” (The change to the tax ended up including more people in the tax each year by attaching it to, rather than slightly above, inflation.)”

And the financial blogosphere is expecting hyperinflation to hit us mercilessly within the next 1-5 years.

This is the picture.

We’re screwed. Anyone watch/listen to Dennis Kucinich vs. Ralph Nader this morning on Democracy Now? Dennis sounded a little deflated. A little neutered. I’m glad. He’s done in my book. Go support your President, see where that gets ya later this year or in 2 years from now. No one is going to want to talk health care after this is over. You sold your soul for nothing.

the trick is what did Trumka negotiate for at the White House last night?

The same thing Dennis did!

So unions helped NAFTA, insisted this sham of a Health Insurance bill pass, backed Arlen Specter, threatened acts of progressive defiance all across the land with primary challenges… and subverted MoveOn.

And I am supposed to support them ever again?

What did Trumka negotiate for?

Jack and shit.

Rahm promised not to fuck them over even harder.

I don’t.

Unions in this country have rotted away. Even Debs knew it in 1900′s. They’re only out for themselves, so fuck them why should I give a shit what happens to them anymore.

K is the perfect example of subserviecne to the alpha male. An evolutionary biologist must have written K’s script and his cringing body language, it was so hangdog and nonsensical. (‘I’m gonna support a failure of a bill so the discussion can move forward.’ HUH????)

Rahm sent over a case of KY to the union elites to ease the pain. The bosses being the tough guys they are said they don’t need the KY, they’ll take it the hard way.

Where are the MLK’s, the RFK’s? This nation has truly lost it’s soul but it will always have it’s bottom line.

Oh Bummah! is in no way an alpha male. He is a bought and paid for lackey of InsurPharma and probably a bunch of other high rolling companies. DK rolled because he got what he wanted most, a few moments in the sun. He is a self centered little prick.

Your problem is with these union leaders like Trumka as is mine.Being an active union member thats been unemployed for 2 years,I can tell you that the members do not like the constant selling out of our core principals by our well paid SO_CALLED LEADERS.
The Pied Piper was a leader too!

Listening to DK today, other flippers and now the “unions” the common thread seems to be a hefty dose of flag waving for the Dim Party by Obama, a win for this “historic” piece of shit legislation and a win for the Dims, and more neoliberal Dims elected to Congress in November.

I think the word you’re looking for is “puppet.”

Well paid “so called leaders” forgot where they came from and know where they want to be and it aint with the rank and file. It’s with the cocktail eating, back stabbing fat cats and aristocrats.

But he’s so intelligent and speaks so well, and by golly the people just like him.

Wall Street bought a better model than Cheney and the neocons did.

SD, hope you’ve got a bit of land where you can grow some crops and do a little hunting and fishing because when the shit finally hit’s the fan it’s going to make Kossovo look like a family reunion.

I listened to a few minutes of the Ed Schultz radion program yesterday. He was saying that no one is more liberal than he is, and no more in favor of a public option (he steered away from single payer of any sort, IIRC), but we have to pass this and move on to correct it, so don’t call in and argue with him about the merits or demerits of the bill, just go with it. I turned him off for good at that time. When some worthwhile fixes come around after this is passed, I might go back and listen once in awhile.

I’ve got a small front and back yard that will support a couple folks. I’m 12 blocks from Boca Ciega Bay and there’s some good fishin’ plus some clams. I can be a Boy Scout again if I have too. Lessee, was it a 3-fingered or 1-fingered salute?

Someone ought to send Anna Burger some prunes. She looks … um what’s the word … stopped up (I know, it’s two words).

With the paucity of decent media around ya might try a 24/7 left-leaning current affairs programming. Thom Hartmann, DN!. Digital station from WMNF. Channel HD3, The Source. To the left of the schedule is the link to the live stream. It’s new but they’re working on expanding the programming.

The change to the tax ended up including more people in the tax each year by attaching it to, rather than slightly above, inflation.

And, since the tax is adjusted to inflation (CPI) rather than the increase in health insurance premiums, how long is it until EVERYBODY who has insurance is subject to the “luxury” tax. Remember the AMT?

In the current situation, one finger should work nicely.

Wow, what a great compromise to include a regressive tax that hits those most who can’t fight back. Way to go for the underdog.

It seems that the siren song of power and corruption controls the system. Union members, like liberals in general will be painted with the brush of this epic failure of the so-called leaders to do what is best for the country and it’s citizens. The pretend populists on the right will score support gains that will cost dearly. Team Obama will likely turn out to be a poison pill for what is left of the unions by pitting them against the needs of their membership and the rest of the country.

If you parse even Pelosi’s arguments about reducing the cost of business to pay for health insurance this appears to the expected outcome. The tax over time will make health insurance untenable. Bending the cost curve to improve the businesses bottom-line. The cost to businesses will go down because they will stop paying enough to make it work as the government requires them to stop contributing. The Europeans are overly competitive because businesses don’t worry about paying the cost of insurance. The American solution, first favored by Reagan and now brought to fruition by one of his biggest fans, is to make paying for insurance untenable for businesses. Problem solved in much the same way that social mobility has been fixed in this country. Break it and pass the profits onto the people running the show.

Can’t you call for a vote of no confidence or something?

If it truly is a majority of Union members Trumka shouldn’t be able to get away with this.

Here is a quote from an email I just recevied from Rep. Weiner:

“Let’s demand an up-or-down vote on the public option. I know you support the public option. I know Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and President Obama do too.”

Yes, yes of course they all support it. Too bad they don’t know anyone in power to get it done.

Trumka negotiated a bill that will immediately cover millions of under-insured and uninsured Americans. I know that some sort of treasonous act, but that’s what they negotiated. Let me ask ya, FireBaggers, what have you negotiated with … anyone of importance, anyone who can make a difference? Other than Grover Norquist, who?

Trumka caved to the Pharma/Insurance industries, nothing more. Go back to Daily POS, troll.

Thank you so much for mentioning the Kucinich/Nader appearance on Democracy Now. I just saw it. It was very informative.

I don’t agree with you about Kucinich, though. I just don’t think there was anything else he, as a lone congressman, could do. I think he has a point when he says that it wouldn’t have done any good if we (I assume he means progressives) are blamed for taking the health care bill down. It would be like a repeat of 2000 when Nader got blamed for Bush and then for the Iraq war (!) by the Democrats who authorized that war. After that, the Green Party and Nader lost, I think, much of their support. I think the progressives could not afford to be scapegoats once again. But I am certainly no strategist. I wish I knew the answers. It is very sad that not one thing (as far as I know) that progressives pushed for is in this bill.

This is purely speculative, but do you suppose Obama’s initiative to tighten government contracting procedures was the quid pro quo that labor got in return for supporting this bill?

It doesn’t seem like this health insurance bill gives labor anything on its own.

By the way, Michael, I think it is infantile to run a picture of Anna Burger chosen solely to make her look unattractive.

Uh, it’s SEIU’s photo from their flickr stream…

Hah!

Okay, I take back what I said about “infantile.”

Thanks :)

Oh, and BTW, you seem to be one of the few writers to have picked up on the fact that there are (too) many union members that have crappy health care plans and they will not be obliged to pay the excise tax in any event. I haven’t seen any hard numbers out there, but my guess is that they are in the millions.

There was some rather bitter commentary a while back that Trumka was fighting hard on the excise tax not because it would impact the rank and file, but because union officers and high-ranking staff would have to pay it, as they all give themselves cadillac plans.