Why is it that there is no assistance of any kind for someone who doesn't have a child, isn't mentally or physically disabled, over 60 years old, have HIV/AIDS or make less than $1500.00 a month? People who fall under any of these catagories should recieve help year round, especially during our economic crisis. But what about the average person who just can't seem to make enough?
If you think of all the average bills a person (or family) has to pay, these days it's too much to handle without some sort of help if you don't bring in $100,000.00 a year. Electric bill (especially if your household has electric heat, central air, air conditioner unit, washer or dryer, dish washer), rent or mortgage, phone bill (house or cell phone or both), heating bill if a house requires oil or gas, water bill, trash removal, monthly/weekly gas, monthly/weekly groceries. These are just the basics, that one HAS to pay to survive. Not to mention the bills one would have to pay to be a good, law abiding citizen or some 'basic luxuries' if you will.
If you don't want to risk the stability of your credit score, getting arrested, fined or racking up any other kind of bills that might be too much, you'd have to pay much more! Car insurance, registration, property taxes (on home or car), maybe a car payment, possible credit cards, renters or home owners insurance, health insurance, life insurance, bank fees, internet, cable bill, pet expenses, school fee's for your child or yourself.
Ok, now lets add this up...
Rent $1000, electric bill $150, phone bill $60.00, heating oil is up to about $150 a barrell, water bill 5 cents a gallon, I'm not sure about trash removal, gas for a vehicle is around $4.30 a gallon, groceries vary (if you want to be well fed or just getting by with a growling stomach all day), car insurance for a young person is around $100 a month, registration depends on how old your car is, how much it's worth and how much you bought it for. So if you don't want to be embarrassed by driving around in a rusty, putt-putt heap, registration can be hundreds of dollars. Property taxes on a car also varies, the only car taxes I've paid are around $100. A car payment depends on who you're trying to impress. I don't even want to dicuss credit cards...a lot. Renters or home owners insurance also depends on how much you own and what it's worth.
It's late, I have to wake up early, I'll finish this tomorrow.
Is America really the land of opportunity? Immagrints come from countries all over the globe looking for religious freedom, opportunity to make a better life for themselves and their families. What greets them at the feet of the Statue of Liberty instead? Discrimination, protests about "outsiders" and "foreigners", unexpected poverty, cold shoulders and sometimes violence.
Obviously coming to America is better than genocide or other crimes against humanity that go one elsewhere, but the image that America portray's and what America actually is, is quite different. What goes on here isn't murdering of human beings, it's murdering of dreams and hopes. The human soul and spirit is being slaughtered. Hope is no more.
With an economy falling fast, rising gas prices beyond affordability, soaring grocrey prices, utilities too high to pay, America is in no way interested in taking care of it's own. If I were an immagrint, I'd move to Canada or Europe. Somewhere far away from this two-faced country. America is too busy giving multi-billion dollar companies bail outs and tax breaks when the working class are struggling to keep their head above the water just to survive.
Being a legally single soon-to-be mother (meaning I'm not married even though I have a long lasting, serious relationship with the father of my baby), I find it absolutely impossible to go to school full time, work a full time job, take care of my home and on top of it, in December, add the responsibilities and expenses of a child. All of which are necessary.
Gas prices in my hometown (being some of the cheapest in the area) are around $4.35, the cheapest being $4.29 if you pay cash only. Grocrey's are unbelievably high, a half dozen eggs being around $3.00-$4.00. Leaving the store with 2 or 3 bags full of food is around $150, and those are just the basics; eggs, milk, butter, etc, which I'm out of all three now that I think about it.
Trying desperately to make it day to day and figure out how to pay off our debt and become at the least financially even by the time my baby arrives is mind boggeling, stressful and at this point seems impossible.
With all of the mistakes and misleading decisions during the last presidental reign and the presidental election coming up in November, there is no doubt in my mind, especially after hearing recently McCain's campaign calling people such as myself "whiners" and claiming that the economy "isn't that bad", that this country is spiriling downward. There is no safety net, no pedistals for lower or middle class citizens to stand on. The only people that will be left standing are the upper and upper middle class who will be hanging on to a rope made with their dirty money.
I watch the news everyday. I like to stay up to date on what's going on, in this country and all over the world. I always find myself getting disappointed though, when the news seems more like ET instead of informative news coverage. While I feel people should be alerted on what's really happening in this country, to the economy, in Iraq, the headline news is Christie Brinkley's divorce or Angelina Jolie's twins. Is this news? How will this help America turn itself around? Why do the citizens need to know this? Ms. Brinkley and Mrs. Jolie will be fine, with their millions of dollars and fame, they will survive whatever strife they may be going through, trust me. I'm ashamed that while 60 people in the middle east were killed walking from one wedding to another (including the bride) by American bombs, we're focused on the thousands of dollars Ms. Brinkley's soon to be ex-husband spent on pornography.
With a new family, I'm worried about what I won't be able to provide for my daughter when she's growing up. When I grew up, I had next to nothing, and it's every parents dream to give their children more than they had themselves. But struggling like we are now, it doesn't seem that much will change. My child will be born into another depression and that terrifies me.
Even though we're trying every thing we can to survive, we're stuck and there's no rescue in sight.
