Fire the Help

When Mitt Romney said “I like being able to fire people who provide services to me…“, the internet exploded with commentary. What he actually meant was clear, he just used very unfortunate phrasing. Putting the words “I like being able to fire people” together is a bad idea for Mitt Romney, the attack ads and columns write themselves. I started writing this post to point out a piece by David Atkins that I thought I agreed with. Its here. Atkins says,

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 when I re-read the piece and re-watched the video linked to above, it occurred to me that the point Romney was making is precisely the same as the point Atkins makes. Romney starts out by describing the employer based health care system as not working out well for average folks, and I think that’s true, although not for the same reasons Romney does. But Romney then goes on to say that he would prefer a system where people were in the privileged position that Atkins rightly points out Romney is in.

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.

I think Atkins’ point here is entirely correct, but I also think it’s the same one Romney was making. Most folks don’t view healthcare as a service they can hire or fire at their leisure, because it isn’t one. Most are just thankful they have it, and are terrified of losing it, and nothing else matters.

But it sounded to me like this is the precise point Romney was trying to make. Atkins and Romney are arguing the same side here, if you ask me.

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