Big Labor May Oppose Obamacare Bill

They're not too excited about the compromise bill that's left after Joe Lieberman was placated:

Two of the country's largest labor groups, the SEIU and the AFL-CIO, are each holding emergency executive meetings today to discuss whether they should support the latest round of health care compromises made by Senate Democrats.

Though there's no official word yet, early indications based on talks with various officials are that the groups will either formally oppose the legislation or, less dramatically, just not fight very hard to ensure its passage.

Labor leaders are fuming at the concessions that Democratic leadership made in the last few days to win the support of the caucus's most conservative members, notably Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.). A bill that already included one highly objectionable provision (a tax on so-called Cadillac insurance plans) was stripped of a provision beloved by labor: a public alternative to private insurance coverage. Frustration boiled over even further after the leadership succumbed to Lieberman's demand to jettison even the compromise to the public option -- a proposal to expand Medicare to those as young as 55.

Together, the changes have spurred emotional internal debates about the approach labor should take to the Senate bill. Dennis Rivera, the Health Care Chair at the SEIU, was slated to appear at a Capitol Hill press conference on Wednesday to push for senators not to filibuster reform. He pulled out from the event, which was sponsored by the pro-reform group Families USA, because of uncertainty about the union's position.

"We just couldn't do it," said an SEIU official. "We haven't even seen the manager's amendment... At this point, we have to make the final decision about how to proceed. There is an emergency meeting tonight to figure that out."

The Dem coalition, which is always held together by the thinnest of threads, is definitely unraveling.