Dodd Highlights Health Care, Employee Free Choice Act

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/04/29/dodd-highlights-health-care-employee-free-choice-act/

Dodd Highlights Health Care, Employee Free Choice Act
by Tula Connell, Apr 29, 2007

Yesterday afternoon, we launched the first in a series of presidential town hall forums in which union members get a chance to hear directly from 2008 candidates and have an opportunity for one-on-one questions. Sen. Chris Dodd took part in this first AFL-CIO Working Families Vote forum in Sacramento, Calif., and Anastasia Ordonez, communications director for the California Labor Federation, give us highlights from the event.


Christopher Dodd

More than 100 working people joined Dodd in Sacramento, where the Connecticut senator pledged to work for universal health care and passage of stronger laws to ensure employee freedom to form unions. Dodd made the point about health care this way:

Nobody in this country should be excluded from health care. I advocate expanding Medicare to cover 9 million uninsured children. That would make a huge difference.

Dodd also took on another critical issue for working families: retirement security.

People deserve to enjoy their retirement years with dignity and respect. Pension reform is absolutely critical. I know the difference between a pension fund and a slush fund.

Several workers shared personal stories with Sen. Dodd during the forum, highlighting the need for health care reform, the protection of retiree benefits and new laws protecting workers’ right to organize unions and bargain collectively.

Cesario Aguirre, a worker at Blue Diamond Growers in Sacramento, said that he and his fellow employees at Blue Diamond have been repeatedly harassed and intimidated by the company during their five-year effort to join the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. He asked Dodd what he would do to restore workers’ freedom to choose a union without interference from management. Dodd replied:

I’m a strong supporter of the Employee Free Choice Act. When the Employee Free Choice Acts wins in the Senate and the Senate passes it into law, I will be the first President to sign it into law.

FULL story at link.

[Warpy]

1. Can the incremental bullshit, Senator Dodd

Covering children and then abandoning them at 18 until they turn 66 is not going to do much of anything. Illness is not a consumer decision, and there is no way people will be able to postpone it during their working lives until Medicare allows them to afford it.

Face it, every employer in the country wants to get out from under an employee insurance obligation, and they're all pushing more and more of the costs off on underpaid employees through premium surcharges and copayments.

Trying to bandaid a bad system through extending Medicare to the population that needs it the LEAST is not going to work. Medicare was supposed to be extended to all ages 35 years ago. Johnson wanted it. Nixon wanted it. Congress was afraid they'd lose campaign contributions and the will was never there to pass it. Every president from Reagan on has been more interested in protecting the insurance companies than protecting the American people.

To hell with Dodd and the rotten plan he rode in on. Expand Medicare NOW. Cover EVERYONE. Nothing else will do.

[antigop]

3. What you said, Warpy! n/t

[antigop]

2. If he supports "retirement security", then why did he vote for the Pension Protection Act?

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00230

Anybody who has followed pension issues knows how bad this bill is. It legalizes cash balance pension plans.