At the gym this morning, I listened to clips on the news of Sarah Palin stumping for the Tea Party in Searchlight, NV. I loved Senator Reid's response: thanks for spending money in my town! Then, this morning on NPR I heard an interview with a woman at the rally who stated she was against the plan b/c it means she now has to buy insurance for all her employees (she is a small business owner). When told the plan included subsidies to help people in her situation, she scoffed. How do you know that? she queried. No one has read this bill! So....how does she know she has to buy insurance for her employees? Grrrr....
Truly, the administration better get a handle on the image of this thing and but quick. They need an early victory if there's any hope of allaying "rational" citizens' fears. What percentage of the population make up these Tea Parties? Is it like anti-choice advocates? They comprise <25% of the population but make up 50% of the rhetoric? Oh, to be a fly on the wall of that communication strategy meeting!
Where does it say small businesses qualify for a subsidy? I've never seen that.
ReplyDeleteAcc. to this article: if you have 25 or fewer employees with an average salary of $40K, then tax breaks will lower the cost of buying insurance by 8-11%. I hate to break it to you, but a certain 20-person company here in Oregon just had its health insurance costs go up by 28%. That's ON TOP of the increases for last year & the year before.
50% of the rhetoric? More like 80%.
ReplyDeleteIt's like your other favorite topic: Global Warming. It doesn't matter what the science says. If six wackos with political agenda say it's all a farce, the media has to give them equal time, thereby legitimizing their position.
I loved the comment that woman made just a second later...she said since no one knows whats in the bill it could include things like "everyone has to wear brown on tuesdays"!! my my. the article made those people sound like fools.
ReplyDelete-jill