Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, welcome. Here we go a special bonus hour
number four of Matt connorton Unleashed. Today. It is August thirtieth,
twenty twenty five, and we are live at three pm Eastern,
And of course, whether you're tuning in live, if you
are tuning in live, feel free to chime in in
the chat room. We have a very special guest we're
going to introduce in a moment, and if you are
enjoying this in the podcast feed after the fact, welcome.
It is a holiday weekend, so I don't know how
many live listeners and or viewers will have, but I
know a lot of people are going to be checking
out the podcast of this. Jenny is here. Of course
she is not at the news table because we're not
at the radio station, but she.
Speaker 2: Is that creative space.
Speaker 1: You are, Yes, you are at a table of sorts
and joining us live on the show. We have Karishma Manzor,
a New Hampshire candidate for the United States Senate challenging
for the Democratic nomination. And Hello, Karishma. Hello man well Sisa,
Oh sorry.
Speaker 3: Hello Jen, good afternoon, Good afternoon.
Speaker 1: So it's nice to have you here. We were, of
course Jenny and I were recently at your event at
McIntyre here in Manchester making your official announcement, and Jenny
was Jenny spoke there as well, as there were a
number of great speakers there that day, and of course
and you spoke and announcing your candidacy. Why are you well? Actually, well,
let's start here for tell us a little bit about
your background, if you would, and then I want to
know all about why you're running. You're certainly an underdog
in this race. Of course we'll get into all of that,
but tell us a little bit about you and your background.
Speaker 2: Sure.
Speaker 4: Thank you first of all, thank you Matt, thank you Jen,
and thank you for all the listeners. I truly appreciate
that you guys are giving me this opportunity to reach
other people across Mawhampshire. Let me see who am I?
Speaker 2: So?
Speaker 4: I'm Kirishma. I live in Exeter with my husband my
two children. I'm a scientist by training and I've been
working in clinical research for about twenty years. Over twenty
years now so clinical research. My work has involved finding
treatments for various illnesses. I worked on Alzheimer's disease at
one point, but the last few years, I was mainly
focused on epilepsy and depression, and I loved my work.
I love being a scientist. I love being love doing
clinical research. It is just so gratifying. You don't end
the day saying, oh, another eight hour day, or ten
hour day or twelve our day. You just absolutely love
it because you know that whatever you're doing, whatever the
workload is, it is always helping people. So it's a
form of public service. Matt and Jen. It is a
form of public service because scientists.
Speaker 2: We don't really yes, we don't get rich.
Speaker 4: We don't go in for the money. We go in
because we care about people and we want to help them.
So but over the course of the last couple of years,
I started to get a little sad because every time
I would hear, wait a second. So we have all
these great treatments, we have all these wonderful research going on,
but what will happen to these treatment? Will people be
able to access it? And yes, many millions of people
are able to get receive treatment, but it was disheartening
to realize that millions of Americans, millions of Americans don't
have access to and adequate healthcare, or they don't have
access to they might have private health insurance, but they don't.
They can't afford the copays. And so I started to
move away a little bit, started to think, Wait, what's
going on? Why is why is this happening in the
richest country in the world, Matt. We live in the
richest country in the history of the world. Yes, so
why are millions of Americans suffering from various ways? But
I was focusing specifically on healthcare at one point, and
it's not because lack of resources. It's because it's deliberate, Mett.
It's deliberate, it's by design. It's working exactly how people
want it to work. The lawmakers have been basically leaving
us behind for decades. Many are there are really great
fighters over in Congress, many great fighters, but the majority
actually are not interested. They're corporate politicians. So as long
as their donors are happy, as long as their own
portfolio is doing well and their stock options, they're actually
doing quite well. Whereas here on the ground, people, and
it's beyond healthcare, like the fact that we have our
minimum wage is stuck at seven twenty five. It's really terrible. Absolutely,
it's horrifying what we are doing to people, childcare is
a serious crisis right now. There are so many families
who just can't afford fifteen hundred or two thousand dollars
childcare per month when they're working. It's terrible. And so
what do you do. I go back to work, but
I can't afford it because most of my salary is
going to go to childcare, so it's worth it. What
a terrible decision. And then the housing crisis, Matt so
as more I started to move into the legislative field.
I started to understand, Wow, there are all these crises
that we hear about, we read about, but those are
not impossible problems. Those are not problems that you know,
as a government should be able to predict what's going
to be needed. Populations growing will need more housing, families
need childcare, cost of living needs to be managed, salaries
have to keep up with inflation, and over and over again,
I saw these wonderful pieces of legislation that have been
introduced in the House and the Senate and barely, I
mean it barely gets any enough co sponsors. So that's
how I started to move away from research into nonprofit sector,
then into the legislative work, and I basically became to
a decision, many of us from the nonprofit sector, that
it's not enough just to have just to elect a Democrat.
We have to elect the right Democrat.
Speaker 1: And so here I am wonderful. You know, Jenny and
I you you talked about how our health insurance system
works or doesn't work, and you know you you you
said something that I often say. We live in the
most prosperous, most innovative, most successful country in the history
of the world, and yet we somehow can't make sure
that everyone has access to adequate or preferably better than
adequate health care. It doesn't make any sense. And the
reasons you laid out for why that is the way
it is, it's true and and it's you know if
I always say if we had and and we'll get
into the I don't know exactly where you are on this,
but I I've always advocated and you know, Jenny and
I talked about this a lot too. You know, if
we had single payer health care care. Because people say, well,
where would the money come from, It's like, well, the
money is already being spent. If you had single payer,
now your employer doesn't have to pay for your health care.
Now your employer doesn't have to deduct money from your
paycheck to pay for your health care. So the money
is already there. But we could just get rid of
the whole. Because the thing about health insurance companies, and
I like to be a little more blunt about it
than most people are, to be very blunt, and let's
hear it, to be very blunt. The health insurance company
only wants you around as long as you are an asset,
as long as your premium is getting paid every month
and you're not costing them money. Once you move from
being an asset to a liability, you're now costing them money.
The insurance company then, at that point, would prefer that
you die. It's purely a business.
Speaker 4: It is disgusting to think about it. But Matt exactly though.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's true.
Speaker 4: It's horrible, horrific.
Speaker 1: Oh my god. Yeah, they want why they want you
to die at that point.
Speaker 3: And that's the reality they were all living in, right,
And anybody who knows me knows that I've spent years
now advocating and trying to help people get the health
care they need that they're denied by these arbitrary systems.
Speaker 2: And the thing.
Speaker 3: Is that the usual excuses, I don't want government run healthcare,
But that's not what it is. We're not talking about
socialized medicine. We're talking about what exists in your I
don't know, Matt, you and I are going to have
to have a debate about what's the best country in
the world, because I think you're I don't think you're
right on that one, because.
Speaker 2: I got to be in other places and.
Speaker 3: In the Netherlands, everybody has access to healthcare. Whatever it
is that they need that the doctor orders, gets ordered.
The cost is minimized because there isn't all this bureaucracy.
And the doctor says you have X and need test
to be okay, you get that. They say you need
this drug and it goes to the pharmacist, and the
pharmacist delivers it to you and that's the end of
the friggin story right there, as far as hell, and
it's cheaper, there's no billing crap, there's none of this.
I mean, I had a provider that had to hire
a new staff member to do nothing all day every day,
but blue cross, blue shield denials of care for therapy,
for mental health therapy should be something easy to get
through insurance.
Speaker 4: And this is a full time job jender.
Speaker 2: Yes, versus that business was in conquered. This is here.
Speaker 3: Business was in conquered and they had they already had
billing staff. They had to hire another staff member to
do nothing but Blue Cross Blue Shield denials.
Speaker 2: Never mind the other company denials.
Speaker 4: Wow.
Speaker 2: Right, So this is what we're living with and it's
not that.
