This message regarding President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address comes from AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee.

President Obama made it clear last night that he will fight for jobs. He knows that we cannot lose sight of the millions of working families who are still suffering from the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression. Too many Americans are out of work and too many jobs are at risk.

The President and Congress must act now or millions of Americans could lose their jobs in the months ahead. To this point, the President reminded the Democrats of their obligation to lead and served notice to Republicans that ‘just say no’ is not an option.

AFSCME agrees with the President that America needs to lay a foundation for long-term economic growth, and we continue to believe that providing affordable, quality health care for millions of additional Americans is not only the right thing to do, but is also a key to economic recovery.

We also agree that federal action is needed to keep our economy from slipping back into the ditch. Too many services in communities across the country are being cut to the bone. AFSCME members understand this first hand. Members like you are on the front lines of this crisis, trying to do more and more with less and less. State and local governments need help and they need it now.

AFSCME will fight for robust investment in vital public services. Indeed, investment in public services must be a part of federal jobs legislation. In the coming weeks and months, we will call you, our 1.6 million members, to lend your voice to our efforts to make this happen.

AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee released the following statement regarding President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, which is expected to focus on saving and creating jobs as our nation struggles to climb out of the economic crisis:

“President Obama addresses the nation tonight after pulling the American economy back from the brink of a second Depression. Unfortunately, we have learned in the past year that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was not big enough to stimulate a full-scale recovery. Unless we act now, more Americans –- including nearly a million public employees –- could lose their jobs as current federal investments run out and the vital services Americans need during tough times are cut to the bone. There simply won’t be an economic recovery if Washington turns its back on Main Street USA.

“Economists from all sides of the political spectrum agree that one of the best ways to save and create American jobs is through vigorous investments in public services. For example, respected economist Mark Zandi, a former advisor to Sen. John McCain, estimates that every dollar invested in public services yields $1.38 in economic growth.

“Investing in public sector jobs creates jobs in the private sector. Federal funding is needed to keep our streets safe, our children educated and our families in good health. As living, breathing engines of economic development, AFSCME members urge President Obama and members of Congress to focus like a laser beam on saving and creating American jobs by including robust investments in public services in any upcoming jobs legislation.”

Americans struggle today with the disastrous results of unaccountable executives whose greed and irresponsible conduct created the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.  Too many CEOs and financial institutions put short-term profits ahead of the creation of long-term and sustainable wealth.  The foolish, short-sighted risk-taking by major financial institutions, at the expense of shareholders and the public, must never happen again.

President Obama laid out significant proposals last week for reforming the nation’s financial sector.  He addressed the failure of banks to fulfill their core mission of serving their customers, which led to the financial crisis.  The President proposed new fees on Wall Street to ensure the taxpayers get their money back, and had a strong message for banks that might object to these changes:

“And my resolve is only strengthened when I see a return to old practices at some of the very firms fighting reform; and when I see soaring profits and obscene bonuses at some of the very firms claiming that they can’t lend more to small business, they can’t keep credit card rates low, they can’t pay a fee to refund taxpayers for the bailout without passing on the cost to shareholders or customers – that’s the claims they’re making.  It’s exactly this kind of irresponsibility that makes clear reform is necessary.”

It’s high time for financial institutions to pay back the loan that the American people extended when the financial crisis hit.  The projected $100 billion that would be recovered would be very helpful in jump-starting the nation’s economic engine, keeping Americans in their homes and creating jobs.

It is time to fix the problems that sent our economy into a downward spiral that we are still trying to escape.  The President’s proposals are important steps to make financial institutions accountable and responsible. America must never again get into a situation where irresponsible conduct profits the banks while punishing the public.

With Congress on the verge of passing historic health care reform, opponents are apparently willing to do just about anything to stop our efforts to fix the health care crisis, drive costs down and cover all Americans.

Among our key priorities, AFSCME is fighting to maintain important consumer protections in health care reform, and to rein in the abusive practices of the industry. The insurance industry has fought to undermine any new proposed regulations, even those they have publicly agreed to. Unfortunately, much of their lobbying is hidden and grossly underreported.

Now an explosive expose by the National Journal reports that the insurance industry secretly spent as much as $20 million on recent ads attacking health care reform, scaring the public and spreading misinformation. Big insurance companies, including Aetna, Cigna, Humana, UnitedHealth Group and Wellpoint, funneled millions through the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and front groups to hide their contributions and negative campaign while they acted like they were willing to make a deal.

The industry’s covert tactics to protect their bottom line demonstrate why we need strong market reforms, such as ensuring access to a national health insurance buying pool with strong federal oversight, and stopping insurers from finding new and creative ways to deny care based on pre-existing conditions and other factors.

