Being far away from all of the hoopla way up in Maine and then being suddenly tossed into the ricocheting riot of it all with our recent DSL connection has made up debate issues that we used to pass by since it did not affect us way out here. Now it does. In listening to many other people up here with their own suggestions-I wish congress would stop their ceaseless babbling and stop to listen to some very wise people.
The majority of us are hard-working and very resiliant and thrifty people up here. We do not care about the Jones and value our privacy. We live our lives at a slower pace that seeminly the rest of the world and we value that. We have that old-fashioned Yankee ingenuity that has long been lost south of us here as the urban sprawl tried desperately to lure us into it's grasp. We hold onto our old ways and are constantly finding new ways to survive the harsh climate and sad economic reality we face. Mills used to be the pride of people up here and the glue that held the balance fast and strong. Lumber Mills, Paper Mills and other Mills-now long-abandonned as they moved to countries inknown and exotic-sit in slow destruction and weeds are the only sign of life they now see.
People grumbled and then found some other way to make a living. That is what we do. With each issue-we reassess our goals and what we have to work with. Being a single mother for so long, I have learned many lessons in the normal struggle of providing good food for the table. Most Mainers feel that way too in all that has been lost to us as in other parts of the country. We take pride in our home and farms for we work hard for them.
Yet, with all that has been going on-we are forced to question a few things. Why the debt-ceiling was not truly dealt with, but put aside for another day? How is that supposed to help us? We have learned to not put things aside for a rainly day for soon the snow will come and pile up fast. This constant scrabbling and bickering in the senate to have this passed in the last minute-so sad. If people only listenned we have plenty of good ideas.
1. To find a committee (many people, like myself are more than qualified to work on this-and looking for more meaningful work suited for them....hehehehe!) that will cut together all of the wastful spending of government spending. Someone need to crack down on the waste first which bought us here. Almost eveyone I have spoken with knows at least three people who abuse the system with disability, welfare, foodstamps, oh the list goes on. Granted there are many people who look to that as what is really is-a transition and use it honestly as such until their feet are back on the ground-but, many do not (as well as the legitimately disabled)! I worked in a plaintiff firm and saw another side of it in the insurance fraud department. All of the bogus worker's comp cases and false claims out there....Yikes! All of those swindlers and slackers have really done a doozey on this horrid economy-I know alot of you agree with that! Many people are unemployed out there and are more than willing to step out on this meaningful employment opportunity. Yes, I know-there allegedly is already something set up for that-really? I mean really? Perhaps, they need to find some new people in there who would truly devote good honest time to work that that issue.
2. You know I am going to bring up the issue in child support. You know it. If the right amounts of support were calculated for the non-custodial parent to pay and actually collected-well, there would be alot less people on food stamps and government assistance. Plus, the more agressive approach of sterilizing some famous deadbeats who only popluate the world and ditch the kids they helped to create. I have heard many sad stories of those people-so horribly sad and wrong. And what about some of those custodial people who use children as more income in welfare? Yikes? Crack down on them too and the same approach should be considered for them as well. Such abuse in a system are so apparent to many of us "little people" away from the thick of it. And when the deadbeats are actually caught-put them in prison and make them work to pay it back! Why not bring back the chain gangs of old? Really? Seriously.... Some make quite a fun trip of hiding from paying the pathetic child support the court orders them to pay-for the most part. I know each and every one of you know examples of what I am talking about in this arena. Male or female-a deadbeat is a deadbeat-it doesnt matter what clothes they wear!
3. Job, Job, Jobs. Since all of the good paying jobs that held Americal together in days of old have gone over seas, why not address this issue as well? Why not tax heavily all of those companies and take away any tax breaks they earned once they took their business off the US soil? As far as creating more jobs...well-get rid of the scary corporations with Egotistic CEO's and give real-people their jobs. I am sure they will do a much better job and think a much more realistic approach on money issues. We have seen the government bail-outs and have wondered-where was our help when our small companies were driven out by the Wal-Marts of the world? Farms have closed their doors and people joined in lines at DHS as the mills shut down and went over seas. Yes, we have seen temporary jobs for all of the improvements like bringing DSL out here to the wilderness and our roads being repaired. However, nothing was done for those who are used to salaries. Companies have been down-sized and have fewer employees with no new hires. Less people are taking on the burden with longer hours and no possibility of a raise. The Corporations that have ridden out this wave are becomming too big and are losing focus on what got them there. I suppose a good incentive to new jobs would be to let the small business owner have some of their power back again so they can fight fairly against the monster conglomerates. Maine is notorious for driving small businesses away with their radical envornmental laws and extremely high tax rate. Only Wal-Mart can survive up here. And they hire for the most part less than full-time so they can get way with not paying benifits. People are sadly used to that up here and have learned to tighten out belts another way. If they took away the high taxes and encouraged small business growth-more people and families would be taken care of in the real word. Up here in Maine-people look after one another. It is sadly not possible when most small businesses find it hard each day to keep their doors open. They have had to let families they were close with go and are forced to keep skeleton crews.....
