Strike a compromise

House and Senate leaders, along with union bosses and White House officials, have been meeting all week in a hard push to strike a compromise on the health care package. The White House reached a breakthrough in talks with House Democrats and union leaders Thursday, agreeing to scale back plans for a tax on high-value insurance plans. - FoxNews.com

A few observations here:
Why are Union bosses involved in these secret talks in the White House? How is it that a public process is not allowed, but the Union special interest is invited to participate? This is change? Sounds like the same kind of partisan agenda that Obama said Bush was guilty of and his new admin. would not have. Despite claims of transparency, eliminating special interest influence, and reaching out across the aisle, Obama has shown that he is all talk (as long as the teleprompter is working).

The breakthrough on the "Cadillac" insurance plans is based on how much they cost. Obama's rationalization of taxing these plans is they do not make anyone healthier. I am wondering how they can determine the health benefit of a plan based on the price? At $24,000 per year (the point that an insurance plan looses it's benefits and becomes a luxury vehicle) that is $2000 per month. I knew of a couple 5 years ago that had to pay $3000 per month for insurance for a few years until they could qualify for Medicare. It is interesting that we had to redefine what a Cadillac is to suit the Unions, but not the rest of us.

For those who have eyes to see, this is just more of the eternal campaign mode that Obama operates in. First the push was to have healthcare reform complete in his first year. Now he is postponing his state of the union address so he can claim a victory in that. Just look at the way he ties his policy ideas to his plug for Massachusetts Democrat Martha Coakley's bid for Ted Kennedy's Senate seat, "In Washington, I'm fighting to curb the abuses of a health insurance industry that routinely denies care, and it's clear now that the outcome of these and other fights will probably rest on one vote in the United State Senate." Let me translate, "The reason you should vote for her has nothing to do with her ability to represent you, it has to do with me being able to do whatever I want using the super majority."

Strike a compromise? I would say that is the last thing on Obama's mind. Rest assured that in those secret meetings with Union leaders there was the same kind of vote buying we saw with anyone else who has dared to suggest they might not back Obama's healthcare agenda....oh, unless you happen to be a Republican, they don't count.