Marathon Pundit: Union pensions might be bailed out by Dems' health care reform plan

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Union pensions might be bailed out by Dems' health care reform plan

Blogging from Munising, Michigan.

Well...here I am in Michigan. And although I'm quite some distance from Detroit, since I am in the Great Lakes State, I think it makes sense to post about a Free Press article now, instead of waiting until I'm back home.

There are a plethora of problems with the Orwellian-monikered Employee Free Choice Act.

Card check is the most prominent among them, but the bill could also end up becoming a mechanism for bailing out troubled union pension plans.

And so could the Democrats' plans for government-run health care. Labor is joined at the hip to the Dems, and while just 12 percent of the workforce belongs to a union, the Democrats feel compelled to reward labor

According to "The Freep," a lot of people are talking about a cortisone shot of sorts for unions.

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.

Big businesses with union workers are twice as likely to offer retiree benefits as nonunion ones.

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."

Sweet deal, huh?

But former Michigan Democratic congressman David Bonoir says, "It is not enough money." Bonoir is the chair of a labor advocacy organization. He added, "That will have to be supplemented to fill the gap."

Experts state that union pension funds can only pay 30 cents on the dollar for future claims. Labor big shots control these funds. Why should the 88 percent of Americans who do not belong to unions bail them out?

If you've been wondering why union members are pushing so hard for ObamaCare--remember almost all of them already have health insurance--now you know why they're leading the charge.

I'm leaving the final words to the Workforce Fairness Institute:

"Union bosses have mismanaged and squandered the hard-earned dues of their members leaving many workers with bankrupt pension programs and ruined retirements. Yet, these same Big Labor bosses – who have come up with hundreds of millions of dollars to help elect Members of Congress – stand to benefit from another big government bailout totaling $10 billion," said Katie Packer, executive director of the Workforce Fairness Institute. "And if union boss supporters on Capitol Hill rewarding their political benefactors wasn't bad enough, these same elected officials continue to press for legislation that would allow the government to mandate contracts on workers and small businesses – without their consent – resulting in massive job loss and increased unemployment. Clearly, some in Washington, D.C. have yet to receive the message the American people are sending loudly and clearly, stop the special-interest giveaways and immediately table the job-killing Employee 'Forced' Choice Act.