State troopers don't have any balls. But seriously, folks, police do have balls. Police associations also organize marathon runs, tub dunks, and telephone campaigns to raise money for all kinds of good causes from cancer research to recreation programs for children and youth. In that way, they're not so different from most other unions. Police officers deserve the same right as any other workers to organize themselves to bargain collectively for improved wages and working conditions.
Unions also have the right to run political campaigns for or against the candidates of their choice.
But the TPA has stepped over the line. I've never been called by a teachers' federation or the steelworkers' union asking for financial contributions to their campaign to defeat the bad guys. For my vote, maybe, but not my money. Those campaigns are rightly financed by the union dues that come off members' pay cheques. Political parties raise money from the public, but they also have to make public the names of people who contribute over a certain amount.