Scott Brown is endorsed by Cambridge officers. Does anyone have more info on this?

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

This is only relevant because of the upcoming MA election (which is going to affect Somerville and Davis Sq).

The SN posted: http://www.thesomervillenews.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=2&ArticleID=3007

It looks like: "The members of the Cambridge Police Patrol Officers Association voted to endorse State Senator Scott Brown as our next United States Senator in Tuesday's election against Attorney General Martha Coakley."

They complain that "We do not endorse anyone who advocates changes in the health care that take away any bargaining rights or increases our cost along with our contributions. Senator Brown does not support the Comprehensive Health care Reform Bill and promises to be the 41st vote to ensure its defeat. The current leadership at the state house, as we all know and have seen over the past two years, have an agenda to dismantle all of our hard earned bargained benefits and they will continue to dismantle these until there is a complete change from the top down".

Is Brown the solution to their problems? Really? Scott Brown is their pro-Union guy? This makes no sense.

I find it disturbing that cops (with guns) act so childishly. Remember? Obama had said that they acted "stupidly" during the Gates case, and later apologized, but these folks don't seem to be able to get over it. Furthermore, I find it disturbing that they are basically saying to the rest of us: We got our cushy health plans, paid by your taxes, too bad for the rest of you (losers).

Comments

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Police officers tend to be conservative: film at 11.

This doesn't sound to me like it's about the Gates case. It sounds misinformed in my personal opinion, mind you (and for all I know healthcare reform would have a bad effect on their benefits), but not like they're trying to slight Obama.

[jovianconsensus.livejournal.com]

We got our cushy health plans, paid by your taxes, too bad for the rest of you (losers).

It's this and only this. The union looks out for its members, and its members already have health insurance. In particular, this is probably a reaction to the "Cadillac tax," even after the huge concessions granted to the unions last week.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

There definitely is something fundamentally brain-dead about a union backing a Republican. ...Especially in opposition to the health care bill.

[http://users.livejournal.com/urban_faerie_/]

Speaking as a union member, I think I can explain the reasoning behind this decision. Usually I stay away from potentially explosive topics like this on the web but I find it important to add the voice of a local union member to this conversation. I too share some of the concerns of our local police officers, although I do not share it enough to vote for Scott Brown. I'm hoping to be able to express my concern by writing letters to our newly elected Senator Martha Coakley.

This is not happening because "We got our cushy health plans, paid by your taxes, too bad for the rest of you (losers)."

I can assure you this isn't the sentiment expressed by any union members I know. I disagree with this personification of our state's hardworking union members. I find it misinformed and insulting.

Union members are concerned because this tax on so called "Cadillac Insurance Plans" represents one of the biggest rollbacks of union rights in recent history. Under the first iteration of this plan it would tax 1/4- 1/3 of union members.

Think about it this way, is it really fair to pass a tax that will disproportionately affect people in a small number of professions? (teachers, policemen, firemen, etc.) Additionally, these are all people in middle class professions. Our wages have been stagnating and our jobs have been drying up too. The tax puts an unfair burden on the middle class. I'll bet when this tax was first proposed people envisioned it punishing the wealthiest Americans, people who can afford "fancy health insurance". Those people can afford a tax, middle class union members cannot, and they will be the ones who are disproportionately affected by this tax. We are taking out our anger at corporate America on the wrong people.

Unions work because when workers band together by the thousands to negotiate the cost of our health care, etc, we are able to get a better rate from insurance companies for their services. If we didn't have collective bargaining it would cost EVEN MORE taxpayer $$ for the state to cover our "cushy healthcare plans". Union contacts go through a tedious renegotiation process every 2 years, at those points our rates for salaries, insurance, etc. are locked in for the next 2 years. Union members are upset because what is the point of having unions, negotiating contracts, paying dues (yes, we pay high union dues every year to have these privileges) if the government can just pass a law that will disproportionately tax a large proportion of our members and changes our contact mid-stream? This seriously weakens the power of unions in the US. Unions represent a large sector of the middle class, people who are struggling to hold onto their jobs and their homes. People who can't afford more taxes.

I agree with you that it seems ludicrous for a union to back a Republican. However, Scott Brown has said that he'd like to be, "The deciding vote against healthcare." If the healthcare bill doesn't pass, these new taxes that disproportionately affect union members will not exist. Some people are so worried about feeding their families, keeping their homes, etc. that they are willing to vote for somebody in a party that is not traditionally pro-union. That is what it is, plain and simple. So before you project anger, stupidity and being "brain dead" as one person on this thread did, take a moment to understand the issue fully and put yourself in the other person's shoes. And before you write people off, don't forget that these people are members of your community. They will be the people showing up when you have an emergency, and they won't ask you who you voted for before they give you help.