the attitude with arnie arnesen the Thurs edition March 12

[Arnie Arnesen]

the attitude with arnie arnesen

opening thoughts: robert frost

producers: Dave Scott and Stephanie Collins

Chloé LaCasse (the best of the attitude)
streaming live at wnhnfm.org noon EST on the dial-94.7FM Concord NH
podcasts available at
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/attitude-with-arnie-arnesen/id1634055179

opening thoughts 

Tales Of Past's

"The man who wrote about snowy woods and roads not taken buried four children—and we've been lying about who he really was ever since."

America loves its poets gentle. We want them wise and grandfatherly, offering soft wisdom about yellow leaves and rural New England. Robert Frost fit that role perfectly—white-haired, twinkly-eyed, reciting at presidential inaugurations.

But the real Robert Frost? He was surviving, not strolling.

His father, William Prescott Frost Jr., was an alcoholic who died of tuberculosis when Robert was just eleven, leaving the family broke and broken. His mother, Belle, tried to contact the dead through séances, chasing ghosts instead of stability. Robert grew up sharp, anxious, and already haunted.

By his mid-twenties, he'd buried his first child—three-year-old Elliott, dead from cholera in 1900. It was only the beginning.

Over the decades, Frost would bury three more children:

Elinor Bettina, who died as an infant in 1907

Marjorie, who died at 29 from complications after childbirth in 1934

Carol, his only surviving son, who took his own life with a shotgun in 1940

Another daughter, Irma, descended into mental illness and was institutionalized. His wife Elinor—worn down by loss after loss—died in 1938, her heart literally and figuratively broken.

Four dead children. A wife consumed by grief. A family tree pruned by tragedy.

Before poetry saved him, Frost failed at nearly everything. Farming? Disaster. Teaching? Frustrating. Journalism? Dead end. He was approaching 40, still unknown, still struggling, watching his children die and his marriage crack under the weight of sorrow that had no outlet.

In 1912, in an act of desperation disguised as courage, he moved his family to England. And there—finally, painfully—the poems came. Not from peace or pastoral contentment, but from sheer survival. From the need to turn unbearable grief into something that could be held, read, maybe understood.

When you read "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," you're not reading a cozy nature scene. You're reading a man contemplating how easy it would be to just stop—to lie down in those lovely, dark, and deep woods and let the snow cover everything. "But I have promises to keep, / And miles to go before I sleep"—that's not whimsy. That's the decision to keep walking when walking is agony.

"The Road Not Taken"? It's not an inspirational poster. It's grief disguised as choice. It's about the roads you didn't take—the children who didn't live, the versions of yourself that died with them, the unbearable knowledge that every choice kills infinite others.

"Home Burial"? That's about a couple destroying each other over their dead child, unable to grieve together, only apart. That's Robert and Elinor's marriage, barely disguised.

His woods weren't decoration. They were refuge. They were the only place grief could breathe without being questioned.

By the time Frost stood at John F. Kennedy's inauguration on January 20, 1961, he was 86 years old. Half-blind. The sun glared off the paper, and he couldn't read the new poem he'd written for the occasion.

A lesser man might have apologized, shuffled off, admitted defeat.

Robert Frost—who had stared down more defeats than most people could survive—didn't flinch. He set aside the prepared text and recited "The Gift Outright" from memory. Flawlessly. Standing tall in the freezing wind, speaking to a nation about land and belonging, about gifts that cost everything.

He didn't stand there in spite of his wounds.

He stood there because of them.

Because he'd learned something the soft, grandfatherly myth can't teach: You don't survive tragedy by pretending it didn't happen. You survive by walking through it, by turning it into something—words, art, anything—that proves you were here, that it mattered, that even unbearable things can be borne.

Robert Frost wasn't a cozy old poet offering comforting platitudes about nature.He was a fighter who turned a lifetime of grief into language sharp enough to cut through our comfortable lies. He didn't promise life would be beautiful. He promised that even when it's unbearable—when you've buried your children and your marriage and your dreams—you can still choose to keep walking.

And maybe, just maybe, leave something honest behind.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep.

But Robert Frost kept his promises. He walked his miles.

And the poems he left are not gentle.

They're survival itself, carved into words.

--part one:Arthur Allen, senior correspondent, writes about the FDA and the pharmaceutical industry as well as topics related to covid-19. He joined KFF Health News in 2020 after six years at Politico, where he created, edited, and wrote for its first news team to focus on health information technology. Previously, he was a freelance writer for publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Smithsonian Magazine, and Slate. He also worked for The Associated Press for 13 years, including stints as a correspondent based in El Salvador, Mexico, and Germany. He is the author of the books “Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine’s Greatest Lifesaver,” “Ripe: The Search for the Perfect Tomato,” and “The Fantastic Laboratory of Dr. Weigl.” He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of California-Berkeley.

