As the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee continues debating a controversial plan from congressional Democrats to allow a government takeover of our nation’s health care system, Republicans are pulling out all the stops to ensure Americans who like their current health care coverage can keep it. Among their legislative efforts is an amendment offered by Rep. John Kline (R-MN), the panel’s top Republican, that would allow workers to publicly sign an authorization indicating that they would like to keep their current coverage. Commonly known as a card check system, this process has been advocated by congressional Democrats as their preferred method for union organizing.
I, for one, have always been opposed to the notion that workers should be forced to vote publicly on whether to form a union. But if Democrats on this committee think the card check system is an effective way to organize a workplace, they should also agree that it’s an effective way to determine whether workers want to keep their current health care coverage," said Kline. “And if they want to keep that coverage, none of these costly new mandates should apply to the plans that serve those workers."
A vote on the Kline amendment is expected later during the markup proceedings.
The Education and Labor Committee is one of three panels simultaneously voting on the Democrats’ radical health care overhaul this week as their party’s leaders try to meet an arbitrary deadline that would rush the legislation through the full U.S. House of Representatives before the end of this month.
