CADILLAC (UNION) HEALTH INSURANCE

I'll never forget my conversation with an old pipe fitter years ago. He was reminiscing about his first days in the trade. He said "When I first went to the union hall to sign up I asked the business agent where he wanted me to work. He handed me an axe handle and a length of logging chain and said 'Go down and help those guys on the picket lines.'".

On July 20, 1934 during the Minneapolis Teamster strike, which was also supported by the trade unions, two pickets were killed and sixty seven were wounded by police gunfire.

This and other incidents like it was the start of unionism in this country. People were beaten and killed, arrested and thrown in jail and martial law was declared. It was life and death serious business.

Since that day, union members have fought for and won decent wages and benefits from employers who would rather treat them like a piece of meat.

Union wages have been responsible for an over all higher wage in this country. If it weren't for the UAW the non union workers at he auto plants in the southern states would be making much less today. Why do you think Richard Shelby, Jeff Sessions, Mitch McConnell and others from non union auto producing states, were so gleeful at the prospect of the demise of the UAW.

Now, after all the years of hard fought battles, strikes and strife, why does President Obama declare war on these hard earned benefits? "Cadillac" insurance policy is just code for union insurance policy. After all the years of support the unions have given the Democrats, this is the thanks they get? The unions worked damned hard to put this guy in office. The House Democrats better dig in on this one. A tax on those earning over $500,000 sounds much more palatable.

One thing I hear from time to time from the talking heads is "Some think the insurance companies may raise their rates if there is a tax on these policies". May raise their rates? May raise their rates to cover the tax? THEY WILL UNDOUBTEDLY RAISE THEIR RATES!! ARE YOU PEOPLE LIVING ON MARS? One of the hard and fast rules of business has always been: THE CUSTOMER ALWAYS PAYS. If not the customer, who else? This sort of idiocy makes me crazy!

It's time to end this assault on the unions and require the wealthy to pay their share!

KILL IT

We have watched the health care reform bill unravel before our eyes and morph into nothing more than a huge insurance company welfare program. It's now time to kill it.

As it stands, the legislation will do nothing for the forty five thousand uninsured people who are going to die in the next twelve months. Traitor Joe Lieberman's blimp sized ego and overwhelming childish desire to get even with the Democratic Party put a knife into the heart of the bill. More on Traitor Joe later.

Forty five thousand (45,000) citizens of the United States of America will die for lack of access to a doctor. We have elected a Democratic majority in the congress only for them ignore our will and throw forty five thousand of us who have the misfortune not to have health care into our graves.

These senators are so enamored with their power and influence that they will do anything it takes to stay in office. Not only can't you insult these clowns, you can't influence them unless you've got the money. I think the health care reform debacle is a perfect example. You need to look no further. This is not a political argument. It's a moral argument! Every religion I am aware of tells us to care for the less fortunate.

Then there is the cost concern. God forbid that health care would cost us some extra money. Where the hell was all this concern from either side of the isle when it came to funding these senseless wars we can't seem to get out of. It's mind boggling if you take a moment to contemplate this.

There may be some small good left in this bill but certainly not enough to offset the bad.
Rescission will still be allowed. To quote Wikipedia "In 2009, during the national debate over U.S. health care reform, rescission became popularly understood as a process by which insurance companies canceled a policyholder's insurance, sometimes after the patient was diagnosed with an expensive-to-treat illness, sometimes by claiming that the patient previously withheld information about their medical condition." The insurance company can dig out your application and go through it with a fine tooth comb. If they find any small error, say you forgot you saw your primary care doctor for a sore throat in 1982. They then cancel your policy claiming fraud. There are no cost controls on premiums. It's going to make thirty million voters mad as hell when they are forced to buy a policy or be fined.

I just don't see this thing ending up as a benefit for anyone but the insurance industry. It's time to put it out of its misery.