The health care crisis is dragging down our economy and making Americans sick, yet all the insurance industry cares about is their profits.

A group of 16 unions, including AFSCME, representing nearly nine million federal and postal employees and retirees sent a letter to key leaders in Congress this week calling for the removal of the proposed excise tax on high-cost insurance plans included in the Senate’s version of health reform legislation.

As reported by the Huffington Post, the unions object to the so-called “Cadillac tax” because it will unfairly target working-class families.

From the letter:

Characterizing this tax proposal as a “Cadillac tax” is a misnomer. It hits the average blue collar and white collar employee or annuitant. FEHBP [Federal Employees Health Benefits Program] insurers will simply reduce coverage and, as the taxes increase, a downward spiral towards less coverage will ensue, which is antithetical to health care reform’s states purpose. Penalizing FEHBP enrollees with this tax is a huge disincentive to qualified applicants seeking federal or postal employment. It is bad for the government and bad policy overall.

The following unions signed the letter:

American Federation of Government Employees
American Foreign Service Association
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
American Postal Workers Union
Federal Managers Association
Laborers’ International Union of North America
National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association
National Air Traffic Controller Association
National Association of Letter Carriers
National Association of Postal Supervisors
National Association of Postmasters of the United States
National League of Postmasters of the United States
National Postal Mail Handlers Union
National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association
National Treasury Employees Union
Professional Aviation Safety Specialists

Read the full letter. (PDF)

This entry by AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee is cross-posted from Huffington Post and Firedoglake.

Working families are struggling with the high cost of health care, yet the health care bill passed by the U.S. Senate on Christmas Eve would tax their health care benefits. That’s a terrible mistake. Unfortunately, even some progressive leaders, like my friend Sen. John Kerry, have been taken in by myths that favor the tax. In a Huffington Post article published earlier this week, Senator Kerry asserts that an excise tax on high cost health plans will help control health care costs without taxing workers. The facts simply don’t support his conclusion.

According to the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), the vast majority of revenue collected from the tax will come from individual income taxes and joint filers and not by insurance companies. Employers will respond to the tax by reducing the benefits they offer employees, so they can fit their premium charges under the tax threshold. To the extent insurance companies pay the tax, the tax will be directly passed through to employers and employees in the form of higher premium charges.

If Congress decides to tax health care benefits for the first time in American history, it will be middle class workers across America who will pay the price. The first thing employers will do is slash the health care benefits they provide to avoid the cost of the new tax. For years, workers have given up wage increases in order to protect their health benefits. Now, those workers and their families will lose the health benefits on which they rely.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and many supporters of the excise tax on health care benefits claim employers will pass along cost savings to their employees in the form of raises. They may also believe in the tooth fairy. According to a recent Towers-Perrin study of 433 executives from midsize and large companies, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, when asked what they would do, “If health care reform reduces benefit costs to the organization,” only 9 percent of the executives responded by saying they would increase salaries. The Economic Policy Institute backs up that study with convincing research demonstrating that “health care cost increases do not correspond to major movements in wages or compensation.”

Many of the proponents of the excise tax, including Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Peter Orszag, see virtue in the fact that it will force companies to trim their benefits and require workers to pick-up more of their health care tab. That’s a double whammy for workers. More importantly, it is certainly not the “change” our members expected when they knocked on doors and cast their ballots for President Obama and Vice President Biden. We believed their promise that health care reform would include a guarantee that workers who liked their health care benefits would keep them. A tax that falls disproportionately on older workers, workers at smaller firms and others with decent but not extravagant health care does not keep that promise. And it does not make sense.

The excise tax is not essential, or even relevant, to health care reform. The excise tax is a tax policy, not a health care policy. The CBO’s scoring of the Senate bill underscores this point. CBO calculates that the Senate bill will decrease the federal budget deficit by $130 billion over the 2010-2019 period while the excise tax will raise $149 billion. These numbers clearly demonstrate that the excise tax is not a necessary component of health care reform, even as a financing mechanism. It is simply a method to raise revenues to reduce the deficit.

There are far better alternatives for funding health care reform, just as there are better ways to reduce the deficit. The House bill would do it by asking the wealthy to do their part through a small surcharge on families earning more than $1 million annually. It asks the wealthiest Americans, and the insurance companies responsible for skyrocketing costs, to pay their fair share. And importantly, it doesn’t unfairly place the burden of reform on America’s middle class.

Make no mistake: A tax on health benefits will increase the taxes on the middle class. It will add to the burdens faced by middle class families already struggling with the high cost of health care coverage. It is a big mistake that needs to be corrected before Congress finalizes the bill. We are at a pivotal moment in the debate. The time for action is upon us. President Obama and members of the House must tell the Senate that their misguided and unnecessary tax on health benefits cannot survive in the final version of health care reform.

