The Washington Post recently published this article on the new $15 minimum wage law in SeaTac, Washington. The article states:
“… union workplaces are exempt…”
This exemption is wrong because the law is supposed to treat everyone equally.
But also, it is an extreme example of hypocrisy. It was unions who got the ball rolling on this $15 minimum wage. It was unions who said that all workers should be paid at least $15 an hour.
But now, these very same unions are getting an exemption from the very same law that they so strongly supported.
Would liberals please explain why union workshops got an exemption from SeaTac’s $15 minimum wage law that was initiated and supported by these very same unions?
September 7, 2014. Tags: $15 an hour, $15 minimum wage, AFL-CIO, Economics, Labor unions, Living wage, Minimum wage, News, Politics, SeaTac, Teamsters, Unions, UNITE-HERE, Washington. Economics, Politics, Unions. .
Unite Here is a union that represents 300,000 employees in the hotel and restaurant industries. It supported Obama in both elections.
In March 2014, Unite Here said:
“If employers follow the incentives in the law, they will push families onto the exchanges to buy coverage. This will force low-wage service industry employees to spend $2.00, $3.00 or even $5.00 an hour of their pay to buy similar coverage.”
“… the ACA threatens the middle class with higher premiums, loss of hours, and a shift to part-time work and less comprehensive coverage.”
“Obamacare will cost our members the equivalent of a significant pay cut to keep their hard-won benefits.”
“… it will inevitably lead to the destruction of the health care plans we were promised we could keep.”
April 1, 2014. Tags: Health care, Obamacare, Politics, Unions, UNITE-HERE. Health care, Politics, Unions. .
Before I get to the new article from the New York Times, I’d like to point out a few other things from the past.
In front of the U.S. Supreme Court, the Obama administration argued that Obamacare’s employer mandate is a tax.
This particular Obamacare tax only applies to “full time” jobs, which Obamacare defines as 30 or more hours per week.
So, Obamacare is a tax on full time employment.
Everyone knows that whatever you tax, you get less of. For example, after Obama increased the cigarette tax by 61 cents per pack in 2009, John Seffrin, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society, said:
“Raising the price of tobacco products is one of the most effective approaches to encouraging people to quit and preventing kids from picking up the deadly habit in the first place.”
In July 2013, leaders of the Teamsters, UFCW, and UNITE-HERE, all of whom endorsed Obama in both elections, sent a letter to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi which said that Obamacare will
“destroy the foundation of the 40 hour work week that is the backbone of the American middle class… the law creates an incentive for employers to keep employees’ work hours below 30 hours a week. Numerous employers have begun to cut workers’ hours to avoid this obligation.”
Now, The New York Times, which also endorsed Obama in both elections, is reporting:
Public Sector Cuts Part-Time Shifts to Bypass Insurance Law
Cities, counties, public schools and community colleges around the country have limited or reduced the work hours of part-time employees to avoid having to provide them with health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, state and local officials say.
Among those whose hours have been restricted in recent months are police dispatchers, prison guards, substitute teachers, bus drivers, athletic coaches, school custodians, cafeteria workers and part-time professors.
In Medina, Ohio, about 30 miles south of Cleveland, Mayor Dennis Hanwell said the city had lowered the limit for part-time employees to 29 hours a week, from 35. Workers’ wages were reduced accordingly, he said.
Lawrence County, in western Pennsylvania, reduced the limit for part-time employees to 28 hours a week, from 32. Dan Vogler, the Republican chairman of the county Board of Commissioners, said the cuts affected prison guards and emergency service personnel at the county’s 911 call center.
In Virginia, part-time state employees are generally not allowed to work more than 29 hours a week on average over a 12-month period. Thousands of part-time state employees had been working more than that
To hold down the work hours of school bus drivers, Vigo County has reduced field trips for children and cut back transportation to athletic events. School employees who had two part-time jobs totaling more than 30 hours a week — for example, bus driver and basketball coach — were required to give up one of the jobs.
The Obama administration says “there is absolutely no evidence” of any job loss related to the Affordable Care Act.
The American Federation of Teachers lists on its website three dozen public colleges and universities in 15 states that it says have restricted the work assignments of adjunct or part-time faculty members to avoid the cost of providing health insurance.
The University of Akron, in Ohio, has cut back the hours of 400 part-time faculty members who were teaching more than 29 hours a week, said Eileen Korey, a spokeswoman for the school.
February 28, 2014. Tags: Economics, Health care, Obamacare, Politics, Teamsters, UFCW, Unions, UNITE-HERE. Economics, Health care, Politics, Unions. .
