White House failed to disclose SEIU payout

"So I owe those unions. When their leaders call, I do my best to call them back right away." Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope.

And that's not all. President Obama appointed an SEIU big shot to a key White House position. But it appears SEIU kept its check book open for him, as Politico reports:

President Barack Obama's political director failed to disclose that he was slated to receive a nearly $40,000 payout from a large labor union while he was working in the White House.

Patrick Gaspard, who served as the political director for the Service Employees International Union local 1199, received $37,071.46 in "carried over leave and vacation" from the union in 2009, but he did not disclose the agreement to receive the payment on his financial disclosure forms filed with the White House.

In a section on his financial disclosure where agreements or arrangements for payment by a former employer must be disclosed, Gaspard checked a box indicating that he had nothing to report.

Bill Burton, a White House spokesman, told POLITICO Monday that Gaspard was in the process of correcting his disclosure form to reflect that he did in fact have an agreement for severance.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) first brought up the issue of the SEIU payout.

Technorati tags: Illinois Democrats illinois politics Democrats politics SEIU labor unions organized labor Barack Obama Obama