Posted on 08/24/2009 3:13:29 PM PDT by kozanne
Why unions are “Astroturfing” health-care town halls posted at 2:18 pm on August 24, 2009 by Ed Morrissey Share on Facebook | regular view
After enraged constituents started showing up at Congressional town-hall forums to oppose ObamaCare, the unions acted quickly to counterdemonstrate on behalf of the Democratic agenda item. In at least one case, union representatives used violence to intimidate and harrass ObamaCare opponents. The same union, which represents a large percentage of government workers and would be presumably immune from any health-care reform action, issued memos demanding volunteers to “drown out” opposition to ObamaCare. But why?
This report from the Detroit Free Press explains that the unions have a good reason — actually, ten billion good reasons:
Antilabor forces say it’s welfare for the UAW and Democrats’ union allies. Labor supporters say it falls short of what’s needed as tens of thousands of union members are pushed into early retirement as employers cut back health care coverage.
They’re both talking about a $10-billion provision tucked deep inside thousands of pages of health care overhaul bills that could help the UAW’s retiree health-care plan and other union-backed plans.
It would see the government — at least temporarily — pay 80 cents on the dollar to corporate and union insurance plans for claims between $15,000 and $90,000 for retirees age 55 to 64. …
Greg Mourad of the National Right to Work Committee called it “a shameless case of political payback,” saying Democrats and President Barack Obama are trying “to force the rest of us to pay billions to cover those unions’ health care.”
The money will be yet another bailout of Detroit, although the Obama administration and the Democrats have it flying under the radar, buried in HR3200: Thanks to Detroit’s twin auto bankruptcies and other concessions, the UAW’s voluntary employee benefit association, or VEBA, had to take stock of unknown value for $24 billion in claims, while adding thousands of early retirees to its rolls.
Outside experts estimate the funds have about 30 cents in cash for every dollar of future claims, with no guarantee of what its stock assets will be worth. Lance Wallach, a New York-based VEBA expert, says if the funds “don’t get something, they’re out of business in 12 years.” …
Key provisions in House and Senate proposals set aside $10 billion to pay some claims for early retirees covered by employers and VEBAs, before other cost-saving measures kick in. Critics call it a union giveaway, but the union says the money would keep companies from further slashing coverage.
That’s explicitly a bailout. It comes on the heels of tens of billions of dollars committed to GM and Chrysler, as well as politically-motivated bankruptcies that violated the rights of senior creditors in favor of the unions.
The unions have overcommitted and underresourced their health plans, and now Congress wants to surreptitiously bail them out from bankruptcy — all while making them more or less immune from the restrictions in the rest of the bill.
That $10,000,000,000 bailout certainly gives the unions a big incentive to crack heads and intimidate people into retreat on ObamaCare, doesn’t it? That’s the granddaddy of all Astroturfing efforts.
Update: My friend Warner Todd Huston wrote about this almost two weeks ago — be sure to read it.
“...someone’s offering a bus ride, food and a little money.
Or a few packs of Kools and some T-bird!
LOL!
Also, the public employee unions would have more due paying members if healthcare is public.
Union funds...pay for them to walk the picket lines, demonstrate etc.
Throw in a few dollars....Neighbor who is a union rep says they are paid for their time.
I remember 20 years ago when UAW members got paid election days off to vote and carpool their families and friends to the polls.
To paraphrase, what is good for the UAW is good for . . . ?
Warner Todd Huston has more:
http://www.publiusforum.com/2009/08/14/union-pensions-getting-big-payoff-from-obamacare/
Union Pensions Getting BIG Payoff From Obamacare
August 14, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Health, Liberals, Socialism, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston |
-By Warner Todd Huston
It isn’t just out of the goodness of their hearts that Big Labor is gearing up to spend millions to help President Obama to jam Obamacare down the throats of the American people. The unions stand to get a big payoff of $10 billion to supplement their failing pension plans.
The President of the AFL-CIO recently announced that the union would jump into the healthcare fight to help out “working people.” John Sweeney also said that the healthcare fight is “the next big step in our march to turn around America.”
But unions already have their own healthcare plans and Obama promised — for whatever an Obama promise is worth — that union plans would be untouched by Obamacare. So, what are the unions in the fight for if it doesn’t really touch them?
The answer to that question appears in the House bill on page 65, section 164 where unions are to receive a $10 billion dollar infusion of taxpayer’s money to supplement their failing plans through a program called the “reinsurance plan.”
In his open letter, Sweeney said that one of the union’s goals was to seek “relief for company/union funds providing pre-Medicare retiree coverage.” This would be people that retired from the unions before they are eligible for Medicare. In other words, the union is looking for federal funds to relieve expenditures from his over extended pension plans.
Well, low and behold the House healthcare bill has included in it a “Reinsurance Program for Retirees” (section 164). This section stipulates that $10 billion will be set aside for this program of “reinsurance” for those older than 55 and not yet eligible for Medicare.
This program will reimburse eligible “retirees” for 80% of the costs of their medical care. This would go a long way to help unions defer costs to their own plans.
So, no wonder the unions are so hot to help Obamacare pass. It will be a boon to their overextended pension plans.
Frankly, the closest parallel that I am seeing to the brown shirts of Germany are the purple shirts of the SEIU.
Outside experts estimate the funds have about 30 cents in cash for every dollar of future claims, with no guarantee of what its stock assets will be worth. Lance Wallach, a New York-based VEBA expert, says if the funds “don’t get something, they’re out of business in 12 years.” …
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You hear more and more items like this. This country will implode if fiscal sanity is not restored but SOON.
And Sebelius is publicly egging them on. What’s in this for her?
++++++++++
She’s old SEIU. For her it’s the socialist sisterhood.
Who’s behind all these ginormous bills? Who’s writing them? How did they make them all up so fast. Cap and trade, health care....yada yada.
++++++++++++++
There are tens of thousands of demonRAT lawyers in DC.
The thing that bothers me the most is how many in congress are willing to just sign something they haven’t even read.
+++++++++++++++
This should be illegal for bills over say $1 Billion in CBO status - or maybe just illegal. I can’t imagine any other profession getting away with what the congress critters are currently getting away with.
They are a national disgrace. They are a disgrace to freedom and to all who shed blood for this nation’s freedom.
$10 billion to supplement their failing pension plans.
++++++++++++++
That’s it dim bulbs, reward failure. Fast track AmeriKa to the bottom...
Pathetic.
bump
Now, it is outright, bold corruption with taxpayer dollars.
It is a pity that it has taken so long for the people to stand up at townhalls and confront their Congressional tormentors.
Extremely important. Somebody smarter than I please put that information into a sound bite to be used against the union thugs when they show up.
All the Socialists in Congress have had these bills written for years but there was always an opposition party to stop them in committee or veto them.
When the socialists took Congress and the White House and get Pelosi at the top in the House, there’s no stopping them...except We The People.
Most excellent fiddle. I remember that tune.
They get time-and-a-half for the work.
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