Dems Bury Union Bailout in HR 3200 – Oh, what a shock!
ByI was shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you, when I read how the democrats buried a union bailout in their health care bill.
No wonder Obama wants this passed – and quick even!
Also explained is why union thugs are beating people up at town hall meetings. How ironic to have your butt kicked by the very people whose medical bills you will subsidize.
From Ed Morrissey:
[Ed] This report from the Detroit Free Press explains that the unions have a good reason — actually, ten billion good reasons:
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.”
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.
[Ed] 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:
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.
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.” …
[Ed] 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.
So what if only 12 to 15 percent of all Americans belong to a union? Hey, let’s go ahead and make sure the rest of us pay for their benefits that are so much better than ours! Oh, the age of Obama. Whoopee! Isn’t change fun?
Side note: while searching for the percentage of Americans belonging to unions, I mostly found poll results of the number of Americans supporting unions. But no, there’s no media bias in the US! Not at all!
(Surprisingly, bing was the only search engine that came close to what I was looking for.)
Popularity: 5% [?]
Can’t say I’m surprised. Ahhh…gotta love this CHANGE we can believe in! *sigh*
I’m shocked that neither you nor your sources point to the actual language of the bill that provides the $10 billion dollars.
Of course, it is not the UAW’s fault that GM and Chrysler cannot meet their obligations for retiree health benefits. It needs to be pointed out that this is not just a blue collar default, but white collar too – one of my uncles, a former GM exec, lost his health insurance last year. How do you think that makes a 76 year old diabetic feel?
You are a liar, it doesnt say such a think. Please issue a retraction.