Correction of anti-union talking points currently being catapulted by wsj and others. (corrected)

[Cerridwen]

There's a recent group of talking points about "The Unions(tm)" being against the ACA. The wsj seems to be front and center in this round of anti-everything human propaganda-fest.

Here's the response by one of the unions being misquoted for you to have handy when you see the steam start to arise from the pile of shit:

From http://www.teamster.org/content/hoffa-calls-cruz-right-wing-extremists-stop-aca-misrepresentations

[div class="excerpt"Hoffa Calls On Cruz, Right-Wing Extremists To Stop ACA Misrepresentations
September 25, 2013
Official Statement Of James P. Hoffa, Teamsters General President
Press Contact
Galen Munroe
[e-mail]
202-624-6904

(Washington, D.C.) – The following is an official statement by Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa:

“In July, I co-wrote a letter to Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Nancy Pelosi expressing our concerns about specific provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the potential unintended consequences of those provisions. The concerns outlined in that letter have been taken out of context by anti-worker legislators and political organizations in an attempt to bolster their own arguments against the ACA. They are further trying to show that there is some broad movement to derail the ACA from all sides of the political spectrum.

“Though we may have concerns with specific provisions of the ACA, we share the president’s goal of ensuring that every American has affordable access to top-quality health care. It is on this main point that we disagree wholeheartedly with the efforts of extreme right-wing Republicans to gut the ACA. Any suggestion otherwise is simply political posturing.

“I call on Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. David Vitter and others to cease and desist from misusing our constructive comments in their destructive campaign to hobble the president and the nation.

“Working Americans are fed up with the continued cycle of holding the government and the economy hostage to achieve some empty political victory. Working families are the only people hurt by Republican maneuverings to shut down the government and play Russian roulette with the debt ceiling.”

[Cerridwen]

1. kick. n/t

[Cerridwen]

2. Another kick.

I know, I know. Defending unions is not so sexy as dissing unions.

Bear with me, please. It's an old habit to "defend" unions against the r/w onslaught; even if that means taking on, well, "my side" of the aisle.

[Brickbat]

3. K&R for James P. Hoffa

[Cerridwen]

4. Thank you. Very much. n/t

[Cerridwen]

5. Another kick for the pro-union and

fact based crowd.

[jeff47]

6. Yeah....correction.

Hoffa is plenty politically astute to understand exactly what would be done with his letter. Hoffa and friends have also fought against the "Cadillac plan tax" in the ACA for a while now. So I'm really not buying his correction.

[Cerridwen]

8. The correction was wsj rather than wapo.

Had you any experience in "main stream media" you might understand my momentary "confusion." It's recorded in the edits. I don't hide much.

Catapulting the agenda of the 1% has a long and ugly history in this country.

But you continue your anti-union BS; it's quite welcome here.

[jeff47]

9. It's anti-Hoffa, not anti-union.

Unions are fantastic. Hoffa is terrible at creating more of them. His focus is on protecting his existing, but shrinking turf instead of expanding membership.

[Cerridwen]

10. Your bias is showing.

Nice attempt to back peddle.

Nice but not acceptable.

[jeff47]

11. So's fighting against healthcare for 25M people

But hey, Hoffa's gotta watch out for his own.

You are arguing that Hoffa is such a political novice that he never thought an open letter attacking the ACA would be used by Republicans.

So you're claiming he's a moron. I'm just claiming he's being Machiavellian.

[Union Scribe]

12. That's bullshit.

You're grossly mischaracterizing his words to suit your prejudices.

[jeff47]

31. No, I think his words are insincere.

Hoffa's not new to politics. He knew what Republicans would do with his letter. He wrote it anyway.

He's now trying to hide behind a "correction", in an attempt to dodge responsibility for providing ammunition to the Republicans.

[Cerridwen]

13. Are you in the tech industry? (not edited for your edit)

I met a lot of guys in the tech industry who were embarrassed by their dad's union membership.

It was really ugly.

Fortunately, many of them were outsourced in the name of "union wages" as "too high" and they got to feel superior until it dawned on them they no longer had a paycheck.

