ABC7 Chicago's Andy Shaw reported today on a Democratic rally at the Illinois State Fair. Speaking was former steelworker Steve Skvara, who the mainstream media made an instant celebrity, not to mention health care authority, after he tearfully asked "What's wrong with America? And what will you do to change it?" at last week's AFL-CIO debate.
Shaw reports:
The governor's rally on a sweltering afternoon with a heat index above 100 attracted hundreds of Democrats, including a steelworker from Indiana who lost his job and health care and repeated an emotional plea that highlighted a presidential debate in Chicago last week."I want to hear a roar! Who's going to change America? Who's America is it? Is it the corporations' America or is it the citizens that vote?" said Stephen Skvara, former steelworker.
That gentleman was brought in by the governor.
Just a minute. Mr. Skvara did indeed lose his job, but it was because of an auto accident, not, as may be interpreted by the way it's presented, the evil corporations against which Skvara now rails. And Mr. Skvara has health care. As he told Chris Matthews, he's covered under Medicare. It's his wife who he claims doesn't have health care coverage and he can't afford to buy any.
He prefaced his questions at the debate by mentioning he "sit(s) at the kitchen table across from the woman who devoted 36 years of her life to my family, and I can't afford to pay for her health care."
Perhaps one of the reasons Mr. Skvara was so effective in his presentation is he received help. As outlined in the August 10, 2007 Madison, WI Capital Times, another union activist explained details on how the debate was orchestrated:
Back in Madison on Thursday, Lowe was saying that he was one of about 20 people chosen by the AFL-CIO, which sponsored Tuesday night's debate at Soldier Field, to "have the possibility of asking a question.". . .On Monday, Lowe rode the Amtrak train to Chicago and, along with the other potential questioners, met with officials from the AFL-CIO and MSNBC, which was televising the debate. . .
The meeting was a training session and was mostly about paring down the questions, Lowe said. They were told questions had to be 20 seconds or less.
The group convened again mid-afternoon Tuesday -- the debate was scheduled for 6 p.m. -- and after a final reading of the questions, Lowe was not selected to ask his during the debate.
He described his question as having to do with health care and pensions and a secure future for coming generations of Americans. Lowe recognized immediately that another prospective questioner, 60-year-old Steve Skvara of Indiana, had circumstances from which to frame a more compelling health care inquiry.
"His story was better than mine," Lowe said, and Skvara was chosen to participate.
No, you just can't beat a good story, particularly after it's been preselected by both the AFL-CIO and MSNBC.
Andy Shaw did note that Mr. Skvara was "brought in by the governor." It'd be interesting to see who paid for that. Last month it was reported that Illinois taxpayers paid $600 to a makeup artist so their pretty boy governor, Milorad Blagojevich, looked as good as possible in delivering his annual budget speech. It was only after the story surfaced that Blagojevich reimbursed the state.
Perhaps Mr. Shaw and his colleagues could look into who paid for Mr. Skvara to grace the Democratic rally. Or maybe they're too busy focusing on how he lost his job and doesn't have health care.
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Some democracks will cry
August 15, 2007 - 21:31 ET by Senior ChiefSome democracks will cry the "right wing conspiracy" strikes again for exposing this story. Oh, wait a minute, blame George Bush for a "botched" operation...
Conspiracy theories
August 15, 2007 - 21:34 ET by Michael M. BatesWell, if they want someone who's had plenty of experience standing up to the VRWC, they know who their girl is, don't they?
Remember, its not important
August 15, 2007 - 23:16 ET by third eyeRemember, its not important to actually try and solve your own problems. That takes far too much time and effort. The important thing is placing the blame on people you dont like.
Solve your own problems
August 16, 2007 - 08:55 ET by Michael M. BatesRemember, its not important to actually try and solve your own problems.
But he is trying to solve his problem. With other people's money.
The quickest way to push a
August 15, 2007 - 21:35 ET by LighthouseJThe quickest way to push a socialist healthcare system would be to champion the labor and service industries. Hillary and the MSM puppeteer them quite nicely.
