Get Ready to Pay for UAW's Premium Health Care

That's it, John. Crack on the guy who's busted his hump with a rivet gun his entire life. Without Unions, you'd be working 7 days a week. 10B, what's that, two weeks in Iraq? Pffft.

If your Free Market clowns had less GREED and more brains, we wouldn't be the last country without reasonable Health Care.

A third of us are on anti-depressants and we're the FATTEST people on the planet. And, for that, we spend twice as much as other countries. Not only are we sick, we're stupid.

Where's all that cash goin'? Drug/Ins companies & Wall Street. What a joke.

Where's your morality, Stossel? Did you really drop the Palin "death panel" phrase in public last week?

Shameful.

@wake_up,

I have never purchased a car from a UAW company. Why should I pay for their health benefits?

Who is greedy now?

Hold on a second wake up. If we are having government health care why should union members have it differently than the rest of us? Why should I have to pay for your premium health care when I won't be getting premium health care? Do you think the rest of us haven't been busting our hump? If you union boys have more brains and less greed Detroit would be competitive with the rest of the world and the car companies wouldn't be in this mess.

How come all the domestic SUVs you/we have been driving the past decade all have a Made In Canada sticker on the inside of the driver's door?

A PUBLIC "option", you freaks.

It's an OPTION !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keep your own crap; I'm goin' with the rest of the "free world".

Live, baby, LIVE !!

When's the last time you saw a union member "busting his hump?"

Sitting, leaning on a shovel, standing around, talking and showing up as thug muscle at meetings, sure.

Unions are Mafia and the Mafia is unions.

What up

How can you honestly blame our obesity on our healthcare system? It's our lifestyle that makes us obese, not doctors. Most people that are fat choose not to eat healthy and exercise, I know some might have genetic or hormonal problems, but the majority just don't live a healthy lifestyle. I workout regularly, try to eat right and rarely eat fastfood to try to be healthy. I know that I'm genetically predispositioned to heart disease, my dad died of a heart attack at 48, his dad had a stroke in his seventies, and my moms dad had a heart attack before I was even born. It's about being responsible for your own health, I can't get heart disease and blame it on the healthcare system because most of it has to do with my lifestyle choices, not my doctor.

Thanks, John. I thought you might let this one slip through, but you're on the ball as always.

I have no problem with unions provided they are self-supported by the corporation and union members.

But when taxpayers are asked to subsidize the gold-plated benefits (such as government employees, teachers or companies accepting bailouts), I feel taxpayers should have a say.

It's simply not ethical that the public subsidizes premium health benefits for union members or that union members should support the government's health plan but be EXEMPT from the government's health plan.

It's all payback to obama supporters, John. Follow the money. Government Motors debacle will cost the taxpayers for decades to come.

wake_up says: "A third of us are on anti-depressants and we're the FATTEST people on the planet. And, for that, we spend twice as much as other countries. Not only are we sick, we're stupid."

People are fat because it's cheap, and non-discriminatory health care would make it still cheaper. It would make the problem worse.

We'll only battle obesity when people have to pay for the consequences of their fatness. But if they pay to be fat, I could care less!

How about universal coverage for everybody? Wouldnt that be nice? Go to the doc if your sick or hurt, no PPO's,HMO's, in-network-out of network blah blah blah. Every other industrialized nation does it and it works pretty good for them. All americans could be treated the same, rich or poor. I just cant understand why conservatives find this so evil. How is that interfering with our liberty? It makes wonderful sense.

Wake_up

If unions are such a great thing today....please name one major labor law change that unions have proposed and had passed into law in the last 5 years. Go ahead, I'll wait.....Can't name one? No work rules for wages? No health benefits guarantees?

Ok, how about in the last 10 years? What have unions done for American workers in the last decade? Go ahead, I'll wait....

Hmmm...still can't name one? Ok, in the last 15 years, all the way back to 1994. Surely there has to be at least one law that unions have proposed to benefit American workers.

Fact is, there isn't anything in the last 15 years.

No question unions were necessary in the 1920s and 1930s. Nobody can argue against unions during those years. However, they have outgrown their usefulness. The last major labor provision passed in the US that I could find was FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act), passed in 1993. I am not sure if this idea was a union idea or not, however, the major unions did support FMLA in 1993.

