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A Harsh Anti-Romney Ad Sparks Criticism (New! Soptic Chose Not to Insure Wife at Post-Steel Job)
The Wall Street Journal ^ | Wednesday, August 8, 2012 | Peter Nicholas and Colleen McCain Nelson

Posted on 08/08/2012 8:30:42 PM PDT by kristinn

...played a role in the death of Ilyona Soptic at age 55.

The ad features Joe Soptic, 62, of Missouri, who lost his job when GST Steel of Kansas City—owned by Bain and other investors for eight years—was closed. As melancholy music plays, Mr. Soptic says that when the plant closed, he and his family lost their health-care coverage and "a short time after that, my wife became ill." Her illness was diagnosed five years later. "I don't think Mitt Romney understands what he's done to people's lives by closing the plant," Mr. Soptic says in the ad.

The steel plant was purchased in 1993 and closed in 2001. Mr. Romney departed Bain in 1999 and had no role in the decision to close the plant, his campaign said.

In an interview, Mr. Soptic said he thought the ad was fair. But he also said of Mr. Romney: "I'm not blaming him for her death. I wouldn't do that."

Mr. Soptic said that his wife was receiving health insurance through her employer at the time he lost his job at GST Steel, though she later suffered an injury, left her job and lost her insurance coverage. He could not say precisely when this occurred.

Mr. Soptic said that after he lost his job, he found work as a school custodian about six months later and had the option to put her on his insurance plan. But he opted not to, he said, because he could not afford the more than $350 monthly premium on the $25,000 salary he was making, on top of paying his mortgage and a daughter's college tuition. Ilyona Soptic was diagnosed with cancer in 2006 and died that year.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: agitprop; civility; demlies; joesoptic; mediawingofthednc; obama; obamalies; obamattacks; partisanmediashills; prioritiesusa; romneyattacks; soptic
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To: kristinn
“But he opted not to, he said, because he could not afford the more than $350 monthly premium on the $25,000 salary he was making, on top of paying his mortgage and a daughter's college tuition”

Wow, Soptic kills his wife and then has the nerve to blame his poor daughter who is just trying to get a college education.

81 posted on 08/09/2012 7:25:00 AM PDT by tobyhill (Obamacare, the final nail in the US coffin.)
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To: Night Hides Not

Thanks to Harry Reid and Joe Soptic, the news cycle for the past week has bypassed the failure known as the Obama Economy.

It’s going to be like this until November.


Yup. Romney will be on the defensive all the way to the election. And it’s only August. I imagine ads and accusations will be made against him that will make this ad look tame. It’s the Chicago way, and nobody knows or plays it better than King Barack.


82 posted on 08/09/2012 7:28:15 AM PDT by chessplayer
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To: MestaMachine

The lst Joe was a plumber, and through him, we knew obama for exactly what he was.

He still was elected. We need something than Joe the Plumber I and II.


83 posted on 08/09/2012 7:35:20 AM PDT by napscoordinator (Attention Republican National Convention voters....Santorum/Bachmann 2012! Dump liberal Romney NOW!)
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To: swpa_mom

The problem with COBRA is you are required to purchase the exact same policy that your employer provided, which is expensive as ****.

COBRA needs to be changed in these ways:

1) It needs an option to purchase a lower levels of coverage (from full to catastrophic and anything in between that is normally offered by the insurance company).

2) The one year limit on COBRA needs to be lifted. People with pre-existing conditions have problems obtaining new insurance after they leave a job. I continue making insurance payments, why shouldn’t I be able to keep the policy going forever?

3) I should be able to take the policy with me to my new job. If I like the COBRA policy, why shouldn’t I be able to keep it on my new job? I could state to my new employer that my current insurance is $x per month, and we can negotiate a n agreement about how much they will pay and how much I will pay.

4) All medical insurance costs (whether paid by the employer or employee or an individual) should be tax deductible (right now it’s only deductible for the employer).


84 posted on 08/09/2012 7:50:37 AM PDT by Brookhaven (Freedom--tastes like chicken)
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To: Straight Vermonter

Speaking of libel, that is why AFTER dingy harry made his malicious accusation against romney through huffpo, he went to the well of the senate to do it ‘on the record’ to cover his butt from a libel suit. But it is too little too late. He talked to huffpo first.


85 posted on 08/09/2012 7:52:57 AM PDT by MestaMachine (obama kills)
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To: rawhide

Not purchasing insurance so they could pay for their daughter’s college was probably a co-decision by both parents.

My guess is they didn’t tell the daughter they were going without insurance to pay for her college.

I don’t think he thought through the impact doing this ad would have on his daughter. Odds are, he feels guilty about not purchasing the insurance for his wife and is looking for someone (anyone) else to blame to assuage his feelings of guilt.


86 posted on 08/09/2012 7:57:02 AM PDT by Brookhaven (Freedom--tastes like chicken)
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To: kristinn; mickie
I presume this cynically-bereaved guy, Joe-Joe, The Barefaced Liar, is or was a union thug. I'll also bet he got paid plenty for "expenses" for doing this particular ad, and possibly a second one.

No way is he doing commercial, professional political ads for nothing.

Even Rush told us many times the restrictions he had to endure and the rules he had to conform with while airing his show from within his NYC broadcasting building and studio. Union thugs extract big dollar$ from the entertainment and advertising industries. This includes mandating scale wages for those amateur and pro actors doing scripted acting in televised commercials.

