Hostages

This is my 101^st post since I began writing to you in April.  It’s been a joy and a privilege to share my thoughts, problems and some of the wonderful and occasionally wacky events of my life.

Because I’m not a big political thinker or strategist, I’ve tried hard to stay clear during this time from adding to the overwhelming torrent of divisive rhetoric that passes as public political discourse today. I loathe it – and I suspect you do too.

But today, I have to note the following:

1.       House Republicans voted to cut food stamp funding by $40 billion.  4 million people would be
affected by this – not just unemployed folks but the working poor, many of whom are parents of school age children.  A quick aside:  The elected representatives who voted for this get gold standard healthcare for free! Shame on these men and women.

2.       Tomorrow, House Republicans will take aim at you – and who needs a gun when you’ve got the full faith and credit of our country to lock and load? The House Republican caucus – led by that gutless wonder of a Speaker of the House, John Boehner, is going to pass a bill to defund Obamacare with their endgame strategy being a shutdown of the U.S. government. Watch what happens to your 401K on October 1 if they succeed.  The Dow fell 700 points last time, in 2011.  This time?  Bigger.

3.       Finally, the last bit of extortion on the part of House Republicans – the debt ceiling!  You thought the shutdown was tough on your financial security?  Watch what happens to your 401K and our economy the day we default on our debt!  Down, down, down…Bye, bye.

Not scared yet?  You should be. 

Some of you probably hate Obamacare (or think you do even though you haven't tried it because it hasn't been imlemented.  Ok.).  Many of you probably don’t like the president, either – and more of you are probably Republicans.  And I’m guessing virtually all of you are completely disgusted with what’s happening to the middle class in this country. 

So I have to say this to all of you:  The single most destructive threat to all of us and our democracy  is not the Taliban, not Iran, or Syria or Al Qaeda.  It’s the whackos who have taken the Republican Party, our Congress and the concept of consensus governance hostage.  Which means they’ve made us all their hostages, too.

People who take hostages adore power and love abuse.  You might say they have "power issues."

Call me contrarian, or call me 60, but I don't like the fact that these assholes have my country and my retirement security by the  balls.

I hope one among you…or more… care enough to find a moment to send an email, or make a phone call to your member of Congress about this stuff. If you can, and where you can, speak up against the poisonous politics being practiced today, even if it’s just with friends and family.  

Your country needs you.   Me too.