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"Say summ'n else smartt to me!" -Madea
One of my friends and I both work in organizations dedicated to serving elder Americans. We are in the trenches, and know the weight of poverty crushing the population we serve. We know their voices and votes could comprise a huge collective. We also know how dispirited many are, but we agree. If every American over the age of 50 participates fully in community and in government, we can help our Nation regain it's moral compass.
Shift gears for a moment, and think in terms of a company, rather than a country. Say you and your colleagues, officers of the company, make $174,000 per year on average. The company, however, is in trouble. Production has slowed; in other words, you and they are getting less done than your predecessors. Your colleagues, by the way, are contentious, not to say, obstructive. Some carry a personal grudge against the CEO; they loath his politics. Indeed some are bigots. They attack him and all who support him, promoting their agenda at all costs. Their focus is so narrow and fixed, they cannot allow the company to move forward. They've damaged the company's credit rating, while screaming about its debts. Today they promoted new budget measures, knowing executive branch cannot accept. The company is now no better than a hostage ... funding for all production screeches to a halt.
Does any of this sound familiar? The Huffington Post calls it the worst House of Representatives in history. The Washington Post cites thirteen reasons why it is the worst ever, calling it "hideously unpopular." Regardless of the dozen or so reasons, the headlines said it all on Friday, September 20, 2013.
Our government leaders ... have made many mistakes in the past, when they have lost sight of the sacred American values rooted in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. We are at the bring of even graver mistakes and assaults on these values.
-Samuel Dash
This Congress began by waging a campaign against minorities, women, children, elders and disabled citizens. But, wait, they are now gnawing away at the Middle Class. This is it, people, this is all of us, except the 1%, who, by the way, are doing exceedingly well. For people trying to restore their lives, in a painfully slow economic recovery, Congress wants to gut SNAP. -Affordable health care? This is it, the fourth vote to scuttle affordable health care. We've played into their hands by attaching President Obama's name to it, as though it were the product of a partisan agenda. Programs designed to aid vulnerable citizens and economic recovery, look like Humpty Dumpty at the bottom of yet another contrived fiscal cliff.
The question is not what more can we take, it is what more will we take. Some of our rights in this country are still protected. Talk to your government! Tell your congressperson today how ashamed you are of the paltry accomplishments of this Congress. Tell him or her the bullying of the few must stop!
-Had enough living on less, lowering expectations, doing battle, just to maintain the status quo? Do more. Organize and publicize a group, attend meetings, write letters, contact the media and make phone calls.
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