As a parent you fear for your children’s safety and do as much as you can to give them a safe environment and a loving home. Their safety gives you peace of mind and gives them the confidence to grow into strong adults, knowing that no matter what happens in the outside world, they’ll be safe at home. That’s why it’s so devastating when the sanctuary of the home is ruined. And that’s exactly what happened to Greg Baer, deputy general counsel for corporate law at Bank of America, when 14 busloads carrying over 500 Saul Alinsky-influenced SEIU mobsters descended upon his front lawn and stoop waving signs and ranting about their debts and foreclosed homes. Imagine how you would feel in Baer’s shoes, returning home from your younger son’s Little League game to this mess, and the thoughts that would run through your mind. In a moment of faith and desperation, he decided to leave the younger son in the car he parked around the corner from his house, away from the angry crowd, and make his way to his front door. It must have been a harrowing experience, wondering if his teenage son, Jack, was OK. “Excuse me,” Baer told his accusers. “I need to get into the house. I have a child who is alone in there and frightened.”
The SEIU mob intended to frighten and intimidate the Baer family, and I’ll get to why in a minute. What’s most important is to recognize this was not a made-for-TV event like the ones with White House favorite and former SEIU chief Andy Stern ranting and raving about economic equality and social justice. No, this was not to be reported. Friendly media like The Washington Post were not told about it. The only reason you and I know about this reckless infringement of individual rights is that Baer’s neighbor Nina Easton happened to be home at the time and just so happens to be Fortune magazine’s Washington editor. Concerned for her neighbor, she called over to discover that teenager Jack was home alone, frightened, locked in the bathroom, and pleading to her, “When are they going to leave?”
Why didn’t SEIU want us to know about their intimidation hit on the Baers? Surely they knew he served in the Treasury Department under President Clinton. Maybe they borrowed too much from the bank. A year ago The Wall Street Journal reported on SEIU’s debt: “As for the SEIU, as recently as 2002 total SEIU liabilities were about $8 million. According to its 2008 disclosure form, the union owed more than $156 million, a 30% increase over the $120 million it owed in 2007.” After digging through government reports like a Form LM-2 Labor Organization Annual Report filed with the U.S. Department of Labor, Liberty Chick from Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government website reports that in 2007 the SEIU owed Bank of America $95 million. She concludes, “Perhaps all that campaigning for President Obama has emboldened the union to think that they deserve a free pass on their debts to Bank of America, and encouraged them to employ their usual thuggish shakedown tactics. Typical Chicago political machine style.” Is it any wonder Stern is gone now that he’s won with Obamacare? Baer has every right to do everything in his power to make sure every single penny of that debt is paid back by SEIU. The radical progressives have gone too far here.
Erica Payne is the cofounder with Rob Stein of the radical progressive Democracy Alliance. Watch this video (if it isn’t scrubbed from the Internet like another one I wanted to show you) and judge for yourself whether or not she really cares about the violation by SEIU of the Baer’s rights. With her smug response, you can bet she doesn’t have a big problem with SEIU running rampant through the neighborhood.