Speaker 3: So if it's insurance works by we all pay into
a pool, yes, and then that pool pays the bills.
Speaker 2: Yes, we all pay taxes. This is our money.
Speaker 3: It goes into the Medicare fund that's supposed to pay
the bills. Not give United Healthcare enough fuel to use
their Gulfstream jet because they don't want to apply with
the peasants.
Speaker 2: Utilizing our government to protect those profits.
Speaker 3: I need somebody in the Senate who's going to stand
up to that, because nobody's doing it for me now.
I was getting treatments covered by my insurance company. But
since the new regime take over, they have now said
that though I am not cured and there is no cure,
they're no longer medically necessary. They called and told me
that would not put it in writing, but will not
give me a prior authorization, so I cannot get the
treatment unless I pay cash upfront.
Speaker 2: I've tried to get help, and I've got crickets.
Speaker 3: And CMS, Center for Medicare Services is supposed to keep
their feet to the fire and say that the.
Speaker 2: Law says you do X, that's what you do.
Speaker 3: That's their job to enforce those laws and make sure
things are done right.
Speaker 2: I got crickets. I got no you know what they
told me.
Speaker 3: CMS literally to me to try another insurance, oh my thought.
Or to see a provider who doesn't offer the treatment
that I need because the provider that they have or
in network don't do these treatments. So I should give
up treatment or just hang out until next year and
try another insurance, because you know, illness lets you just
hang out, right.
Speaker 2: You know that as a scientist, don't you. So if
we had, like when you talk.
Speaker 3: About Medicare for all, people say government funded healthcare, that.
Speaker 4: Is absolute bullshit.
Speaker 2: That is bullshit.
Speaker 3: That is taxpayer funded, just like your insurance is now
pay into the pool the pool bills. So if Medicare
is accepted in most places and the doctor builds Medicare
and Medicare pays the bills, without all the craft that
goes on now, so there's not that overhead, not that cost.
Speaker 2: The cost of health care comes down.
Speaker 3: Medicare is accepted by most everybody, so you have access
to everybody, so you don't have network constraints, state line
border restraints.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 3: So the kind of health care you're talking about makes
it accessible for everybody and puts everybody in the same
playing field in that you need chemo, you get the chemo.
Speaker 2: The insurance company doesn't get to.
Speaker 3: Say you need to try the cheaper version first, and
then when that fails and it's too late to try
the one the doctor wanted you on, you die sooner,
so you don't cost them as much money.
Speaker 2: And I know that that's what my health insurance company, United.
Speaker 3: Healthcare, is hoping that I'm just going to kick off
because they're not going to cover it.
Speaker 2: Well, I'll do what I always do. I'll pay for
it my damn self, because they're not going to win.
Speaker 4: They're not right, you know.
Speaker 3: But it shouldn't be like this, so we shouldn't have
to fight those battles. So that's one of the very
biggest reasons why I was so happy to endorse you
as a former state representative. As a former Republican, You're
everything that I need up there to ensure what you
want to bring to the table will save lives.
Speaker 2: What's going on.
Speaker 3: Up there right now and the status quo And I'm sorry,
but your counterpart supports Medicare advantage, which is destroying lives
and killing people.
Speaker 2: And that's exactly what's doing it to me. And I've
tried so hard with letters.
Speaker 3: And phone calls and meetings of trying to say please
listen to us because we're hurting out here.
Speaker 2: And yet the status.
Speaker 3: Quo politicians up on the hill keep signing off on
Medicare advantage and increasing the amount of money these companies
gets in profit out of tax dollars Medicare tax dollars, well,
increasing our costs.
Speaker 1: Well, let's let let's let Chrisma talk about that.
Speaker 4: You guys brought up so many great points. Okay, I
don't have a piece of paper. I could have should
have taken notes. I'm going to try to remember first
Matt and Jenn. First of all, my god, you guys
are the information that you guys just shared. You have
to talk about it all the time out there everywhere
because of us. Don't even know about these things right
until suddenly we lose it, like we lose our employment,
or we get older, or we are now some other disadvantage,
and then you realize how messed up the system is.
But we cannot wait until people are in their most
vulnerable and then have to experience these terrible situations. So
what you guys talked about, please talk about it over
and over again with everyone. Let's get that message out.
And what you said, I mean it was it kind
of was chilling you called it, which is actually true.
We are either assets or a liability. We're a commodity.
How disgusting. So because why because it has become healthcare
should not be for profit? Good God, healthcare should not
be for profit, and that is exactly what the model
we have. And so one thing I would like to
say is look at our fire services, the first responders,
whether it's the fire service or the police force. They
are not for profit. We pay into for these services,
and God forbid that we don't need it. But the
day we may need it because there's a fire in
the house or a burglars breaking in. I'm so glad
that we have a fire department in my town and
a police department in my town. Healthcare should be like that,
not a for profit service. It should always be there
and when you God forbid, if you're ill or you
get into an accident, you have access to it. And
it shouldn't. And Jen touched on this the amount of
money we're wasting on the bureaucracy. Jen, I look this up.
Thirty four percent of what we spend on healthcare, thirty
four percent goes to bureaucracy, not to pay for medicine
or treatments or devices or the physicians, just bureaucracy. And
like you said, you walk into a doctor's office and
you know the receptionist is in the front checking you in,
but you see two or three people are in the
working in the background. All they're doing is fighting with
health insurance. It's a legitimate doctor's office, it's a primary care.
You know they're going to most proudly order blood tests,
maybe some other tests, and they're going to sign up
a physician, an MD who has gone to medical school,
who has done the internship, who has done the residency,
who has years of practice, has to basically fight with
the insurance company. Someone somewhere, maybe in the Philippines, somewhere
who will be like, nah, I don't think so. I
don't think that test is required.
Speaker 2: Who are you?
Speaker 4: What medical degree do you have? We have to talk
about it loud and clear. We have to inform people,
and we have to say this is unacceptable and why
is it? Why so we are now the only developed
nation in the world, not only the richest, but we
also have another we were sticking out. We're the only
developed nation does not have a universal health coverage. Right.
That is embarrassing. It is embarrassing.
Speaker 3: And not only that, we associate it with work only.
Speaker 2: So you get sick and you can't work anymore, you
lose your health.
Speaker 3: That's what happened to me. I was a full time
healthcare worker. I had a multiple jobs, but I got
breast cancer, and that's that trashed my whole life, right,
And it wasn't any fault, but exactly that, right, like
we associated yeah, yeah exactly, and the minute you're sick,
it's like, yeah, well, if you can't make me money
and you can't serve me, I got no use for
you anymore.
Speaker 4: Yeah, exactly, And it's really wrong. And then a lot
of times it stops a person from moving to another job.
They're like, yeah, you know, I don't like my job.
I want to see an advancement, but you know I
have that health insurance, like it really holds people back.
It does so from the employee perspective, you were like,
you know, I really want to try something else. Maybe
I want to take some time off, maybe I want
to try and start my own business, but I cannot
afford health insurance on my own. But and I think Jen,
you touched on it, from the employer's perspective, it is
draining them. Every single year, the premiums keep going up,
and it is absolutely terrible. I've talked to small business
owners who are afraid to hire more people because they
just can't afford it. Right, Like Jen said, you lose
your insurance when you are when you're sick. But another
thing that happens is say you are forty, maybe you're
a fifty year old or a sixty year old, and
you're still working and you try to get a job.
That employer will look at your age and say, this
person might cost me more because my insurance company will say, huh,
we are spending a little bit more because your employees
have more illnesses. Your premium is going to go up.
Speaker 1: It's a good point that.
Speaker 4: Stops employers from hiring a fifty year old and sixty
year old. You'll see people we will say, I'm almost
it's impossible to find a job now because I am
at a certain age. So it makes no sense what
we have. It is absolutely horrible for individuals. It's horrible
for employers. It's horrible for the people who get sick.
