If you listened to NPR this morning, you might have caught a segment on how the Affordable Care Act affects small businesses. It featured a quote from Joe Olivo, who runs a printing business in New Jersey, who made less than flattering comments about the law. NBC Nightly News ran a segment last night, featuring the exact same guy.
What I didn't know is that Joe Olivo doesn't appear to be just another random small business owner. Steve M. made a fascinating observation.
[A]s it turns out, Joe Olivo of Perfect Printing turns up quite a bit in public discussions of this and other issues. Here he is testifying against the health care law before House and Senate committees in January 2011. Here he is on the Fox Business Network around the same time, discussing the same subject. Here he is a few days ago, also on Fox Business, talking to John Stossel about the law. Here he is discussing the same subject on a New Jersey Fox affiliate.
And here he is in July 2010 discussing small business hiring with Neil Cavuto on Fox News. Here he is opposing an increase in the minimum wage in an MSNBC debate a couple of weeks ago.
Go to many of these links and you find out something about Joe Olivo that NPR and NBC didn’t tell you: he’s a member of the National Federation of Independent Business.
If the name "National Federation of Independent Business" sounds familiar, there's a good reason for that: yesterday's Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act has a specific case name: National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius.
What's more, as Steve M. added, the NFIB -- which promotes Olivo's public appearances -- is also "linked to the ALEC and Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS," which are obviously conservative outlets.
In fairness, I don't know Olivo or anything about his business. The Affordable Care Act is generally a great help to small businesses trying to expand coverage for their employees, but maybe Olivo has legitimate concerns. I'd need more information.
The larger point, though, is that when the public sees Olivo doing interviews, it's worth keeping in mind that he's not just expressing his own perspective; he appears to be representing the interests of a group trying to kill the health care reform law.
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Liberal media! Liberal media!!!
Wow. I heard that NPR interview this AM on the radio on my way in to work. Maybe 'full disclosure' would help. I'm going to write in to NPR and ask that they correct themselves or at least offer the information to help its listeners gain a more straightforward story and follow up on it.
There was no mention on the broadcast that he was associated with anyone or that he lobbied or anything to indicate he was nothing more than just another small business owner with a concern about the current law.
I heard it too - I seem to remember thinking he sounded whiny :)
I am sure that he mentioned his affiliation with this group when he was interviewed... LOL
Great catch by Steve M. !
Why we a F**ked by the MSM big six , who control the propaganda airwaves in this country releasing just enough information or generating outright lies to bamboozle Mr and Mrs America .
Thanks to whoever did the in depth reporting exposing this . Its nice to know there is a least one place I can come for the truth.
I hope Rachel , Stewart or someone picks this up so it a least gets exposed
So in other words the guy is committing deception and possibly fraud.
Something else I learned today: If you are in New Jersey (I'm not) and you need some printing done, Perfect Printing doesn't believe in paying a living wage or providing benefits. At least not as a matter of principle. They may be forced by market reality to pay their employees (or not, dunno) a living wage and give them Cadillac bennies, but they'd sure like the option not to.
Y'know, I was wondering when this year's Joe The Plumber moment would come. Will it be Olivo, the Small Business Owner? Clearly it's time for conservatives to make Olivo signs and banners. Ooh, I know! Make them a giant O, with a waving American flag through the bottom half, like the O's top half is a sunrise or something! Yeah!
The best part about it is, it'd be the most original idea the Republicans have come up with this election season.
Wonder if he's related to this dummy I remember reading about at Daily Kos in 2008?
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/07/24/556009/-MO-09-The-Return-of-Brock-Olivo
Or maybe he traveled back in time to play bass in 1967? http://www.midwestmusicmasters.com/bands3.aspx?name=Fabulous%20Impacts,%20The
Top Things to Know for Small Businesses
http://www.healthcare.gov/news/factsheets/2011/08/small-business.html
When are Dems going to emphasize these types of provisions when they run for office? These are the sort of things that pull the rug out from under Republican opposition claims that the bill hurts small businesses. You would think Dems would club the Republicans with these credits. Someone needs to tell Dems that it is OK to tout these things and preferably real loud every chance they get.
NOTE:
Joel Harmon July 2001
UPP45,
No we can't LEGALLY carry concealed. There are a lot of other positives though. The only reason we are denied the right to legally defend ourselves in public is because of this vile creature:
Ernie Chambers
This guy filibusters every time the unicameral brings up something he doesn't like. He represents the black district in Omaha and only wants criminals to have firearms.
