Following the killings of teachers and students at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland it seemed a simple proposition.
Political candidates that receive money from the National Rifle Association shouldn’t receive campaign funds from teacher unions.
The NRA is an extremist organization that opposes any controls over gun ownership.
A proposal at the state convention, the Representative Assembly, of the Illinois Education Association calling for ending the practice of funding pro-NRA politicians failed.
A similar proposal at the national meeting of the National Education Association also failed.
Springfield Congressman Rodney Davis is the poster boy for being pro-NRA and getting the endorsement of the IEA.
Leaders of the IEA and NEA claim that such a ban on political action money to pro-NRA politicians would be imposing some kind of litmus test that would tie the hands of the organization.
That is exactly right.
That is exactly what it is intended to do.
Rodney Davis is one of the two main recipients of NRA dollars in Illinois.
Area congressmen John Shimkus and Rodney Davis are the top recipients in Illinois of money from the National Rifle Association, according to an analysis by the group OpenSecrets.org, which tracks federal campaign spending in politics.
Now it appears that the NRA is also a conduit for Russian money to American political campaigns.
Wouldn’t it be funny if the IEA and the Russians were both sources of campaign funds to Rodney Davis?
No.