We need to let's say, okay, so we have established
it's a broken system. So now, so I'm a scientist, Jen,
you are also coming from science, Matt, I don't actually know.
Speaker 1: I'm very bad at science. Math and science are not
my friends. But that's why I trust people who know
about science.
Speaker 4: So Jen and I are both coming from the healthcare field.
So we are this kind of like we're kind of
we are pragmatists, we're practical. We're like, Okay, there's this problem,
let's figure out the problem, what's causing the problem, Let's
look at solutions and implement the solutions.
Speaker 3: And it's a very.
Speaker 4: Simple, right. It's like for us, it's like it's a
no brainer, but obviously it's so not a no brainer
for a lot of people, or maybe they're too corrupt
to be no brainers for them. Okay, so what is
the solution. Let's talk about the solution. Then. We need
one single healthcare plan that is not going to be
for profit we cannot have, and that is not going
to have thirty four percent spent on bureaucracy. We are
going to have one single pair system which will cover
every American across the country. And what is that system called.
There's only one plan out there, which is Medicare for all. Now,
the word medicare is being used way too many places,
and I think it's just scare people. So there's a
different and this is Jen. I'm going to try to
explain it, but I know you're the expert, so please
chime in because you have taught me so much about medicare. Folks,
if you have any questions, ask Jen. She's like, I swear,
she's brilliant and she's an expert. All right, So Jen
helped me out. Here's the traditional medicare, which is the
Plan A, Plan B, and Plan D yep. Okay, so
that is available to people when they hit sixty five.
Speaker 3: Yeah, or you can currently sixty five my generation, it's
switching to sixty.
Speaker 2: Seven seven, okay. Or have you become disabled right okay?
Or you're born Sometimes it happens for children.
Speaker 3: If you're born with some kind of a disability, you
may have have medicare granted right out of the gate
as your baby.
Speaker 4: That's true, okay. Now, Medicare Advantage should not use the
term medicare because that abuses the word medicare and throws
people off.
Speaker 2: That is that typical.
Speaker 4: Marketing scheme to use a good word, and.
Speaker 2: You know, don't do that.
Speaker 4: Don't do that.
Speaker 3: And that's one of those bills you were talking about
that's sitting in the Senate. You're a stalled that's supposed
to forbid them from being able to use that term.
So they can because so many people, especially older folks,
get tricked in states, especially where they can call you
and do everything over the phone.
Speaker 2: Yes, I mean yeah, and that's it all.
Speaker 4: But now Medicare advantage, it uses the term medicare, but
it's all for profit insurance companies are part of that, right, yes, okay,
So that's where it's no longer a controlled environment. Now
you've gone into the for profit sector and therefore you
are now, oh, they are not going to cover this
treatment or they're going to meet pre authorization, and then
it becomes that whole complexity and it is no longer
about the patient and their provider. It becomes about a
CEO and their profit.
Speaker 3: One of my specialists has staff that do nothing all
day but sit on the phone getting prior authorizations for
every single treatment done.
Speaker 4: The other day I was at the doctor's office and
I intentionally talked to them. I was like, I need
to talk to you guys. How long does it take
you to get authorization? Like every single insurance company has
its own system. Some are over the phone, Some are
like this complicated computer system. Some are a little bit easier.
And they said, sometimes it can be I can be
on hole for an hour, one patient, one procedure, on
hole for an hour. Ye think about how annoying and
how grotesque that is. It is so wrong. So then
so now okay, so but we are feeding. So at
the moment, our whole healthcare system costs five trillion dollars,
five trillion dollars. That's with a big ta Medicare for all,
which is different from traditional medicare. Because okay, I should
talk about it a little bit just before I go
into the finances. Medicare for All builds on traditional Medicare,
but the advantages I should not say the word advantage.
Speaker 1: Okay, Johnny calls it Medicare disadvantage.
Speaker 3: Okay, Okay, we're talking about about that one partsy out.
Speaker 4: Okay. Medicare for All builds on the awesome Medicare system
that we have. But it includes dental, vision, hearing, and
long term care, which is not part of traditional Medicare,
because those are extremely important.
Speaker 3: That's a that's another thing that we do that other
countries don't do.
Speaker 2: We don't.
Speaker 3: They take eyes and teeth a part of your body.
Speaker 5: So like that's you know, part of the healthcare too,
but here not so much. Even though a truth bacteria
can cause a fatal heart condition and life.
Speaker 4: So I had to tooth move not to get to personally.
But I need a filling. It's gonna cost me five thousand.
I'm like, no, I think I'm good.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, I'm getting out of my dentist. We'll
talk later.
Speaker 4: Some people said, go to a foreign country and get
it done. It'll be cheaper.
Speaker 1: That's what Americans are doing because the people.
Speaker 2: Do get health care at home.
Speaker 3: And it touched back to what you were saying about,
how all of this is integrated, so that doctor is
paying for that staffer for an hour salary to sit
on hold, plus matching their taxes and paying their Medicare
and paying their all of that cost. Yes, to hold
on for prior authorization. Now if you just got to
do the treatment, what's the cost of that? And how
many more people are available to actually take care of
patients instead of pushing pencils?
Speaker 4: Exactly? Absolutely so. Now, now, so that five trillion dollars system,
if we transfer, we get rid of all those for profits,
we get rid of all the CEO's money, and the
Wall Street's making a huge amounts of money. Oh my god,
Wall Street is so happy with the broken system. And
we get rid of the bureaucracy, and we just hold
on to that five trillion dollar system. Medicare for all
will be six and fifty billion dollars cheaper than that
five trillion dollar system.
Speaker 2: Exactly.
Speaker 3: Let if we think about our history too, Oh gee,
politicians stole money out of the Medicare Trust Fund.
Speaker 2: How about wouldn't this put money back into it?
Speaker 3: I hadn't get healthcare to more people at a better price,
Like there's so much about that that just snowballs.
Speaker 4: So Jen, why are we why don't we pass it?
Why are we the only nation in the developed nation
that doesn't have that system limit? Let's talk.
Speaker 2: Hmmm, it's the lobbyist.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, a multimillion dollar industry. They spend millions and
millions of dollars on the hill. I watched as it
happened when we tried to fight that money shouldn't get
increased to these health insurance companies, you know, with the
twenty five million dollars the EO salary, right, and they're
cutting our benefits like this year Medicare disadvantage cut dental
care except for cleanings and X rays. Oh, because that
those are cheaper. So it just I thought this was
about giving us more benefits to this cheaper cost. But
here's the thing, you know that Medicare disadvantaged those companies United.
Speaker 2: Healthcare at the Blue Cross, Blue Shield, they make millions
of billions.
Speaker 3: They make over eight well, United Healthcare makes about eight
billion dollars every three.
Speaker 2: Months in profit, and a a ton of that.
Speaker 3: Is Medicare dollars because they make more money on Medicare
advantage patients than they do anything else. Because first of all,
they get like a flat month forgetting you as once
you signed up on THEIRS, they get money for you. Now,
every time they add a diagnostic code that makes you sicker, they.
Speaker 2: Get more money. The sicker you are, the more money
they get.
Speaker 3: If they keep denying and delaying your care, they're not
spending it, they're pocketing it. And that's exactly what's going on.
And I will tell you. I know I've said this
to you before. I don't want to say it or
on air. I've asked so many politicians tell me something.
Tell me one thing that helped insurance companies do to
increase positive outcomes in any healthcare case.
Speaker 2: I know, And only one tried to answer me.
Speaker 3: He's like, they collect data because we don't have enough
universities and medical facilities and actual doctors and nurses and
scientists to do that. We need some yall bulge Bullsharry
bullshit out of sitting in some office with his three
thousand dollars suit. Yeah, you know, flying in his Gulf
Stream jet over to his freaking yacht on our Medicare
tax dollars.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And that's what.
