So now the curtain is being pulled back just a bit regarding the intense Obama-SEIU relationship. SEIU has spent millions pushing for Obamacare, and the head of the union has been the most frequent visitor at the Obama White House.
And why? Because Obamacare is a form of bailout for the floundering SEIU's bloated legacy costs, which currently endanger the union from being unable to pay out its obligations to its members. More members are needed to pay the previous ones - a classic union Ponzi scheme. So in essence, the healthcare system is being dealt a potentially critical blow to help bailout Obama's union pals. Classic Chicago politics folks...
From RCP:
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The union's president, Andy Stern, who is desperately committed to enactment of the bill, is reported to have been the most frequent visitor to the White House over the past year.
...What's the connection? The SEIU needs more new dues-paying members to pay for the retirement of current members if it is to rescue its pension plans from subpar performance. It's a Ponzi scheme that would make Bernie Madoff proud. With many of its members employed in health care, the union believes - not illogically - that if more Americans have health insurance, the demand for health care will expand and so will employment in the health sector.
The Senate is unlikely to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would impose mandatory arbitration and take away workers' right to a secret ballot in union representation elections. This was first on unions' 2009-10 wish list, and union leaders want to show that they still have political power. So they will settle instead for the health care "reform" bill.
More than flexing labor's political muscles, the overriding reason for SEIU support of health care reform is that it would bring in more members. The percentage of private sector workers belonging to unions has been declining steadily, and reached 7.2% in 2009. Partially offsetting this is the percentage of unionized government workers, 37% last year, up half a percentage point from 2008.
And without more members, the SEIU's troubled pension funds will continue to fall short of 80% funding, considered by the Labor Department to be acceptable financial coverage.
RealClearMarkets - Why the SEIU Wants Health Reform
And why? Because Obamacare is a form of bailout for the floundering SEIU's bloated legacy costs, which currently endanger the union from being unable to pay out its obligations to its members. More members are needed to pay the previous ones - a classic union Ponzi scheme. So in essence, the healthcare system is being dealt a potentially critical blow to help bailout Obama's union pals. Classic Chicago politics folks...
From RCP:
____
The union's president, Andy Stern, who is desperately committed to enactment of the bill, is reported to have been the most frequent visitor to the White House over the past year.
...What's the connection? The SEIU needs more new dues-paying members to pay for the retirement of current members if it is to rescue its pension plans from subpar performance. It's a Ponzi scheme that would make Bernie Madoff proud. With many of its members employed in health care, the union believes - not illogically - that if more Americans have health insurance, the demand for health care will expand and so will employment in the health sector.
The Senate is unlikely to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would impose mandatory arbitration and take away workers' right to a secret ballot in union representation elections. This was first on unions' 2009-10 wish list, and union leaders want to show that they still have political power. So they will settle instead for the health care "reform" bill.
More than flexing labor's political muscles, the overriding reason for SEIU support of health care reform is that it would bring in more members. The percentage of private sector workers belonging to unions has been declining steadily, and reached 7.2% in 2009. Partially offsetting this is the percentage of unionized government workers, 37% last year, up half a percentage point from 2008.
And without more members, the SEIU's troubled pension funds will continue to fall short of 80% funding, considered by the Labor Department to be acceptable financial coverage.
RealClearMarkets - Why the SEIU Wants Health Reform
