Thom Hartmann: Welcome back to the place where despair is not an option, the Thom Hartmann Program. Andre Butler is on the line with us, a banquet server, part of the campout at the Pennsylvania capitol in support of expanded Medicaid coverage. And Andre, welcome to the program.
Andre Butler: Good afternoon Mr. Hartmann, glad to be here.
Thom Hartmann: So tell us who you are and what you’re doing right now.
Andre Butler: Right now I am sitting in the capitol Pennsylvania, in Harrisburg on the Senate side, sitting on a beautifully shined marble floor, exercising my free speech, right? And camped out asking and hoping that the governor of Pennsylvania and or the senate and house of Pennsylvania will allow the Medicaid expansion for ¾ of a million uninsured Pennsylvanians, including myself.
Thom Hartmann: And how many people have joined you?
Andre Butler: So far we have about 15.
Thom Hartmann: That’s great, that’s a start.
Andre Butler: It is. It’s actually beautiful to see, we’re from all parts, all corners of the state are all involved, Thom. Erie, Pittsburg, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Scranton, Souderton. And it’s, it’s just, it’s great to be a part of history. And it’s never been done in this particular capitol. No one has ever decided to do a sit in or a sleep in here which gives me an idea of how radical this particular governor is. Even in his own party, how unfriendly he is.
Thom Hartmann: Yeah.
Andre Butler: And it’s unfortunate that it actually has to come to this. You know, we shouldn’t have to forgo our jobs or our families and friends to have a camp out for a simple common sense issue. I mean it’s a human right. And how much government would save if they would just insure the uninsured and give us health insurance to be inaudible?
Thom Hartmann: Yeah, now is my memory not failing me in that my recollection is that your governor is republican Tom Corbett is that right?
Andre Butler: Correct, yes sir.
Thom Hartmann: Okay. And so he is apparently one of the republican governors who has either said he is not going to take the funding for Medicaid to pay for Obamacare, or to expand Obamacare, to poor people and the working poor. Or he’s one of the governors who has not said either, either he’s said or he’s said I don’t know. Which is it, so far?
Andre Butler: He said he doesn’t recommend that we accept it.
Thom Hartmann: So that’s kind of a weasely way to, so he’s…
Andre Butler: Absolutely. And his reasoning is that he is not sure that we can afford the 1-10% after three years.
Thom Hartmann: Right. We’re going to get 100% of the money now and three years down the road we’re going to get 97% of the money and we’re going to insure hundreds of thousands of people in our state who are, the very poor and the working poor, and, who if we don’t do this, if we don’t provide this insurance for them, we’re still going to have to pay when they show up in the emergency rooms with far worse conditions than would could have been an early caught and treated cancer turns into, you know, a horrible person melting down wound or something. And, or whatever it may, you know when a cough turns out to be tuberculosis. That we can’t afford the 3%? This is crazy.
Andre Butler: That’s right, I agree.
Thom Hartmann: So has Tom Corbett responded in any way, Andre Butler?
Andre Butler: No he has not.
Thom Hartmann: Okay. Now are you associated with any group or is this just an ad hoc bunch of citizens who have shown up?
Andre Butler: This is an ad hoc group of concerned citizens who have just had enough of inaudible the issue with passion enough that we need to do something to actually take a stand. You know. There was a song that you may recall, Neil Diamond did a song a few years back, it’s called ‘I’m a Man.’ And he says in this song ‘Why must I fight for what I have won?’ And it took us years to get the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, and that’s what we have, it’s law, it’s been passed by the Supreme Court, basically upheld it, and so we already have that right. Now if we don’t insure the uninsured, what good is having healthcare? And so we just figure it’s time to take a stand. The budget has to be passed by law by the 30th of June. Now it may go past inaudible round the clock sessions to try to pass the budget. So we knew this was the time to try to take a stand and have our voices heard by, you know, uninsured people.
Thom Hartmann: That’s great. So if any of our listeners happen to be in the Harrisburg Pennsylvania area, drop by the capitol building and show up.
Andre Butler: Capitol building, come to the senate side, floor E, E as in Edward.
Thom Hartmann: Okay, you got it.
Andre Butler: We would love to have them. We have food, snacks, we sing some songs once in a while, we get together people come by and wave at us, we shake hands, we go outside the lobby, we lobby at other politicians, and we have a lot of fun.
Thom Hartmann: Are you being treated well by the other politicians, by the politicians there and by the security people there?
Andre Butler: Yes we are, we are.
Thom Hartmann: That’s good.
Andre Butler: The ones that support us come by and they thank us for our support and we thank them for supporting us and we have been treated very well. We have had no problems with anybody abusing us at all.
Thom Hartmann: That’s great. And are you planning on spending the night there?
Andre Butler: We should be able to do so. We are in, so long as the session is in, the legislation is in session inaudible we expect to be here.
Thom Hartmann: Okay. And when do you expect that they’re going to discuss a consideration of accepting the Medicare money?
Andre Butler: We feel in the next 48 hours.
Thom Hartmann: Okay. Because it has to be done by the 30th.
Andre Butler: Correct.
Thom Hartmann: And today being the 27th, that would be three days out, but you know, probably in the next two days. And so you guys are in for the long haul.
Andre Butler: We are here to get our voices heard and we want it done, want it done soon if we can. And we are here to make our presence felt. Absolutely.
Thom Hartmann: You are doing what the first amendment talks about, the citizens, peaceably assembling and petitioning the government for redress of grievances.
Andre Butler: Absolutely.
Thom Hartmann: It’s absolutely brilliant. Andre Butler. You’re, in the real world, you are a banquet server?
Andre Butler: Yes.
Thom Hartmann: And the wages at that are such that you qualify for Medicare?
Andre Butler: Absolutely. The most banquet, and people don’t realize that most of the banquets where it’s VIP events or high class events, even events that governors go to, mostly the people that you see in bow ties and starched shirts and tuxedos that serve, we don’t have any kind of health insurance. And the wages are basically between $8 and $11 an hour. inaudible
Thom Hartmann: Wow.
Andre Butler: And when you look at servers, butlers, cooks, you know, waiters, most of us don’t have any kind of health insurance but we have to serve the 1%. We do it wonderfully, we do it gracefully, we do it very much happy, we just want …
Thom Hartmann: Andre we’ve got to wrap it up but Andre Butler, thank you for being with us. Good on you.
Andre Butler: Thank you Mr. Hartmann, thank you.
Transcribed by Suzanne Roberts, Portland Psychology Clinic.
