Trumka Scheduled To Meet With Rahm Today To Cut Deal on Public Option

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Trumka Scheduled To Meet With Rahm Today To Cut Deal on Public Option
By: Jane Hamsher Wednesday September 30, 2009 7:06 am

http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/09/30/trumka-scheduled-to-meet-with-rahm-today-to-cut-deal-on-public-option/


We hoped it wasn't true. We hoped that when Richard Trumka committed to back a public option and threatened to withhold support from Democrats who wouldn't vote for one that it wasn't just pre-convention rhetoric.
Trumka Scheduled To Meet With Rahm Today To Cut Deal on Public Option
By: Jane Hamsher Wednesday September 30, 2009 7:06 am

http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/09/30/trumka-scheduled-to-meet-with-rahm-today-to-cut-deal-on-public-option/

But then the big guns came out -- Baucus decided that rather than taxing the rich, he would tax the health care plans that seriously affected AFL-CIO workers who had given up wage hikes in exchange for comprehensive health care coverage over years in contract negotiations. When Gerry McEntee rightly called the Baucus bill "bullshit" from the floor of the convention, Nancy Pelosi was then dispatched to say they were considering the same thing in the House.

I defy anyone to find me one single example of the White House twisting one arm for a public option. Just one. But when Rahm and Trumka meet today, it will be after a month of very serious threats to the AFL-CIO carried out at the highest levels. It's the kind of "arm twisting" that only the executive branch is capable of, and it has been done to crush support for a public option, not opposition.

I wrote recently about the fact that people within the AFL-CIO were getting tremendous pressure from the White House to push Trumka into backing down. And sources familiar with the situation say that since the other unions outside the AFL have already caved and are kicking Rahm's trigger football, Trumka feels he has little support for his position and no choice but to relent.

Contact the AFL-CIO and let them know that you support Richard Trumka and his commitment to the public option. Let him know that staying true to that commitment is extremely important to those of us who strongly support labor.

http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/09/30/trumka-scheduled-to-meet-with-rahm-today-to-cut-deal-on-public-option/

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1. Leave Your “Blame the Republicans” Emails Here! By: Jane Hamsher

http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/09/29/leave-your-blame-the-republicans-emails-here/

Leave Your “Blame the Republicans” Emails Here!
By: Jane Hamsher Tuesday September 29, 2009 5:05 pm

I know my inbox is full of emails blaming the Republicans for killing the public option on the Senate Finance Committee. They're hilarious.

That's right, the GOP did it!

Leave yours in the comments. Maybe we'll have a drinking game to see how fast each one starts pimping triggers.

It seems to have escaped their notice that Democrats did the exact same thing they're blaming the Republicans for. Just enough of them, in fact, to make sure the public option failed.

Funny how that always works, isn't it?

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2. Update..No deal!! AFL-CIO stands strong for Public Option!

AFL Says No Deal Between Trumka and Rahm on Public Option

By: Jane Hamsher Wednesday September 30, 2009 12:30 pm
http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/09/30/afl-says-no-deal-between-trumka-and-rahm-on-public-option/

This morning we reported that there was a meeting between Richard Trumka and Rahm Emanuel today. According to AFL-CIO spokesman Eddie Vale, the meeting is over and Trumka is standing strong on the public option:

As the new President of the AFL-CIO Trumka had a broad meeting today with the White House on all of the issues that are important to working families. Trumka reiterated our commitment to creating good paying jobs, passing health care reform with a public option, the importance of passing major labor law reform and re-regulating financial markets.

I asked if Trumka considered "triggers" to be a public option. He responded:

Trumka is sticking to what he said on triggers all along - which is that we haven't seen any plans that would be as effective as the public option, and he told that to Rahm Emanuel today.

They discussed the Baucus/Pelosi plan to pay for reform by putting an unfair burden on the benefits of many AFL-CIO members. (No doubt it's just a happy coincidence that the one big liberal institution which has pledged to withhold support from any Democrats who won't vote for a public plan is getting specifically hammered.) Trumka reiterated that "working families shouldn't be taxed on their health care benefits, which often have been gotten by foregoing wage increases and other benefits."

I asked whether Rahm brought up the subject of triggers, something he has been pushing for since