The latest deal struck in the name of health care legislation sets a new standard for shamelessness. On January 14th, Obama agreed with union leaders to exempt union members from the “cadillac tax” that is being levied on expensive insurance plans.
In effect, this exemption discriminates against those people who are both lucky enough to have an expensive insurance plan, but unlucky enough not to be unionized. Heaven help you if you have a comprehensive health plan but no union card to back it up – you’ll pay for it dearly, in the form of a 40% tax on your insurance.
What kind of class warfare is this administration trying to create? The sweet deal for union members effectively pits American against American, and makes non-unionized workers feel like union members get a special deal, at the expense of everyone else. This is a sure recipe to polarize Americans – what happened to the post-partisan President?
The spectacle of this concession to union leaders also shows how raw power is being exercised in this White House. Evidently, if you can get a special audience with the President, then you can get whatever kind of special legislation you want.
Levying taxes based upon whether an individual belongs to a labor union could be either illegal, or unconstitutional, or both. But legal niceties notwithstanding, this is the kind of stuff that goes on in the White House these days. If this is the type of deal that is made public, then what other deals are being cut behind the scenes?
The Obama administration is shameless enough to discriminate against non-unionized workers in broad daylight. If they are willing to do that in public, then what else is happening behind closed doors? Chances are, a lot of things are happening that would not withstand close scrutiny. I predict that this administration will turn out to be the most corrupt in living memory.
Dr. Laura Niklason is a physician and professor of Anesthesia and Biomedical Engineering at Yale University.