When ICE came, Minneapolis created underground health networks. Should other cities?   https://www.npr.org/2026/03/05/nx-s1-5726806/ice-border-minneapolis-underground-health-networks

Sarah Anderson directs the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies and co-edits Inequality.org. Anderson’s research covers a wide range of international and domestic economic issues, including trade, finance, inequality, and budget policies. A well-known expert on executive compensation, Anderson has been the lead author on the annual IPS Executive Excess series for more than 20 years. She has also co-authored two books, Field Guide to the Global Economy (New Press, 2nd edition, 2005) and Alternatives to Economic Globalization (Berrett-Koehler, 2nd edition, 2004).While CEO pay at large U.S. corporations remains in the stratosphere, low-wage workers are struggling with both rising costs and the gutting of our social safety net —with 7.5 million Americans expected to lose Medicaid and 4 million to lose SNAP benefits to offset tax cuts for corporations and the rich under the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill.”

Solving the current “affordability crisis” will require safety net repairs and better ways to control basic costs. But to fix this problem for the long-term, we need to put an end to the poverty wage business model that is all too prevalent in Corporate America.

This report analyzes the 20 largest employers of low-wage U.S. workers, a group we’ve dubbed the “Low-Wage 20.” Together, the Low-Wage 20 companies employ approximately 6.7 million people in the United States. Their median worker wages in 2024 ranged from $9,602 (Ross Stores) to $47,607 (MGM Resorts) — compared to an average CEO compensation of over $18 million.

In this report, we find that most of these firms pay their workers so little that employees are forced to rely on public benefits like SNAP and Medicaid. Yet their CEOs make, on average, nearly 900 times more than their median employees — and their companies often spend billions on stock buybacks, artificially hiking their stock prices (and with it, CEO pay) instead of raising pay for workers.

Yet with lawmakers slashing the safety yet that these workers rely on — to fund yet more corporate tax breaks — it’s more important than ever to find ways to make these companies pay their employees equitably.

Key Findings

The Low-Wage 20 are using public assistance as corporate welfare.

These companies’ low-wage business models have left many of their workers with no choice but to rely on public assistance. The need for more equitable pay practices at these firms is even greater in the face of deep cuts to federal anti-poverty programs.

• 15 of the Low-Wage 20 reported median pay in 2024 below the $35,631 income limit for a family of three to be eligible for Medicaid in most states.
• 13 of these 20 firms reported median pay below the $33,576 threshold for a family of three to be eligible for SNAP food aid in 2024.
• In Nevada, Walmart had 4,574 employees — 29.3 percent of their employees in that state — enrolled in Medicaid in 2024. Extrapolating this data to the national level suggests that Walmart likely has around 468,800 employees on Medicaid.
• Amazon, the second-largest U.S. private sector employer, had 8,951 employees on Medicaid in Nevada in 2024, making up 48.4 percent of all Amazon employees in that state. If Nevada is representative of Amazon’s national practices, then roughly 577,000 Amazon employees are likely on Medicaid.
• Four state governments (Colorado, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Michigan) have disclosed SNAP data revealing that Walmart had a total of 10,920 employees enrolled in this food aid program in these states. Amazon had the second-largest number of employees on SNAP, with 9,633, followed by Dollar Tree, with 5,021.

The Low-Wage 20 are contributing to the affordability crisis.

• Half of Low-Wage 20 firms reported a decline in their median pay between 2019 and 2024, after adjusting for inflation. Average median pay for the group dropped 4.6 percent, from $30,474 (in 2024 dollars) to $29,087.
• All 20 of these firms reported 2024 median pay below $59,600, the income level needed to afford the U.S. average rent for a two-bedroom apartment.
• 7 out of the 20 firms have median pay below $25,533, the average price of a used car.
• 16 out of the 20 have median pay below the $44,961 average annual cost for tuition and fees at a private college and 7 have median income lower than the $25,415 average cost of attending a public university as an out-of-state student.

The Low-Wage 20 are enriching CEOs while paying poverty wages.

• Average CEO pay at these 20 low-wage firms hit $18.6 million in 2024, just shy of the $18.9 million average for S&P 500 CEOs as a whole. Their average CEO-median worker pay ratio stood at a staggering 899 to 1, compared to the S&P 500 average of 285 to 1.
• At least 16 U.S. billionaires owe their wealth to companies in the Low-Wage 20. These individuals, which include both current and former top executives and dynastic heirs, include eight associated with Walmart, two with Amazon and Tyson Foods, and one each with Home Depot, Best Buy, Starbucks, and Chipotle.
• The Low-Wage 20 companies combined spent $260 billion on stock buybacks between 2019 and 2024. This financial maneuver artificially inflates the value of CEO stock-based pay while siphoning resources from worker wages and other productive investments.
• With the $32.5 billion these firms spent on buybacks in 2024 alone, they could’ve lifted more than 1 million workers making the Low-Wage 20’s average median wage of $29,087 up to the $59,600 income level needed to afford the U.S. average rent for a two-bedroom apartment.
• Half of Low-Wage 20 companies spent more on stock buybacks to pump up short-term share values than on long-term capital investment between 2019 and 2024.

