Beuerman Miller Fitzgerald

While there are many good signals coming from the Obama administration, the President’s infatuation with taxing employee health insurance benefits paid by their employers isn’t one of them. Regardless of one’s political philosophy, it’s a tax employees don’t need, effectively reducing their overall income at a time when employees can ill afford a pay cut.

What’s more, it won’t do a thing to help improve access to health care or the cost of that care.

It is also an insult to the many employers who pay all or much of their employee health costs in an effort to attract and keep good people. From where I sit, the President’s not-yet-submitted but much anticipated plan is a backhanded attempt to drive employees into a publicly funded healthcare plan, that will in all likelihood offer fewer benefits and fewer options than the one they already have.

On a very different front, hats off to Air France for their adroit handling of communication with families of victims and the news media in the aftermath of the recent Atlantic Ocean airline tragedy.

As a crisis communicator who makes it a point to armchair quarterback events of these sorts, Air France did nearly all the things we counsel our clients to do in situations that result in a loss of life or severe injuries, namely act quickly, demonstrate leadership and assume responsibility for getting answers, demonstrate compassion and concern AND really mean it, avoid speculating, show cooperation with relevant agencies, and stick to your most important messages.

While it is nearly impossible to make something good come out of a tragedy like this one, Air France deserves high marks for their efforts and for dealing with this catastrophe head on.