Speaker 3: Medicare advantage is absolutely freaking horrible and it's one of
the biggest fleasing of America that has ever happened has
been medicare advantage. And how much money these multi millionaire
billionaire people are making on the backs of the working
poor while they're denying them chemo, denying them care. I mean,
you remember the doctor that wrote the letter yelling at
them for denying Yeah, kid with cancer, the zaufriend from
the nausea. How how got a role that felt to
read that doctor's letter like no doctors should ever have
to do that. I've watched doctors on the Hill practically
in tears in front of committees, to the Senator saying, please,
I have cance children with cancer that need access to
this drug. We're supposed to have orphan disease access. Why
don't we have it? And the politicians, Yeah, that's why
I think a scientist on the hill who understands the
real of these decisions. Yes, I want somebody up there
who actually knows that when you don't pay attention to this,
people die.
Speaker 4: Exactly.
Speaker 1: There's another there's another reason. Nobody ever talks about this part.
But I think there's another reason why we why Americans
tolerate such a broken healthcare system. We're conditioned from a
young age to accept and to believe that we have
a great healthcare system. Because when you're young and you're healthy,
and if you're like I remember being, you know, young,
and hell, knock on wood, I'm still healthy even at
the age I haven't had anything catastrophic go wrong. I'm lucky.
But but when I remember being young and having a
full time job working for a company that had what
I assume was was really good health insurance because I
never had to use much of it, and you know,
so you get conditioned to Okay, i'm young, i'm healthy,
I've got a job. Oh I'm sick, I'm gonna go
to the doctor. I might have a small copay whatever,
I've got health insurance by my company. I'm covered. I'm
never even gonna see a bill. I'm gonna pay. I'm
gonna pay the cope and that's it. And then go
on with my life, and you know, assuming nothing terrible
is wrong with me, take whatever, antibiotic, whatever, and life
goes on. So so you're conditioned from a young age
when you first enter the workforce that everything's great, everything,
everything's easy. With health care, it's and if you're lucky
enough to to have health, you know, well into middle
age and old age. Then you might go your entire
life without any without even a clue that there's anything
wrong in the healthcare system if you're one of the
lucky ones. But we're conditioned from a young age to
believe that the American healthcare system is great because you know,
unless something bad happens to you, God forbid, you have
no way of knowing.
Speaker 3: Right exactly the rest of the world they're doing preventive medicine.
Speaker 2: Here, we're doing cleanup.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's another issue too, there's not enough. But that's yea.
Speaker 3: God because of exactly that the conditioning your conditioned to
think you only.
Speaker 2: Go to the doctor's when you don't feel good. You
don't talk to the.
Speaker 3: Doctor about how to be healthy, and the doctor doesn't
have time to even do it.
Speaker 4: And let's talk about some of the problems. Okay, I'm
going to give you real life examples, and I'm sure
Matt and Jen you guys can also add many more.
I'm just going to give you. Okay, here in Exeter,
one of my best friends, he's seventy six years old.
He's done everything in his life whatever he needed to do,
paid taxes, had a job, raise four kids. Now he's retired,
he receives Medicare, he has Social Security and he's a
small pension. He's on fixed income. It is he has
to be very careful. But of course, as he's aging,
the opposite of the scenario that Matt just talked about,
which is like, oh, everything's great. I go every so often.
I don't have a lot of problems. While when you're
hit your seventies, even if you are fine all your life.
Now of course things are starting to slow down. You know,
your heart might need some support, your blood pressure, medicine
needs some support, et cetera. So he needs blood thinners.
He has a drill fibrillation. He needs blood thinners, and
otherwise he's going to form blood clots. Medication costs a
lot of money. He has Medicare, but the code pay
is high. So does he What did he do? He
decided to ration his medicine. He's started to skip one
dose because two tablets a day. Maybe I can get
away with one tablet a day. What my friend suffered
a stroke in the richest country in the world, A
seventy six year old man who did everything by the books,
taxpayer everything, he suffers a stroke wrong and he is
so wrong, Jen, it is so wrong. Let's let's scream
that every single day to everyone. It is wrong. We
should that is the status quo, and this is unacceptable
and we should not accept it. We should inform people
and say no, don't let the lawmakers fool us and say,
oh yeah, yeah, yeah, but we're better than that other country.
We're better than that other country. So I'll get to
that because I used to buy into that criticism as well, like,
whoa are we done better than the other country. But
at least my friend did survive. He stayed in the
hospital for several days, he was released. He does it
does not appear that he has any permanent issue. So
it's good but lucky, lucky, lucky. But now he's exactly well,
that's yeah, but he could have become one of the statistics.
We lose fifty thousand Americans, fifty thousand Americans each year
because of health insurance issues. Either they don't have insurance
or they're under insured because they you know, they yes,
they're issues, something's going on to their body, but they
can't afford to see the position. I mean, when you
have a limited amount of money. The first thing you
do is pay your rent. You do not want to
become homeless. Second thing you do is you have to
feed your body. Even with canned food bulk purchases, you
can only stretch that dollar so much. And maybe third
you fix your car because you got to get to
work or you have to do it. And then maybe
clothes healthcare becomes a luxury, exactly, shameful. Shame on us,
Shame on us that we find this acceptable, that we're
putting we're torturing people in this.
Speaker 2: Isn't that what Matt was talking about, right? We're conditioned
to it. And that's why that's why I have the break.
I'm happy about your campaign.
Speaker 3: Because conversations need to be happening louder, prouder, and up
on that hill and I find that mill for once
and for all. It's freaking change things for the better,
because this is getting worth every single day. And now
they just say, now, now we're going to introduce prior
authorizations into traditional medicare using AI.
Speaker 2: That's the new regime twist.
Speaker 3: They just announced that, so you know, obviously that's going
to be something they have to fight again.
Speaker 4: They just want to sueeze as much money out of
us as possible in every single way, and we are
just you know, we have to just get go along
and be like, oh this is normal, Oh where's aren't
we still better? Et cetera. I'll give you one more example,
because I really I listen, I talk to people and
I ask them what is what do you want to see?
And tell me what is going on in your life?
And that the stories you hear they're heartbreaking. Another person
said her loved one needed care. It was authorized by
their physician, but their insurance company wouldn't pay for it.
That their their loved one died the same year that
they lost their loved one because the health insurance company
she had, a private health insurance company, was not authorizing it.
That same year, the CEO of that insurance company made
nineteen million dollars. That, Matt and Jen is blood money.
That is medical murder. We have to talk. How can
we even have a word a term medical murder? That
is disgusting. This is like mass murder is going on.
Let's face it's.
Speaker 2: It is.
Speaker 3: It is when you deny people surgeries to save their
lives or medications. Yeah, and your friend had a stroke
that was preventable, and what damage was done was done.
This is going to be ramifications for that. We all
want to live as long as possible. And I don't
care if if you make seven dollars an hour or
seventeen thousand dollars an hour, you like, it's crazy that
that person's life gets to be more valuable than somebody else's.
You're working class Americans a bust in their humps.
Speaker 2: Every dm D.
Speaker 3: Everybody I talk to is co living because they can't
afford to live alone, or having a second job or
even a third job because the groceries are insane.
Speaker 2: Right now, I want to talk to everything else that.
Speaker 3: They're barely surviving as is, and they want to take
more and more and more and keep denying care, and
they just kill people off.
Speaker 4: You feel like squeezed you, like they're just what like
blood suckers?
Speaker 2: What more?
Speaker 3: Make people feel like you're worthless, Like my life doesn't
matter anymore. I've rationed my care. My life mattered when
I was at EMT and I worked in the hospital,
But after I got care and couldn't do that anymore,
I guess it doesn't matter anymore now because now I
have to fight for treatments.
Speaker 2: Or deal with just figuring.
