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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOn the way into work this morning ...
I listened to an NPR segment in which the correspondent interviewed a female Wisconsin small business owner (fewer than 50 employees).
The correspondent really did a good job TALKING WITH her about the issues of this election and romney vs President Obama.
Although the woman seemed to be a really nice woman ... I noticed two things:
1) her level of ignorance on the topices was amazing; but I fear typical. She hates the ACA, but didn't know anything about it; she never relied on to pay for her contraception; but she got it through her insurance; she felt that romney's operating a "small business", just like her, meant that he understood her issues, but bain is nothing like her lake side fish restaurant.
But more pressing,
2) She truly believes(d) that romeny "shares her values better than (President) Obama. But the more she talked the more apparent it became that the her basis for her conclusion was she and romney shared a common race, as all of her percieved commonality with romney feel away.
Her self-described up-bring and life trajectory; her building building of a life and her day to day struggles, are/were far closer to that of President Obama than romney.
But, I don't believe that she, like her working class gop cohort, would/could recognize it.
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uponit7771
(90,339 posts)...care?!
If it was I was fuming that there was no followup to that...
The husband was putting his healthcare on his kids backs...
1-Old-Man
(2,667 posts)If we are not paying the full cost of our health care today then who's back does it land on? Same thing with these fucking wars, who do you think is going to pay for them, today's 70-year-olds? Nope, its tomorrow's earners who will be stuck with the bills, that is as plain to see as the nose on our collective faces. So how are we any different from the man who was interviewed?
drm604
(16,230 posts)Have you had any long hospital stays?
I should be highly resentful of my insurance costs because I use almost no services. But I believe strongly that we are here to help each other out.
I do have two grown sons who I hope would help me out in my old age if I needed help. But who knows, maybe when I'm 95 and totally ga-ga and need around the clock care, maybe they'll have health issues of their own, or will have children or grandchildren of their own who need taking care of.
It's also amazing that a Mitt Romney can go to another country and seem to notice that they have better health overall at a lower cost, and not make the connection as to why that is so.
peace13
(11,076 posts)premiums. I can see the day when we have to stop working and we too will need to use the programs that we have been supporting all of these years. At that moment I will not feel as though I am not paying my full share.
The truth of the matter is that single payer health care takes the middle man out. You can continue to let the insurance scammers make a profit or you can get the system in line with other developed nations. That is the choice. Unfortunately federal and state employees, union members and folks already on socialized medicine in this country will not open their eyes to what is actually happening and who is at fault for the US drowning in it's health care bills! The few that are not in the mentioned groups pay through the nose or go without insurance and that is where the trouble compounds itself!
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)That was yesterday's show.
But did you hear what the woman that was being interviewed with him said? She said, "So ... I'm gonna have to pay for your healthcare!"
That guy is in for a rude awakening! He cared for his children with (I'm assuming) the help of his employer provided health insurance plan ... if he gets his wish and romney wins, there will be no health insurance plan that his children can use to pay for his healthcare or his long-term nursing home care.
yesphan
(1,587 posts)in her discussion as you. I kept hoping the interviewer would call her on those issues and it seemed for a moment
it would happen, but no real follow through.
coalition_unwilling
(14,180 posts)gets raped or there will be no mercy shown to her whatsoever.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)she indicated that birth control was no longer an issue for her ... so I suppose if she gets raped, pregnancy won't be a issue, either ... but that might change if it's a "illegitimate rape."
Scuba
(53,475 posts)
Cleita
(75,480 posts)They think they are on the same side of the coin as the big Dow Jones industrial leaders, yet they share more in common with the ordinary working class person. They just don't get the breaks from tax codes, regulations and government agencies that large corporations do. They have fewer rights in the so-called free market than their employees. It's really sad that they don't get it. They are part of the 99% and think they are in the same league as the 1%.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)I frequently point that out to my fox-wathing, rw fundamentalist small bussiness owner friend that his his business arranged where he draws a salarly ... and pays 35%.
jonthebru
(1,034 posts)Without taking away from her hard work and prosperity, she was severely lacking in the facts of our current financial culture.
First Government is not a business. Ther is technically no bottom line, the needs of the culture determines the governments performance.
Second, if her customers don't have money they can't come eat at her establishment. A rising tide floats all boats.
She actually stated that she does not care about Women's issues. That frankly is a disgrace, she has 50 employees, there has to be some complications among them, does she ignore that?
NPR has been failing lately, I don't listen as much as I used to.
Atman
(31,464 posts)These kinds of stories are the norm now, not the exception. I think Bush's "plan," if you can call it that, worked just fine...most people don't realize that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is very much big "corporation" since Bush replaced the Board of Directors. I still frequently hear people chastise me for "listening to NPR and MSNBC," you know, those crazy liberal stations...although MSNBC devotes half it's day to GOP content. Does Fox News devote TEN MINUTES of its day to positive discussion of Democratic issues? Nope. But it's viewed as a left-wing Fox News. Americans are stupid, and the corporations are cunning.
.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)when she was discussing the ACA and said, "Well ... I don't know how it'll impact us, it hasn't been fully implemented ... something about having 50 employees will make us do something ... We won't get to 50 employees because of that."
I wish the interviewer had asked if she currently provides healthcare insurance for her 46 employees.
but,
I don't consider THIS particular interview a fail ... it merely recorded the ignorance of romney supports.
It's not NPR's job to educate civilians during opinion seeking interviews ... that's what the news segments are for.