Tonight I attended my 2nd House meeting at a small household in Columbus, Ohio. Our group consisted of about 15 people, whom knew nothing about each other, except we were concerned. Concerned about what are we going to do about the mess we are in as a country. We watched the video from President Obama and the video from Governor Kaine and then we got to talk about our situations. And there was a good mix of life and experience in the room. Our host, Erin shared with the group her story and opened it up for discussion. I shared my job loss and lack of wanting to be asking for help. I shared that now I do have a job, albeit parttime, it is a start. But I also shared the disconnect that seems to exist in Washington DC and urged people to write, phone, fax and speak with our local offices of elected officials and tell them we need action, not words.
Another woman spoke up and said we need to recognize the need for knowing our neighbors and rebuild the sense of community, that we owe to them to be open to share, to help and to do something. To listen, to talk and to act are the most important things we can do, even as we are missing the work, there is still something we can do to get the ball rolling. Another participant stated the need for us to be focussed on equaling the playing field when it comes to the global standards. Other countries that do not live up to the standards we place in America have an unfair advantage of industrial manufacturing, and sacrifice standards so they can win jobs. We agreed that there is a motive on consumerism and acquiring things which is why there is such a problem in the US economy right now. We are scared to buy things.... because we are very concerned about what might happen later down the road. Like layoffs, and living with less services.
A teacher in the group talked about how we misvalue the role of the teachers we have in the US. There was agreement that our priorities as consumers are now imbalanced. We spend more time debating what happened on American Idol and less on our responsibility as citizens, and as neighbors. It's like we have been trained to buy and not trained to help. It's a misplaced allegiance.
A very astute woman proposed that we meet again, like a focus group and keep in touch, and so we agreed to meet again at our hosts home and discuss in more detail how this plan will affect us as households. But I think this is indeed what President Obama wants Americans all over the country to do. To become engaged. To not lose the hope and the magic of what an educated citizenry does in times of crisis. We have to work the problem, not point fingers at each other over who started it. That debate will prove fruitless. The time to act is now, and the time to get involved is now. Write, email, telephone your family and friends. Have a house meeting, make a focus group. Be open. Be honest about your situation and share your story. It relieves the anger and guilt that builds up in ones self. Don't let it eat you up inside.
I had to ask for help and I did get some answers. I had to admit to myself that in times of crisis, I have to look for answers. Sometimes that means making a few phone calls. Sometimes that means having to fill out forms for food stamps. Sometimes that means having to find a community health clinic. Charity is hard to accept sometimes, but it's there for a reason I am finding out. I do need help. And, as my situation improves, THEN I will be able to give back to those I need help from. That's what we need to do America. When you have nothing, you have nothing to lose. That's about where I am right now.
There was a statement from President Obama's inaugural address that really sits well within me regarding service. Having these house meetings has been like a living civics lesson in why freedom is to be cherished and not taken for granted. It allows us to give support and concern to others that need our care and concern. Our burdens will be made lighter when we give them up. Our stress might be just two degrees less than when we walked in the door. It was a very uplifting experience. I encourage each and every one of you to participate. All it requires is your attention and your presence.
This is a message to the masses of people who cannot support the stimulus plan, actually the Reinvestment and Recovery Plan for America. What is the solution to putting people to work? Work is what is sorely missing in this country. How are you going to put 11 million people to work? We need to pass a bill that addresses JOBS, JOBS, JOBS . We are stuck in a disaster ten times worse than any hurricane could deliver, yet you keep up with the "you're doing a heck of a job Brownie" response. This dismal economy is challenging the survival of our nation. Where are the priorities Republicans? You go on and on about tax relief, but it will do nothing to help those whom have nothing. You can't get a tax break when you don't have a job!
