Andrew Stern, the labor powerhouse and frequent White House visitor who helped President Obama get elected, was on the verge of walking away from the health-care fight yesterday after a bruising battle that’s left liberals feeling like betrayed spouses.
In a shocking rebuke to the president, Service Employees International Union head Stern sent an open letter to the White House urging Obama to reconsider some of the compromises he’s accepted as Democrats have scrounged for the 60 votes needed to pass a health-care bill.
He urged Obama to “remember his own words from the campaign.”
“Our challenge . . . to the president, to the Senate, and to the House of Representatives is to fight” to “deliver real and meaningful reform,” said Stern, whose union has over 2 million members.
While expressing concern that the current proposal lacks a plan for government-run health care, he stopped short of saying the bill should be scrapped.