Modern News

When one spends millions to “help” someone, one might expect to “get” something for the expenditure, right? Apparently, unions are finding that the nut handed over to Obama to fund his presidential campaign is not getting the return they expected. The Prez isn’t crackin’ on their agenda, for sure.

For the Washington Examiner, Susan Ferrechio is reporting that “unions are taking a back seat” to other agenda items from Congressional Democrats and their man in the Oval Office doesn’t seem to be helping them advance their own desires any. Their man in the White House may even have ended up on opposite sides of the unions on at least one issue: healthcare.

In fact, at least one union is taking measures into its own hands and airing ads against Obama’s healthcare initiatives if they are to include taxes on healthcare benefits.

The Laborers International Union of North America on Tuesday began airing advertisements in Montana and North Dakota, targeting two top Democratic senators who are writing a massive health care overhaul bill. The union, made up of 500,000 workers and affiliated with the much larger AFL-CIO, is angry that Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Kent Conrad, D-N.D., appear ready to write a bill that would tax employee health care benefits. Such a move would be costly to many union workers whose contracts include comprehensive health plans.

Obama may be able to claim that the Senate’s bill is not “all” his idea, that the Senators are the ones adding the hated provisions, but Obama is not only the face of healthcare, he has announced that all ideas are on the table giving his blessing to the Senate’s inclusion of massive tax hikes.

Ouch. It must be galling to know you’ve given this guy millions only to have him propose things or allow things that will hurt your bottom line.

Top this with the fact that the unions have not gotten any closer to their goal of passing the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) – and it doesn’t look like they will any time soon, either — and we seem to be seeing that Obama is giving the big goose egg to unions. Certainly there is plenty of time left in Obama’s current term, but prospects seem gloomy for unions still.

It must be so disappointing?