CNN found time to broadcast a story about a "neighbor from hell" but as to harsh labor union criticism of "healthcare from hell," not a word. Not only is CNN maintaining a wall of silence on union opposition, expressed in a letter to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, to ObamaCare but pretty much the rest of the mainstream media, with the notable exceptions of the Wall Street Journal and Fox News, are stubbornly remaining mum on the story despite President Obama being forced to go into campaign mode to sell his unpopular healthcare law.
To read the MSM stories about opposition to that unpopular law, you would think that opposition comes primarily from Republicans. The fact that major (non-governmental) labor unions are now harshly criticizing it does not fit that narrative, thus the avoidance of that very inconvenient fact by the MSM. And the criticism by the unions is not mild by any stretch of the imagination. It is extremely harsh as you can see in this Wall Street Journal article:
Every revolution devours its children, but it's still surprising to see some of ObamaCare's keenest boosters deny paternity so soon after the birth. Witness the emotional volte-face from three top union leaders, warning that the program will "shatter not only our hard-earned health benefits, but destroy the foundation of the 40-hour workweek that is the backbone of the American middle class."
Last week's open letter comes from James Hoffa (the Teamsters), Joseph Hansen (United Food and Commercial Workers International) and Donald Taylor (Unite-Here, a hotel and other services union). All three, who together represent three million workers, acknowledge they were once "strong supporters" of the Affordable Care Act but now lament the law's "perverse incentives" that "are already creating nightmare scenarios."
The law "will destroy the very health and wellbeing of our members along with millions of other hardworking Americans," they note, with some understatement. In 2009, Mr. Hoffa launched what he called "an unprecedented effort" to promote the Obama health program because health costs were "burdening American workers" and "too important for the labor movement to sit on the sidelines." So much for that.
So an oatmeal cookie to the first MSM reporter who dares to break through the wall of silence and reveal to the public that opposition to ObamaCare comes not only from "mischievous" Republicans but from major labor unions as well.
