As I wrote earlier I gave this morning’s health care press conference a two big yawns. What we got from Lee Scott and Andrew Stern are four principles and a lot of flashing teeth. Sadly, there’s not a lot of meat there for the teeth to chew on.

You can sign in and watch the video of the press conference here.

The four principles put forth are:

First — We believe every person in America must have quality, affordable health insurance coverage. Well, duh.

Second — We believe individuals have a responsibility to maintain and protect their health. What does that mean? That we should all stock up on Equate aspirin?

Third — We believe that America must dramatically improve the value it receives for every health care dollar. Again, what does that mean? Are we talking deaths per healthcare dollar? Lost worker productivity per healthcare dollar? And finally,

Fourth — We believe that businesses, governments, and individuals all should contribute to managing and financing a new American health care system. I believe that too. But does the cost get split evenly, proportionally? Who picks up the tab and who gets the shaft?

My take on today’s press conference? Wal-Mart is spooked by the Democratic Congress and the possibility that things could get worse in 2008. It’s looking to cut deals now, when the Democratic Party is not in as strong a position as it might be in two years.

From the Labor side I sense frustration and a grasping at straws.

This might be Labor’s last gasp.

Jeff Hess: Have Coffee Will Write.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 7th, 2007 at 1755 by Jeff Hess and is filed under Health Care, Lee Scott, Organized Labor, Wal Mart Watch. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.