Note: A longer, more recent version of this list can be found at https://danfromsquirrelhill.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/obamacare-59/
1) After Obamcare was passed, unions that supported its passage requested and received special exemptions
Within months after Obamacare was passed, Obama gave some organizations an exemption from some of the requirements of Obamacare. As time went on, more than 1,300 organizations received these exemptions.
More than half of the people who are covered by insurance plans that received these exemptions are in union insurance plans. These unions supported the passage of Obamacare. But immediately after Obamacare was passed, these unions wanted exemptions from the very same law that they wanted to force everyone else to obey. This reveals an extreme level of hypocrisy among many of the supporters of Obamacare.
In addition, these exemptions are illegal for two reasons – because Obama granted the exemptions without approval from Congress, and because the Constitution requires the law to treat everyone the same.
The Washington Times wrote of this:
“Selective enforcement of the law is the first sign of tyranny. A government empowered to determine arbitrarily who may operate outside the rule of law invariably embraces favoritism as friends, allies and those with the best-funded lobbyists are rewarded. Favoritism inevitably leads to corruption, and corruption invites extortion. Ultimately, the rule of law ceases to exist in any recognizable form, and what is left is tyranny.”
“The now-familiar monthly trickling down of new waivers is, at best, a tacit admission that Obamacare is a failure. So far, seven entire states and 1,372 businesses, unions and other institutions have received waivers from the law. The list includes the administration’s friends and allies and, of course, those who have the best lobbyists.”
“More than 50 percent of the Obamacare waiver beneficiaries are union members, which is striking because union members account for less than 12 percent of the American work force. The same unions that provided more than $120 million to Democrats in the last two elections and, in many cases, openly campaigned in favor of the government takeover of your health care, now celebrate that Obamacare is not their problem.”
2) After Obamacare was passed, politicians who voted for it asked for a special exemption for their own districts
Even the politicians who voted for Obamacare want exemptions for their own districts.
In response to the medical device tax that is part of Obamacare, some medical device manufacturers have announced plans to layoff employees, including Welch Allyn (275 planned layoffs), Stryker (1,170 planned layoffs), and Medtronic (1,000 planned layoffs).
In December 2012, Al Franken, Elizabeth Warren, John Kerry, and 15 other Democrats who supported the passage of Obamacare wrote a letter to Harry Reid, asking him to delay the tax on medical devices, claiming that the tax would hurt job creation in their districts.
(more…)
October 4, 2013. Tags: AFL-CIO, Barack Obama, Doctors, Health care, Health insurance, Hospitals, Insurance, Obama, Obamacare, Politics, Teamsters, Unions, UNITE-HERE, Univeral health care. Health care, Politics. .
Note: A longer, more recent version of this list can be found at https://danfromsquirrelhill.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/obamacare-59/
By Dan from Squirrel Hill
September 28, 2013
As the author of this blog post, I place it into the public domain. Anyone may freely copy it in any part or in its entirely, without asking my permission, and without paying any money. I do ask you please cite a link to https://danfromsquirrelhill.wordpress.com/2013/09/28/obamacare-68/
I ask you to please show this list to as many people as possible. Sunshine really is the best disinfectant. I can’t stop Obama from doing any of these horrible things to our health care system, but I can tell people about what he is doing. So please share this list with others on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Thank you. The short link for this is http://tinyurl.com/kkq49w9
And now, on with the list:
1) After Obamcare was passed, unions that supported its passage requested and received special exemptions
Within months after Obamacare was passed, Obama gave some organizations an exemption from some of the requirements of Obamacare. As time went on, more than 1,300 organizations received these exemptions.
More than half of the people who are covered by insurance plans that received these exemptions are in union insurance plans. These unions supported the passage of Obamacare. But immediately after Obamacare was passed, these unions wanted exemptions from the very same law that they wanted to force everyone else to obey. This reveals an extreme level of hypocrisy among many of the supporters of Obamacare.
In addition, these exemptions are illegal for two reasons – because Obama granted the exemptions without approval from Congress, and because the Constitution requires the law to treat everyone the same.
The Washington Times wrote of this:
“Selective enforcement of the law is the first sign of tyranny. A government empowered to determine arbitrarily who may operate outside the rule of law invariably embraces favoritism as friends, allies and those with the best-funded lobbyists are rewarded. Favoritism inevitably leads to corruption, and corruption invites extortion. Ultimately, the rule of law ceases to exist in any recognizable form, and what is left is tyranny.”
