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Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Dear Politicians at Every Level:

Dear Politicians at Every Level:

I'm a regular guy with a regular house payment, a regular car payment, a regular credit card payment and a regular set of utility bills. I got kids and grandkids, one dog and two cats. I got a regular job with a regular company. I got a couple of regular hobbies and I like to do the kinds of things most law abiding regular guys like to do. In short, I'm just another regular working stiff. I ain't overly poor, but I sure as hell ain't rich and most of the time, because of government at all levels, this regular guy feels way over regulated and taxed!

I read this morning news and I feel broker than when I started my day. I'm wondering when it will end. Will it be when it all comes crashing around us or will it end when regular guys like me have had enough and start storming the Bastille? No, I'm not for armed revolt, but something has to give!

What I have to say has been said a billion times by millions of regular guys like me and even by most of you politicians. No one seems to care. A few are ringing the warning bells, but no one is listening!!!

New York says the have a 47 Billion dollar deficit! California says theirs is running at 18 Billion, Michigan's a mere Billion or so, and here in Washington, we are looking at almost 4 billion dollars. That's a lot of money for a regular guy like me to deal with!

Doing some rough calculations, I'm in the hole for about $650 for WA. That puts my family's share at about $3250. It's better than New York State. The average New Yorker's share of their state's deficit is about $2350.00! For a family of five, that's almost $12,000.00! This is, of course, over and above the taxes we already pay!

All that and I won't even attempt to tackle how much I'm on the hook for the federal deficit! Math is not my strong suit.

What are you people doing? You promise responsibility but deliver arrogance. You promise fixes, but your repairs are even worse than the problem. It's like taking my car to a mechanic for a flat tire and he not only ignores the tire, but changes my perfectly good engine for an even bigger one that doesn't even work. He then hands me a bill I have no hope of paying and arrogantly explains how he made it all better for me! You are that mechanic!

All you care about is keeping yourself in power and all of those lovely perquisites that go along with it. I can understand job security. We all want it, but you are as bad or worse then the corporate bigwigs you say you are trying to rein in.

I plan to vote for no incumbent this year. I will work to convince others of that in time for the next election. I may not be successful, but anything is better than watching my hard earned dollars be wasted day after day.

I want you to stop spreading the wealth! I want you to spend my money wisely as if it was your own. I want you to stop spending money as if there was no end.

I want you to be responsible!

VW

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5 comments:

Stephanie Frieze said...

VW, I can certainly understand your sentiment. I don’t have difficulty with paying taxes because that’s how we keep our infrastructure intact and protect the vulnerable in our society. It’s how they get spent that upsets me. $700 million bailouts of a bunch of financial scallywags who created our financial woes and $140 million earmarks infuriates me. We’re spending our money to pull their chestnuts out of the fire, but we’re the ones having to eat macaroni & cheese to do it. The fat needs to be cut from government at all levels. Administrators are never asked to take a hit when the going gets tough, it’s always the average American. Maybe Congress should for once vote a pay decreases for themselves. They haven’t been earning what they get.

I doubt if we'll be voting for the same folks, VW, but I do understand your frustration.

VW said...

Stephanie, we can definitely agree on the bailout, that's for sure!

For me, at this point, it's not about party. I say turn them all out! If the next batch does the same crap, vote them out.

I've been on the fence about term limits for a long time, but I'm beginning to see the wisdom in it. We need to return the legislatures back to the people instead of it being a career choice.

We are in the hole here and now they are talking about adding an income tax. When does it end?

No one wants anyone to starve, but where does personal responsibility start and government interference end. I've been so poor that I couldn't afford a ham sandwich, let alone a ham dinner. I know what being dirt poor is like. I also know that I'm not still poor because I did something about it rather than sit around bemoaning my fate. I didn't ask for food stamps or a hand out.

Some of my neighbors in my rat trap apartment building would laugh at me for working long hours trying to get out of my situation.

The most vulnerable? Yes! 100% with ya. A hand up? You bet. A short term safety net? All for it.

Part of the problem is that the government, as a charity, does a lousy job. Only pennies on the dollar find their way to those who need it. We gotta find a way to fix that.

So much for the soap box! :)

Happy Halloween!

VW

Stephanie Frieze said...

I agree, VW, about teaching a man to fish so he can eat a lifetime rather than just giving him the fish.

I used to believe in term limits, but we have them. We have the ability to vote the rascals out and I agree with your sentiments there.

VW said...

I might add that I sent this to Norm Dicks, Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell, Debbie Regala, Dennis Flannigan, and Jeannie Darneille.

So far, Senator Murray is the only one who has responded.

VW

Stephanie Frieze said...

What did she say? My husband says that Norm Dicks is smug and thinks he's untouchable.