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Today’s canvass made me a little weepy. I mourn the loss of community. On a single street I met a woman who was alone in the world, struggling with a minimum wage job, who could not get health insurance. Her eyes were as blue as cornflowers.
She said she thought everyone was afraid. I have to agree. For different reasons, so many people have lost the faith. But I feel we canvassers are like apostles who are there to remind people that things will get better with time. But will they? Who knows? No matter who takes office. I asked the lady to be sure to vote for President Obama because this will be a tight race and she needs the kind of help he offers.
A few more minutes into it a man in a blue Corvette pulled up and asked me if I were passing out money. I said, no, I was trying to round up votes for President Obama. He told me to count him out, but he must have had one iota of sympathy because he wished me better luck next time. Obviously, he thinks this race is decided. I certainly do not think it is.
I wish there was something I could personally do to help this lady. She’s one of many people I meet that I want to help. I get weepy a lot. I can’t help everbody single-handedly. We need to do that as a country. I’m willing to pay my taxes and pay more to help the needy if need be.
I can turn away from a door to head down the street to my next destination, but it’s so hard for me to turn a downtrodden person out of my heart.
Burning the Shoe Leather for Barack 
Ms. Miller…does this mean you believe in entitlements? Why doesn’t this “downtrodden” lady get a job, instead of asking taxpayers bail her out? What happens when we run out of money to help this “downtrodden” lady? When is the last time someone on welfare/food stamps/unempl. ever created a job….just sayin
I said this woman worked in a minimum wage job. She didn’t ask for a handout. She saw that I was a person who cared – I guess it shows on my face – and she opened up a little bit to me. I suggested that she vote for Obama because I believe out of the two candidates he is more likely to promote programs that help struggling people. Have you ever gone canvassing or spoken to people outside your privileged social set? There are a lot of people hurting out there….and for you to ask why she doesn’t just get a job would suggest to me that you think there are good jobs for every person who wants one. Even your candidate knows that’s not true, but I don’t see how anything he has said so far is going to change that. Trickle down economics? It didn’t work with Reagan, it didn’t work with Bush Sr. nor Bush Jr. Every time a Republican gets in office there is a reduction in the number of private sector jobs. Your party needs to start singing some new tune for any American who is not well off or misinformed to vote for any of them.
An interpretation of Matthew 7:1, which I find to be very pertinent to the way we look at what is fair.
Judge not, that ye be not judged. The term judge is used in more than one sense, but Christ’s meaning is plain. (1) He does not prohibit the civil judgment of the courts upon evil doers, for this is approved throughout the whole Bible. (2) He does not prohibit the judgment of the church, through its officers, upon those who walk disorderly, for both he and the apostles have enjoined this. (3) He does not forbid those private judgments that we are compelled to form the wrong-doers, for he himself tell us that we are to judge men by their fruits. (See Mt 7:15-20.) What he designs to prohibit is rash, uncharitable judgments, a fault-finding spirit, a disposition to condemn without examination of charges.
Pete Caruso gets SS and Medicare yet he’s always bellyaching about handouts. Try this Mr Caruso, how about the handouts via our tax structure that allows people like Romney who has $250,000,000 zocked away in foreign banks to pay a lower tax rate than wage earners making $40,000 a year?
Or the tax subsidies given to BIG OIL, the most profitable corporations on the planet? Or the subsidies given Agri-businesses while food stamps are cut to families suffering from THE BUSH RECESSION?
When are we going to hear your complaints about THOSE handouts?
Nice to meet you Bill. Don’t know where you live, but I could use a guy like you on OFA Team Mentor!
Please tell Mr. Leach that my SS & Medicare are not handouts. I’m 77, and paid into these programs until I retired. Handouts are what hard working Americans are GIVING to the people on welfare/food stamps/unemployment with our taxes. 94% of Americans in the latest poll don’t care about Romney’s money….none of that money belongs to taxpayers. We better lower taxes on the wealthy investors and corporations, & small business owners so they’ll invest and create jobs. When is the last time someone on welfare created a job? How come states with Republican Governors have dug out of their holes? It’s because they’re not afraid to cut spending. Does Mr. Leach know that if we took 100% of ALL the money earned by Americans making $200K, or more, it would only run our Govt for 8 days. That’s a CBO fact. Ask Mr. Leach where is the money going to come from when we’re broke. And are you and Mr. Kerch better off today than you were 4 years ago? In Pres. Bush’s last 2 years and Obama’s first 2 years the House & Senate were Democrat-controlled. Ergo the infamous Dodd-Frank housing bill that started the decline. The Dem House & Senate caused our downfall, and Obama just keeps adding to it. Just saying’
I paid into Social Security and Medicare too for all of my working life, but will they be there for me? Not as good as you had it, Mr. Caruso, if the Republicans take office. What do I want with a lousy voucher? You wouldn’t want that either. And, as Mr. Keach points out (his name is Keach – like Stacy Keach), welfare is in the eye of the beholder. We can either give handouts to the poor or to the already rich. To me, the only sensible route is to help those who cannot, for whatever reason, help themselves.
The agenda proposed by the Ryan/ Romney ticket is like what we had under lil Georgie Bush jr, only ten times worse. We had the “cut taxes on the wealthy–unleash businesses” nonsense for 8 years, followed by the worst financial decline since the GREAT DEPRESSION.
Let’s try something different, like what we had under Clinton and see what we get –RAISE taxes on the wealthy, cut taxes on the middle-class, have consumer protection so the average person isnt screwed by the likes of Romney and Bain Capital. Then we’ll have another financial expansion like we had under Clinton.
The Repub party said before Obama was elected that their one goal was to make Obama a one term pres. To accomplish this they voted against every proposal Obama suggested. Now, after Bush hands him two unfinished wars, a huge deficit and financial collapse, they want to claim Obama is a failure.
As for your paying into SS and Medicare, Caruso, statistically, you exceeded your contributions years ago. How about we give you a voucher and you go look for insurance? You are now living off taxes that I and Donna Miller pay. We’re supporting you. For you to complain about other Americans getting welfare is the height of hypocrisy.
I suggest you get a job and resume paying your own way.
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