“The now-familiar monthly trickling down of new waivers is, at best, a tacit admission that Obamacare is a failure. So far, seven entire states and 1,372 businesses, unions and other institutions have received waivers from the law. The list includes the administration’s friends and allies and, of course, those who have the best lobbyists.”
“More than 50 percent of the Obamacare waiver beneficiaries are union members, which is striking because union members account for less than 12 percent of the American work force. The same unions that provided more than $120 million to Democrats in the last two elections and, in many cases, openly campaigned in favor of the government takeover of your health care, now celebrate that Obamacare is not their problem.”
2) After Obamacare was passed, politicians who voted for it asked for a special exemption for their own districts
Even the politicians who voted for Obamacare want exemptions for their own districts.
In response to the medical device tax that is part of Obamacare, some medical device manufacturers have announced plans to layoff employees, including Welch Allyn (275 planned layoffs), Stryker (1,170 planned layoffs), and Medtronic (1,000 planned layoffs).
In December 2012, Al Franken, Elizabeth Warren, John Kerry, and 15 other Democrats who supported the passage of Obamacare wrote a letter to Harry Reid, asking him to delay the tax on medical devices, claiming that the tax would hurt job creation in their districts.
(more…)
September 28, 2013. Tags: AFL-CIO, Barack Obama, Doctors, Health care, Health insurance, Hospitals, Insurance, Obama, Obamacare, Politics, Teamsters, Unions, UNITE-HERE, Univeral health care. Health care, Politics. .
Note: an amazon kindle version of this list can be purchased at
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01E9X8AIW
Reading the list here on my blog is free.
Please feel free to post a customer review of this list at
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01E9X8AIW
Even if you do not buy the kindle version, you can still post a review if you have read the free online version.
By Dan from Squirrel Hill
Originally posted on September 24, 2013. Last updated on March 13, 2017.
As the author of this blog post, I place it into the public domain. Anyone may freely copy it in any part or in its entirely, without asking my permission, and without paying any money. I do ask you please cite a link to https://danfromsquirrelhill.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/obamacare-59/
I ask you to please show this list to as many people as possible. Sunshine really is the best disinfectant. I can’t stop Obama from doing any of these horrible things to our health care system, but I can tell people about what he is doing. So please share this list with others on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Thank you. The short link for this is http://tinyurl.com/m8tfd7q
And now, on with the list:
1) After Obamcare was passed, unions that supported its passage requested and received special exemptions
Within months after Obamacare was passed, Obama gave some organizations an exemption from some of the requirements of Obamacare. As time went on, more than 1,300 organizations received these exemptions.
More than half of the people who are covered by insurance plans that received these exemptions are in union insurance plans. These unions supported the passage of Obamacare. But immediately after Obamacare was passed, these unions wanted exemptions from the very same law that they wanted to force everyone else to obey. This reveals an extreme level of hypocrisy among many of the supporters of Obamacare.
In addition, these exemptions are illegal for two reasons – because Obama granted the exemptions without approval from Congress, and because the Constitution requires the law to treat everyone the same.
The Washington Times wrote of this:
“Selective enforcement of the law is the first sign of tyranny. A government empowered to determine arbitrarily who may operate outside the rule of law invariably embraces favoritism as friends, allies and those with the best-funded lobbyists are rewarded. Favoritism inevitably leads to corruption, and corruption invites extortion. Ultimately, the rule of law ceases to exist in any recognizable form, and what is left is tyranny.”
“The now-familiar monthly trickling down of new waivers is, at best, a tacit admission that Obamacare is a failure. So far, seven entire states and 1,372 businesses, unions and other institutions have received waivers from the law. The list includes the administration’s friends and allies and, of course, those who have the best lobbyists.”
“More than 50 percent of the Obamacare waiver beneficiaries are union members, which is striking because union members account for less than 12 percent of the American work force. The same unions that provided more than $120 million to Democrats in the last two elections and, in many cases, openly campaigned in favor of the government takeover of your health care, now celebrate that Obamacare is not their problem.”
2) After Obamacare was passed, politicians who voted for it asked for a special exemption for their own districts
Even the politicians who voted for Obamacare want exemptions for their own districts.
In response to the medical device tax that is part of Obamacare, some medical device manufacturers have announced plans to layoff employees, including Welch Allyn (275 planned layoffs), Stryker (1,170 planned layoffs), and Medtronic (1,000 planned layoffs).
In December 2012, Al Franken, Elizabeth Warren, John Kerry, and 15 other Democrats who supported the passage of Obamacare wrote a letter to Harry Reid, asking him to delay the tax on medical devices, claiming that the tax would hurt job creation in their districts.