What do you want from us Republicans? Blood? That's all we have left!! YOU LOST THE ELECTION! That means most of us don't support your ideology... You've had your chance for 25 years with your Contract ON America, you've blamed the unions for everything going wrong and you have rewarded your Wall Street buddies with all the perks they could ever want. And you left the rest of the country out in the cold. Every day, people are scrounging, saving, borrowing, and begging for help from somewhere to go to work. Yet you ignore the obivious. It's high time you learned what it is like to be without, to be without privlidge and power. It was high time you were made to figure out how to make ends meet without being given any ends. That's what I have had to do for months. That's what millions of unemployed and underemployed have to deal with right now. Where would you be if you didn't have your millions? Sen. McCain, McConnell, Kyl and Sessions you drive me up a wall with your ignorance and arrogance. You keep banging an old drum about being "fiscally conservative" yet YOU forget about the 3 TRILLION dollar war YOU charged to the American public when YOUR great leader was in power. And let's not forget the untold cost of what it continues to cost in lost lives and lost resources, to the US taxpayers. You make me sick! Your facts are twisted and arranged by your precious conservative media and think tanks who keep espousing nonstop on FAUX NEWS, that we are wasting money. A working public is not a waste of money. You simply hate the fact that you're not the party in charge and you want to take it out on the American public. You would rather see America fail, just to prove your point.
I am sorry dear conservatives... You will not win with your tired rhetoric. You will not win over the afflicted and the poor. You won't win because you don't understand what it's like to be without. You do not understand compassion or empathy. You don't understand whom the least of these are. You don't understand that one day, you will be without and no one is going to help you. Why? Because you cared more about tightening your fist and closing your heart and soul when a NATION needed you. You're going to be living in a country that is too close-minded to care about anyone, or anything but themselves. That is what selfishness brings. And that is going to be a dark day in America if we proceed down your road.
I say, get on board with the CHANGE that most of America voted for. I say, you are not going to break us, those down and out, because there are more of us that need help than you "fiscal conservatives". You're number in power will shrink, because you just don't get it. And that is too bad. It's like beating your head against the wall and wondering why it hurts. I pity the fact that you have to hold America hostage because things didn't go your way. I say, to hell with you and we just proceed without you.
Today, I attended a house meeting at the Upper Arlington Public Library and listened to others regarding the status of President Obama's Reinvestment and Recovery Plan for the United States. It was a good meeting of WE THE PEOPLE, but I felt the video was short on details. I applaud the good Governor of Virginia for spearheading the need for WE THE PEOPLE to become active and stay active at this critical time in our countrys history, but it did not resonate passion. You know why? It goes back to this idea that the well-to-do don't really understand the pressures of the working class, the middle class and the very poor. I think President Obama does... but that's about it. I have watched the Democrat leaders capitulate over and over again as if they don't know they are the party in charge. I don't like their style. It looks wimpy. That's one reason I don't call myself a Democrat, I call myself a Progressive. The elected Democrats need to take charge of the reins of power, along with the good will the voting public gave them on November 4, 2008.
Allow me to bring my story to you and come down from the clouds of rhetoric, and down to Main Street. I am a 45 year old man, with a college education, and I have JUST TODAY found a part time job of which I am truly thankful. But I had to endure nine long weeks without an income, and it was super frustrating seeing my life pass by and there seemingly being no light at the end of the tunnel. In fact, today, I have 65.00 dollars left for food and fuel and that's it. But my situation is being repeated millions of times over in America. Just last month, 600,000 times. Wondering how they are going to pay the bills, pay the expenses, put fuel in the car, find a job. Their emergency is happening right now.... just like me. And that's what really ticks me off about our elected officials.... They don't understand the NOW of the situation.
So here is a thought I would like to share with about what I would like to say to those in power... "There is no urgency like NOW". To see all this grandstanding by the Republicans, and the flopping of the Democrats is a tough pill to swallow. I wrote to Sen. Reid, Sen. Feinstein, Sen. Voinivich, Sen. Sanders, Sen. Wyden, Sen. Webb, Sen. Brown, Sen. McCain, Sen. McConnell; Rep. Boehner, Rep. Kilroy. Got a lot of thanks for writing, but felt they didn't really hear me. Meanwhile the unemployed, and underemployed lose more of what they used to have. Underserved is what they feel like. They feel 'less than'. Honestly, I have felt 'less than' because a job brings wealth, stability, and DIGNITY. No one wants to be looking for a handout... I certainly don't. I just wish our elected officials understood this. That's why the JOBS are so damn important at this time. Tax cuts will not pay the mortgage or rent; they will not put food on the table. And tax cuts will not help me right now. If you don't have a job, what is the worth of a tax cut? A job will give me the ability to go buy stuff I need.... and that will create DEMAND, or a reason for a small business to exist. THAT .... Republicans.... is how to jump start the economy.