3. Debt-Ceiling....really? I mean, of course we should lose our rating since we cannot pay our debts and we just raised the amount we owned. I think some serious eternal restructuring should be looked into. Too many politicians are losing site of the real issue and are clearly only thinking of how their actions will affect the next election. How scary is that? All I heard was endless bickering in all I read about the senate. Most people that I know are independant. We do not care that much anymore for party lines. Where has it gotten us so far? We share similar concerns about this country, like those I mentioned above. I am just one person, but I worked hard to buy my first house at the age of 26 and then to sell it for the bigger house in the suburbs, to finally buy my dream farm out in the country. I lucked out! I also saw the danger of credit cards. I made sure to pay off all of my credit cards and debts before moving up here. For I was able to purchase my farm outright! An absolute dream! I made enough to pay off my mortgage and got out of the over-priced area before the market plunged. My timing was perfect-that is all. So, I wanted to celebrate this new way of life that I am proud of, by having no debt and learning to live off my means. I had always lived above it like most people-and obviously our own country. I paid off my van and grew alot of what I needed for the table etc... I purchased items on what I have in the bank only and I have personal credit with a few stores that trust my payments. Not all places in the modern world can do this-but why cant our own country learn from this? If I applied for credit-since I own everything I have outright-I would be declined. Should I and other like me be applauded? It seems that our country has an atrocious attitude towards money. Why do you have to have a credit card and mortgage and other things to gain credit? Hmmmmmm because the country encourages people to be in debt? Probably since that it all they know it seems from all I have read about the world situation. It is awful embarassing how high the debt is! We are in a country rich in resources and most of it is sitting idle! There are millions who would give anything for decent employement. Many people feel that we should tap into our own resouces and encourage small business in our own yard.
4. Bring our troops home. Common concensus from most people I have spoke with. This war on terrorism-really? Have we not done enough already? I think we should bring those soldiers back home to aid us here in getting us back on track. There are people starving and suffering right here in the good ol US. I have heard of more and more families forced to live in their relatives yards in tents. They say we are not in a recession-but it bought to mind the old photos I saw of the Great Depression of those tent cities. Only now we have more modern tents and trailors etc...They might look prettier but an apple is still an apple. When things get tough here, we batten down the hatches and tend to matters at home where it means the most-or should. Can we take a break from saving the rest of the world for a bit to take care of our own. We are feeling really lost here and abandoned.
5. Oh, the big tax issue- 20% across the board (or some such-even and same figure)-for everyone! Get rid of that tax-break poo! When did it ever work for us? The only people who profitted from it seems to be the ones who needed the government bailout after they lost touch with reality and spent their extravagant way into that notorious debt which left many people jobless as a result...yikes! Need I say more on that?They took money saved and bought their businesses over-seas! And the tax breaks and the tax breaks-please let it stop! The government bailouts-what about the small busineses? They, for the most part should have been given much smaller amounts with a committee set up to supervise where it all went -or not given any at all. There were no breaks given to the common person. We had to take it and run with the punches.... Yikes! I really do not understand the senate-if they actually listened to the average person on the street-they would hear very similar comments. We have lost our faith for the most part in the politctians who have continuously let us down. Please, do something that makes common sence so we can stop shaking our heads....
6. People should be encouraged for growing their own gardens and coming up with ways to cut down energy use. Most of us dream of being off the grid in having wind or solor power-but the cost is way out of reach for the average person. We have such valuable resources and strong working people-I wish they could see that. We have such strength in our numbers and in our will to provide well for our families in an honest way.
As far as the lessons from most Mainers and single Mom's learned; be proud of what you have and make the most of it. Don't fret over the lawn of the neighbors being better than yours. Make wise use of each penny earned and do not live above your means. That is what gets most people and our country in trouble...
We work hard to get rid of our debt-not to push it aside for someone else to deal with. We stand firm and use what we have in our envornment to sustain us. Our country is full of incredible resources and the creativity of manay amazing people who want to harness natural power in a safe way. So, there are just a few ways that we could harness our talent and reseouces to improve our nation. Do you think anyone will listen to this? Probably not...That is okay-because I love to write and I will find alot more to write about in this exciting time in which we all live!