Your 7 work days a week statement is not even true. An employer can actually schedule an employee 7 days a week, but must pay that employee overtime for anything over 40 hours per week. That is stated in the Fair Labor Standards Act, passed in 1938.

Unions were necessary at one point in time, but they have long outlived their usefulness.

Oh, and my 2002 Jeep Liberty with 115K miles on it was MADE IN OHIO..NOT CANADA. So don't lecture me about domestic SUV's in the last decade....fact is UAW is just as greedy as any corporation. Don't think so? Present some evidence! How many factory workers should make $20/hr or more for "busting their hump with a rivet gun"? Get real....companies can't compete with wages like that.

The nom de plume "Wake_up" implies that we are to wake up. But to what reality we are to awaken, he does not say. There was a time and a place for unions, but, except for specific job categories -- hotel workers? Very few others -- unions are a quaint anachronism. Unions mean jobs for a few, unemployment for many, and higher prices for all. I will never again buy a vehicle from GM (Government Motors) or Chrysler.

After World War II, Churchill was replaced as prime minister by the Labour leader Clement Attlee. Attlee nationalized major parts of the British economy : healthcare, education, coal, steel, railway, shipbuilding, and other industries. Britain's competitive position in the world eroded, even as tax rates became ever more burdensome, costs rose, and efficiency declined. The 1960s and 1970s saw repeated strikes by the major unions. British unionized industries were increasingly unable to compete with similar industries in the United States, Japan, and other European countries. The unions weren't concerned about the severe economic decline they brought upon their country, their fellow citizens; never satisfied, the unions demanded more for themselves at the expense of the taxpayer. Britain's economic dysfunction was turned around only by the election of Margaret Thatcher (1979). She denationalized the major industries and broke many of the powerful trade unions, and she brought economic prosperity back to Britain.

No one has a right to a job; companies do not have a right to exist. The long-term economic well-being of a country depends upon a properly balanced tension between the state and free-market capitalism. The state must be capable of enforcing the rule of law -- without the rule of law, capitalism cannot exist. The state must foster economic growth with enlightened policies and regulations. Too many rules and too much regulation, and the economy slows. Too few rules and too little regulation, and the quality of life for individuals suffers. The current encroachment of federal power into the private sector and into the lives of individual citizens is a necessary precursor to European-style despotism. Are the current citizens of the United States still fit for, still capable of, self-government?

~ 70% of economic growth in the past decade went to .1% of us. That doesn't sound like long-term well-being for many.

Never buy GM again? That's unpatriotic, ain't it? No flag pin? Brave guy...

The obese are mainly poor/poorly educated; the millions that have no doctor (got no co-pay). If they saw a doc now & then, they'd be more apt to try to change their behavior.

David's the perfect e.g. why we need a Nat'l plan; thru heredity, he may have heart trouble. So, he's then at the mercy of his Ins Co.? Frightening. If he changes or loses his job, he's even worse off. Shouldn't happen in ANY ethical country.

Non-Union shops can simply fire unhealthy/female/any employees to save on costs. And, thanks to Ronny's dereg effort, we now have many ATCs working 6 days a week, 10 hrs/day. Nice to know if you're a frequent flier. I hope they don't booze it up too much Fri nites...

How are foreign auto plants managing in TN and other states? They ain't stuck w retirees' health costs and they've got an ample work force.

Encroachment into private sector? How about providing a public NEED; the "option" to choose reasonable coverage rather than a ridiculous sucker bet?

Last three UAW made cars I owned were dreadful piles of junk. The last, a Dodge I bought for my oldest kids in High School, had 87,000 miles on it, but looked and drove like it had three times that. It was falling apart around them until the brakes failed when my son was driving and he rear ended another car (I didn't believe my son either, but the investigating officer said that the evidence supported my son's version of events.)

I now own two Hondas, one built in Japan and the other in, I believe, Ohio. Frankly, the Japanese built one is of superior quality.

The Ford van I own (2001) has 160,000 miles on it. I've had no trouble with it, and I'll replace it with another Ford (guess I get to keep my flag pin). Ford is a UAW shop, but it didn't take a government bailout, so I'll continue to buy Fords. My wife owns a 1996, made-in-America Honda (1996) with more than 170,000 miles on it. It's never needed any repairs beyond normal maintenance. If GM and Chrysler go under, I won't lose any sleep.

Americans still build great cars : Ford, Toyota, Honda, Nissan.