we re back with kim strassel and joe rago, alicia finley also join us. kim, we ll talk quickly about iowa. joni ernst put the state in play, is that a toss-up for november? this is suddenly a good prospect for republicans. this woman won decisively. this is what happens when you have pretty much everyon chamber of commerce, a lot of the tea party groups, everyone from sarah palin to marco rub beau and mitt romney supporting this woman. she got a lot of recognition out of it. her name went up in the states and now she s a real contender to the democrat bruce brayley. we have 14 senate seats in play, which really does make this the possibility of retaking the senate very real.
and we were deeply concerned about it and saw an opportunity and we seized it. and i make no apologies for that. welcome to the journal ed i m paul gigot. that was president obama defending the swap for bowe bergdahl for five guantanamo detain niece. it started as a celebration last week in the rose garden and quickly turned into the latest political fiasco with lawmakers from both sides criticizing the decision and the white house insisting on damage control once again. joining the panel, the potomac columnist kim straszle, james freeman, and america s columnist, mary annesthesia. it is pretty obvious that the president miscalculated this at the very least, why do you think they did that? it s remarkable. i think they thought they were going to sweep the administration health official scandal from the front page and dlam foreign victory. so even though senior officials had to know about sergeant bergdahl s past, they sent susan rice out to talk about him serving with ho
about. and we saw an opportunity and we seized it. and i make no apologies for that. welcome to the journal editorial report i m paul gigot. that was president obama thursday defending the swap of bowe bergdahl for five high-level taliban detainees. what started as a celebratory announcement in the rose garden last weekend has quickly turned into the administration s latest political fiasco with lawmakers from both parties criticizing the decision, and the white house engaging in damage control once again. joining the panel this week, wall street journal columnist kim strassel, assistant editor, james freeman and america s columnist, mary anastasia o grady. so kim, it s pretty clear, even though the president isn t apologizing, they miscalculated the reaction to this, at the very least. why do you think they did that? well, it s remarkable. i think they thought they were going to go out, they were going to sweep the headlines from the veterans administration scandal o
casino industry, wherever you happen to work outside of health care, if you re a union worker, wh you? i think this is a question for the union leadership that all signed on to obamacare is, were they fooled like everybody else? you can keep your plan rhetoric, nothing is going to change except costs are going to go down? or did they think they were going to get a lot of exemptions that haven t come? they couldn t have been fooled by the cadillac tax because that was advertised. now, what they did get was a delay in it. but even if it kicks in in 2017, 2018, what happens is the contracts are being negotiated now, so the employers are anticipating the increase in cost. i think what you re seeing the cost that rank and file union workers are paying for union leaderships alliance with the democratic party. there s nothing in this for the union worker. all right, joe, so what does this mean politically? well, i think this highlights the split that james is talking about between the
obamacare? unions, of course, have been among the president s most loyal allies and were critical to the passage of his affordable care act in 2010, but now some are threatening to strike if they re forced to absorb the higher costs that come with the law. the wall street journal reported this week that unions and employers nationwide are squaring off over who will pick up the tab for new mandates such as coverage for dependent children up to age 26 and the so-called cadillac tax on premium health plans starting in 2018. i m joined by wall street journalist dan henninger, joe rago, and assistant editorial edier james freeman. how much are costs going up for union plans and weren t they supposed to go down? exactly. that s why they re going up for union plans, just as much as employer plans. and the individual market. what kind of magnitudes are we talking about? about a 10% increase just