Posted on 12/26/2010 6:51:03 PM PST by Libloather
Rep.-elect Walsh will turn down government health insurance
By Jordan Fabian - 12/26/10 04:10 PM ET
Another newly elected Republican member of Congress says he will not accept the government-sponsored health insurance plan available to lawmakers.
Rep.-elect Joe Walsh (Ill.), who rode a wave of Tea Party support to surprisingly defeat three-term Rep. Melissa Bean (D) in November, said that he does not believe lawmakers should receive the benefits.
"I don’t think congressmen should get pensions or cushy healthcare plans," he told the Chicago News Cooperative.
Republicans who staunchly opposed President Obama's healthcare reform plan have come under pressure from Democrats and liberal activist groups to decline their government healthcare benefits upon taking office.
Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) penned a letter to GOP leaders demanding that Republican members "walk that walk" and refuse their federally subsidized coverage.
"If your conference wants to deny millions of Americans affordable health care, your members should walk that walk," Crowley wrote to incoming House Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) and Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.). "You cannot enroll in the very kind of coverage that you want for yourselves, and then turn around and deny it to Americans who don't happen to be Members of Congress."
The push began in earnest after Rep.-elect Andy Harris (R-Md.) reportedly complained in a November private meeting that his government healthcare benefits did not begin immediately.
So far, incoming Reps. Bobby Schilling (R-Ill.) and Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) have declined their government health insurance.
But Walsh's wife is reportedly unhappy with her husband's decision: she has a pre-existing medical condition and will have to purchase her own insurance, according to the Chicago News Cooperative.
You are misinformed perhaps intentionally about the USPS. The USPS is heavily subsidized in addition to its legal monopoly. Postal rates will not come close to covering retirement costs. The USPS like the rest of the federal government does not have a portfolio to fund its retirement (pension and health care) benefits. According to this CATO report,
“Unfortunately, the U.S. Postal Service also is effectively bankrupt. The USPS expects to lose about $7 billion this year. The post office already has borrowed roughly $13 billion from Uncle Sam. At the end of 2009, USPS had $33.5 billion in outstanding liabilities and another $54.8 billion in unfunded retiree health and pension obligations.”
Your definition of earn is laughable. Earn implies an arm’s length transaction between buyer and seller. Government labor cartels have vociferously lobbied for total compensation far above market levels. USPS management has an inherent conflict of interest with taxpayers.
The USPS like the rest of the federal government is a train wreck with no possible way to meet its future liabilities. Your assertions are false, similar to propaganda from labor cartels.
Now THIS is a representative!
And yes, folks at USPS work for a living doing something productive.
You, the people on the delivery end, are LEACHES.
There are ways you could be brought to pay for your services but they've always been thwarted by Congress. It could be done though. Then we could talk about who pays what.
Now, where’s this subsidy? I want some of it.
Take a good look at it. Think about who is most likely to be among the greatest number of insured people for each.
And, they'll be dealing with people who don't like it and will feel like they are working with a state echange only to avoid heavy fines and lengthy imprisonment.
I doubt any of the state exchanges will function.
I’m sure his wife gets it and this is as much a publicity stunt as anything.
I love that man!! And, I strongly suspect he has been reading the FR forum (and my posts, ahem:^) if not a member already. LOL!!
But Walsh's wife is reportedly unhappy with her husband's decision: she has a pre-existing medical condition and will have to purchase her own insurance, according to the Chicago News Cooperative.
“You are woefully uninformed. USPS is already overpaid into the FERS system by $78 billion. The FEHB payment is 5 years in advance.”
The article that I posted in a link directly contradicts your assertion about pensions and health care liabilities. I cannot find any documentation to indicate that the USPS does not have large unfunded liabilities, just like the rest of the federal government. You are just spouting labor cartel propaganda.
Your arrogance in referring to customers (LEACHES) is a new low for labor cartels. Government labor cartels are some of the worst as your comments clearly demonstrate.
The USPS is abmonination, a monster created and maintained by a combination of an ignorant Congress, self serving management, and militant labor cartel. Congress should start over by rationalizing mail delivery requirements, authorizing competition on all services, and eliminating all post retiree health care benefits and pensions (leave 401K with higher contributions). The idea that first class mail service should have a uniform price regardless of distance is ridiculous. All service should be distance sensitive. The combination of rationalized delivery requirements and competition will eventually lead to improved services and economically viable organizations.
There's your problem, you haven't read it yet. Try it someday.
I'm embarrassed that we have so many Conservatives who appear to be UNAWARE of the existence of the Constitution as the source of advice regarding the construction of our government and our national customs.
>> I cannot find any documentation to indicate that the USPS does not have large unfunded liabilities, <<
It looks like a $2.8 billion unfunded liability here: http://www.usps.com/financials/_pdf/annual_report_2009.pdf
Wonder what FedEx and UPS have on their books?
You have been fooled by dishonest government accounting. Congress and the USPS are at odds over unfunded pension and retiree health care liability with each side claiming that the liability belongs to the other side. This dispute is just between two parts of the government. It is essentially a blame game to avoid responsibility. The USPS is part of the federal government regardless of any rhetoric or language that Congress uses to separate the USPS and federal government.
Here is the bottom line for taxpayers. There is a $100 billion unfunded liability. I believe that $100 billion is a large understatement of the true liability given the number of postal retirees. Neither the USPS nor Treasury Department has a portfolio to support pension and health care benefits for postal retirees. If the USPS were a private company (not part of government), it would be required to have an investment portfolio to fund its retirement benefits.
Congress spends every dime it collects plus it borrows heavily. The USPS is no different than any other government agency except that it collects lots of revenue through postage fees. Congress has not created any mechanism to fund pensions for postal employees or any other government employees.
I am one who normally argues against tampering with the Constitution, unless it is to repeal the 17th Amendment.
Here I would certainly take seriously and likely support a Constitutional amendment that requires all elected representatives to live under the laws they pass without exemption or exception. They must abide by and live under whatever they mandate for the rest of us.
hey, if you want your mail to be all complex and expensive, that is fine. I like not having to calclate distance and not have to pay extra to send small things in the mail.
packages from businesses do take distance into account-—on our postage machine, mail over a certain weight you also factor in the zip code.
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