Regret and Abide

Stoned
“It is impractical to negotiate with a stone wall,” was how the judge referred to the unions’ reticence to make concessions on the pension issue. (NYT, 12/4/2013)

Will unions learn from the Detroit bankruptcy? Better yet will Democrats who have ruled the city for decades learn? (Answer below.)

No.


Imposition
The notice published on Monday includes proposals on several other issues. Certain health plans sponsored by labor unions would be exempted from new fees imposed on insurance companies and on many self-insured group health plans.

Labor unions have been lobbying for such an exemption, saying the fees could be “highly disruptive” to Taft-Hartley plans administered jointly by labor and management representatives in construction, entertainment and other industries. (NYT, 12/3/2013)

Why do Republicans hate Obamacare? Yes, it's the enlargement of the entitlement state, it's the top-down government control, it's the lies told to sell it. It's all those things. But it is also something else. It's the crass corruption that surrounds the entire endeavor, such as giving waivers to political supporters.


Tone Deaf
In the White House briefing room, too, there was a change in tone. The death watch for Obamacare had been suspended and the conversation turned to other possible problems: Will HealthCare.gov be ready for a surge in enrollments later this month? Why hasn’t the administration started a campaign to direct more people to the site? (Dana Milbank, Washington Post, 12/2/2013)

Milbank - who is like a yo-yo on Obama, up one day, down the next - declares the problem solved. Now the only issue will be managing the wonderfulness that is Obamacare. (Oh, and never mind that 40% of the system isn't even built.)


Talk Around Town
'Private sector velocity and effectiveness." "An Amazon-like shopping experience." Suddenly Team Obama is talking up capitalist enterprise as the model for how Healthcare.gov ought to work. After five years of assailing "millionaires and billionaires" and extolling the virtues of "collective action," this is progress. (Bret Stephens, WSJ, 12/2/2013)

Good one from Stephens, but be forewarned: Team Obama will think nothing about bashing the capitalist model five minutes from now if it is convenient for them to do so.