In a late night CLOSED DOOR(transparent?)meeting with union leaders and the President from 9:45 till midnight.
"cadilac plans" will be exempt from being taxed until 2018.
HOW IS THAT FAIR?
What makes them special?

Large numbers of voters that are organized, and have in the past made large campaign contributions. They have power, and they exercised it.
The Unions acted in the same manner as any other lobbing group, they sought out the best action for their members.

How is that fair? Unions negotiate for Wages and Benefits. Many times during negotiations, they give up percentages of wage increases in order to improve benefits.

captialism is not fair. their are winners, and loosers...

get over it! *sigh*....

if you want "fair" move to communist china, then tell me which is better!!

$.02

I think you and the dems have forgot that this is supposed to be a NATIONAL HEALTHCARE BILL for ALL Americans.....there is no way that unions should get a "special deal or exemption" on a health care tax over non union Americans. We are talking about Americans being fairly taxed here, not negotiating for benefits.

*cough* it's supposed to be a capitalism... you only get what you pay for...

if you want "free" healthcare move to England, Canada, France... *sigh*...

$.02

You want to eliminate TAX EXEMPTIONS? How about we start with Religion?

This is the final nail in the democrats coffin.

Because Obama says so?

How about the dems wake up and realize that this bill will only pass because senators votes have been bought, that some states get preferential funding over other states, that they have to give unions special exemptions, and that forcing someone to buy health insurance would cause George Washington to go bald.

Your questions above aren't relevant unless you can show that say Baptist get preferential tax treatment over say Methodist.

Yes they negotiate for these things but it's not mandatory for the members to buy the insurance. The companies offer different health plans the members can choose if they want to.

Any companies union or not offer health care for employees to buy(I know not all companies do). It's not MANDATORY for people to buy them. SO I have a problem with the unions saying they will have to renegotiate benefits in this situation.

It is not about benefits - it about taxing two identical workers(one union and one non union) the same. This bill does not do that. It gives preferential tax treatment to union workers. Why?

That's what I was trying to get at. It's not mandatory for workers to buy insurance policies so how can they argue that it's part of the unions contract?

wouldnt it BECOME mandatory under reform? It is curretly not mandatory for non union to buy into company insurance either,,,,

That's my point so why should unions be exempt from paying the tax?

From what I have read they arent special so much as different. The 24000 dollar health policy threshhold that would apply to many union workers would cause them to be STUCK for several years of their union contract with a certain higher tax, where as non union workers can choose to opt out of their current plan to change their package personally. This gives the union which represent their workers time to negotiate better contracts for their members, as they are supposed to do, before the taxes kick in.

But the members HAVING insurance isn't a part of their contract!
They can opt out of their insurance if they wish to.
I'm in a union and my company has several different insurance companies I can choose from. I'm not forced nor am I "stuck in a contract with the insurance companies.
So again my question is why are the unions exempt?

I truthfully havent read the WHOLE agreement( I doubt anyone really has). I would imagine if one is in a union(Which I thought they joined for better benefits and representation) and they dont utilize the benefits the union offers them there is a stipulation that they pay the tax on whatever benefit they do choose.

I read this that union based insurance will not be taxed until the union can negotiate better benefits packages for their members. If indeed members of union are choosing health care packages not in their union package, then they shouldnt and probably wouldnt be exempt.

That still doesn't answer the question.

Say a union member and a non-union member have the exact same plan. why should the non union member have to pay a tax on it and the union member doesn't?
like I said before there is nothing in the union contract that says they have to buy the insurance.
Both of them can opt out of their plan if they choose to.
All the unions want to do is not pay the tax until they can negotiate the amount the companies pay towards the insurance to make up the difference the tax would put on the union employee.

Now a non union employee basically negotiates for themselves. So they will have to pay te tax untill they can work something out with their employer. Why shouldn't the unions have to do the same thing? Pay the tax then the unions can negotiate some for them.
The unions negotiated a deal with congress not the employers!
Not everyone has a chance to do that. You tell me one congress person who is going sit down with every individual and negotiate an exemption for them.
It's all about how much the unions donate to the democrats!
And eventhough they did the deal behind closed doors and we don't know what happened I'd be willing to put a years salary that the unions told them give us this exemption or loose our support! and that's the ONLY reason they got the exemption!