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Trouble in Paradise???
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Trouble in Paradise??? |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA 
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Labor unions turn against parts of health bill WASHINGTON — A coalition of labor unions is emerging as a leading critic of an $829 billion health care bill heading toward a Senate vote, complicating debate among Democrats over how to pay for the measure. Unions had largely supported President Obama's effort to revamp the nation's $2.6 trillion health care system, but 27 labor groups have launched a campaign against key provisions in the bill passed this week by the Senate Finance Committee. Unions spent $75 million on contributions to federal candidates in 2008, 92% of which went to Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Unions want Reid to include a government-run insurance program in the merged bill and remove a tax on high-priced insurance policies. Gerald McEntee, head of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), estimates half of its 1.6 million members would be affected by the tax. McEntee said union workers have often chosen to accept lower wages in exchange for better and more costly health insurance. He said union members, who frequently organize get-out-the-vote efforts for Democrats, won't be afraid to remind politicians of that in next year's election. "We worked for all these people. We worked for Obama," he said. "What do we get for it? We not only don't get anything for it, we get a slap in the face." Many of the ideas favored by unions are opposed by moderate Democrats as well as Republicans and would make it difficult to attract the 60 votes needed in the Senate to end filibusters. Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., for instance, has said he will not support government-run insurance called for in other versions of the bill. The AFL-CIO, the Air Line Pilots Association and the UAW are also part of the coalition. The effort began with newspaper advertisements this week and McEntee said it may expand into television ads and "boots on the ground in coming weeks. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-10-14-union_N.htm?csp=34 When the unions go against the democrats, it's not good news for the democrats. Time to pay the piper for those millions in contrubutions. Will the Dems buckle under the Union pressure and demands? But of course........ |
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Denise
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-08-22
Posts 22648 |
I think what a lot of folks aren't even seeing in all this (you can't see the forest for the trees) is that even without a 'public option' and/or government facilitated 'co-ops', any legislation will give the goverment control over the health care industry by setting prices and determining the distribution of health care, what and to whom based on a QALY system, with fines to providers and insurers who don't comply in some way. It will be big government instrusion into all aspects of the healthcare/insurance industry, with link-ups to our checking accounts, and to the IRS. A politician's Paradise! I also heard on the news that the Supreme Court has ruled in cases in Texas and California that any benefit or service offered to citizens by the government, MUST also be offered to non-citizens, anyone living within our borders. So, yes, even illegals would be included in any government sponsered program, despite the denials of the politicians, who should be familiar with the court rulings in this area, wouldn't ya think? |
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threadbear Senior Member
since 2008-07-10
Posts 817Indy |
Another news item that stuck to my brain last night: On partial analysis of the effect of the Stimulus Bill, the group that benefited most from the bill are: 1) Teachers 2) Labor Unions and it wasn't counted in the survey, but should have been: the ONLY major job growth area in American in the past 6 months has been in.... yup yup yup the Government sector. Shocking (and again, here is the cached listing so it won't show up cookies on your computer) http://74.125.95.132/search?q =cache:r1NqmxEhZcsJ:www.wral.com/golo/blogpost/6203535/+group+benefited+most+stimulus+bill&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us# |
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Bob K Member Elite
since 2007-11-03
Posts 4208 |
Dear Threadbear, Yours is a somewhat specialized reading of that article, it seems to me. Those were not the points the article was seeking to make, and you seemed to need to do some wrenching of the context to take the points you took from them, don't you think? Your implication was that the money was being targeted as payback to unions and to teachers as payback for election help. If that's not what you were trying to say, please tell me so. The article said nothing of the sort. The article said that the states made the decision where to put the monies they got. You may be the kind of guy who believes that the education system is well staffed or that it is not in critical condition and in danger of significant damage. You may be the kind of guy who believes in cutting education to the bone. In many states, of course, education has been cut to the point where the system is in danger of collapse and where class sizes are close to double where they were when I was a kid in Ohio. Keeping teachers and even hiring some new ones still doesn't bring the education system up to the level that we had in our cost conscious Republican cut the fat Canton, Ohio school system circa 1955-62. We had art and music and football, and an awful lot of kids don't have that anymore. Maybe I missed all the stuff about unions in the article, but I simply didn't see any. I should probably keep looking, I suppose, but it's pretty late. Sincerely, Bob Kaven |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
Maybe I missed all the stuff about unions in the article, but I simply didn't see any Well, I doubt you missed all the stuff about Unions in the article that began this thread, Bob. Read the headline.... |
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