I know that the vast majority of the unicameral is for CC. It almost got passed this year but it got filibustered...again. My friend Joe Olivo, a large contributor to the unicameral republicans, wrote a letter to each one of the legislators three years ago. He asked where they all officially stood on CC. Of all the letters he sent out about 15% didn't respond and only about 5% said "negative" to CC. Most of the legislature would vote for CC if we could just get it to the voting stage!
There are a few problems with the system here with the filibusters being so powerful. This is something else they will try to fix in the future (if they can get it past the filibusters). It will take away most of Chambers' power if they can eliminate or severly limit the filibuster process. Then we can have CC. Trust me, this is a very Republican/Libertarian state...not a socialist sh*t hole like Mass.
------------------------------------------------------
M1911,
The founders lost a lot more than the things you are referencing. You have to start somewhere if we are to slow our slide down the slipery slope.
http://thefiringline.com/forums/archive/index.php?t-72192.html
Not mentioning his position with the plaintiff is what used to be called journalistic malpractice. What do they call it today? Doing the bosses bidding?
Sorry, Steve, but the "larger point" is that MSM journalists, including one working for NBC, are repeatedly portraying a schill for the corporate anti-healthcare reform propaganda machine as just another ordinary, everyday businessman without telling anyone. And they have to know that that's what he is, have to know that that's relevant and deliberately choosing not to tell people about it. And one wonders what possible combination of laziness, favor-buying and outright co-option could be behind that.
THAT. EXACTLY. Thank you! The difference, in other words, between mistakes/misstatements/etc. and LIES.
Turn out that light! There's a war on you know!
Why is it we are not given these little tidbits by the "MSM" as they do the interviews?
Further proof of why NPR stands for Nitwit Putz Radio. If NPR disappeared tomorrow, the only things I would miss would be Garrison Keillor, classical music on KUSC, and the jazz on KKJZ. The news shows are now done by idiots, thanks to the Republican takeover of the board of CPB.
NPR = Nice, Polite Republicans.
Like I heard them say the other day when regurgitating of a Republican talking point.
"Some people say"
Seriously ? Journalistic standards that wouldn't pass muster on a high school paper.
There's a name for what this guy is: a shill.
Way more polite than the name I might use...
;-)
My preferred one starts the same, sh-, and ends with -ithead.
Steve B., thanks for pointing this out. I've given up on NPR news; I listen to public radio for my local news and weather and then switch to classical. This story (as transcribed on the NPR website) seems to have been written to serve a predetermined headline -- "Business Owners Mixed on Health Care Ruling" -- rather than the other way around. It's just plain lazy; the reporter need only look in the Rolodex under "opposes Obamacare" and "supports Obamacare" and then dial the phone two or three times. The listeners learn nothing, of course; we already knew that there are differing opinions out there. Since most Americans don't know what's actually in the ACA, it's likely that the opinions we're hearing aren't based entirely on facts. Now we learn that at least one of the interviewees has a bigger agenda than simply under-compensating his employees. Let me know when NPR apologizes for this one. I won't hold my breath.
Steve - This same Olivo fellow appeared on Melissa Harris Perry on your own MSNBC a couple of weeks ago. She was quite open to listen to his concerns. He seemed immune to actual fact.
From what I have seen , the msm and local news are taking up where they left off on the aca , the board members are not happy about the surfs having possible options of wellness
The poser reporters have time to write copy about the uncertainty of obamacare and have an interview with members of the NFIB , but bothering to take 10 minutes and punch up the .GOV H/C sight , and read whats actually in the bill , is just to much to ask of news organizations
the local news here had a doc on saying the paper work from this will put him out of business , how is me being able to go buy insurance and see the doc going to put docs out of business? Or is he mad that he will be held accountable for actually creating heath for people , instead of just raking in the cash with redundency?
Anybody bother to find out if he is actually a small business owner? If he is, I am glad to see his business is doing so well under the Obama administration that he can afford to spend so much time away from it.
Send Ol' Joe a little love note and ask him how much the Lochs and Rove are Paying him to shill
http://www.perfectprinting.com/contact-us
I wonder what this is ...may be nothing but....
http://www.instantcheckmate.com/search/resultsAPI/NJ/Olivio/Joe
Nice Polite Republican radio is socially moderate and economically conservative. They depend on local business for much of their support - check their pledge drives. FAIR.org has documented their guest's political leanings for years as roughly 2 - 1 Republican over Democratic, conservative over liberal.