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Why Romney's "Firing" Gaffe Really Resonates
Much has been made of Mitt Romney's "I like being able to fire people" gaffe:
"I like being able to fire people who provide services to me," Romney said at a Monday breakfast in New Hampshire, when talking about health care. "You know, if someone doesn't give me a good service that I need, I want to say, 'I'm going to go get someone else to provide that service to me.'"
If you haven't seen it yet, video is here:
Romney was making a fairly mundane point about being able to change from one health insurance company to another and used a particularly unfortunate choice of words, particularly given his reputation as a heartless, robotic job-killing vulture capital CEO. But watching the video clip is profoundly disturbing in a way that goes beyond just a thoughtless gaffe. James Fallows postulates that it's because he used the word "enjoy" in the context of the act of firing someone--an act that should in no way be enjoyable for the person on either end of the pink slip, if they have any empathy.
But not even that gets at the heart of what is so wrong with Romney's statement. It goes much deeper, to Romney's sense of privilege, and a relationship to the world around him that is alien to most Americans and reinforces everything that is wrong with the 1% in America.
The key part of what's off-putting about the gaffe isn't the first part about liking to fire people, so much as the second part about "who provide services to me." Liking to fire people is bad enough, but this is the real kicker.
When it comes to basic services like healthcare, almost no one in America sees the relationship that way. Most of us wouldn't speak of "firing" our health insurance company. No matter how much we might detest our insurance company, we probably wouldn't describe the experience of removing ourselves from their rolls an enjoyable one.
But most of all, we don't see the health insurance company as providing us a service. We see ourselves, rather, as indentured supplicants forced to pay exorbitant monthly rates for a basic need that responsible people with means can't get out of paying for if we can help it. We don't see ourselves as in control of the relationship with them. They are in control of us--and no more so than when we get sick and need the insurance most. If the company decides to restrict our coverage or tell us we have a pre-existing condition after all, we're in the position of begging a capricious and heartless corporation to cover costs we assumed we were entitled to based on a contractual obligation. It's precisely when we need insurance most that we're least able to "fire" the insurance company.
The same goes for the rent/mortgage, for the utilities, for the car, for the cell phone bill, for nearly everything. Most of these things are necessary commodities for most Americans. Many are socially expected, even if not technically necessary. They all have (usually far overpriced) unavoidable monthly charges and premiums that fall on overworked and underpaid Americans every month like a load of bricks. We see many of them increase by at least 5-20% year over year even as our wages stay flat. All we can do is struggle to keep up, trying to find the least bad service for the lowest price we can afford, but knowing we're getting gouged every step of the way.
Romney talks about paying for health insurance as if it were the same as getting a pedicure, hiring an escort or getting the fancy wax at a car wash. It's a luxury service being provided to him, and he doesn't like it, he can take his business elsewhere. Romney's is the language of a man who has never wanted for anything, never worried about where his next paycheck would come from, never worried about going bankrupt if he got sick.
It is the language of an entitled empowerment utterly alien to the experience of most Americans, who feel victimized and bled dry without recourse by these rentier corporations. Romney sees himself as in charge of the relationship between himself and these entities. Most Americans don't. That's why the statement rankles and feels so off-putting to us. The mention of enjoying the act of "firing" them is just icing on the cake.
When it comes to health insurance companies and their ilk, most Americans think of the relationship more like this:
It's an experience Mitt Romney wouldn't even begin to understand.
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20 Comments so far
Show AllNEWS FLASH: Mitt is Hispanic now and just last night accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. More at eleven!
Mitt will never get it. 'Don't run for office if you have to worry about a mortgage payment'. I remember hearing years ago that firing people comes with the territory but you should not like it. If you like firing people you are a sociopath. DC is full of them. It seems to be a job requirement.
Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,[74] that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
All men are not created equal today. Most are born to toil. Mitt's children and the children of his wealthy friends are born equal and that is self evident. They will be able to live their lives to the fullest and follow their dreams wherever they lead. The rest of US will be lucky to have health insurance, a paycheck, housing and a car that runs. Few get to live American Exceptionalism. Many are simply mesmerized by it.
SJRyan you nailed it! Perceptive and concise. It was my Grandmother who told me long ago "There is one law for the rich, and one law for the poor." Nothing has changed except the US government, laws, and military are clamping down harder than ever now. The bizarre-ness of the disconnect between their reality and ours runs the gamut from amusing to sick sideshow.
I'm sure Mutt Robotny's statement resonates with the 40-plus million people (or is it 50 million?) who don't have or can't afford health insurance.
This is how you make something out of nothing.
Yes you DBag, thats what you see it. Maybe if he worded it like " I like the L L Bean Policy" If you dont like it return it. He probabably never wore anything from L L Bean. His wears all silk and fine garments that would cost more than most of us make in a week or more. As for insurance, he probably doesnt even know what plan he subscribes too. Much like John McCain who didnt know how many houses he owns.
