AND THEY WONDER WHY LABOR IS SO UNPOPULAR?:

Bristling at Health Plan to Cover Early Retirees (STEVEN GREENHOUSE, 9/09/09, NY Times)

Within the battle over President Obama’s health care overhaul, critics of organized labor have latched onto a little-noticed provision in the legislation already circulating in Congress. The provision would cost $10 billion in federal money to subsidize employer-sponsored health plans covering early retirees, as a bridge to Medicare.

Labor’s critics assert that the provision, aimed at retirees ages 55 to 64, is a Democratic payback to unions and would further drive up the federal deficit.