This morning I was watching CNN and they had a regular anchorwoman on but I don't know her name. She started reporting about the mine collapse with a solemn tone but then energetically segued into more pro-Hillary fodder with a happy smile on her face like Hillary is the light at the end of the tunnel.
It's not looking good folks. The lefts' sense of entitlement grows by the day, like a snowball effect. Riding on the lies of global warming and "escaping" from Iraq is the Democratic political party ready to socialize medicine and write brainless gun laws.
Smiley faces
August 15, 2007 - 21:39 ET by Michael M. BatesFor much of the MSM, another Clinton administration will mean Happy Days Are Here Again. . .
I remember an episode of
August 15, 2007 - 21:45 ET by motherbeltI remember an episode of the old "Night Court" series, where there was an inheritance and Judge Stone had to decide who would get it. One older woman in contention claimed she had been living on cat food. The judge asked why she didn't just buy regular tuna, since the price was the same, and she said well that just wasn't as......and the judge supplied the word..."pathetic?" he asked.
That's what I just thought of, reading this tale of how the questioner was chosen. Skvara's story was not necessarily "better", as Lowe put it, but the tale of worrying not about himself, but his wife, and including the breaking voice, was more "pathetic."
Heartbreaking
August 15, 2007 - 22:02 ET by Michael M. Bates. . . but the tale of worrying not about himself, but his wife, and including the breaking voice, was more "pathetic."
One area in which the libs have soundly thrashed conservatives is in emoting. They ARE good.
A perfect union?
August 15, 2007 - 22:06 ET by CrashWe are the AFL-CIO, we take care of our own, one member at a time. Now serving number one.
If you're a leftist and you read this: Can't afford insurance get a second job. Can't afford food for your children; are you stupid or didn't you think that far ahead? TAKE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS!!!
Unions and personal responsibility
August 15, 2007 - 22:10 ET by Michael M. BatesUnions consist of about one out of ten private-sector workers. If it weren't for government slackers, maybe they'd go out of business totally.
AFL-CIO
August 16, 2007 - 11:31 ET by River CityCrash said: "We are the AFL-CIO, we take care of our own, one member at a time. Now serving number one."
See, this is what gets me. Why isn't the union paying her insurance premium? Where I have worked the union jumps in and covers the premium for people who are on FMLA or leave of absence. If this guy's wife only needs her premium covered until she get's medicare why doesn't the union pay it? Since it is the big, bad company's fault she doesn't have insurance the union should do it's job and pick up the slack. I thought that is why people pay dues?
“You don’t understand. I am a queen, and I demand to be treated like a queen.” Representative Sheila Jackson Lee D-TX
Camp Skvara
August 15, 2007 - 22:08 ET by ThisnThatThe MSM has found another one. Pretty soon, he's going to go down to Texas and start Camp Skvara just outside the Bush ranch.
Camp Skvara
August 15, 2007 - 22:11 ET by Michael M. BatesThere is some property available down there, right?
Or...run for US Senate
August 15, 2007 - 22:13 ET by Senior ChiefOr...run for US Senate against Indiana Senator Lugar.
So, his story is still true
August 15, 2007 - 22:16 ET by ding7777“After 34 years with LTV Steel I was forced to retire because of a disability. Two years later, LTV filed bankruptcy. I lost a third of my pension and my family lost their health care.
Every day of my life I sit at the kitchen table across from the woman who devoted 36 years of her life to my family and I can’t afford to pay for her health care. What’s wrong with America and what will you do to change it?”
Skvara is saved
August 15, 2007 - 22:25 ET by botgDing will adopt you (or at least talk your union into taking up the slack)
"Television is where you watch people in your living room that you would not want near your house." Groucho
Family saved by liberals
August 15, 2007 - 22:30 ET by LionKingSince he cannot take care of his family, liberals, who by definition like to pay higher taxes, will voluntarily pay more in taxes and donate excess disposable income to this family. Conservatives, on the otherhand, will continue to invest and promote a healthy economy keeping both liberals and conservatives employed.
It's a WIN-WIN...libs can pay more taxes and conservatives don't.
Voluntarily paying
August 16, 2007 - 09:01 ET by Michael M. BatesVoluntarily paying is a great idea. Can you imagine how well off Mr. Skvara would be if all his 15,000 union brothers and sisters who cheered him on had donated to him? At $5 a pop, he could stop demanding taxpayers INvoluntarily help him.
Altruism should be done voluntarily
August 16, 2007 - 14:47 ET by LionKingMichael...that is my point exactly. Altruism should be done voluntarily, not coerced from taxpayers.
LK -- Isn't the correct term
August 16, 2007 - 14:50 ET by Jack BauerLK -- Isn't the correct term for coerced "altruism" known as "theft."
Correct term, Jack
August 16, 2007 - 14:53 ET by Michael M. BatesIsn't the correct term for coerced "altruism" known as "theft."
Another example is every Democratic platform since I've been around (a very, very long time.)
MMB & LK... But big
August 16, 2007 - 15:01 ET by Jack BauerMMB & LK...
But big governments have to steal ever increasing amounts of your money because they are so much better than you at deciding how you should live your life!
Especially experts like Hillary Rodham. She is the smartest person in the room, you know.
World's smartest woman
August 16, 2007 - 16:14 ET by Michael M. BatesEspecially experts like Hillary Rodham. She is the smartest person in the room, you know.
Which must be why she flunked the DC bar exam. It was just too easy for her.
Jack...
August 16, 2007 - 14:56 ET by LionKingTheft indeed...I consider the taxation of income "theft"...add to the frivolity of how taxes are spent...
What’s wrong with America
August 15, 2007 - 22:57 ET by motherbeltWhat’s wrong with America and what will you do to change it?”
What's wrong with America is what's called "life" and sometimes in life things go wrong.
What I'm going to do to change it is to make sure that you always have a job, even if you're disabled and can't do it; that companies never go out of business, that money magically appears to pay your full pension, and you and your wife get free health care in perpetuity.
Anything else I can do for you?
Let's see if I have this right
August 16, 2007 - 02:10 ET by Seabeach4348Let's see if I have this right, Mr. Skvara:
You want us (or someone in government) to pay the money owed to you of a company which is no longer in business even though you no longer work for them.
You would like us (or someone in government) to continue to honor your union's contract with the company even though LTV Steel no longer exists.
You want us (or someone in government) to provide you with a job and to guarantee that this job will be available to you forever or for as long as you want it. Claiming to be "disabled" is not important because you would not actually have to do anything at your job, and you would still receive a paycheck.
You want us (or someone in government) to replace the health insurance policy you lost when your former employer went bankrupt.
Why isn't your union taking care of these things for you?
And, I would venture a guess that you, Mr. Skvara, usually if not always voted for liberal dumbocrat candidates who sucked-up to your entitlement mentality. Why did you continue to vote for liberals if these very same problems existed 30 years later? Wasn't it obvious that the liberals never intended to fix them?
You could always find an "enlightened" liberal who would be happy to contribute more of his/her tax money to help you out.
What’s wrong with America
August 16, 2007 - 09:03 ET by Michael M. BatesAnything else I can do for you?
For many liberals, the standard answer is: "Yes, everything. But don't tell me how to live. Just pay for it."
Ding, this was discusses
August 15, 2007 - 23:33 ET by RESTLESS 1Ding, this was discusses last week on the other thread involving Skvara. You brought up a cogent point (on accident, I'm sure) in your post, that Skvara is still getting 2/3 of his pension. He is on Medicare, and could get a job easily as a greeter at a well known discount store chain. He is not without options. If he secures a job at Wal-Mart, or flips burgers at McDonald's, he would surely be able to either afford a policy for his wife, or join one upon his employment. I've seen some pretty down on their luck people working at the local Wal-Mart ( one of whom looks to have Down Syndrome), so I doubt his disability would keep him from being employed there.
For the Intellectually Chapter 11 among us
August 16, 2007 - 05:32 ET by Unsaneding, I realize you are far too intellectually bankrupt to have a single idea of your own, but permit me to ask this:
What right does that whining crybaby have to help himself to MY money to pay for what he is too lazy to get for himself?
Res tantum valet quantum vendi potest.
unsane -- let's just get
August 16, 2007 - 05:41 ET by Jack Bauerunsane -- let's just get this right. This guy was at the union sponsored Democrat debate. He's been a union guy for 35 years, so #1, what's his union doing to offer him afforable health care.
Now #2, aren't the unions in bed with the Democrats, who want to see millions upon millions of poor, uneducated aliens to flood into the US, bringing their major health and social problems?
Without even mentioning the affect THAT has on healthcare costs from all those who have to subidize these millions... what about the affect that has on forcing down the wages of US legal citizens?
How come the guy never asked his union about THAT?
}}---> In addition Jack
August 16, 2007 - 05:53 ET by Cool ArrowI'm on something of a soapbox about this.
Unions enjoy special protection from the MSM and FOX because they wish to continue to report without inexplicable difficulty.
The many broadcasters unions are fully capable of making life hell for any news outlet that strays very far out of the Democrat camp.
Even the reporters are members, raising the question of whether fair reporting is at all possible.
The word to the MSM is "I'm warning you. . .kid gloves!"
~LYDSEXICS UNTIE!~
cool -- sounds like you are
August 16, 2007 - 06:01 ET by Jack Bauercool -- sounds like you are on to something there.
}}---> On to something
August 16, 2007 - 06:08 ET by Cool ArrowThere is no more logical reason for the extreme Liberal slant of the Media than they have to work at the mercy of those who can put them on camera with an airbrushed booger hanging from the old proboscis.
Anybody who has worked with a Union workforce can tell stories of the cold shoulder given to those who have a dissenting opinion.
The grievance may have no merit at all, but the message will be perfectly clear.
~LYDSEXICS UNTIE!~
My brother-in-law was a
August 16, 2007 - 11:57 ET by indianaconservativeMy brother-in-law was a member of a Union. He eventually started his own business and continued to pay his dues. When he went to the next meeting, they told him that he was no longer welcome since he was now the enemy. Needless to say he told them to bite the big one and discontinued paying his voluntary dues.
"“After 34 years with LTV
August 16, 2007 - 14:11 ET by ckc1227"“After 34 years with LTV Steel I was forced to retire because of a disability. Two years later, LTV filed bankruptcy. I lost a third of my pension and my family lost their health care.
Every day of my life I sit at the kitchen table across from the woman
who devoted 36 years of her life to my family and I can’t afford to pay
for her health care. What’s wrong with America and what will you do to
change it?”
And yet, somehow his disability doesn't prevent him from protesting against mean old America. Just because you can no longer do the job you once did doesn't mean you can't do a different job.
This family can get health insurance/health care if they want it. Instead, they'd rather change an entire country's behavior instead of the much simpler step of changing their own behavior.
Protesting America
August 16, 2007 - 14:43 ET by Michael M. BatesAnd yet, somehow his disability doesn't prevent him from protesting against mean old America.
Or attending June's "Take Back America" conference in Washington. Maybe if he cut back on travel. . .
That's a problem because
August 16, 2007 - 16:16 ET by dscottThat's a problem because LTV went under back in 2000 (under Clinton's watch) so what did he do in the last 7 years? You mean BJ Clinton didn't take care of him like all Dems think should happen??? Oh well, I guess that goes under the heading of "that was then and this is now".
So now let's address the issue of disability, if this person was disabled, then they qualify for Social Security Disability. Sounds like someone is fibbing here as to their state of incapacity and it would not be the first time the lib Dems pulled a fake.
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. Marcus Aurelius
He's been busy
August 16, 2007 - 16:23 ET by Michael M. Bates. . . so what did he do in the last 7 years?
Well, we know that he let folks host a benefit for him, even though his health insurance was "so good." And he spends plenty of time seeking attention.
It might have been useful
August 15, 2007 - 23:24 ET by nkviking75It might have been useful to know how old Skvara's wife is (goes to qualifications for Medicare) and if she's working, or if she has health issues that prevent her from working.
Maybe the people who are using Skvara as a professional victim will pay him a living wage with health care benefits.
Nah.
When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.
I suspect that the wife
August 16, 2007 - 08:45 ET by DanSI suspect that the wife could work, or the media would have focused on her disability. I know 3 sixteen year olds who each got jobs after looking for work for one week or less. None of them had any work experience. We are not living in a depression. It is likely that this man and his wife could get jobs if they really wanted to work.
Work
August 16, 2007 - 09:09 ET by Michael M. BatesIt might have been useful to know how old Skvara's wife is (goes to qualifications for Medicare) and if she's working. . .
According to news articles, the lady is 57 and works as a substitute school teacher. Health insurance isn't a benefit, again according to news reports.
Since the Dems love what
August 16, 2007 - 11:03 ET by dscottSince the Dems love what Europeans do, here's the brave new world they are offering:
In Europe, old people increasingly receive less care than young people do. In the United States, ironically, the situation is the reverse. Elderly Americans are entitled to universal health coverage via the Medicare program. In America, the bulk of government health-care expenditure goes to those over 65 years old, while in Europe most of the government money is spent on those under 65. If European governments continue this policy, soon euthanasia will be the price that the solidarity principle of the European welfare states imposes on the very old and the very sick. European doctors have already warned about "economic euthanasia."
If Americans need bad examples in order to know what to avoid, then Europe is a good place to learn from. America has now lost one of its states to socialism. In Wisconsin there will soon be grandfathers sharing the fate of my granddad.
http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/2316 hat tip to Tom Blumer
Seniors of America beware, The Last Child is coming to a State near you. http://www.fandango.com/thelastchild_v+++126905/summary Those of you in your late 50's and early 60's consider well what choices other people are planning for you via bureaucratic fiat.
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. Marcus Aurelius
BTW - Economic euthanasia
August 16, 2007 - 12:02 ET by dscottBTW - Economic euthanasia is not a new development, see this from February 2000: http://www.hoover.org/pubaffairs/dailyreport/archive/2865841.html
Patients are virtually helpless against this new culture of euthanasia. "Free" health care effectively disempowers them. Doctors are not gods but increasingly are forced to play such a role by refusing to use life-extending techniques for patients and families who want them. In Holland, there is no private medicine. The only recourse for dissatisfied patients is to leave the country or go to the courts.
Universal Health care under Socialism means the State provides the health care for free, hence they decide how, on whom and to what end. If your life is worthless in your eyes then go ahead by all means let the State give you free health care and let them decide what's best for you. On the other hand, if you value your life, then you must pay to sustain it. You pay for what you value.
Socialized Medicine or Universal Health Care is nothing more than a sinister indirect means for the State to "de-select" you from the population when they decide you cost them more than you are worth to them. This is new holocaust, instead of hauling you to the gas chamber, they play the passive-agressive game and deny you life saving treatment or give you substandard care. Think of it as triage. Why is it that Socialism which purports to be for the little people is behind the worst mass deaths in history?
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. Marcus Aurelius
}}---> Merciless killing
August 16, 2007 - 12:16 ET by Cool ArrowAs I've posted more than once in the past, the boomers with their demands on a bankrupt Social Security system will be at the mercy of an enormous bloc of imported providers who:
Are no relation to the old White geezers
Do not look like the old White geezers
Resent their treatment at the hands of those geezers when they were Illegal Aliens.
Can barely support their own families.
We did it to ourselves creating the vacuum with ZPG. When we're old and weak, there won't be any way to keep our retirement pensions, our Social Security, our way of life. The new America will look much different.
Meet the new boss. He's Cruz Bustamonte
~LYDSEXICS UNTIE!~
Not looking like the old White geezers
August 16, 2007 - 14:39 ET by Michael M. BatesGood points. Just call me Miquel from now on.
FAIRTAX! I'm against
August 16, 2007 - 16:20 ET by ErgoDyneFAIRTAX!
I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it.