And by the way.... Healthcare should not be a 'for-profit' enterprise. As Thom Hartmann has pointed out on his program, healthcare should be a RIGHT, not a privledge. Having quality healthcare (like a single payer system like Medicare) would take a lot of burden off small business and put them on equal footing to the large corporations, and other international countries. Instead of the ever-increasing cost of providing healthcare, EVERYONE could have a basic healthcare package of coverage, of which I would feel equal to those that are well-to-do. We also need to consider if you want to put more money in the people's pocket, take the burden of healthcare of the employers pocketbooks and simply make it a national deduction from everyone's paycheck.. Just like we do with the current Medicare program. With the 47,000,000 pool of unemployed and underemployed that would make a very affordable rate. And you could allow people to opt-out or purchase additional service for a higher rate according to what they want.
But as it stands now.... I am now going into my sixth year without healthcare. I simply cannot afford it. And as a side note, having these insurance companies vote yea or nay about what they will or will not pay is ridiculous. I think this entire privitization of healthcare is just another way of dividing those that are well-to-do, from those that are down on their luck. It's just too bad that personal profit and greed are too much in the hands of the powerful and the higher calling of looking or caring for your neighbors.... (even the least of these) takes a distant backseat.
And finally, my last point.... I am writing this blog because I feel the need to bring my voice and my story to the public. I want to own my part of the freedom that has been handed to me by those that have defended my right to give voice, and for that I am grateful. I have a mind that is free, I have a soul that is free, and I have a conscience for social justice and equality. I feel the responsibility of being a citizen is to SPEAK UP on the issues and to promote discussion. As Thom Hartmann says on his show, "TAG .... YOU'RE IT!!"
I encourage everyone to speak to your family and friends... Write to your elected officials for investment in America.... in American Jobs... Email.... Blog.... get the WORD out that WE NEED CHANGE... Tell those in DC that we need action TODAY.... THERE IS NO GREATER URGENCY THAN NOW!
E Plurbus Unum...
An especially effective line that President Barack Obama used during his 2004 Democratic keynote address. Addressed at a convention where he said only in America would his story be possible. And look where we are today. We are standing at the brink, a mere 14 hours away from having Barack Obama as our 44th President of the United States.
As I am sitting in my small one bedroom apartment, on a particularly chilling January evening in Columbus, Ohio--I am warmed by the thought that there is indeed a better day tomorrow. That there is a chance that I will be a better man because America is remembering that greatness starts with responsibility and accountibility to the PEOPLE of this country. The Presidency is an office that also demands accountability within the precepts of the Constitution, not the bible. Otherwise we would be no different than being a fundamentalist state. Now don't get me wrong, I support the bible as well, but not in the sense of running the government OF THE PEOPLE.
I am in a familiar situation that many other Americans find themselves in .... being without a job. And that has weighed particularly hard in my day to day living situation, but I am not going to let that take any of the sweetness of what is to be happening on Tuesday. This is too important to let any bitterness seep into another defining moment in this countrys history. I refuse to allow it in... I just wish I could be that way every day... but maybe when our new President starts the ball rolling, just maybe I will be able to have a better defense against the cynicism that sometimes I fall in to.
I am so thankful to be alive at this time, to bear witness to seeing not only history being made over the abuses of the past; but to create a new bookmark for remembering what is to become the beginning of a new beginning in American politics. This can have a tremendous jump start to ending the divides between the have's and the have-not's. Between the filthy rich, and those that are living day to day. Maybe we will be able to see each other as neighbors instead of strangers.
Yes.... It is a great day to be in America... And to the skinny man, with a funny name... I salute you... Mr. President.
