AFL-CIO’s Web  Applauds  Absurd Idea:
 ‘Finance Reform is Main Street Victory’

By Harry Kelber

Apparently seeking favorable congressional news to report, the AFL-CIO Now web site featured a July 15 story headlined:

Main Street Wins: Senate OKs
Wall Street Reform, Obama to Sign

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka was no less enthusiastic, calling the finance reform bill a “historic shift of power-- away from big bankers and CEOs to working families and Main Street.”

The bill includes new rules on how banks handle derivatives. It regulates banks hedge fund operations and gives shareholders more of a say in corporate governance. It also creates a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to rein in subprime mortgages and abusive credit practices.

But who will be the regulators who will implement the bill? The legislation requires the regulators to write hundreds of rules and conduct dozens of studies, a process that occurs largely outside of the public view. When the regulators are chosen, they will include many who were involved in manipulating the economic recession, because they have the “expertise” to deal with complex financial issues.

Since January 2009, the financial sector has spent nearly $600 million to weaken  financial reform, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Is there any doubt that they will use their tremendous resources to undermine whatever favorable advantages there are  in the bill?

So, why  won’t Brother Trumka tell us  what, exactly, did Main Street and working families win? What benefits do they get as a result of the new finance law? Why should  we feel  “empowered” by this “historic” financial reform?

What Will Heath Care Law Look Like After 2014?

It is at least three years before the 2014 startup of the major problems confronting the health care law, and we ought to be cautious about prematurely celebrating its achievements.

You may recall that a major attraction in the bill was that it would  provide health insurance for 32 million people who had no coverage. Supporters of the law agreed to deny the additional 15 million people who also were without health insurance on the grounds that there was not enough money in the budget to include them.

We do not know how many people will lose their health insurance or die between, 2010 and 2014 because they lacked proper health care, but it is sure to be a significant number. And what if people cannot afford the increases in premiums demanded by the insurance industry, who are now freely handed millions of new customers?

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Ever since the Obama administration promised that people could retain their own doctors, as he promoted his health care bill,  this has been accepted as an article of faith by all insured Americans. But now, the industry is changing that practice to lower their costs.

They are trying to entice customers by offering less expensive contracts, but customers would have to choose a doctor from a short list provided by the insurer. Low-income families are left with the choice of having their premiums raised or giving up their doctors who have served them for years.

Instead of prematurely cheering the Obama health care law and seeking to gain credit for its passage, we should get ready for 2014  to at least make sure that the 32 million uninsured people are covered, as promised.-Harry Kelber