In His Own Words: Emmanual Manolios
 

By Mass Democratic Party
October 2003
  (As part of our series about everyday people across the Commonwealth, we caught up with Emmanuel "Manny" Manolios at his favorite local coffee shop, a small place across from the Old North Church in Boston's North End. It was there where Manny took the time to talk to us about how he makes ends meet, and why it is so essential to vote Democratic.)

Everyone who knows Manny is glad they do. And why shouldn't they? After all, Manny has dedicated much of his life to helping others. He's been involved in public education for over 35 years, 14 of them in the Boston Public Schools where he worked as a speech therapist. It doesn't take much prodding to get Manny's opinion on almost any issue, and his knowledge of political history isn't just deep, it's personal.

  Take Social Security. "Reagan was the first to do me in on Social Security," he says and takes a sip of coffee. "I should be getting $600 a month, but I only get $190. And the only reason is because I was a public worker, and I now collect a public pension. I paid just as much into taxes and social security as someone in the private sector did, but, because I have a public pension and not a private one, I only get $190. Of course the person in the private sector gets the entire $600. That's a $410 month difference simply because I worked in a public school. That $410 a month is a big deal to me."

Manny lives off around $2000 a month. "I only make rent because I have a forgiving landlord. I help him out with building maintenance when he is out of town and he cuts me a break on rent. Otherwise, I couldn't stay in the North End." (The North End is where Manny has lived for over twenty years).

Healthcare is one of Manny's other concerns. "We're lucky Romney is a political featherweight, and that the Democrats won't let him get away with much of what he wants," he says. "He wants to increase my co-payment on my health insurance. I mean, I already pay $160 a month to that. Oh, and not to mention prescription drugs, he wants to nail us on that too. It's almost like he wants to punish public workers."

 


Emmanual Manolios

 

As a long time veteran in public schools, his argument on education is a simple one. "We need to take education out of the hands of the courts and the elected officials and put it in the hands of the educators. It's a joke that I had to operate under court orders, or that legislators or governors think they know how to handle bilingual education"

But Bush is the target of most of Manny's anger. When asked about him, Manny simply shakes his head then looks up over his sunglasses at the steeple of Old North. "I have no confidence in the President," he says. "I smell oil." Then Manny pauses and connects a thought. "If we can import cheaper oil, why can't we import cheaper prescription drugs for seniors?"