Speaker 3: Out the costs for myself for medications whatever. And that's
Medicare disadvantage. That's what I'm stuck on. Unless the government changes,
I'm stuck. And so many other people out there are
just like that. And like you said, they get denied
home care, they get deny long term care, short term
rehab care so they can have a life again. I
have a friend who lost her dad who was denied
rehab care.
Speaker 2: It's it's disgusting, and it's because that's the one the
Hill are allowing it to happen. Bottom line, they allow it.
Speaker 4: Yes, so we have to you guys have an awesome platform.
You have to spread the word. Okay, you cannot talk
about healthcare every.
Speaker 3: Day, but I know I feel bad that we've like
monopolized that.
Speaker 4: No, no, no, it's okay. But the same formula that's
causing that herd with healthcare is actually the same formula
that's impacting us for the housing crisis, the childcare crisis,
the cost of living crisis many ways, so the minimum wage.
So let's also talk about other ways people are suffering.
So here in New Hampshire we have such a dire
condition as far as housing is concerned, big time, big time.
We are twenty four thousand units short right now, right now,
twenty four thousand units short in a population of one
point four million. Wow, that's huge, people. I think that
I looked at the inventory rate for certain municipalities. Sometimes
it's as low as half a percent or one percent.
Vacancy rate is it's almost not there. So when you
want to move from one apartment to the other, well,
you don't have an option, and the expense rate is
so high. Again, I'm going to use examples because that's
exactly how I understand how to explain the gravity of
the situation right here and right here. In exeter, a
friend her she was talking about her her grown daughter.
I call everyone a friend. I'm sorry, but when you
have these raw conversations.
Speaker 2: Right there's a connection there.
Speaker 3: You're like that kind of personal Yes, exactly, I got it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you just you know, to somebody to tell me
how much they're you know, they take out their bill, like,
come on, Grachman, let's talk about my bill. I want
to show you my COPEI so, or they want to
show their condition of their house. They need some repair,
but they can't afford it, So you become like, Okay,
that's that's really raw conversations. These are not like hi, hello,
these are real conversations. So this person her, she's seventy seven.
Her story is also terrible. So I'm going to touch
on that are not terrible in the sense, but it's difficult,
I should say. But her child has a job, she's
in her thirties, she has a good job. She can
afford an eleven hundred dollars in an apartment, which you
would say is not a bad amount of money. Eleven
hundred is a good amount of money. In Exeter, she's
renting a basement space. It's not an apartment, it's a space.
There are no windows, there's only one door to the
main stairs to the main floor, which means if there's
a fire, she's stuck. There is no other exit. It's
an illegal basically, it's an illegal space. But that's what
she can afford. There's no heating, there's no cooling, so
she has to have, you know, space heaters, she has
to have air conditioners, because that's just an unfinished basement
for eleven hundred dollars. In again, in the richest country
in the world and someone who has a good job. Her,
she has a good, big job. We're not even talking
about minimum wage now, this is a person who's actually
making good money.
Speaker 2: Yes, this is what they can afford.
Speaker 4: Is that acceptable? Man?
Speaker 1: No, we should not accept.
Speaker 4: The status quo. The lawmakers want us to say, Oh,
you know, things are bad, but you know whatever, national security,
oh my god, crime rate, oh my god, what us
distract us? Oh yeah, let's hate those people over there,
let's marginalize another group, but don't pay attention to your
real problems.
Speaker 1: So what's the solution? Karishma on that, I mean a
good question.
Speaker 4: Yes, let's talk about Okay, we will try to touch
on an issue. We will try to touch on the
root cause, and then we'll try to touch on the solution.
So what is the root cause of the problem. Why
do we have a housing crisis? Simple? We just don't
have enough houses? Yeah, okay, is that? First of all?
How do we get to this situation? The government's job
is you know, we have pretty smart people working in government.
Maybe not at the top, but they're really good workers
out there. They are supposed to calculate. You know, we
are increasing, The population is increasing, even though new Hampshire.
We're not growing at the rate of many other states,
and because we're losing a lot of young people are
moving out.
Speaker 1: They just ye they graduate and yes, but.
Speaker 4: At the moment we are we are still seeing people
moving into New Hampshire. So we have but the rate
of growth is slull, but it's still we're growing, so
we need more housing. So what are the problems. One
is those airbnbs, so it has taken out a lot
of housing off the market because they are now go ahead.
Speaker 2: True, I never thought about that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's interesting. It never occurred to me.
Speaker 4: So it's not the main problem, no, no, but it
is the problem because if you go to for example,
Rye Beach or you go to a lot of these places,
those houses are just sitting there empty until the weekend
or maybe a labor day long weekend. That's it. Otherwise
they're just that's a housing unit. As far as the
state is concerned. There is a certain number of housing units,
but we are it's not occupied right. The other is
second or third homes of people either living in New
Hampshire and they own a second or third home, or
people from out of state who own a second or
third home in New Hampshire, and we have to deal
with those in a different way. But that's another Again,
you're taking a housing housing unit off the market, right
but you're not using it one hundred percent of the time,
but you're taking it, okay. And corporations have also come
in their landlords and they're also purchasing a large number
of these like these improvment complexes. Okay, that one is
not necessarily taking housing off the market, but they are
definitely causing rise in the price. Okay. Way, the one
biggest way we can help right away, Matt. First of all,
we have to do something about all these housing units
that are not used all the time. We have to
either we have to find a way for people. I mean, okay,
let's not talk about that. The biggest problem is we
have a low inventory. We have to build houses. We
have to use us DA funds for rural They actually
have the usdas US Department of Agriculture, They actually have
rural housing funds for communities that are in the rural north.
For example, our North Country will qualify. Some parts of
the West Western towns will qualify. We actually can use
USDA funds to build houses there. The other is hud
Housing and urban development they actually have. These are federal
dollars you can use to build build units. The state
has to work with it because the state there are
unique space and some if it's owned by the city
or it's owned by the town, then there are a
lot of rules or regulations. You can work with the
city in town to figure out what can be built,
what is allowed, and hopefully multi unit complexes because you know,
then you're utilizing a space better. But they're also state
owned spaces, right, you can also use that because then
you don't have to worry about the rules and regulations
of each town and each each city. So if you
want to look at two towns that are doing really
well with this multi family multi unit system, it's Sportsmouth
and Dover. Yeah, Sportsmouth and Dover they're doing really well.
So they have single family homes, they have you know whatever.
People want to always protect their little single family home acreage.
But you can also have town homes, or you can
have apartment complexes, maybe multi story. You have to have
mixed use. And then within the downtown area, maybe you
can have like the bottom floors all about businesses, restaurants
and stores, and the top units are all apartments. That's
how we have to build right now. The only thing
that keeps getting passed through Congress is one program called
and I don't want to go all boring on you guys.
Speaker 2: Okay, no, good.
Speaker 4: It's called li tech, and I want to okay, I
want to make sure I get the acronym right, low
income Housing tax Credit l i HTC LI tech. That's
really popular. If you look at the LI tech related
bills that are in Congress, they get a bipartisan support.
What is that LI tech? It sounds like a great idea. Oh,
we are good. I look, as far as lawmakers are concerned,
they can say I've sponsored this wonderful bill to help
with the housing crisis. And then you look at the
bill and you're like, oh, okay, that's a great you know,
that's a good piece of bill. But what is happening
with li tech? It gives tax credits to developers. Oh,
I'm going to bore all of you.
Speaker 1: Sorry, no, no, I'm I'm glad you're going down this
road because I'm actually a big.
Speaker 2: Fan of You want to understand, I'm a big.
Speaker 1: Fan of using the tax code to stimulate.
Speaker 4: Yes, too true, but that so you give tax credits
to the developers, and you say you are eligible to
receive this tax credit if you build a complex and
you put away a certain number of units and consider
them housing low income housing. And then the developer says, okay, great,
I'll get some government subsidized tax credits. I'm going to
build it. What happens is it's a two thousand page codebook.