Little bItty nose. You just dug yourself into one unpleasant hole of putrefying filth and will not likely loose that foul odor you have acquired on this site anytime soon. This may be a point at which to change your site name.
That goes a long way toward clarifying just where you stand.
Romney's statement certainly does resonate. You say correctly: "Most of us wouldn't speak of "firing" our health insurance company."
Perceiving every economic relationship as one of "hiring", "firing", "buying", "selling", reveals how much of a hammer he is, hence how much he perceives everything as a nail.
As a public employee in Massachusetts, I recall that Romney did not meet ONCE with public employee unions, not even to disagree, not even caring to honor workers by negotiating with them. His "efficiencies" in state government included moving around some dust, the most 'significant' being that Human Resources (or "Personnel" in more old-fashioned terms) for state employees was consolidated across many agencies and re-named, "Customer Services". Never mind that we are not customers, but are employees.
Dishonestly re-framing economic relationships seems to be a forte of Mr. Romney.
Willard just kicked us in the balls, sad part is, the American people love to get kicked in the balls. Much to Mitts surprise, poverty is real. Soon we will have no more blood to squeeze out, Romney will have a dry turnip.
When I first heard Governor Romney's comment, I immediately went to the part about "liking to fire people." I thank Mr. Atkins for revealing the deeper meaning in Governor Romney's statement. I would recommend reading an article by Aaron E. Carroll in the CNN Online ("'Firing' Comment Shows that Romney Doesn't Get It') that complements this one nicely.
Peace.
"It is the language of an entitled empowerment utterly alien to the experience of most Americans, who feel victimized and bled dry without recourse by these rentier corporations."
Perhaps. I say 'perhaps' because I am wondering why this sociopath is getting so much support from so many regular USeans.
One thing is certain: this psycho is very well qualified to continue the policies of the Evil Empire: he is sadistic, arrogant, has a God-given sense of entitlement, has the Number-One or Greatest-Country-in-the-World mentality, loves all things military, sees the world as serving him and his whims, and so on and so forth.
Romney's remarks are "the language of an entitled empowerment utterly alien to the experience of most Americans, who feel victimized and bled dry without recourse by these rentier corporations. Romney sees himself as in charge of the relationship between himself and these entities. Most Americans don't. That's why the statement rankles and is so off putting to us. The mention of enjoying the act of 'firing' them is just icing on the cake."
Very insightful and neatly stated, Mr. David Atkins. The supreme irony is how adroitly this widespread angry alienation over exploitation by powerful rentier corporations has been deflected and refocused by the mainstream US media into anger redirected towards an omnipresent, oppressive, big bad federal government.
On a related note, the old black and white Tennessee Ernie Ford film clip jolted me back to a freaky childhood recollection.
Before I had learned to read or write, as a child of five or six years old growing up in the early '50's, our household had an AM radio, a party land line telephone, and no television. I recall Tennessee Ernie Ford as a widely popular mainstream recording star, when Ole Ern's version of "Sixteen Tons" was at the top of the radio hit parade. I heard the song so frequently I memorized some of the lyrics, and sang them around the house sometimes, without of course having a clue what the song was really about.
Here is a truly bizarre historical footnote still lodged in my memory bank.
One evening when this song came on the radio, I remember my mother and father held a hushed conversation in the corner of the kitchen. Later, my mother subtly said it was probably best that I not sing that song anymore at least for awhile, particularly at school or on the playground.
Why?, I naturally asked.
It was explained to me that a big controversy had arisen. Some radio stations were boycotting playing this song, and Tennessee Ernie Ford had gotten himself in trouble over "Sixteen Tons". There were rumors that this song was "Communist-inspired". A Senator named McCarthy, a radio news commentator named Paul Harvey that we listened to every day, and other important people were treating this issue seriously. All that strange talk about "owing your soul to the company store" and having "one fist of iron, the other of steel" might well mean that this was part of the worldwide, subversive Red menace.
Tennessee Ernie Ford's career survived the flap, but the episode speaks volumes about how deeply McCarthyism infected American society. Ernie Ford was a highly religious southern gentleman, a towering mainstream pop culture icon. Suddenly, Ernie was a suspected pinko. My parents didn't believe it at all. But just to be on the safe side, it would be best not to sing these lyrics for awhile, at least where someone in the neighborhood might overhear.
If you didn't do so at first, scroll back up and play the Ernie Ford video. Imagine that once upon a time, this was considered potentially politically subversive, too controversial for prime time.
What a weird trip down memory lane to start the new year.
Bill from Saginaw
Thank you Bill, as I greatly appreciate your powerful personal experience setting and better framing the larger context, then as it is now.
