http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | When corporate moguls get nabbed for ripping off shareholders, the media go ape-wild. Last year's front-page headlines were filled with Big Business scandals and barrels of op-ed indignation about capitalist greed. But when teachers' union officials plunder their members' coffers in Enronic proportions, the media go . . . AWOL.

I recently read a nauseating FBI affidavit filed last month in support of search and seizure warrants for three teachers' union officials in Washington, D.C. The accused villains under federal investigation are former Washington Teachers Union President Barbara Bullock, her aide, Gwen Hemphill, and her treasurer, James Baxter. All three are prominent cronies of D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams and key players in the local Democratic machine.

The union extracts nearly $700 a month per teacher from its 5,500-member group. The Trump-spending trio and several others are suspected of embezzling more than $2 million in member dues dating back to 1995. Here is just one excerpt of the FBI affidavit detailing Bullock's selfless expenditures:

"Among (her) purchases were: a $20,000 mink coat, along with other mink coats that . . . have been stored at Miller Furs in Chevy Chase, Maryland; nearly $500,000 in custom-made clothing from a Baltimore clothing maker known as Van Style . . . more than $9,000 at retailer Bloomingdales; more than $9,000 for clothing and accessories from a Florida vendor known as Body Scentre Limited; more than $11,000 in purchases from a retailer known as Friedman's Shoes in Atlanta, Georgia; more than $5,000 to Galt Brothers Jewelry in Washington, D.C.; more than $5,000 to Graffiti AudioVideo for electronic equipment; more than $12,000 at retailer Hecht Company; more than $3,000 at the Hermes Boutique in Vienna, Virginia . . . "

Wait, there's more:

-- Anonymous, January 11, 2003

Answers

here

-- Anonymous, January 11, 2003