Developers hate it. They don't like it for two reasons.
One is it's way too complicated, and the second reason
is that tax credit is going to work over ten years,
and the developer who's building that housing unit now needs
the money now, not over the course of ten years.
So what they do is they may still accept it,
but then they turn it around and sell it back
to Wall Street or to the bankers. It's another way
to siphon federal money and back to Wall Street. That
is why it's so popular. That's why it gets biparties
and support. It's like, hey, they big money, We're like, hey,
we love this lintec anyways. But the other thing is
if you look at because of the codes and the
regulations are so complicated. Like I said, a lot of
developers just shun away. But the ones who even still
take advantage. The cost of each unit on a li
tech funded unit versus a non light tech funded unit,
it actually costs more because there's just so much hurdle
that they have to go through. They can only purchase
certain kind of products, they can only purchase building certain ways,
so actually the per cost per unit becomes higher than
if they did not worry about l tech and they
just built. So yeah, go ahead. Ly tech is approved.
You know, it's always passed, it's got biopartisan support. But
it will never ever help us mitigate the housing crisis.
It's just another way for lawmakers to get away by
saying I'm helping, aren't I No, you're not. You're just
it's a band aid. Okay, Jen, let's go. Let's use healthcare.
It's like you have a fractured leg and instead of
fixing up that bone, you put a little band aid.
Speaker 2: Look right, I want to tape it together.
Speaker 4: I'm going to tape it together.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I'm glad that you went there, because now it
makes more sense to me. Why it's why you don't
see as much affordable housing going up, Why all these
expensive apartment buildings are going up, Because even if they
wanted to go that route. It's so convoluted and costly
that are incentivized to make expensive places.
Speaker 1: I still got its core. It's a good idea, but
obviously there's problems.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it used to be more workable, more use.
Speaker 4: So, Matt, the best is for HUD to give federal
funds to build housing units. That's it, and not say
low income or market will adjust itself. If you have
enough housing, you don't have to worry about low income
housing or high income housing ar et cetera, or luxury apartments.
It will just adjust itself. Right now, like I said,
eleven hundred dollars for a basement space that should not
even be as occupied space that should not even be
on the market. But because of the scarcity and the
low inventory, it becomes an issue. And that's why the
and then the landlords are keeping whatever units are there.
People keep raising the prices, and that's where the corporate
landlords come in. They come in, they buy up a
whole apartment complex, multiple complexes, and Blackstone is known for
doing that. Black Rock is for doing it. And we're
not gonna say a certain person owns what. We're not
gonna Okay, we're not going to go there, Jen another day, Yeah,
cover up some state apparently was on the board.
Speaker 3: Seems to be an awful lot of politicians involved, yes,
and owning stock and these companies that are making a
ton of money, a ton of money, and then we're like, huh,
how many And there's a lot of that here in
New Hampshire. We see that corporations buying up like even
that one rudout they bought like three three family houses
because I've noticed their signs going up on three family houses.
Speaker 2: And then they just.
Speaker 4: Little tweak Yeah, they little tweaks. They changed the stove out,
they maybe put a laminate countertop, and they're like, oh
now the housing, the apartment is going to be three
hundred dollars more or five hundred dollars more. Suddenly, okay,
now it's considered mid luxury apartments. Yes, exactly. So there
are so many ways, Matt. If there's a will, there's
a way. There is no will. There is no will.
Speaker 2: Now there is minimum wages seven to twenty five.
Speaker 4: Minimum wage is still seven twenty.
Speaker 2: I feel a great responsibility on that. It's awful. It's awful,
And Jen, okay, not to can't run into.
Speaker 3: The apartment on seventy twenty five. You kid even eat
on seven to twenty five.
Speaker 4: So, Jen, when I was we were so a lot
of times people have hardships and when I there was
a time in my life when we were dirt poor.
So and back then the minimum wage is four to
twenty five. And this is the early nineteen nineties, Yes,
about nineteen nineties, mid nineteen nineties minimum wait was four
twenty five. We worked seven days a week. I had
a morning job, I had an afternoon job, and had
an evening job seven days a week. You still, oh
my god, you have read why? Oh you're just yes,
And there's no health insurance, there's no job security. Oh yeah,
like I had a waitressing job. Okay, you know, I'm sorry.
It's not easy. Shout out to the servers. It is
easy at all.
Speaker 2: And there wing down.
Speaker 4: And the kids keep spilling the milk and you're cleaning
out and then they leave you little bits of money.
It is, be nice to servers. I was a server
for a long time. It is. It is a cruel job. Anyways,
But where was I going with this? Oh? You there's
no job security and there's no health insurance. Nothing, it's
just a gig labor, right, And then sometimes you're really mistreated,
like I was told the bathroom had like I think
something happened, and I was told to go clean it.
I'm like, I'm not gonna go clean it. That's not
my job. And that manager said, if you don't go
clean it right now, you're fired. That's how they talk
to you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's how they talked to you.
Speaker 4: I said, you can fire me. I was hired as
a not that okay, I'm sorry. Sorry, anyone who's a janitor,
my heart goes out to you. It is it is
so much work. It is such hard ship, right, but
it's the But the way I was being treated by
the manager, like threatened to be fired right away because
there's no job security, you know, And you're like, why
don't you ask the others? Like I wasn't sure if
I was getting picked on. I don't know if it
was a race thing, but anyways, but I was being
asked even though there were several other servers standing around
fit anyways, who knows what was going on, but I
do remember. What I remember was the way I was
being treated. Listen to me, or you're fired, how cruel. Yeah,
they because they.
Speaker 3: Know you need the job, right right, Yeah, yeah it is.
Speaker 2: I've had my share of really crappy jobs. We'll talk
about some other ways.
Speaker 3: But again, the employers could feel like they could get
away with it, Yes, because what.
Speaker 2: Are you going to do? You need the more you got.
You can't go home without a paycheck.
Speaker 4: I can I touch on one thing Matt said earlier,
but we have moved on from health care. But I
wanted to touch.
Speaker 2: On everything you want to talk about. Go for it.
Speaker 4: Matt touched on, like we are always conditioned to feel
that we still have the best healthcare system, and we
have a great healthcare system, no doubt about it. If
you have a certain amount of money, and you have
a certain job, and your employer actually has is able
to afford a high quality health insurance company. I'm not
going to name it, but there are some health insurance
companies which are not as blood suckers as hours.
Speaker 2: I get less blood suckery the more money you pay,
and the more.
Speaker 1: Catal well, yeah, as long as you're made an asset
and not a lot acid.
Speaker 4: But we're always told, oh no, don't look at this
country or that country. Do you know when they need
an MRI, they have to wait several months, et cetera. Right,
and we're like, oh, yeah, you know what. Okay, but
let's talk about that for a second, because I used
to also believe in that like story line in all
those countries. If you ask, I don't want to name it,
but say Canada or Germany. You ask them and they
will say when if somebody needs an MRI or a
procedure and it's an emergency procedure, they will get.
Speaker 2: It right away.
Speaker 4: Yes, if it's a non acute care, if it's a
care that can be prolonged, then they become are put on.
You know, there might be two months from now. But
I'm so sorry. In America, even in the North Country,
there are no more specialists left.
Speaker 1: Right, you need an MRI, you have to go to Boston, right.
Speaker 2: I let you go over the borders.
Speaker 4: Yes, that you might have to go to Nashars or
Portsmouth or Accident or if you're insurance, Yes, so please
let's talk about that, because there are the providers are
leaving New Hampshire.
Speaker 2: Yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 3: That's a very serious issue and the reason we don't
have more level two, Level one trauma sentence.
Speaker 2: Well, level two, I should say, is because we don't
have the specialties required.