Leni

87 posted on 08/09/2012 8:01:05 AM PDT by MinuteGal
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To: Brookhaven

Yes, him doing the ad is telling his daughter that because of our decision to pay for your college education, that is one of reasons we had to forgo health insurance for your mom, who later died because she had no health insurance.

Hard to imagine what the daughter is thinking as of now, but my guess is it not good. Especially if this the first she heard about this?

And I am sure the daughter is also embarrassed her dad mentioned her in as an example to forgo health insurance, for her mom that may have saved her mom’s life, or at least extended it a few years.

This ad opened a can of worms that the dad probably wished never were opened!


88 posted on 08/09/2012 8:18:47 AM PDT by rawhide
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To: kristinn

Just damn Kristinn

I didn’t realize this guy was BIG JERK

Poor Mitt


89 posted on 08/09/2012 8:28:20 AM PDT by SevenofNine (We are Freepers, all your media bases belong to us ,resistance is futile)
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To: MacMattico

Maybe the daughter feel like she entitled for tutition money or finanical aid

I know lots of young people who feel that life owe them something


90 posted on 08/09/2012 8:30:15 AM PDT by SevenofNine (We are Freepers, all your media bases belong to us ,resistance is futile)
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To: bray
Wonder what this dirtbag’s car payment was. Talk about pissing on your wife’s grave.


Soptic in Obama ad


Soptic in PAC ad

Hey, the guy is broke. He only owns one shirt!

A little background. Soptic appeared in an Obama for America ad last Spring, which was produced by the Obama campaign. He also appeared, wearing the same shirt, in the recent a Priorities USA PAC produced ad, wearing the same shirt, which suggests both ads may have been shot on the same day. But there cannot, by law, be coordination between Obama for America and Priorities USA...

91 posted on 08/09/2012 9:04:34 AM PDT by Haiku Guy ("The problem with Internet Quotes is that you never know if they are real" -- Abraham Lincoln)
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To: GailA
I will not be voting for Myth...

Please reconsider.

However, if that is not in the cards, I know that you will be working hard to elect Constitutional Conservatives down the ticket.

92 posted on 08/09/2012 9:10:54 AM PDT by Haiku Guy ("The problem with Internet Quotes is that you never know if they are real" -- Abraham Lincoln)
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To: kristinn

Bump


93 posted on 08/09/2012 9:55:31 AM PDT by lowbridge (Joe Biden: "Look, the Taliban per se is not our enemy.")
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To: nutmeg

Thanks for the ping.


94 posted on 08/09/2012 10:31:10 AM PDT by GOPJ (..convinced if you put a compass in the hands of a liberal, it will point south -Fr Neveronmywatch)
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To: kristinn
The road from exalted liberal victim to total loser was short for Soptic... Truth trumped dem lies very quickly with this one... I'm almost starting to feel sorry for the guy. Almost.
95 posted on 08/09/2012 10:36:55 AM PDT by GOPJ (..convinced if you put a compass in the hands of a liberal, it will point south -Fr Neveronmywatch)
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To: DrC

My family had seven sons and I was the oldest so there was no money from my mom and dad who were doing all they could to keep their heads above water. They certainly could not pay anything toward the Big money school I had been admitted to.

So I worked just about every kind of job there was, took out loans and got some scholarship money; went to junior colleges and took off plenty of time to chase girls and have a good time. Eventually I caught one and realized that I had to get serious if I wanted to keep her or one like her. So I got a couple of degrees, lost the girl and caught another at least as appealing, married her and lived happily ever after. More or less.


96 posted on 08/09/2012 10:48:39 AM PDT by arrogantsob (Obama MUST Go. Sarah herself supports Romney.)
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To: Zakeet
BURTON: What fact in that ad is wrong?

From this citation of the add, there are three "facts" from the add that are very wrong Bill.

As melancholy music plays, Mr. Soptic says that when the plant closed, he and his family lost their health-care coverage and "a short time after that, my wife became ill." Her illness was diagnosed five years later. "I don't think Mitt Romney understands what he's done to people's lives by closing the plant," Mr. Soptic says in the ad.
1. He and his family did NOT lose their insurance. His wife was still covered by her employer's policy. While HIS insurance was lost, he had two options for continued coverage for himself - obtain COBRA coverage, or get added to his wife's employer insurance - so the statement that his family lost their health care coverage when the plant was closed is FALSE.
2. His wife did not become ill a short time after that; she became ill several years after that, during which time he had taken another job but chose not to cover his wife on his insurance at that job.
3. Mitt Romney did not close the plant. He was not involved in any of the day-to-day management decisions at Bain when it finally closed the plant (that would have closed years earlier had Bain not bought and managed the plant).
97 posted on 08/09/2012 10:51:38 AM PDT by VRWCmember
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To: Steve1789

Good, but I fear most are not catching on; ever our little Republican primary voters seem as lost as a goose in many situations, with some exceptions.


98 posted on 08/09/2012 10:52:23 AM PDT by Theodore R. (Past is prologue: The American people again let us down in this election cycle.)
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To: cdcdawg

The RATs flush little turds like Soptic all the time. He is just another dupe this Party of Evil uses then disposes with, expelling these little POS when they are done using them.


99 posted on 08/09/2012 10:54:57 AM PDT by arrogantsob (Obama MUST Go. Sarah herself supports Romney.)
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To: rawhide

She is likely a brain-dead Leftist as well as her dad.


100 posted on 08/09/2012 10:56:42 AM PDT by arrogantsob (Obama MUST Go. Sarah herself supports Romney.)
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