Union politics fee can remain

The Sacramento Bee reports:

A federal judge in San Jose refused Wednesday to restrain the California Teachers Association from bolstering its political campaign account by imposing an annual $60 surcharge on its members for the next three years.

U.S. District Court Judge James Ware's decision in a case filed by the Virginia-based Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation probably will allow the teachers union to raise and spend upwards of $50 million to contest Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's special election initiatives slated for the Nov. 8 ballot, representatives of both sides in the lawsuit said.

No altruism here.