Behind the Healthcare Rhetoric

What are big labor’s true intentions on health care reform?  Why are they plowing millions of dollars of workers dues money into a public relations campaign to enact the law?  James Sherk has an explanation:

Organized labor is campaigning for government-run health care for the same reason that the private insurance industry is campaigning against it — it is very much in their self interest. The union movement will gain billions of dollars if Obamacare passes.

The most obvious payout is the taxpayer bailout for union health plans. Many union-negotiated retiree health plans cannot pay their scheduled benefits. Rather than reducing benefits, the bill passes those costs onto taxpayers to the tune of $10 billion. But that is small potatoes compared to what the bill will do for [compelled] union “membership.”