Randi Weingarten's Enemies List
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| WHY Randi has a list! |
The American Federation of Teachers issued a report last year blacklisting money managers who support nonprofits that advocate for school and pension reform. This month the union published a second edition with some notable additions and deletions.
The report's goal is to muzzle hedge fund and private-equity managers who sit on the boards of and contribute hefty sums to union betes noire like the Manhattan Institute, StudentsFirst and Missouri's Show-Me Institute. The union singled out these three because their donors also manage billions in public pension investments.
This year, the union has added Illinois Is Broke to its blacklist because the group helped spread public awareness about the state's pension debt. This is notable because the union's stated goal last year was to target groups and money managers who supported "privatizing" pensions (i.e., 401(k)s). The union claimed that endorsing defined-contribution plans while managing public pension assets represented a conflict of interest. Never mind that money managers are actually performing a fiduciary duty by promoting reforms that make teacher pension more secure.
A "special mention" is also reserved for Illinois GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner, who served as chairman of the private-equity company GTCR for 30 years. While Mr. Rauner favors shifting public workers to defined-contribution plans, he stepped down as chairman of GTCR in 2012. However, the union has blacklisted GTCR anyway because Mr. Rauner "holds partnership interests in GTCR funds." By this standard, any private-equity company or hedge fund with investments from an individual who supports
