In the battle to dodge Obamacare’s costly requirements, Big Labor–one of President Obama’s biggest backers and a strong support of Mr. Obama’s healthcare overhaul–is winning. Big time.
As Paul Conner of the Daily Caller reports:
Documents released in a classic Friday afternoon news dump show that labor unions representing 543,812 workers received waivers from President Barack Obama‘s signature legislation since June 17, 2011.
By contrast, private employers with a total of 69,813 employees, many of whom work for small businesses, were granted waivers.
As early as last October, Democrats like Rep. Nancy Pelosi were busy downplaying the 1,800 waivers the Department of Health and Human Services had then-issued.
They’re small. I couldn’t speak to all 1,800 of them, but some of the lists that I have seen have been very, very small companies. They will not have a big impact on the economy of our country.
One of those “very, very small companies” was McDonalds.
Five months before Rep. Pelosi’s comments, it was revealed that three dozen of the businesses in her congressional district had received Obamacare waivers.
But with the newly released report from the Department of Health and Human Services revealing such a heavy tilting of waivers toward Big Labor, the Obama Administration’s move will give further ammunition to Republican presidential candidates like Gov. Mitt Romney who have labeled Mr. Obama a “crony capitalist.”
Whether the crony capitalism charge against Mr. Obama will resonate with voters remains to be seen. However, with the number of Obamacare waivers continuing to rise, Mr. Obama has now opened himself up to a glaring question: if Obamacare is so great, why are so many workers and businesses scrambling to escape it?
It’s a question Mr. Obama can expect in the general election.
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