Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) lectured a small business owner LaRonda Hunter on Tuesday night, telling her she needs to pay healthcare costs for employees, even after she explained that her profit margin is too thin to allow for that and it would make her dreams of expansion "impossible."
Hunter owns five hair salons in the Ft. Worth, Texas area with 45-48 employees. She told Sanders her dream is to expand her business by adding more salons and employing more people.
If Hunter's business hit 50 employees, she would not be able to afford expansion due to her industry's small profit margin history and the Affordable Care Act mandate to pay for healthcare.
"I'm not a wealthy person, so it's impossible for me to grow my business," she said. "My question to you, Senator Sanders, is how do I grow my business? How do I employ more Americans without either raising the prices to my customers or lowering wages to my employees?"
Sanders asked her what kind of healthcare she offered her staff, after establishing that she did not have 50 employees.
"Let me give you an answer you will not be happy with," Sanders said.
Sanders' answer ignored Hunter's question of how he thinks she should expand her business despite Obamacare restraints.
"I think that for businesses that employ 50 people or more, given the nature of our dysfunctional health care system right now, where most people do get their health insurance through the places that they work–I'm sorry, I think that in America today, everybody should have healthcare and if you have more than 50 people, you know what, I think–I'm afraid to tell you, but I think you will have to provide healthcare," he said.
Hunter asked again how she could expand her business.
Sanders started to make light of her situation by joking about his lack of knowledge of the industry.
"Well, you see, the difficulty is also–is and I'm not much of an expert on hairdressing in general, and certainly in Ft. Worth–" the crowd laughed, but Hunter cut back in.
"I'm just one of small businesses," she pointed out.
"I know," Sanders said.
He said that there could be another salon in Ft. Worth offering similar services, but giving their employees healthcare. This would cause an unfair competition between the two salons.
Hunter wasn't having his response, so she jumped back in.
"I think you'll find the profit margin in my entire industry [inaudible]–" she said as Sanders cut her off.
"But, I do believe, to be honest with you, that if you have more than 50 people, yes, you should be providing health insurance," Sanders said.