While millions of American workers struggle to afford rising costs of necessities like groceries, utilities, healthcare, and housing, these companies’ low-wage business models have left many of their workers with no choice but to rely on public assistance just to get by. With the recent cuts to federal funding of vital aid programs, the need for more equitable pay practices at these low-wage firms is even greater. 

part two: Sarah Anderson directs the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies and co-edits Inequality.org. Anderson’s research covers a wide range of international and domestic economic issues, including trade, finance, inequality, and budget policies. A well-known expert on executive compensation, Anderson has been the lead author on the annual IPS Executive Excess series for more than 20 years. She has also co-authored two books, Field Guide to the Global Economy (New Press, 2nd edition, 2005) and Alternatives to Economic Globalization (Berrett-Koehler, 2nd edition, 2004).While CEO pay at large U.S. corporations remains in the stratosphere, low-wage workers are struggling with both rising costs and the gutting of our social safety net —with 7.5 million Americans expected to lose Medicaid and 4 million to lose SNAP benefits to offset tax cuts for corporations and the rich under the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill.”

Solving the current “affordability crisis” will require safety net repairs and better ways to control basic costs. But to fix this problem for the long-term, we need to put an end to the poverty wage business model that is all too prevalent in Corporate America.

This report analyzes the 20 largest employers of low-wage U.S. workers, a group we’ve dubbed the “Low-Wage 20.” Together, the Low-Wage 20 companies employ approximately 6.7 million people in the United States. Their median worker wages in 2024 ranged from $9,602 (Ross Stores) to $47,607 (MGM Resorts) — compared to an average CEO compensation of over $18 million.

In this report, we find that most of these firms pay their workers so little that employees are forced to rely on public benefits like SNAP and Medicaid. Yet their CEOs make, on average, nearly 900 times more than their median employees — and their companies often spend billions on stock buybacks, artificially hiking their stock prices (and with it, CEO pay) instead of raising pay for workers.

Yet with lawmakers slashing the safety yet that these workers rely on — to fund yet more corporate tax breaks — it’s more important than ever to find ways to make these companies pay their employees equitably.

Key Findings The Low-Wage 20 are using public assistance as corporate welfare.

These companies’ low-wage business models have left many of their workers with no choice but to rely on public assistance. The need for more equitable pay practices at these firms is even greater in the face of deep cuts to federal anti-poverty programs.

• 15 of the Low-Wage 20 reported median pay in 2024 below the $35,631 income limit for a family of three to be eligible for Medicaid in most states.
• 13 of these 20 firms reported median pay below the $33,576 threshold for a family of three to be eligible for SNAP food aid in 2024.
• In Nevada, Walmart had 4,574 employees — 29.3 percent of their employees in that state — enrolled in Medicaid in 2024. Extrapolating this data to the national level suggests that Walmart likely has around 468,800 employees on Medicaid.
• Amazon, the second-largest U.S. private sector employer, had 8,951 employees on Medicaid in Nevada in 2024, making up 48.4 percent of all Amazon employees in that state. If Nevada is representative of Amazon’s national practices, then roughly 577,000 Amazon employees are likely on Medicaid.
• Four state governments (Colorado, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Michigan) have disclosed SNAP data revealing that Walmart had a total of 10,920 employees enrolled in this food aid program in these states. Amazon had the second-largest number of employees on SNAP, with 9,633, followed by Dollar Tree, with 5,021.

The Low-Wage 20 are contributing to the affordability crisis.

• Half of Low-Wage 20 firms reported a decline in their median pay between 2019 and 2024, after adjusting for inflation. Average median pay for the group dropped 4.6 percent, from $30,474 (in 2024 dollars) to $29,087.
• All 20 of these firms reported 2024 median pay below $59,600, the income level needed to afford the U.S. average rent for a two-bedroom apartment.
• 7 out of the 20 firms have median pay below $25,533, the average price of a used car.
• 16 out of the 20 have median pay below the $44,961 average annual cost for tuition and fees at a private college and 7 have median income lower than the $25,415 average cost of attending a public university as an out-of-state student.

The Low-Wage 20 are enriching CEOs while paying poverty wages.

• Average CEO pay at these 20 low-wage firms hit $18.6 million in 2024, just shy of the $18.9 million average for S&P 500 CEOs as a whole. Their average CEO-median worker pay ratio stood at a staggering 899 to 1, compared to the S&P 500 average of 285 to 1.
• At least 16 U.S. billionaires owe their wealth to companies in the Low-Wage 20. These individuals, which include both current and former top executives and dynastic heirs, include eight associated with Walmart, two with Amazon and Tyson Foods, and one each with Home Depot, Best Buy, Starbucks, and Chipotle.
• The Low-Wage 20 companies combined spent $260 billion on stock buybacks between 2019 and 2024. This financial maneuver artificially inflates the value of CEO stock-based pay while siphoning resources from worker wages and other productive investments.
• With the $32.5 billion these firms spent on buybacks in 2024 alone, they could’ve lifted more than 1 million workers making the Low-Wage 20’s average median wage of $29,087 up to the $59,600 income level needed to afford the U.S. average rent for a two-bedroom apartment.
• Half of Low-Wage 20 companies spent more on stock buybacks to pump up short-term share values than on long-term capital investment between 2019 and 2024.

--

KEEPING THE POT STIRRED SO SCUM DOESN'T RISE TO THE TOP -  Anonymous 

D. ARNIE ARNESEN
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