~ REMEMBERING VII ~ Had Enough!
Thursday, October 12, 2006 - The Washington Post By David S. Broder Will Voters Pull the Trigger?
"Thanks to one of Minnesota's own - Mark Kennedy - who was the deciding vote before Christmas 2005, his vote moved the plan forward to again attack the low income, working poor, disabled and old, this nations most vulnerable citizens."
What is really important, what is my reality and what do I need to focus on? I won't let this newest POD distraction tap into that ugly side we all have buried deep down. Otherwise, that nasty animal called prejudice, bigotry and elitism, might get out and divert my attention from the real goings on, in my town and in my country. My focus will remain on the gulf coast people, the exiles, the evacuees, the survivors of the biggest devastating catastrophe, on our American soil. My attention and energy will stay on the people, the families and their plight to rebuild and recover.
All of my neighboring Southern citizens; generations of a people who helped build this country, those citizens deserve much better than they are receiving. They need everyone's caring, love, prayers and constant attention upon them. My awareness is increasing and I can almost see beyond my own blurry backyard into the horizon. Into the horizon where Lady Liberty stands strong. I can almost see where the statue of President Lincoln sits in honor and I can almost see our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution still intact. So carefully and purposely preserved for the generations of people who would want to know who we are and why we're here, in America.
Our eyes are straining harder to see what our local, state and federally elected officials are doing with the power we gave to them, to give to others. Will we have hundreds of dollars more tacked onto our yearly property tax - now in the range of absolutely unreasonable - heading towards critically impossible, or another 20% increase in all sales tax or another jump in food costs, fuel costs and utilities or another multi-million corporation and their CEO's receiving a nice healthy subsidy or another hike in health care payments (if you still have a health care plan) and the medicine needed to thrive, or the ridiculously expensive Cobra payments - thee oxymoron of all time, with no immediate or near future relief in sight? All social programs are targeted to be gutted even more - a terrible anti-social attitude placed on the heads of our babies and seniors. And a back breaking burden on any non-affluent American citizen. I feel like I've been sent back to worst of the 1980's, the 1960's and the 1930's!
Thanks to one of Minnesota's own, who was the deciding vote before Christmas, his vote moved the plan forward to again attack the low income, working poor, disabled and old, this nations most vulnerable citizens. This vote has a terrific wide circle impact on the working middle class. This is the group that famously gives their time and money to fill in gaps of humanitarian need, while working a job, taking care of their elderly parents and helping to rear their grandchildren. This is also the group that has been hit hardest by lay offs and [No New] tax increases. With bars raised to the sky, for access to all entitlement programs, will we have any strength or resources left to challenge unjust local, state and federal governmental decisions and why those decisions were made? Will we care at all, anymore, ever again?
Here in Minnesota, our attention is now being diverted towards immigration matters.
Absent public address of the daily living concerns for the citizens of this state. Did my Governor get wind of my story "In the Spirit of Not Giving?" The only area of interest I have about immigration has nothing to do with our Governors re-election platform. I do find it curious that people who come to the United States, legally on work visas, recruited by corporate companies, lose everything when they are suddenly let go and can't find another job comparable to the one they are skilled in and lost after several years with the company.
Many years ago I was told that this group have to leave behind purchases of cars and homes. And leave behind their state and federal earning taxes paid in. Sometimes the cars are just left parked on the street and the homes left unsold, because time ran out before they could match a new job with the one they lost. They and their families are uprooted and are made to go back to their country of origin after establishing themselves in their communities. If they muster up the courage of desperation, they will run the risk of becoming illegal. Too afraid to call immigration to ask for an extension because they know the drill and what will happen if they make that contact. So, some people will try to keep the dream to stay - for their families that are either here or abroad, Holding onto that promise made to them before they stepped foot on the soil of America, they rationalize all the reasons why it is better to stay and become undocumented.
Eventually, if they stay - illegally, the college degrees, the expertise and knowledge once had and in labor market demand, become rusty and useless. This can ensnare the once highly sought after professional worker into the massive other-world of sub-low wages, or slave labor and gruelling toil, here in America. A Mechanical Engineer from Puerto Rico, an IT professional from Russia, a Radiologist from Asia and an Underwriter from Nigeria, invited by corporate america who represent our country. Given nice incentive packages and promises, then suddenly ushered aside to make room for the next cash cow initiative, without regards to the long term worker investment to begin with.
We ~Americans~ know it...It is called down sizing, right sizing, restructuring, plant closing and outsourcing. We've ~Americans~ felt it...It is called fear, panic, anger, despair and denial. We ~Americans~ did it...It is called purpose, determination, obligation and survival.
Who do you suppose keeps the true assets of the homes, cars and keeps all taxed dollars when the visa holder returns to their country or goes under the radar and becomes undocumented? Who makes new use of all those dollars? Billions of legally generated income tax and social security just sitting unclaimed. Never to be tapped by the one who generated it in the first place, not to mention all the billions of dollars undocumented workers pay in, too.
On a side note: I wonder if American companies get to count the number of jobs they create as an employment statistic, when they outsource those numbers of jobs to another country? And I wonder how many temporary and part time jobs without benefits, are included in the 'new jobs created' report. Or, how many Hurricane Katrina survivors have given up applying for Unemeployment benefits across the United States, because they could not get through the system in place and what about the other workers that have exhausted their unemployment benefits, still looking for a job?
A wicked revolving door that exists, some more recently, some for years and some decades long. Get to the root of that, because that is where the answer lies. This answer leads to all other solutions. The platform presently before us, concerning undocumented emigrants here or with intent to enter illegally, seems to be coming from those that need a distraction. Cutting our social safetynet programs along with the simultaneous goal of increasing boarder patrol? After reading the Business Weekly 7/13/2005 article "Embracing Illegals," I at least have a few more corporate entities to add to my list of who is really responsible for supporting the undocumented person and helping them to stay in America. Aren't these the corporate entity CEO's who just received a huge tax break?
I figure that this newest set of agendas is to do one of two things; force Americans into the jobs to be abandoned by undocumented workers or it is a smoke screen for taking money away from social programs - from the American citizens with the smallest voice and the least power, to put towards commercial investments in the middle east. Where else would the money come from. The tax relief recently given to this country's wealthiest would be the pre-cursor to both assumptions. We will certainly see effectively better unions rise from the ashes, if American workers are going to be the new sub-level working slave. The passion we {workers} have been slowly squeezed of, will be found in the battle for equal worker pay and equal worker rights. To tolerate anything less, is...well...Un-American. ~END~
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