Labor’s Pet ‘ Watchdog’

Hedge Clippers purports to be a grassroots group opposed to hedgefund heavies who’re supposedly out to buy control of state government.

In fact, the Clippers are a front for teachers unions and their allies, all determined to scare off hedgefunders who’ve set out to save education in New York.

That is, the hedgies’ real sin is their charity work— spending some of their dough to try to upend Albany’s education monopoly. Most started by giving to charter schools— and some followed up with lobbying and campaign donations to fight union efforts to kill off the charters.

Hedge Clippers was set up by the Strong Economy for All Coalition — an umbrella outfit whose backers include the United Federation of Teachers, New York State United Teachers, 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, the New York State AFLCIO and Local 32BJ SEIU.

Clippers’ output is as suspect as its parentage. Thus, its “exposé” noted that hedgefund “linked” individuals have spent $ 40 million in state campaigns over the past 15 years— with Gov. Cuomo having taken in $ 5 million alone.

Funny, though: Over that same period, the groups behind Hedge Clippers dropped $ 65 million into state campaign coffers. ( More, if you count noncash help.)

In the last five years, while the big bad hedgefunders gave $ 16 million, the forces pulling the Strong Economy For All strings dished out $ 22 million.

And the true imbalance is far greater — because union spending is devoted overwhelmingly to a single cause: defending and extending union power and perks.

But the hedgefund outlays are spread across many more issues — including both selfish business interests and the particular social conscience issues of the various individual donors, from gay marriage to prison reform to, yes, boosting charter schools.

Let’s be clear: Unions and their members have a perfect right to a voice in the political process. But not the only voice.

And the unions have whelped a host of fronts over the years to push their agenda without leaving clear fingerprints, from the Alliance for Quality Education to the vastly powerful Working Families Party.

Hedge Clippers is just the latest fake “grassroots” group — this one designed to smear an industry many of whose leaders want better schools for New York children.

As Business Insider reported last month, a secondary goal of the Hedge Clipper campaign is to make hedgefund money “toxic” for Democratic Party candidates nationwide.

Which, of course, would make those candidates more reliant on union money. Grassroots politics? More like astroturf intimidation.