Over the holidays I went back to my home town in Louisiana to visit relatives and while there, was against struck by the disparity between the haves and have nots. While in many of the larger cities and in other states it is very easy to not see poor people, other than perhaps some homeless or possibly homeless panhandling on street corners, in states like Louisiana and Mississippi it is much more pervasive and you would have to make a huge effort to not ever see poverty.
I am by no means wealthy, but I do make enough to be well above the poverty line. However, I was born to a family that was lower income and raised for most of my life by a single mother. I remember not having enough money for new shoes, having to wait until my mom got paid to get things (and many times not even getting them then) and by not having enough extra money to buy books at the "book club" day, or other things like that. My mom did her best but sometimes the money just wasn't there. I also remember eating supper with my two brothers while Mom sat with us, waiting until we had finished eating before she fixed her own plate. At the time it never occurred to me but now I realize that she was doing so not because she wasn't hungry yet, but because she was waiting until we were full to see what was left for her.
This holiday season I was struck by a scene while visiting a donut shop on the morning after Christmas to grab breakfast for the family. I placed a pretty good order, not worrying about keeping track of what I was ordering, buying on a whim, and just handing over my debit card when the order was finished without even really registering how much the counterperson had told me was the final price. My attention was elsewhere.
Next to me in line was a woman with her child. The youngster ordered a donut , kolache, and a milk, and the mother ordered a donut. When the price was quoted, the mom produced a crumpled dollar bill and a few coins. When it was obvious that the amount she had wasn't enough to cover the bill, she quietly asked the counterperson to put her donut back.
Without going into any further details, the woman ended up getting her full order and she and her daughter sat down to eat their treat.
What struck me at that moment was that this is the type of person that the 2012 elections, Presidential and Congressional, are all about.
It is absolutely impossible for me to believe that any of the Republican candidates remember (and some never have known) what problems face a person who has to put a donut back because they can't afford it and for their child to have what they want as well.
Mitt Romney was born rich and got richer, Newt Gingrich has a $500k revolving line of credit at Tiffany's, Ron Paul was a doctor, etc., etc. and yet they want to tell us that they are prepared to do things to help someone facing problems that are, at best, an intellectual exercise for them.
Use terms like Exceptionalism, Job Creators and the other buzz words carefully focus grouped but the Conservatives in Congress have done everything they can to make the working poor poorer.
If you choose to support them that is certainly your right.
But shame on you.
