I guess it's time for me to get political again. My activist self has been quiet for a long time, but there are so many issues of concern to me that I'm not going to stay silent any longer. Time to blast off.
Yesterday afternoon, I saw a first (for me, anyway) in the relatively wealthy Seacoast. At the intersection of Rte. 108 and Back River Rd. in Dover, a man stood in the median holding a sign which said: "Will work. Family needs help." There may have been more, but when the light turned green, I drove through the intersection fast enough that I couldn't make out the rest of the sign in the waning daylight.
I immediately began to think. Did I have work I could hire this man to do? Rake leaves? Scrub the mold off the outside of my house? Then. . . What must it be like to be reduced to standing outside holding that sign? How many family members did he have? Then. . . . could this be a scam? How many people are out there feeling that desperate or more desperate, while I have a 3 bedroom house, food, heat, new car and closets full of clothes. In short, I felt terrible.
Today the Senate voted against extending jobless benefits to those who have been unemployed for 99 weeks. 99 weeks. Just think about that. More than two years. These are the people who most need unemployment benefits. By now they would have sold everything they could have sold, used whatever savings they had, and would be on the brink of homelessness, I imagine. Are there people in the Senate who believe that these people are not trying to find work because they are so comfortable receiving their approximately $300.00 a week? How many of us can live on $300.00 per week? That amount would pay my mortgage. End of story.
And still the Republicans don't want to vote through benefits extension unless we can pay for them, at the same time that they don't want to allow taxes to rise on the wealthiest 400 Americans, who make more money than God, and who pay less than 16 per cent of their income in taxes - less, for example, than most of us pay. This is death-defying logic.
After visiting my mom, I headed to a yoga class, and on my way home, stopped at Good Will to shop for a warm coat for my mom since she has outgrown the one I bought her last year. As I browsed the racks, I felt completely guilty. The store was more crowded than I've ever seen it, and I was certain that everyone could tell that I didn't really NEED to shop at Good Will.
I wanted to announce that I was there on behalf of my mother who is now dependent on the very social programs that may well be cut in the rush to reduce the deficit. She has only $56.00 she is allowed to keep and spend out of her meager Social Security and retirement pension each month. Medicare and Medicaid pay for everything beyond what she pays to Langdon Place each month. I kept my mouth shut, found a coat I hope will zip around her ever-expanding belly, and beat feet out to the car.
I drove home so as to avoid the intersection of 108 and Back River Rd., but I hope that we will each feel inclined to listen carefully to the rhetoric coming out of Washington about deficit reduction, and contact our so-called legislators to encourage them to take steps to pass laws that will benefit the people who need the most help: the unemployed, the working poor, the elderly and those who are unable to take care of themselves. "Will Work. My family needs help."
Good Will to all.
