How Chris Dodd is exploiting the flu “crisis”
The Democrats never miss a Rahm-esque opportunity to exploit a crisis. Corruptocrat Sen. Chris Dodd is using the swine flu to expand the feds’ role in dictating employee health benefits. Enough to make you truly sick to your stomach (via LAT, h/t reader Steve G.):
Against the backdrop of the H1N1 flu pandemic, congressional Democrats are pushing for emergency sick-leave legislation and using the crisis to garner support for a wider-ranging bill — both of which, they say, would help prevent a more rapid spread of the virus by mandating that employers provide workers with paid time off.
Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), chairing a health subcommittee hearing Tuesday, said that requiring businesses with 15 or more employees to offer seven paid days off a year would end a dangerous choice “between staying healthy and making ends meet.”
But some conservatives argue that Democrats are using a public health crisis as momentum for faulty legislation that would harm businesses by inviting abuse by workers.
“It’s pretty obvious that they’re trying to use the swine flu as a PR boost for something they wanted to do anyway and that was not moving forward because of its already existing flaws,” said James Sherk, a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
In addition to championing the Healthy Families Act, which had been pushed unsuccessfully in Congress, Dodd announced that he soon would introduce emergency sick-leave legislation focused more specifically on the H1N1 outbreak. A similar bill was put forward last week in the House by Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez).
Dodd’s legislation would provide up to seven paid sick days for workers who contract H1N1 flu.
There currently is no requirement for businesses of any size to provide paid sick leave. The Healthy Families Act would create a broad definition of sick leave and force businesses to pay for an hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked.
Big Government is the disease.
Booting corruptocrat Chris Dodd out of office in 2010 is Connecticut’s cure.
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Categories: Chris Dodd, Health care
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Hurry.Up.2010.
Isn’t he in jail yet?
Why only seven paid days off? Why work at all? Ooooh, swine flu, off for a year…
Mothers, don’t let your babies grow up to be morons.
Chris Dodd should be in jail. He and Barney should be cell mates.
So this wouldn’t effect people who already get paid time off then?
They are using Swine Flu to promote their health scare bill.
First of all, for paid sick leave,what proof will the sickie offer that it was influenza and not a personal leave and a TV marathon that kept them home from work? A culture report? MD note?
Why should we taxpayers pay for people playing sick (ok, we do pay for the freeloaders in Congress, but I digress).
To this day I still don’t know anyone who has had documented Swine Flu, nor anyone who knows someone who had it, other than my mother’s friend’s grandchild in another state.
Last summer they were not culturing for Swine Flu unless you were hospitalized, as the test cost hundreds of dollars…they just assumed, with flu like symptoms in the summer months (unusually high fevers and body aches) that it was the pig flu.
This time of year influenza is influenza unless a culture tells you otherwise. I am not saying there is no fear of a true pandemic, but it is not raising my alarms yet, and the Democrats do want to ram (Rham? as in Rham Emanuel?) their bill through, and are playing on the fears of their voters who want a nanny state.
This is typical of the insidious overreaching of our government that has gone on for at least as long as I can remember. But since Obama has been in office, the overreaching has excelerated X10. It’s almost like time lapsed photography…
And the dumb ideas just keep on coming. The more these guys open their mouths, the dumber they sound. Get the morons out of congress.
Aaachoo! (sniff) Does my head feel hot?
If Democrats get this and other items on their wish list passed, they’ll kill our economy in another way.
Manufacturing companies used to be the primary source of jobs going overseas because of the cost of doing business in the here vs elsewhere.
Well…. you can start saying goodbye to more service industry jobs as well. If a company can find a way to operate elsewhere without the socialist expenses imposed by US liberals, they’ll do it in a heart beat.
Besides saying “Fries with that?” or a government job….. there will be little else here in America as far as careers go.
Take this year off, and enjoy your new house courtesy of Countrywide.
How dare they insinuate government even further into the private sector?? How dare they presume to know what a small business can afford to do to stay profitable? Minimum wage increases is another example of government intrusion into the business sector. This latest edict by the Federal government to tell private business what benefits they HAVE to give their employees, if passed, will put one more nail into the coffin of small business in this country. Just what these marxists want…it is working. We may not be able to wait until 2010.