This message comes from Chuck Loveless, AFSCME Director of Legislation.

Help start the New Year off right — by finally making quality, affordable health care for all a reality.

Here’s what’s happening: the U.S. Senate passed its version of health care reform on Christmas Eve, and now Democratic leaders are merging the bill with the one passed by the House of Representatives in November. Once leaders have a final bill, it must again win passage in both the House and Senate before being sent to President Obama’s desk for his signature.

That’s why I hope you’ll send a message to Senator Reid and Speaker Pelosi — they’re working out the final details and we need to make sure they finish reform right.

This is our last chance to make sure our historic health care reform actually fixes the health care crisis, drives costs down, and covers all Americans. Two changes are key to making sure that the final bill delivers the reform that Americans desperately need:

1. Our health benefits must not be taxed. Middle-class families must be able to afford health insurance and employers must be asked to provide good health coverage for their employees.
2. Insurance companies must be held accountable with strong regulations and consumer protections, and we must be given the choice of a national public health insurance option available on day one.

Please send a message to Senator Reid and Speaker Pelosi right now and demand that the final reform bill include the choice and competition of a public health insurance option and doesn’t tax our health care benefits.

Thanks to your ongoing phone calls, e-mails, and faxes we got this far and passed a strong bill in the House of Representatives. But the Senate bill is much weaker and it taxes our benefits — that’s why your voice is needed today.

Please send your message right now and spread the word by posting this action on Facebook or Twitter.

From Think Progress:

Rush Limbaugh was rushed to a hospital in Hawaii last week after he complained of chest pains and had reportedly been taken from his hotel “in serious condition.”

Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu released Limbaugh on Friday, and during a press conference the conservative radio host said his physicians did not know what caused his symptoms. Limbaugh praised the U.S. health care system based on his experience:

“The treatment I received here was the best that the world has to offer,” Limbaugh said. “Based on what happened here to me, I don’t think there’s one thing wrong with the American health care system. It is working just fine, just dandy.”

Of course Rush would probably think any health system is “just dandy,” mainly because he is a multi-millionaire and can afford the best health care wherever he might be. But this is not the case for tens of millions of Americans who are unable to afford care or insurance due to the rising costs of health care in the U.S.

But it’s also odd that Limbaugh would cite his experience in Hawaii as evidence that the U.S. health care system is “fine” seeing that Hawaii has already passed reform measures similar to those that Congress is currently considering as part of comprehensive reform — measures that Limbaugh has constantly been attacking.

As Crooks and Liars points out: It’s so nice that Limbaugh thinks our health care system is just wonderful since he’s never going to have to worry about whether he’ll go bankrupt paying for his medical bills.

Read more at Think Progress.

Politics Daily looks at the effects of the so-called “Cadillac tax” included in the Senate health care bill. Originally intended as a way to finance reform by taxing the type of expensive benefit plans enjoyed by Wall Street executives, studies show it would hit a lot of middle-class Americans — and likely result in drastic cuts to health benefits.

Beth Umland, the research director for the Mercer employee benefits consulting firm which released a widely-read study on this tax last week, says the impact would be felt across the board.

“Plans that trigger the excise tax are not necessarily generous plans,” she said. “Small employers offer significantly less-generous plans than large employers, but just as many small employers are going to trigger the tax.” Plans for workers in dangerous professions, like steelworkers, also have higher-cost plans because they experience more work-related health problems.

Unlike the Senate bill, the plan passed by the House pays for health reform with a surtax on people making more than $500,000, and House Democrats like Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) are determined to remove the Cadillac tax when the legislation goes to conference committee.

A senior Democratic House aide said this week that the choice by the Senate to pay for health care reform with an excise tax that could hit middle-class workers, as opposed to the choice of the House to tax the highest earners, represents a fundamental philosophical difference between the two chambers that could endanger the entire bill if it is a part of the final conference report.

“It would be a mistake to assume that we’re just going to rubber-stamp what the Senate sends us,” Courtney said. “All of us are going to be on the ballot in 2010. It certainly raises a big, red flag for people who are going out be campaigning soon.”

Read the full story.

During recent debate on the Senate floor, Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said he had “not met one” person in his state who supports health care reform. He has now.

Dozens of local citizens gathered at Sen. McConnell’s Louisville office on Friday to deliver a petition with the names of over 1,000 Kentuckians with a simple message for the Obstructionist-in-Chief:

“Hey Mitch McConnell, I’m from Kentucky and I support health reform that gives us quality, affordable health care with the choice of a public health insurance option.”

Watch media coverage below from WDRB (FOX):

WLKY (CBS):