Symbolic annihilation (propaganda's fruit) is what has happened to open discussion of the issues of social cohesion and our collective interdependence (against corporatist rapacity), as Fascists are clearly too easily recognizable, otherwise.
I remember that, too, and had not thought about it for years. Thanks. I think I still have all of the lyrics memorized 50+ years later, and I remember the controversy.
Some people say a man is made outta mud
A poor man's made outta muscle and blood
Muscle and blood and skin and bones
A mind that's a-weak and a back that's strong
You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
I was born one mornin' when the sun didn't shine
I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine
I loaded sixteen tons of number nine coal
And the straw boss said "Well, a-bless my soul"
You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
I was born one mornin', it was drizzlin' rain
Fightin' and trouble are my middle name
I was raised in the canebrake by an ol' mama lion
Cain't no-a high-toned woman make me walk the line
You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
If you see me comin', better step aside
A lotta men didn't, a lotta men died
One fist of iron, the other of steel
If the right one don't a-get you
Then the left one will
You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
Good article. Good comments from CDers.
Informing an employee that their job was being taken away is one of the most depressing things I've had to do in my life.
Someone who can utter the phrase, "I like to fire people", even in a symbolic way is not a person to hire or associate with. And obviously Mitt does like to fire people. He has made lots of money firing people.
Why is it that virtually no liberal commentators make the obvious and damning response to Romney that he was actually paid to eliminate jobs, and did eliminate jobs, and that he did not create jobs? We listened here to "Left" radio all day long with all of the progressives and liberals yapping away, and not one of them could bring themselves to say that, though they spent hours and hours ranting about Romney.
Even weirder than the "I like firing people" comment is when he said that there'd been a couple times he'd been worried about getting a pink slip. When were those times? He was trying to say something, anything, to sounds like he is sympatico with the struggles of everyday working (or no longer working) people.
Media darlings won't put him on the spot and ask him just when was it that he was a salaried employee (or hourly wage slave) whose family's continued food and shelter depended on his paycheck.
And it will be extraordinarily difficult to get the money out of the election process since the media is who is making most of that money and it certainly isn't in their interests to spread any word about any structural change that would cut them off from their filthy lucre (which is usually paid ahead since media executives know that if the candidacy fails, the bills are unlikely to be collected). Besides, they have too much fun covering elections. It fills air time what with all the talking heads speculating on who has "momentum" and whose results "exceeded expectations."
Can you say, "Macaca"?
Romney and Obama -- Pot, meet Kettle!
Mitt Romney -- Bain Capital -- The Red Meat!
Barack Obama -- Bain Capital -- The Dessert!
Obama has raised more campaign money from Bain Capital this season than Mitt Romney!
Romney, who made his fortune working for Bain Capital, has only raised $34,000 in donations from 18 Bain employees.
Obama has thus far raised $76,600 from just three Bain employees. Sweet!
The WaPo reports -- You decide:
"Obama still flush with cash from financial sector despite frosty relations
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-has-more-cash-from-financial-sector-than-gop-hopefuls-combined-data-show/2011/10/18/gIQAX4rAyL_print.html
"Despite frosty relations with the titans of Wall Street, President Obama has still managed to raise far more money this year from the financial and banking sector than Mitt Romney or any other Republican presidential candidate, according to new fundraising data.
"Obama’s key advantage over the GOP field is the ability to collect bigger checks because he raises money for both his own campaign committee and for the Democratic National Committee, which will aid in his reelection effort.
"As a result, Obama has brought in more money from employees of banks, hedge funds and other financial service companies than all of the GOP candidates combined, according to a Washington Post analysis of contribution data. The numbers show that Obama retains a persistent reservoir of support among Democratic financiers who have backed him since he was an underdog presidential candidate four years ago."
Bain Capital likes Obama better than Romney this campaign season -- and Obama obviously likes Bain's money:
"Obama’s fundraising advantage is clear in the case of Bain Capital, the Boston-based private-equity firm that was co-founded by Romney, and where the Republican made his fortune. Not surprisingly, Romney has strong support at the firm, raking in $34,000 from 18 Bain employees, according to the analysis of data from the Center for Responsive Politics.
"But Obama has outdone Romney on his own turf, collecting $76,600 from Bain Capital employees through September — and he needed only three donors to do it."
Actually, Matt Taibbi said it best:
"[But] everyone knows that in the end, once the primaries are finished, we’re going to be left with one 1%-approved stooge taking on another."
PS -- I would enjoy being able to fire politicians -- whether GOPers or Democrats -- who don't represent me or my interests, and I continue to work toward throwing the current crop of sellouts out of office.
Romney and Obama? Bain Capital can have them both.
Bought and paid for!.
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