Labor leaders call on Congress to pass healthcare reform for Sen. Kennedy

By GottaLaff

TeddyCare appeals to organized labor, which of course, automatically makes it Rushpublic Kryptonite:

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney told a crowd of about 150 labor union representatives that labor unions would do more than just mourn Sen. Kennedy (D-Mass.).

“We’re going to organize and honor Ted’s legacy by fighting like Hell for healthcare reform,” Sweeney said at a Washington rally for healthcare reform at the union’s headquarters

This is an apt sequel to my previous post about health care reformers coming out in massive numbers. How wonderfully refreshing.

“Because of him, our destination is in site,” [Gerald McEntee, AFSCME’s president] said, “but we’ve got to keep working. We can’t let Ted Kennedy down. We can’t let America down.”

Ready for the Kryptoniters? In 5...4...3...2...

This has drawn criticism from conservatives, who say Democrats and healthcare reform advocates should not politicize Kennedy’s death to move healthcare reform forward. Some have said that if Democrats really want to honor Kennedy, they should remember his reputation for making a deal and offer Republicans substantive concessions to get them on board.

And now, back to our voice of reason already in progress:

After the rally, Sweeney told The Hill that Democrats should not make concessions on including a public insurance option in healthcare legislation as a way of winning Republican support for the bill. [...]

Sweeney and McEntee spoke at a rally that ended AFSCME’s “Highway to Healthcare Reform” bus tour, which visited 19 cities across the country to tout the need for reform.

Unions and other groups with ties to the Democratic Party are making a concerted effort to hold rallies and events to offset town halls across the country where conservative opponents of healthcare reform have received attention.

The two union leaders attacked the health insurance industry in their remarks Monday, and argued they were behind town halls where Democrats and Republicans ran into constituents angry about healthcare and government spending.

Um, has anyone seen any media coverage of these union efforts? No?

Me neither.