Mitt Romney says that 47% of Americans refuse to “take personal responsibility” for their own lives, consider themselves “victims”, and are “dependent” on government. Included in this 47% are millions of elderly Americans who benefit from Social Security and Medicare, young Americans trying to finish college with the help of student loans, soldiers deployed overseas, and those who have served our country and receive Veterans benefits. These comments are a clear example of two things that are very wrong in American politics today: the dividing of Americans for political gain and the demonization of social programs that help millions of Americans take part in the American Dream.
When I was fourteen, my dad lost his job and my family nearly lost everything. I was the only member of my family able to find work--at minimum wage. Food Stamps helped keep me from going hungry and Pell grants helped me go to college. It was the combination of hard work and a hand up that allowed me to become one of the first women to fly in combat missions and achieve my American Dream. I am just one of the overwhelming majority of Americans who is responsible and hard-working, and at one point in their life benefited greatly from government programs such as student loans, Medicare and Social Security.
Mitt Romney, and my opponent Congressman Joe Walsh, paint a picture of millions of American refusing to “take responsibility” in order to make it more reasonable to destroy a program like Medicare. Student Loans, Social Security and Medicare make a difference in the lives of working families every day, and the conversation that should be taking place is how we can save these programs, not weaken them.
America currently faces serious challenges that are squeezing working families and jeopardizing the American Dream. These problems are not the result of the irresponsibility of average Americans, but the failure of those in Washington to listen to each other and have an honest conversation about our country’s future. By working together to bring about reforms like closing unnecessary tax loopholes, cutting waste in the defense budget, and removing fraud from Medicare, we can reduce the deficit and save programs that mean so much to working families. But in order to work together and listen to each other, we need to stop talking about the 47%, 1%, and 99% and acknowledge that we are all in this together.
One other point I want to make and that are about “Job Creators”. The biggest economic lie in the history of the United States is that companies are job creators, WRONG. Demand create jobs and supply fills jobs, If you have no demand you have no supply, also there is many companies out there who are competing to supply the demand. I know I have been in sales and marketing for over twenty years and there is at least ten companies fighting for the same demand. Our base for demand is the middle and lower class they buy over 90% of the products in the US. So how is giving the wealthy more money going to help the middle and lower class buy more products. LITTLE DEMAND-LITTLE SUPPLY-LTTLE. Greed is one of our biggest threats to our democracy and survival.
No one wants to destroy these programs. Many deserving people benefit from these programs as they should. But there are also many who take advantage of these programs and nothing is being done to stop them. The ones who are dependent on government know who they are. They are the ones who can work but won't, They won't look for jobs because they are very comfortable with the handouts for food , housing, un-employment, medicine, education, etc. What used to be considered "aid" until you got back on your feet, is now considerd by many to be a way of life. They bleed the system. Why work when I can get all this at someone elses expense. Who is going to stop this. I have been hearing about cutting waste and stopping the fraud for years. All lip service. Thank you for your service and scarafice to our great nation.