Speaker 3: You have to have neurosurgery, you have to have pediatrics, trauma,
you have to have those things in order to have
those higher levels of care. We don't have them because
we don't have the specialists. Were medical impossible. Oh, they're
leaving the state in droves too, because they can't afford
to practice there anymore.
Speaker 4: So therefore, when people criticize other healthcare systems, say please, people,
come on, come on, go on. Wait wait, wait, wait, wait,
let's look what's going on in our state. When people
need care, they're having to leave our state and go
to Massachusetts.
Speaker 3: Right now, it took me a year to get into
my neurala just I was on the waiting list for
a year to go into my neurology. Those other stories,
so they're right here, right here.
Speaker 1: So yes, that's always my that's always my first thought
when I hear someone say, well, you know, in such
and such country, you have to wait, you can't you know,
get everything right away. And it's like, so, how is
that any different from what we have here.
Speaker 3: In the unit. One of those I will admit I
was one of those people that bought into that. I
really did think that day rationed care in Canada and
that must be why. And I started having those conversations
with people, going, no, if my leg's broken, they're gonna
fix it.
Speaker 2: They've got to do an MRI. Yeah.
Speaker 3: No, if I have something and I could, you know,
it might you might have to wait for it.
Speaker 2: But we do that here. You might have to wait.
When you get scared for an MRI around here, you
might be waiting.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you don't instantly, and even in an emergency, you
don't necessarily. I got sent in for what they thought
could be bad. Then they actually finally got around to
the image. I was like, this close to be in
a really bad situation with three cervical discs in the
most final cord. But I waited way too long to
get that MRI walking around like that here in good
old America. I beg you, I might have gotten it
faster in Canada.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna my husband is walking in, so I'm just
gonna ask him to keep it low. I just texted him, oh, yeah, yeah,
we're we're alive right now. But let's see Okay, So
we touched on healthcare. We touched on housing. We touched
on corruption. I think we touched a little bit on
corruption everywhere, right, the corruption politics, the big money in him. Yeah,
we touched, so we are. I don't know what else
you guys want to talk about, Matt. I mean, there's
so much going on in the I talked to two people.
They're twenty four or twenty five in New Hampshire. There working,
they're on their parents' insurance. They're free to turn twenty six. Yes,
let's talk about that in the richest in the world,
which I'm going to become like a broken record in
the richest country in the world, in the richest country
in the world, I'm going to become a broken record.
Person who has an education, you know, has training and education,
has done whatever needed to be done. Was told if
you do X y Z, you will live the American dream.
They are now apparently living the American dream. And they're
free to turn twenty six because they have a job.
But their jobs are not covering, not providing health insurance.
That's another thing. Let's talk about that in America.
Speaker 3: And the marketplace is expected to go up increasingly next year.
Some of the numbers I'm saying out there are pretty
scary as so what's going to happen in the marketplace? Insurances, medicare,
premiums are growing up, but they've already announced that it
was quite a bit too. Yeah, all these things are
going up even more next year. So everything you're saying
is going to get worse. So we gotta do These
mid term elections are vital in order for us to
gain control on the hell and stop the bleeding and
curb some of the deaths that are going to occur
from these These are I'm not catastrophizing either.
Speaker 2: These are really horrible things that.
Speaker 3: Are going on, and I'm worried that a lot of people,
it's going to be millions and millions of people that
are going to lose health insurance sex here because they're
not going to be able to afford it off the
marketplace anymore.
Speaker 2: Right, It's just gonna be because.
Speaker 3: Those tax subsidies for the working class, the current regime
has gotten rid of infect sending the ones for the
one percent that holds all the money in the country.
Speaker 2: When you talk about the.
Speaker 3: Richest in the world, the most of the money is
that one percent.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was just going to say, in effect, they
have repealed the affordable care, just not the way they
wanted to. They didn't do it all at once like
they wanted to do a show of it. But little
bit by bit they've gotten it.
Speaker 3: They've got the publics used to admit there was some
good stuff in They're like staying on the insurance until
you're twenty six.
Speaker 2: I mean, I remember when I turned eighteen. That was it.
Speaker 3: I had no health care, that was it because back
in what I back in my day. But I remember
you saying about the minimum When I started my first
health care job, I made three dollars an hour and
I got a ten cent raise when I became certified
as a nursing assistant. And you think about that, and
it's seven twenty five now for minimum wage. And it's
because we in New Hampshire screwed up. We got rid
of our own minimum wage and we married ourselves to
the FED. So unless the federal minium wage changes or
the State of New Hampshire does something different, our minimum
wage will never rise above seven to twenty five. And
in some of the poorest places in this country, that's
what people are barely living on.
Speaker 4: And I've met people who make seven twenty five because
a lot of times the lawmakers in New Hampshire will
say nobody in New Hampshire makes seven twenty five. Everyone
makes fifteen or sixteen because of the McDonald's jobs. No
people in New Hampshire. Some of them do make seven
twenty five, and I've talked to them. Jen eighty is
heartbreaking when they get a little bill like twenty five
dollars bill which was not expected. My god, that's like
what it's definitely.
Speaker 2: Here's something I want to ask you about. So in
what that effects is homeless people. People who are unhoused
a lot of people who are unhoused have jobs.
Speaker 3: They can't afford a place to live, so they're living
in their car or maybe they were living in a tent.
Speaker 2: But now we've criminalized.
Speaker 3: Being unhoused and now they want to arrest people and
put them in jail for being homeless or having a
mental health issue. Like, how are you going? This is
a huge issue? How do you want to how do
you plan to address this?
Speaker 4: So first of all, we have to take away Donald
Trump's pens that he keeps signing those executive orders. Somebody
take those pens away, please, he keeps signing these insane
executive orders that are so cruel. Yeah, we have not
been kind to our most vulnerable people. We have not
been kind to people who have mental health issues. We
have not been kind to our veterans, we have not
been kind to people who are suffering from substance use
disorder people. And a measure of a society is how
you treat your most vulnerable. And we are failing over
and over again. And we should not look at these
people as you know, push them aside. No, these are
human beings. They are down on their luck for many reasons,
and we we should extend help them again. Housing where
was it Norway one of those Scandinavian countries. I was
reading that they actually try to instead of allow homeless
people like to fend for themselves and you know whatever,
however just pushing them under the rug. They actually have
these housing models where they provide mental health counseling as
well as a stable home, and then they allow and
treatment and then they slowly over time, because once you've
been homeless for five ten years, you've basically checked out.
You have no no, the trust is gone. If you
know why homeless people you see them on the side,
why they're sleeping in the morning and the daytime, because
at night they're awake. They're awake to protect themselves. That
is the most where you're the most vulnerable at night
if you want to sleep, so you don't sleep at night.
Speaker 3: That's why you're so glad you said that, because a
lot of people look at them and think, oh, they
must be drunk or they must be drunk. Now it's like, nah, dude,
this is the safest sleep they can get.
Speaker 1: That's a good point. I never thought of that. I'm
pretty empathetic, but that never even occurred to me. Yeah,
that's a great point.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And so we have to help. I mean, if
we apparently have two hundred million dollars for a ballroom,
if we have a billion or a plane that's not
going to be even ready for four years. We have
tillions of dollars. Apparently we are so rich. We can
give trillions of dollars of tax cuts.
Speaker 2: To the patio, the rose garden, we.
Speaker 4: Can pave the rose garden, we can spend a military parades,
military parades, and we have so much that we can spend,
like we can fabricate stories about crime on our streets
and send in the National Guards at a huge cost
to the taxpayers. Apparently we are such a rich nation
but not but not. Apparently we're also not a rich nation.
So which what is true? Which one is it? Do
we have a billion for somebody's plane?
Speaker 3: Like, yeah, we're retrofitting a Saudi Arabian plane.
Speaker 2: Let ye take it.
Speaker 3: And that's after his last term when he redesigned the
existing air force one that was just finished.
Speaker 2: But we can't house people, but we can't provide mental health.
