Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Are they at least going to buy us dinner first?

I feel a screw coming:

In their latest effort to pass a health care bill by any means necessary, Democrats have struck a "tentative deal" with their big labor allies to exempt union benefits from a tax on high value health care plans, CongressDaily reports.

The idea itself is nothing new. Back in June, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus floated the idea of shielding union benefits from the new tax, but it was set aside. In September, President Obama declined to take a clear position on this so-called "carve out." But now that the excise tax has become a sticking point in negotiations between the House and Senate -- and one that threatens to cost Democrats union support for the bill -- the exemption idea is evidently back in play.

If this policy is adopted, it would mean that there could be two Americans receiving the exact same benefits, but one American may be taxed and one wouldn't, and the only difference would be one of them being a member of a union. This is unseemly and unfair, even by the standards of Obamacare. It has nothing to do with policy-making. It's simply an outright bribe to a constituency that has contributed handily to Democratic campaigns.
Let's look at the first sentence of the first paragraph on page 54 of the Democratic Party Platform (as adopted in 2008):

We all have to do our part to lift up this country, and that means changing hearts and changing minds, and making sure that every American is treated equally under the law.

Well, I guess we can scratch that, right?   How about page 55:

 Americans of every political stripe are hungry for a new kind of government. We want a government that favors common sense over ideology, honesty over spin, that worries less about losing the next election and more about winning the battles we owe to the next generation.

Except that unions fork over big dollars to get Dems re-elected so screw the next generation and repeat after me-SHOW ME THE MONEY!

In Barack Obama’s Administration, we will open up the doors of democracy. We will use technology to make government more transparent, accountable, and inclusive.
 
I just threw that part in for shits and giggles.  What a bunch of hypocritical tools.

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