Posted on 08/05/2007 3:21:30 PM PDT by mdittmar
Washington, DC—Child-care provider Paula Hall of Spokane, Wash., delivers this week’s Democratic Radio Address. She explains how Democrats have helped her family by delivering on their promises to put working families first. Hall’s family is benefiting from Democrats’ successes in passing an energy bill that will lower gas prices, raising the minimum wage for the first time in a decade, providing health insurance for low-income kids, making higher education affordable and lowering middle-class taxes.
The text of the radio address, as delivered, is below:
"Hi my name’s Paula Hall, and I am pleased to deliver this week’s Democratic Radio Address. I’m a child-care provider in Spokane, Washington.
"My husband and I worked hard all our lives to get the American Dream. But we never thought it could slip away so easily. Six years ago I got a call that changed our lives forever – my husband was hanging onto his life after being hurt very badly on the job. He would never be able to work again. Six months after that, we lost our health care. I was now the sole provider for our family and we had no way of paying for the physical therapy and medicine my husband needed.
"I worked 14-hour days and barely made enough for our mortgage payments. To afford the bare necessities, I went to night school to get a weekend job that paid more than the minimum wage. I don’t know how I managed it – but I had clearly worn my body out. In 2005 I had an emergency triple bypass that failed. In the next 17 months, I had 9 angioplasties and 5 stents placed in my heart.
"Then came the bills. With no insurance, we had no way to pay the hundreds of thousands of dollars it took to save my life. We had no way to pay for the medicine and no way to pay our mortgage with me out of work. To try and save the house we raised our daughter in, we used up all our savings, cashed in what little my husband had for retirement and sold anything of value.
"Unfortunately it wasn’t enough. We had to file for bankruptcy and we lost our home. Every day, we don’t know if we can make the rent or even buy food. I never thought my life would be like this. Nobody should have to lose everything because they don’t have health care.
"What’s scarier is that more and more families have similar stories. But I feel like there is finally some hope for a better future. Child care providers in Washington united together with SEIU to fight for paychecks that support a family and provide affordable health care. And last November we elected a new Congress to change direction and take on the challenges families like mine face everyday.
"The Democrats we elected are already making a difference in our families’ lives. When you have to choose between rent and food, you shouldn’t have to worry about affording gas to get to the grocery store. But Democrats passed an energy bill that will help bring prices down.
"Democrats also passed the first minimum wage increase in 10 years. Raising the minimum wage won’t make anyone rich, but it will help hard working people take home a little more each month.
"Just this week, Congress ensured that more children like my daughter can get health care when their parents can’t afford it by approving the Children’s Health Insurance Program. President Bush has threatened a veto, but health care for children is too important to play politics with. My daughter has been very brave. In fact, the only time she says much about our situation is when she talks about college. But we don’t have a penny saved – it all went to try to save the house and keep food on the table. She’ll need loans. Thankfully Congress has passed the largest student assistance program since 1944. It increases aid eligibility and offers loan forgiveness for students like my daughter who want to teach or do other public-service work.
"Democrats also passed a child-tax credit that might help us raise our kids and put money away for college. Things might not have worked out as planned for my family, but we haven’t lost hope. I think Democrats get it. If you work hard and do what’s right, you should earn a paycheck that supports a family and provides health care, a secure retirement and a better future for all kids.
"I’m Paula Hall from Spokane, Washington, and this has been the weekly Democratic Radio Address. Thanks for listening to my story and have a great weekend."
Hey harry,you might want to work on your own staff, before you try to save all of us;)Ha!
I think Paula may be in for some unpleasant surprises.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Child care provider...didn’t they used to be called parents?
And Paula now blogs for the Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paula-hall/just-work-just-re_b_58972.html
Until the state took control.
Oh baloney.
The Rats must have scoured the nation from corner to corner for month after month in order to find such a sad story to exploit for their nefarious purposes.
Unbiased and painstakingly honest as always...you just gotta love the Dems for their breathtaking gall!
1. Finish you high school education.
2. Stay off drugs
3. Don't have children utill you can support them.
4. High school isn't the end of your education.
5. A minimum wage job in not a career.
Two words....”Worker’s Comp”....why none?
“Nobody should have to lose everything because they don’t have health care.”
No, Paula, you got health care, which saved your life. What you lacked was medical insurance. Perhaps you could have afforded medical insurance if your employer had been allowed to pool risk with other small businesses, so that insurance becomes more affordable. Or, perhaps, you live in a place where the government mandates that an expensive HMO must be provided to employees, rather than some sort of catastrophic insurance (far cheaper), which would have probably covered your situation. Unfortunately, dems would prefer that you remain uninsured so as to create a crisis so that they can take over that segment of the economy. Then, if you need 9 angioplasties and 5 stents you could wait several years, perhaps never living to see your daughter grow up.
I can’t recall ever reading a more made-up story than this one. I don’t believe a word of it.
“A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money.”
A triple bypass, 9 angioplasties and five stents are NOT synonomous with bustin’ your tail to put food on the table.
I’m sorry but it appears that a bit more than hard work and stress might have contributed to this poor woman’s heart troubles.
God points. I used the list, of get your education, get a job, get married, have kids as the order of events that screws up your life the least.
If hard work or stress were the only things that cause a blocked artery someone is deluding themselves. And that’s sad, because that means it’s a train wreck waiting to happen again.
No Phone number no listing for child care not a thing about Paula Hall I think this is a made up person or a fictional story.
I agree that this story is probably false.
1. Hospitals take charity cases by the (usually Mexican) truck load. They’d absorb a $250K for the first heart bypass. She wouldn’t get a couple hundred K bill.
2. If the hospital did a triple bypass that failed, she wouldn’t have 300K in bills - she’d have a 3 million dollar pay out from the lawyers.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.