fantasy.

When it comes to the Constitution of the United States, the history of the Founding, the personalities that brought it about, I will stick with the man who has studied this subject in law school, and as a personal passion for most of his life. That is Mark Levin. He is a brilliant guy who gets it. He is a better source than Beck. That does not mean Beck is worthless or anything, far from it. Levin is simply more of an authoritative source.

For telling the truth I get personal insults from some Beck groupies here. Par for the course I guess. The truth is still the truth.

Brian1972 on February 23, 2010 at 8:24 PM