Health insurance? We don't need no stinkin' health insurance.

Why does everyone resent the fact that teachers have good health insurance? Most recently it was Rick Hess, and now Mike Antonucci of the Education Intelligence Agency is joining in. From his most recent edition of his Intercepts column:

* Next time you hear union officials complain about poor health insurance benefits, remember that the taxpayers footing the bill for those benefits may not have coverage for themselves.

The link in the blurb is to an article in the Tampa Tribune about how 41% of workers don't have health insurance. My gut reaction: so what? It's a national tragedy and crisis that so many workers are lacking even basic health care, but to suggest that teachers shouldn't push for quality care because other people don't have it is dense. Follow the slippery slope: should teachers have no health care, because so many others don't? That's a silly point of view, but it's also a silly comment above.