(more…)
September 24, 2013. Tags: AFL-CIO, Barack Obama, Doctors, Health care, Health insurance, Hospitals, Insurance, Obama, Obamacare, Politics, Teamsters, Unions, UNITE-HERE, Univeral health care. Health care, Politics. .
Note: A longer, more recent version of this list can be found at https://danfromsquirrelhill.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/obamacare-59/
1) Lied about putting health care negotiations on C-SPAN
Although Obama had made a campaign promise to have all of the health care reform negotiations broadcast on C-SPAN, he broke that promise after he was elected.
The secrecy of these negotiations was so strong that U.S. Congresswoman and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.”
2) Lied about letting people keep their health insurance
Before Obamacare was passed, Obama said:
“No matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise to the American people… If you like your health care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what.”
Also before Obamacare was passed, Obama said:
“Here is a guarantee that I’ve made. If you have insurance that you like, then you will be able to keep that insurance.”
However, after Obamacare was passed, the Congressional Budget Office said that the law would cause seven million people to lose their employer provided insurance.
After Obamacare was passed, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East announced that it would drop health insurance for the children of more than 30,000 low-wage home attendants. Mitra Behroozi, executive director of benefit and pension funds for 1199SEIU stated
“… new federal health-care reform legislation requires plans with dependent coverage to expand that coverage up to age 26… meeting this new requirement would be financially impossible.”
Also, after Obamacare was passed, the Franciscan University of Steubenville dropped its coverage in response to the law.
Universal Orlando dropped its coverage for part time employees in response to Obamacare.
In addition, after Obamacare was passed, Forbes reported
“The House Ways and Means Committee has released a new report that sheds light onto how Obamacare incentivizes companies to dump their workers onto the new law’s subsidized exchanges.”
Also after Obamacare was passed, MSN reported
“The Affordable Care Act mandate most commonly known as Obamacare has some tight stipulations that, CNN says, are forcing health care companies to rip up most of their current plans and draft new ones that comply. According to a University of Chicago study, just about half of the individual health care plans currently on the market won’t cut it once key provisions of the Affordable Care Act kick in next year.”
Furthermore, it was reported that Obamacare would cause 58,000 Aetna and UnitedHealth Group customers in California to lose their insurance.
In response to Obamacare, some employers have dropped coverage for their employees’ spouses. In August 2013, it was reported that UPS had announced that it would be dropping 15,000 spouses of its employees from its health insurance, and that it had cited Obamacare as the reason it was doing this.
The chain of Wegmans supermarkets cancelled the policies of its part time employees in response to Obamacare.
In July 2013, leaders of the Teamsters, UFCW, and UNITE-HERE sent a letter to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi which said that Obamacare
“will shatter not only our hard-earned health benefits… these restrictions will make non-profit plans like ours unsustainable… we can no longer stand silent in the face of elements of the Affordable Care Act that will destroy the very health and well being of our members along with millions of other hardworking Americans”
In August 2013, it was reported that 106,000 New Jersey citizens would lose their health insurance because of Obamacare.
3) Lied about the cost of Obamacare
Before Obamacare was passed, Obama promised
“I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits – either now or in the future. I will not sign it if it adds one dime to the deficit, now or in the future, period. And to prove that I’m serious, there will be a provision in this plan that requires us to come forward with more spending cuts if the savings we promised don’t materialize.”
However, after Obama signed it, the Washington Post reported that it would add more than $340 billion to the budget deficit over the next decade.
In March 2012, the Congressional Budget Office said that over the next decade, Obamacare would cost twice as much as what Obama had promised.
In May 2013, it was reported that Obamacare’s program for high risk patients was more expensive than what Obama had promised.
4) Falsely claimed that the U.S. Supreme Court had never overturned any laws that had been passed by Congress
Despite having taught constitutional law at one of the most prestigious law schools in the country, in April 2012 Obama falsely claimed that the U.S. Supreme Court had never overturned any laws that had been passed by Congress.
5) Illegally gave Obamacare exemptions to unions that supported the passage of Obamacare
Obama gave some organizations an exemption from some of the requirements of Obamacare. Many of these organizations were unions that had supported the passage of Obamacare, but now wanted exemptions from the very same law that they wanted to force everyone else to obey. This reveals an extreme level of hypocrisy among many of the supporters of Obamacare.
In addition, these exemptions are illegal, because the Constitution requires the law to treat everyone the same.