Speaker 4: No, I mean that's one trip alone. Not to just
pick on the million dollar trips, because there's so much
billions of dollars at getting wasted. So millions of dollars
is like loose change now in the US government. But
he went to it wasn't some golf course in Botlin.
Speaker 2: To cut the ribbon on his own golf course.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's apparently we were really rich.
Speaker 2: Jen I'll tell you something.
Speaker 3: When I was overseas and that stuff was going on
to build it, I never wanted to climb under a
chair more in my life than when the screen filled
up with the Scottish family talking about how horrible Trump's
people were because they didn't want to sell their land,
so they were blaring music and shining lights and harassing
them and trying to force them out, and I wanted
to climb under a chair. I was so like, oh my, like,
I'm in in this other country watching this, like.
Speaker 2: This is horrible. This is our president. Oh my god,
this is horrible.
Speaker 1: You know, there's an episode of Uh, there's an episode
of the Sopranos where Tony Soprano did something like that
to make someone leave the house that they were in.
Speaker 4: Basically meant, are you saying that?
Speaker 1: No? That just reminds me of an episode of The
Sopranos too.
Speaker 2: That's when I got the idea for all, you know, a.
Speaker 4: Monster, a mobster and the president. Huh you see some comparison.
Speaker 3: Can you imagine if we actually had the ability in
this moment to be able to snag that money back?
Speaker 2: And what amazing things.
Speaker 4: Those pens, those big markets do.
Speaker 3: See, we need you elected, and then we need the
hell the Senate and the House to create legislation to
curb this. This is just it shows you. I've never
been a favorite. I've never been a person who likes
executive orders for this very reason, for this very fear
that it can be abused and previous presidents have abused it,
but not that it's extreme now, I mean to use
the president's pen to criminize human beings for existing in
a park in a tent, because that's literally all they have.
Speaker 2: What do you want people to do?
Speaker 3: At least in other countries in India trying to do
they let people build makeshift houses. They're crappy places, but
at least it's a roof over their head, they got
warm food and a bugal sleep that in America won't
even let that happen. And now they won't even let
them put up a tent, like we won't let them
have a space to just exist as a human.
Speaker 4: It was heartbreaking to see there was like in DC,
they were like the person would not leave his tent
because that's his home, that's his livelihood, and they're dragging
it off. I don't know, if you guys watch those videos.
Speaker 3: It was just seeing it here happening in our own
you know, happening here where they're taking down the tents
and they're forcing people out.
Speaker 2: Because yeah, that's happening right here at home too.
Speaker 3: It's happening all across the country, and they're so vile
about it. Vile and they'll take knives and they'll destroy things.
Speaker 2: Well, they can't use it.
Speaker 3: That's all this person has to their name, whatever they're
and you're you're stealing everything, because that's what it is.
Speaker 2: It's stealing.
Speaker 3: They're taking whatever clothing, whatever's in that tent. They literally
will come down sometimes with those claws and just pick
the whole thing up and drop it in a dumpster,
everything that was in it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, think about.
Speaker 2: The human it's beyond dehumanizing.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, so the this is where cruelty is
definitely trickling down from the White House.
Speaker 1: M Oh yeah. The cruelty is the point.
Speaker 4: The cruelty is the point.
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, absolutely, they love.
Speaker 2: It in the terms count big time.
Speaker 3: It's the only way that we're going to be able,
but not and change anything.
Speaker 4: Not any Democrat, Jen, Not any democrat.
Speaker 3: I need a Democrat who's going to actually listen. Yes,
when I tell you medicare advantage is killing people. I
want you to hear our stories and really take it
in and don't send me a form letter say I
like medicare advantage.
Speaker 4: Yeah, no, Jen, I need not.
Speaker 2: I can't have tone deaf. I need you to hear me.
Speaker 4: These are public service jobs. We should not put our
lawmakers in pedestals and be like, wow, you know they
are so great. We can never be them. This is
a public service job. It is their job is to
serve the public. If they're not serving the public, then
please move on, go to do something else. Let someone
who actually cares just serve the public. Listen to the public,
understand the problems, want to solve the problems. Let them
have that position. The other thing I want to tell you,
one of the most important things in a public servant
is do you have a heart? And do you have
a soul? I mean, do you even care?
Speaker 2: You have empathy?
Speaker 4: Do you have yes? Empathy? Do you even care?
Speaker 3: And everybody want to walk around with a mirror, like
what do you say when you look at this?
Speaker 4: Yeah, but guys, I don't know if we're uh going
to putting people to sleep now it's one minute.
Speaker 2: Yeah, God, for quite a while. But I really appreciate
you giving me so much time.
Speaker 4: I want to because we have to talk about so much.
We need to talk about the F word, the fascism.
Speaker 3: Yes, let's not beat around the bush, right, we are
looking at a blief date.
Speaker 4: It is not a future. We're it's we are here,
so let's talk about it. But I think I don't know,
I want to let the poor listeners off.
Speaker 1: No, I think I think this is probably a good
you know, a little bit over an hour, about an
hour and fifteen minutes, you know, But we will definitely
do this again in the near future if you like.
I mean, this has been as a great conversation, Karishma.
Do you want to mention your website again and anything
else you want to make sure our listeners and viewers
know about.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much so I launched last week. My
website is actually on the you see it here.
Speaker 2: I thank you.
Speaker 4: Yes, well I would be able to do that. Karishma
for Senate dot Com. Karishma for Senate dot Com. I
am from Exeter, I am a scientist. I'm running to
basically help people. Housing crisis is out of control, childcare
crisis is out of control. Healthcare crisis out of control,
and we didn't touch on it. But our foreign policy
is really bad. We are now committing genocide or we're
complicit in genis and Gaza. We will touch on that.
It is an heartbreaking, heartbreaking situation. We are basically looking
at the destruction of two million human lives. They're being
tortured to death, they're being start at death, bomb to death.
Speaker 2: But we're going to.
Speaker 3: Talk well where you are a candidate for peace, and
I think that's very very important.
Speaker 2: Yeah, warfare and more humanity in this world.
Speaker 4: Right, So please visit the website, please sign up because
we need grassroots support. Donate. Please whatever you can afford,
five dollars, ten dollars, whatever you can afford.
Speaker 2: You are not taking money.
Speaker 3: I think that's important for people to know you really
are a grassroots candidate.
Speaker 2: You are not accepting pack money.
Speaker 3: And so this really is an effort of New hampshiretes
who have a candidate who they want to really bring
to the Senate, to bring home up to that hill.
Speaker 2: It's not really corporate.
Speaker 4: Yeah, corporate, we're not getting hurt. Yeah. And then the
other thing is uh, Jen I'm actually on the board
of Open Democracy Action, which was started by Grannie B. Haddeck.
I am inspired by Grannydee who were walked at age
eighty nine from like help Washington, d C. To get
rid of big money. I am from Open Democracy. We
are working day in, day out to expose the corruption
in our politics and.
Speaker 2: Icon of New Hampshire. And I want to make sure
our listeners. Yeah, I do want to make sure listeners
know how to spell your name appropriately.
Speaker 3: It is ROSA k A R I s h M
A four f O R Senate s E n A
t e dot com Karushma for senate dot com.
Speaker 2: Check it out, sign up because we need you.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much, Thanks Matt, Thanks Jen. Please uh
it was a wonderful Thank you for talking about some
very serious issues but we need to talk about These
are difficult topics, but we need to talk about it
and we have to solve the problems. So thank you
so much for having me today.
Speaker 1: Absolutely we will do this again in the near future.
And thanks everybody for watching or listening to this edition
of Matt Connorton Unleashed AF as we call it as
it is the online only edition. And Jenny, thank you,
and again not Chrishna, thank you so much.
Speaker 4: Thank you guys, thank you taking everybody.
Speaker 2: Bye bye,