Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Lawmakers move toward privatizing health care, retirement systems

Well, that didn't take long.

South Carolina's legislators came back to Columbia yesterday and instantly got back to work tearing apart the middle class and rewarding corporate allies with profits from the public treasury. An email from The South Carolina Education Association this morning sounded the alarm:

H. 3066 will be up for final debate (third reading) today and will create a new Department of Administration under the direct control of the Governor. Last year, as a result of your support, the Senate Judiciary Committee amended the bill to create a separate governance structure for the Retirement System and the Health Insurance System. Without this amendment, these systems could likely result in the privatization -- most specifically health insurance.

You must contact your senator immediately. Tell him that you do not want these two functions folded into the Department of Administration and that you support the Sheheen/Massey amendment that creates a separate governing structure for retirement and health insurance.

Governor Nikki Haley, fresh from her whirlwind tour of South Carolina's northernmost precincts in New Hampshire, hasn't enough to do with her time -- you know, after resolving the state's high and stagnant unemployment problem -- and desires to privatize the health care and retirement systems of South Carolina's public employees. Of course, the legislature plays the role of chief enabler and is moving quickly to grant her latest wish.

Will there be anything left when Haley leaves office?

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