When it comes to tracking down missing money, following one's best instincts is normally good policy. It certainly was that in the case of Denise Owens. On February 19, Owens, a former public school teacher in coastal Worcester County, Md., and former treasurer of the Worcester County Teachers Association, was found guilty in a Maryland state court of embezzling more than $430,000 from the union. It was a sum nearly four times that originally reported. The defendant, who until recently had gone by her former married name, Denise Tull, had an affliction all too common to union officials who steal: problem gambling. Owens was arrested by state police last August following an investigation. The details reveal not just a corrupt official, but also a union leadership less than fully accountable to its members.
To his sworn enemies, Wisconsin Republican Governor 
If an embezzler returns money to its proper owner, that doesn't erase the fact of the embezzlement. Authorities in Worcester County, Maryland have been operating on that principle since late January, when they 
Michelle Placer thought in terms of wants, not consequences. On July 26, Placer, 38, was arrested by Ingham County (Lansing), Michigan sheriff's deputies for embezzling more than $30,000 in dues from the Holt Paraeducator Association, the employee union where she had served as treasurer. The money was to have been forwarded to its state affiliate, the Michigan Education Association, in turn an affiliate of the National Education Association. Placer was later released on bond. An initial complaint had been lodged last December with the county sheriff's office.
Government in Wisconsin, one probably has heard by now, is paralyzed. And the ultimate losers may be future generations of taxpayers. Last Thursday, February 17, up to 25,000 protestors, led by public-sector union officials, 
Ever so quietly, America passed a milestone in 2009. For the first time in our history the number of employees in the public sector belonging to a labor union exceeded the number in the private sector. Proposed legislation in Congress would push this trend along further. The benignly-named 
