Health Care, in Today's News 01.15.10

Health Care. How's this for unprincipled, selfish and short-sided politics? Union leaders yesterday agreed with Democrat negotiators to a deal where the unions' 'high-end health-insurance plans' would be exempt from taxation until 2018 under the proposed health care legislation. In return the unions agreed to support the bill.

What's wrong with this? For starters it means that non-union and middle class workers will pay now. So much for solidarity. 

The deal also means that union members in the future will be hit with the taxation. So much for the younger workers. 

Next, the deal forces the legislators to go hunting for the tax-revenue that the deal put off to 2018. The negotiators were (WSJ) "considering increasing the financial hit on drug makers, nursing homes and medical-device makers..."  Of course none of these targets will just take the hit; they will pass the expense on to their customers, which just happen to be the public including union members.

This sniveling deal-making is almost a new low for a already deeply compromised union movement. Instead of opposing unconditionally a bill that will adversely affect all union members, these 'leaders' play around, making nice to the legislators so as to appear reasonable. In the meantime, the average American will soon face a government-controlled, bureaucratic, cost-reduction, and protocol-driven system of health care. Gone will be the days where a person could expect to receive the health care he or she wanted, and in a timely fashion.

No wonder this legislation may be adopted when those who have the power to stop it (e.g. Catholic leaders, union leaders), do nothing.