Posted on 04/01/2010 6:05:30 AM PDT by pillut48
Pennsylvania's largest labor union voted Monday to refrain from endorsing a candidate in the primary election between U.S. Rep. Tim Holden, D-17, and challenger Sheila Dow Ford, dropping traditional support for Holden after his vote against the health care re-form bill.
"He's been good to us on a number of bread-and-butter issues, but this was a revolutionary, historical vote," Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Bill George said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
The AFL-CIO met Tuesday in Harrisburg to hold its general primary endorsement meeting for federal candidates in Pennsylvania. George said the 54-member executive board voted unanimously not to make an endorsement in the May 18 contest between Holden and Dow Ford.
Holden was one of 34 Democrats who voted against the health care reform legislation that passed through the House 219-212 last week. George said the 17th District - which includes Dauphin, Lebanon, Schuylkill and parts of Perry and Berks counties - "leaves a lot to be desired" in quality of health care.
"You have one of the worst health care systems in the state of Pennsylvania as far as people getting access. You have one of the highest cost areas ... you have a high percent that's uninsured." George said. "For him to sit there and do nothing is, to me, a disgrace."
(Excerpt) Read more at republicanherald.com ...
The rank and file of the unions need to confront their “leaders” and ask why they are being sold out.
If he voted “no” because his constitutents told him to, he and they might all take a look at the Tea Party of principled people
The democrats talk like losing an AFL-CIO endorsement and NOT having zerO campaign for them is a bad thing! LOL! Tell all those retired school teachers and senior citizens (and their families) in Lehigh and Dauphin that historic obamacare solved their problems, especially when MEDICARE cuts kick in after 1 October
Maybe he’d sooner have Senator Scott Brown campaign for him, than obama.
Grin. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. It smells like . . . victory.
Well, because the unions backed this ‘revolutionary’ bill, many of us will do our utmost to avoid buying anything made by union labor.
Just a wild-eyed guess, but there may be guarantees made to the rank and file of health care or insurance which are unfunded, for what ever reason, but likely tied to either basing such claims on older life length paradigms or the >ahem< movement of funds which make those benefits impracticable without either Federal intervention or some severe adjustments to the inflow of money or benefits themselves.
In short, without Obamacare, the benefits cannot be delivered. One way to lose power in organized labor fast is to renege on promises which the dues have already been collected for.
All sorts of people are looking to stay in power by using other people's money to back the promises they made.
Holden is the rep for our district. Whoever gets the Democratic nomination will face Republican Dave Argall in November.
When the union realizes that voting no was a good thing for american workers including the workers who are in these few unions, then it will be too late. By then the black market with its underground labor force will have taken over as a means to avoid the shakedown transfer of wealth tax intended to kill small business growth as a means for obama to bribe union voters with free viagra for life without pre existing conditions.
The unions have shot themselves in the foot, because what legitimate union business is going to survive competing with under the table operations that are going to spring up around the country just as they have done in places like Los Angeles who can hire illegal immigrants and pay no taxes and provide no benefits at one third the costs?
It might be a good thing for these candidates that the union is NOT endorsing them, because although the unions are blinded by their greed and can’t see the train wreck ahead, an overwhelming majority of the public, including most moderates and a growing number of democrats can see the train wreck this health care bill will have on jobs and the economy unless the runaway obama express can be stopped in it tracks! An non endorsement may mean this guy has a better chance of being elected!
This is why so many Rats voted against the express wishes and interest of their constituents. They threat from their Union bosses was explicit.
Democrats can’t win an election without union thuggery, so most took the less risky path of voting for 0bamacare, hoping union thuggery could stem the tide against them in November. They weighed their odds and came to the conclusion that their chances for reelection with the help of union goons was slim, but it was nonexistant with the union bosses against them.
This is what was going on behind the scenes of the 0bamacare debate.
Argall is the PA Republican RINO pick for the seat. The PA Republican Party has never tried very hard to topple Tim Holden. Frank Ryan is the "real" Conservative challenger. Don't be duped by the PA RINO Republican Party. Remember, they're the same people who gave us Arlen Specter.
http://frankryan.org/index.htm
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