Earlier today the Nevada Independent reported that the Culinary Union has been circulating a flyer which compares six candidates for president on a number of issues. The flyer warns that, if elected, Bernie Sanders would put an end to the health insurance the union has fought for over the years, replacing it with Medicare for All.
The flyer says Sanders, if elected president, would “end Culinary Healthcare,” “require ‘Medicare For All,’” and “lower drug prices.” …
The Culinary Union, which provides health insurance to 130,000 workers and their family members through a special trust fund, strongly opposes Medicare for all on the basis that it would eliminate the health insurance they have negotiated for over several decades. Health insurance provided by the Culinary Health Fund is considered to be some of the best in the state, and the union even opened a 60,000-square-foot state-of-the-art health clinic a couple of years ago for its members.
The union, considered an organizing behemoth in the Silver State, has been known to tip the scales in elections in the past. Though the 60,000-member union has not yet decided whether it will endorse in the Democratic presidential primary, the flyer appears to be part of a coordinated campaign ahead of Nevada’s Feb. 22 Democratic presidential primary and shows the union will not be sitting idly by, with or without an endorsement.
The story about the flyer was published last night. Today, the union issued a statement saying it was being “viciously attacked” by angry Bernie Bros.
Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer Geoconda Arguello-Kline said in a statement Wednesday that Sanders supporters have “viciously attacked” the union since it began distributing a one-pager to union members that takes specific aim at the Vermont senator over his Medicare-for-all policy…
Since news of the flyer broke on Tuesday night, the Culinary Union has faced attacks in the form of tweets, phone calls and emails, a union spokeswoman said.
On Twitter, the union has been derided, among other things, as “corrupt,” “incompetent” and “operating in bad faith.” The spokeswoman said the content of the phone calls and emails has largely been the same.
Here’s the full statement released by the union:
STATEMENT by Geoconda Argüello-Kline: It’s disappointing Senator Sanders’ supporters have viciously attacked the Culinary Union & working families in NV simply because we provided facts on proposals that might takeaway what we have built over 8 decades. ➡️https://t.co/zUqTizBFSF pic.twitter.com/sWnRZ0r2vR
— The Culinary Union (@Culinary226) February 12, 2020
That tweet has hundreds of responses from Bernie fans telling the union they are wrong. I’m not going to post them here because most of the ones I looked at had relatively small follower counts. Pete Buttigieg wasted no time capitalizing on the issue, pointing out that his plan would not eliminate all private insurance plans:
Finally, I found this exchange on Twitter amusing. Ryan Grim writes for the Intercept, which has been solidly behind Sanders. In response to the Culinary Union’s warning, Grim argued that they should relax because Sanders can’t possibly get his M4A plan through congress. It’s pretty sad when the most marketable thing you can say about your candidate is that people shouldn’t worry because he can’t possibly advance his stated agenda. Charles Gaba, a longtime proponent of Obamacare, called it a “self-own.”
This is the greatest self-own I’ve seen in awhile. https://t.co/ycoslUtHgx
— Charles #GetCovered-ba (@charles_gaba) February 12, 2020