The Washington Times wrote of this:
“Selective enforcement of the law is the first sign of tyranny. A government empowered to determine arbitrarily who may operate outside the rule of law invariably embraces favoritism as friends, allies and those with the best-funded lobbyists are rewarded. Favoritism inevitably leads to corruption, and corruption invites extortion. Ultimately, the rule of law ceases to exist in any recognizable form, and what is left is tyranny.”
“The now-familiar monthly trickling down of new waivers is, at best, a tacit admission that Obamacare is a failure. So far, seven entire states and 1,372 businesses, unions and other institutions have received waivers from the law. The list includes the administration’s friends and allies and, of course, those who have the best lobbyists.”
“More than 50 percent of the Obamacare waiver beneficiaries are union members, which is striking because union members account for less than 12 percent of the American work force. The same unions that provided more than $120 million to Democrats in the last two elections and, in many cases, openly campaigned in favor of the government takeover of your health care, now celebrate that Obamacare is not their problem.”
6) Said the health insurance mandate was not a tax, but later told the Supreme Court that it was
Before Obama’s health care reform was passed, he said that the mandate was not a tax. However, after it was passed, the Obama administration argued in front of the Supreme Court that the mandate really was a tax.
(more…)
September 8, 2013. Tags: AFL-CIO, Barack Obama, Doctors, Health care, Health insurance, Hospitals, Insurance, Obama, Obamacare, Politics, Teamsters, Unions, UNITE-HERE, Univeral health care. Health care, Politics. .
Note: A longer, more recent version of this list can be found at https://danfromsquirrelhill.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/obamacare-59/
1) Lied about putting health care negotiations on C-SPAN
Although Obama had made a campaign promise to have all of the health care reform negotiations broadcast on C-SPAN, he broke that promise after he was elected.
The secrecy of these negotiations was so strong that U.S. Congresswoman and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.”
(more…)
August 14, 2013. Tags: AFL-CIO, Barack Obama, Doctors, Health care, Health insurance, Hospitals, Insurance, Obama, Obamacare, Politics, Teamsters, Unions, UNITE-HERE, Univeral health care. Health care, Politics. .
Note: A longer, more recent version of this list can be found at https://danfromsquirrelhill.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/obamacare-59/
1) Lied about putting health care negotiations on C-SPAN
Although Obama had made a campaign promise to have all of the health care reform negotiations broadcast on C-SPAN, he broke that promise after he was elected.
The secrecy of these negotiations was so strong that U.S. Congresswoman and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.”
(more…)
August 5, 2013. Tags: AFL-CIO, Barack Obama, Doctors, Health care, Health insurance, Hospitals, Insurance, Obama, Obamacare, Politics, Teamsters, Unions, UNITE-HERE, Univeral health care. Health care, Politics. .
Three unions that supported the passage of Obamacare in 2010 (Teamsters, UFCW, and UNITE-HERE) have just sent a letter to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi which is very heavily critical of Obamacare. Among other things, the letter states:
The ACA will shatter not only our hard-earned health benefits, but destroy the foundation of the 40 hour work week that is the backbone of the American middle class.
The law creates an incentive for employers to keep employees’ work hours below 30 hours a week. Numerous employers have begun to cut workers’ hours to avoid this obligation, and many of them are doing so openly. The impact is two-fold: fewer hours means less pay while also losing our current health benefits.
Our health plans have been built over decades by working men and women. Under the ACA as interpreted by the Administration, our employees will treated differently and not be eligible for subsidies afforded other citizens. As such, many employees will be relegated to second-class status and shut out of the help the law offers to for-profit insurance plans.
These restrictions will make non-profit plans like ours unsustainable.
We can no longer stand silent in the face of elements of the Affordable Care Act that will destroy the very health and wellbeing of our members along with millions of other hardworking Americans.
This is hypocrisy at its worth. All three of these unions supported the passage of Obamacare. All three of these unions supported Obama in both presidential elections. For them to now portray themselves as victims is absurd.
I’m not denying that Obamacare does all the bad things which they say it does. I think their claims about the harm caused by Obamacare are accurate.
What I am denying, however, is that these unions are “victims.” They are not victims. Instead, these unions are experiencing the consequences of their own actions. They chose to support the passage of Obamacare. They chose to help make Obamacare become reality. For them to now complain about its harmful effects is the height of hypocrisy.
July 16, 2013. Tags: Barack Obama, Health care, Idiots, Obama, Obamacare, Stupid people, Teamsters, UFCW, Unions, UNITE-HERE. Health care, Unions. .
Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog 