Labor Ad Calls On Obama To Aid Health Care Workers With Whom He Campaigned

The labor community is ramping up the pressure on Barack Obama to intervene in what could be drastic and costly wage cuts for health care employees in California.

A source with the Service Employees International Union tells the Huffington Post that the union is making a six-figure ad purchase in Los Angeles and surrounding markets, calling on the President to come to the aid of the state's home health care workforce.

The spot, which should be released on Wednesday, will tell, in part, the story of Pauline Beck, the homecare worker with whom Obama famously spent a day walking "in her shoes." It will coincide with the president's visit to L.A. for a DNC fundraiser scheduled that evening. The dueling images could be politically touchy for the White House: health care workers pleading with the president to help them keep their salaries as he attends a high-end event with Democratic donors.

The back-story to the ad is equally compelling. In August 2007, then candidate Obama spent a day with Beck drawing attention to, and getting a sense of, life as a health care worker in California. Beck, in turn, was granted a speaking slot at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, the president's staff deeming her story the type of message that would help bolster the working class image of the campaign.

Now, it's Beck who is in need of the president's help. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in an effort to get the state under budget, has proposed cutting salaries for health care workers to levels that -- SEIU reps say -- would approach those of Taco Bell employees. The Obama White House had initially threatened to withhold billions of dollars in stimulus funds from California if this were to happen. Earlier this week, however, the administration backed off this threat.

The SEIU has been drawing attention to the scheduled salary cuts for the past week, hoping to influence the President into intervene in the matter. The television advertisement is the next step in that campaign. The SEIU source did not have a final script for the ad that will run. According to a tweet from the union's president, Andy Stern, Beck will play a prominent role in the spot.

Comments

[rad21]

Three principles of healthcare reforms are: reducing health care costs, making it affordable, and expanding coverage.

Only forty percent of healthcare delivered is 'proper care' as per the Rand Study. The rest is over-utilization, underutilization or inappropriate care. So reducing reimbursement and eliminating redundancies are important pillars of reducing healthcare cost and making it affordable.

Why is (much of) home care needed? What is the patient's family doing? If they are too busy, they should directly "employ" a laid-off relative, friend or neighbor (to help). That will be a lot cheaper than doing the same via the government, using home care or keeping the patient in the hospital or nursing-home.

Healthcare and Education have to be de-coupled from social services; if we are to bring the costs down and improve the quality of these two major public services. Providing home-care or 'taco-bell' meals is destroying family-ties and culture of America society, directly and indirectly costing us far more than we think.

[UninsuredGuy]

According to the Nursing Zone, the number of people w/out health care access skyrocketed from 56 mil. to 60 mil in just 2 yrs. In addition, a Fidelity survey finds almost half of U.S. employees believe their employers won’t provide health insurance, 2019.

Like other middle-class uninsured Americans, prescription costs have become increasingly difficult to manage. Therefore, I had to go online to search for money saving options. I found Medtipster.com which is a helpful medical drug search engine that told me where to get generics for most of my brand named prescriptions. Medtipster allows you to type in your drug name, dosage and zip code to search for and locate prescription drugs that are available on discount generic programs across the United States; many of which are available for as little as $4. Prescriptions that are not available on a discounted program often have therapeutic alternatives on a discounted generic program, which are also available on Medtipster search engine. I have told my friends and families about www.Medtipster.com

[sc300nc]

The administration does not even have a plan. How can you defend something you haven't even seen yet? You have no idea what Obama care will look like, what it will cost, how it will work. It's likely that it won't be much different than what the private insurers offer. The big difference is that the gov't does not have to worry about making a profit, or even breaking even. They can price Obama care to undercut the market, the taxbase will be subsidizing it anyway.

So you may pay a smaller cost out of pocket for health care premiums, but your taxes and everyone else's goes up to cover it.

[Disdain]

We are missing the big picture. California is bankrupt. There is no money. Today it's the health workers tomorrow another group. When a state has to resort to IOU to tax payers, something is inherently wrong. Too many entitlements and not enough tax collected is a recipe for disaster regardless what party is in charge. Like it or not cuts have to be made.

[Blutodog]

If Obama's plan to fix Wall st. is an example of reform then we can reasonably expect that he'll probably bend over backwards to help BIG Health care and Big Pharma as well and try to pawn if off to the rest of us as real change.

[tippydog11]

big business was always the problem I think......that why were in the mess were in...regulatory laws were removed and they did what they wanted...greed greed they were running the show..

[rain33]

if he picks a republican judge or lawyer heading supreme court, i am threw with him..he better remember who put him in office-liberals, progressives, independents,new voters, young voters, etc..F------ the gops because their thinkings and making laws has already screwed our society as well handling our government running into the ground...single payer should be on the option because not everyone is thrilled having government in our health and personal privacies.yeah i want affordable healthcare but i don't want to be screwed by the insurance companies nor government..

[Ergon]

Note: Canada has Universal Health Care, and despite the propaganda from the medical monoploy, it's a better system.
And bus loads of retired and unemployed citizens cross the border every day in the border states to save hundreds of dollars on their prescription costs. A simple, sad, fact.

[Ergon]

CUBA has a better health care system overall than the US. Canada and Sweden, are way ahead.
America (not Americans) would rather spend it on the Military Industrial Complex and bail out banks.

[RDAM]

Watching the action on these HuffPo boards I've come to only one conclusion...we're screwed...on issue after issue there's little more than bloviating and harpy demands to get or give what's due to "my" group (us) while making sure to lash out at them (the opposition?). Rare is the post that rises to actually discuss issues and solutions that doesn't eventually sink to some form of insult or that doesn't diminish others for their failure to agree with "me" (ignoring, as it were, the glass house rule). Here we are less than 150 days into a new administration and already we've lost patience, are sure we're going to get shafted in the end, are sure "the worm has turned," that we've been betrayed (by the past, the present and the future) and are sure the forces of evil have corrupted all that was good just 6 months ago.

Michael Lynton, co-CEO of Sony Pictures and a former AOL exec, made an interesting comment some time ago (not sure if it was reported in full context but it was interesting nonetheless). He said that he is among those who don't believe the Internet has made any positive contributions, none, period.

Will greatest communications tool ever (the Internet) actually be the end of communications? Has the ease of making an opinion known finally made Harry Nilsson's words ring true, namely; that "a point in every direction is no point at all..."

[KQuark]

In the past few weeks I've gotten several e-mails from the white house promoting universal healthcare.

What are you doing personally to support universal healthcare?

Or are you just bitchin' about the president on a blog?

[jazzman]

I called my Senators.

However, I haven't seen anything from the White House promoting universal health care or a public option. I've gotten their message about the three principles which are: reducing health care costs, making it affordable, and expanding coverage. This is the medical equivalent to home, mother, and apple pie. Who would not be for these principles? There is no there there. It's just a bunch of fancy words that could have been written by John McCain, Republicans, or the health care industry as well as the Obama campaign.

At present nothing of substance on health care has come out of the White House.

[notthistime]

log on to whitehouse.gov because the same emails I get in my inbox . . . I can find similar content on the site and blogs.

[notthistime]

EXACTLY. KQuark. I too wonder what alternate reality is everyone else living in that they would actually have the nerve to complain about the lack of healthcare when it is being promoted, there was fund set aside for healthcare and the initial proposal presented by the President was accepted. Now it is up to us to make phone calls and write letters pushing our for these laws.

I guess the expectation is for the President to do everything single handedly and then present it to each citizen on a silver platter.

[susierr]

I canvassed, made phone calls, etc. to get Obama elected. I still believe in him.

I send $10. when I can, I make the calls to my politicians but rarely can get through. I always send email messages when asked. I also volunteer work with NORML - trying to legalize marijuana for medical purposes!

[tmc553]

As usual, those who do the hard, demanding work are the ones who have to pay for the mistakes of others. What will California do when those home health workers quit working for poverty wages and force those they care for into the health care system at taxpayers expense, either in hospitals or long term care facilities, which will be exponentially more expensive, if bed space is even available? This is cutting off your nose to spite your face. Home health is proven to be the most cost effective means of delivering long term care to those in need. To expect people to do it for peanuts and making them responsible for a problem not of their making is absurd. They are part of the solution, not the problem.

[electroman76]

So the Taco Bell workers don't do hard demanding work???

According to the SEIU they don't!!

Keep in mind they are food service workers so if you are disrespecting all cooks bus people prep cooks chefs servers and so on!!!

So the SEIU just DISSED THE TACO BELL WORKERS by asserting that a home health worker is BETTER THAN THE TACO BELL WORKER!!

THIS IS PROOF, of how the BIG LABOR bosses DO NOT CARE about the WORKERS of the USA!!

They only care about them self, their agenda and getting democrats elected!!!

[jazzman]

Next to home health care workers, TACO Bell workers don't work as hard.

However, next to Republicans and their attitude towards workers, Democrats are saints.

[JZ735]

I would not hold my breath on this one...of course, if Obama doesn't back health care workers, he can kiss a key voting bloc adios for '12.

[unity08]

I hate to see anyone have to take a cut in pay, but hey thats the reality we find ourselves in today. My husband just took a 5% pay cut, and is expecting another 5% before its over. I can tell you it hurts! But we are thankful the company is doing all they can to avoid layoffs.

[mphalen]

These are healthcare workers. Have you heard the saying "You get what you pay for"? These are the workers that should be paid well. What kind of care do you think you can get if you don't pay the workers what they are worth? Considering how much we pay for insurance you would think you would get great care. And great care costs money. But the administrative costs to the insurance companies are so high, there is not much left for the actual people that provide the care we pay for.
The crime is that there are people who work in hospitals that don't have healthcare insurance. You wonder why people get sick when they go into the hospital. If you work for Macy's they at least give you a discount.

[tmc553]

The proposed cut in pay is more like 50%, not 5.

[electroman76]

Exactly and I can cite my father, uncle and about whole host of other people who HAVE LOST THEIR JOB!!!

At leas they still have a job!!

The arrogance of these BIG LABOR bosses!!! They would rather destroy companies than admit they bit off more than the chew by FORCING their employers to pay them an unsustainable wage!!!

Then when the company or state is in trouble they would rather run it into the ground than do what is necessary to help the situation!!!!!

Just look at all the states that are heavy in UNIONS they are the TROUBLED STATES every one of them... California, Michigan, Ohio, New York, New Jersey and so on....

Then

[coldhardtruth]

Dear Californians...Are there not any environmental,energy,or animal rights programs that could be dropped until you recover.You guys also need to get your taxes lower,to encourage new business

[mphalen]

What great sarcasm. Oh, I hope you were being sarcastic. Otherwise, you really don't understand that your solutions were the problem to begin with.

[electroman76]

What??

This guy is %100 correct!!!

Can you be more specific ???

So are you saying that business is the problem???

So giving people jobs is the problem??

Are you saying that California needs to have higher tax rates???

So let me get this right you are saying that California is in trouble because their tax's are too low?

So you believe that having business is the problem and that California should not encourage new business!!!