I do wish employers would treat employees better, but that is not the way to do it. Making employers fight to get employees is the way to do it, and here is how it’s done;
*Disassociate health insurance from being employed full-time by a big employer by giving individuals the same tax breaks companies get for their health insurance, at least until we have a flat tax. Do not attempt to force people to buy health insurance (I should not even have to add that last sentence, really). Let the market of individual consumers have at it. More people will start their own businesses or choose to work multiple part-time jobs or whatever is otherwise best for them if their health insurance (and compliance with the law) isn’t riding on it.
*Deregulate in general. Make it easier for people to run their own businesses without falling afoul of the law. Some regs are necessary. Most aren’t.
*Lower taxes. More money to the individual, less need to sell your soul for a higher-paying or full-time job.
*Try to avoid money leaking out of the capitalist system and into socialist money holes. I don’t mean try to regulate people sending money to their families willingly as much as I mean give legal immigrants an appreciation of why our system works, and get a handle on the illegal immigration. I don’t mind loosening up immigrant regulations, but that comes for people who obey the law in the first place, or are honest political refugees.
Oh, and NO REQUIRING EMPLOYEES TO JOIN UNIONS TO DO ANY PARTICULAR JOB. There is just nothing about that that is okay, and increasing employee flexibility works well for employees. Also, again, more money in pocket, less need to sell soul.
What an a$$… a “swine flu tax“…
What kind of people vote in Connecticut? Can they even tie their shoes without federal help… or is there a velcro shoe giveaway program (cash for laces) there?
I just saw last night a list of some of the items in NY that are heavily taxed. ONE PACK of cigarettes is taxed OVER $4.00!! ONE PACK! I can’t believe people aren’t moving out that state in droves!! The only people who don’t move are too poor to move. And a lot of them smoke…or used to until they simply couldn’t afford it and their food stamps couldn’t even cover them. These liberals are the supidest creatures on the planet…they are going to be so sorry. It is like they are looking up at a piano falling down on their head from the 10th floor and they just stand there and let it happen.
Sal, Vinny, and some union boyz might be payin ya a visit in the dark of night, so you get your mind right…
This flu thing is turning into a boondoggle like “global warming”. Politicians are desparate for any manufactured ‘crisis’ in order to grab more power.
They wouldn’t be able to get away with it if more people were educated in science. Just like global warming is nothing new, either is the flu.
People are psychotic about the flu! I had a bad cold this week and the first thing I was asked was if I was taking an antibiotic. As most educated people know, antibiotics are worthless against viruses and endanger us by contributing to drug-resistant strains of bacteria.
One of my co-workers, also sick with a cold, actually is taking antibiotics. His doctor should be reprimanded for prescribing it.
Here’s a great image that puts the flu in perspective:
300 Days of Swine Flu
If i could only find a job…
Why stop at 7 days Chris? If 7 days is good then like 30 ought to be fantastic! It’s not much different than the minimum wage, why not make that $50 an hour? Chris, certainly you agree that hard working Americans deserve better pay and some protection from long illnesses? What’s stopping you from doing the right things? Shame on you!
/sarc
My fellow CT residents, vote this moron(who should be in federal pound me in the ass prision) out in 2010.
Liberalism is a disease and it kills!
On November 11th, 2009 at 3:04 pm, Tazed and Confused said:
What an a$$… a “swine flu tax“…
What kind of people vote in Connecticut? Can they even tie their shoes without federal help… or is there a velcro shoe giveaway program (cash for laces) there?
now that’s funny, ty.
Dodd is jumping on the stupid band-wagon since two Democrats from California already suggested the legislation back on Nov. 4 (link).
This is a press strategy on the part of the Dodd campaign since he’s up for election in 2010.
Dodd the Dud & the Demoncrats won’t be happy until we’re all working for china, because they will be the only ones that can afford to do business here.. They’ll pay us 7 days of sick time using the gobs of interest money we owe them, & have plenty left over…
It is that time of year my sister and her husband need to renew the health insurance for their employees. As theirs is a small company the premiums are rather high with a co-pay.Their agent can not find an insurer willing to give them a one year commitment. Without a fixed price they can not cost the price of production. They are pretty sure they are going to give their employees cash to buy their own insurance-if they can-and see if they can survive.
Uncertainty is the great killer of decisions and markets. If somewhere in the neighborhood of one hundred men lose their jobs I am sure Obama and Dodd will step forward to help.
Dodd’s methods are more correctly called “grasping at straws”.
You can look to the politicians to see why employees are too expensive to hire. The TARP mandates mental health coverage in all policies, for instance!
If you’re wondering why your premium went up, look to the politicians.