Labor Steps Up Pressure On Health Care Taxes

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
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The AFL-CIO is ratcheting up its opposition to excise taxes found in the Senate health care reform bill this week. As Democrats huddle together in Senate meeting rooms trying to hash out a bill that can get 60 votes, organized labor is joining the chorus of opposition to aspects of the Senate reform package on Capitol Hill today with a rally outside the Senate and a print advertising blitz in Capitol Hill newspapers.

The AFL-CIO is among the strongest proponents of health care reform, but the Democratic proposal to impose an excise tax on “cadillac” health care plans to help pay for the reform bill has divided organized labor from its traditional allies in the Democratic leadership for a while now. As Senate negotiations seem to near an end, the unions are to making their case against the excise taxes — which they say could apply to some health care plans enjoyed by union workers — yet again.

The Capitol Hill rally today is part of a week-long campaign that included $1.5 million in television advertising and a “fly-in” that brought 175 union leaders to D.C. to lobby Senators to change the bill. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will appear at today’s rally and is expected to argue the union position in the Senate.

The union message, from the headline on its print advertisements: “Working families need health care reform, NOT higher taxes.”

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