Are you one of them? This is a serious question.

I ask because you seem to be of the "new" version of "techs" who can't read for comprehension or for word games.

For the record, I am tech, union, and female. You are fucking going to hate me.

[jeff47]

30. I'm tech, but I believe our industry is horrifically non-union.

As I said above, I like unions. I think they're an excellent idea.

I don't think Hoffa is being sincere here. The guy isn't such a political neophyte that he did not know what would happen with his letter.

[Skeeter Barnes]

27. Hoffa / Teamsters never did any such thing.

[jeff47]

29. So....the letter discussed in the OP doesn't exist? (nt)

[Skeeter Barnes]

26. The "Cadillac" tax is ureasonable. A tax on hard won benefits for working class people.

The rich should be taxed, not truckers and freight handlers making 50-60k per year. It perpetuates the false notion of Union workers living high on the hog and that they should be taken down a few notches just because others have it worse. It does nothing to help the working class at all.

[jeff47]

28. The cadillac tax is a mechanism to gradually separate health care from employment

Medical insurance should not be a benefit. It should be a right. The Cadillac tax is one step on making that conversion.

The idea is to shift everyone to the exchanges. Blue states implement "government options", which out-compete private insurance due to not having to make a profit. Lack of people dying in these plans destroys the anti-single-payer FUD. Gradually, more and more states follow suit until we can implement a federal-level single payer.

Far fetched? It's how Canada got single-payer.

[Dragonfli]

7. K&R

[Rex]

14. Yeah people here are well aware of that propaganda.

The WSJ and a few here that have posted that garbage.

[Cerridwen]

15. "People" minus the 12 who thought

an anti-union screed taken out of time and out of context was valid.

Other than those 13 (including the OP); I agree.

[Rex]

16. Well the fella pushing that information is known for what it is too.

If rec and reply count is any indicator from just a week ago. The constant propaganda doesn't make much headway. 12 out of thousands not too bad about what I expect from this site really.

[Cerridwen]

17. Good points. Thank you.

I still think it's better to have it "up front" and obvious than allowing a few to slide into the cockroach laden shadows.

[Rex]

18. Crap by the Cato Institute, The Weekly Standard

etc.. get posted here once in a while like they are facts from qualified sources. Most people notice the bullshit.

[Cerridwen]

19. AEI and Conservative Voice or some such, too.

I really would like to see more discernment over sources and facts from this site.

Yes, it's true. I'm an idealist.

When I see my biases confirmed I go on a hunt. The only people I trust less than "them" are those who are on "my side" and don't bother to check their bias.

I am such a pain in the ass.

Thank you for replying. Careful you don't get "guilt<ed> by association."

[Rex]

20. Oh I've been called everything in the book here.

Fuck em, I believe what I see with my own two eye. No matter how much crap is linked to bullshit sources.

Thanks for pointing out that garbage, unions are a huge threat to the plutocracy.

[Cerridwen]

21. Rex...I think I might like you.

Hmmmm, do we agree on everything 100%?

Perhaps I'm not "allowed" to like you.

Yep.

I'm in a mood.

[Rex]

22. We won't, I can promise you down the line.

Then again, I don't want to meet drones on a forum. The echo chamber is around here somewhere, we do have them.

Nice to meet you too.

[Cerridwen]

23. A real pragmatist.

I think I'm faint.

Not really.

My best friends are those who share my values but are passionate about their/my fixes.

[Rex]

25. Nah just cantankerous.

I hate agreeing with people just because they really, really want me to, I have this condition. My family tree runs from Birthers (sadly), to authentic liberal elites. Never had time for the bullshit of politics. Thought most of the government was waste and very little governing.

Met some really awesome liberals like Molly Ivins and I think that shaped my mind into a lot of the way it still is...oh an the Reagan years of total destruction.

Friends are crazy, I have to kick some of them around just to get them out to vote. The apathy I see is appalling but predictable.

[suffragette]

24. K&R

Thank you for the thread Cerridwen.

[Egalitarian Thug]

32. K&R Excellent point, and well done. n/t