Why, because it puts a slight dent in the taxpayer-funded gravy train?
The agreement to lift the debt ceiling will lead to job losses, according to the president of the nation’s main public workers union.
Gerry McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), said the compromise was “economic malpractice.”
“The deal forced upon the White House and the nation represents a form of economic malpractice,” McEntee said in a statement. “At the least, it will slow economic recovery and impose more joblessness, wage cuts and hardship on America’s working families.
But McEntee did not announce opposition to the agreement negotiated by President Obama, and several other labor groups, including the AFL-CIO, were notably silent in the hours leading up to votes Monday in the House and Senate on a deficit-reduction package that would also raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling.
The public sector union also is not scoring the vote.
“While our statement expresses major concerns about the deal, we are not taking a position on how lawmakers should vote,” said Chuck Loveless, the union’s legislative director.
The deal includes no tax hikes, which unions had demanded as part of a balanced package that would also include spending cuts.