BY PETER MANN
Lake Shore Resident
As a member of the local media you have an opportunity to lead this community toward peace and reconciliation as it relates to the outcome of our elections last week. The country has voted and spoken. I didn’t see all my vote choices agreed upon by the majority of fellow voters. From the sounds of your recent editorials, you didn’t either. So now you have a choice and as a publicist I encourage you to leave the issues that bother you alone or leave the country (or sign the Minnesota secede petition).
You cite Krogers and others as cutting workers’ hours to get under the 30 hour work minimums that employers will likely comply to in the pending Obamacare implementation. You cite other corporations that have recently laid off employees, inferring that they too are fighting the Obamacare program.
The aerospace industry cut back last week as the pending fiscal cliff provides them with guidance that they will lose some government defense contracts. The medical employers cut back as they too fear that new medical programs may impact them. Let’s look a bit deeper.
But let’s look at the injustices occurring in our own Brainerd lakes micropolitan community and maybe you can start writing about some of them.
Recently I was an outpatient of our Brainerd medical conglomerate (let’s call it BMC since the old BMC is now enmeshed in Essentia language). As I worked up to the anesthesia stage I noted X-ray technicians yawning for lack of enough work to keep them busy, even though still using analog film technology. I was asked by no less than four medical employees in a 15 minute span what was my birth date. (Before the anesthesia.) I don’t think they had enough patients that morning either. Then there is the all female staff of excess employees at the local skin doctor’s office. Maybe our current medical system of reporting to protect us from lawsuits needs to be re-examined.
One BMC executive explained to me that a hospital has to at least break even, i.e. those that can afford medical will be paying for those less fortunate.
Food chains are cutting costs. Why? Look at the incremental retail food square footage that has been added to this community. Big box stores are selling food now as “super stores.” Yet I doubt that these big box stores have as many employees on full benefits as you do via Morris Communications for your Dispatch employees. That isn’t new since Obama was elected or re-elected.
This micropolitan area sent Democrats to Washington named Nolan and Klobuchar. Your constituents have spoken. I believe John Boehner is seeing the big picture of cooperation too.
I encourage you to accept the challenge and write on behalf of all your constituents. You have a golden opportunity to do your share, as an editor and community leader, to foster harmony amongst all voters.
I pray that you will step up to the challenge.
