HesterPrynne at Blue Mass Group has this post about our Senator Brown's vote against providing summer jobs programs for disadvantage youth. Just a few weeks ago,
In his 60 Minutes interview, he acknowledged that he had come "perilously close to being a juvenile delinquent," and that he had benefited from a federal youth jobs program called CETA.
There is much talk about the "middle class" and their plight in the news. No one talks about the poor at all. Hence, the Congress votes to defund food programs for women and children, cut medical care for the poor, and not provide jobs for disadvantaged youth all without a peep from our corporately controlled media or most Democrats, who also need corporate money for their campaigns.
I guess the American Dream is to be reserved only for those at the top. I think the American Dream is a lie. There is no longer a path for many Americans to reach a comfortable standard of living. Many are one car repair bill, oil tank fill up, or medical emergency away from living in their car and have no foreseeable prospect for improvement. The richest, meanwhile, accumulate more and more of the nations wealth.
The rest of us can buy lottery tickets I guess.
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11 comments:
The poor have grown in numbers consistent with the growth of aid to the poor. Generations of families only know one way to live and that is off the system we have built. That system must be torn apart and started anew.
What has all the last 40 years of programs for the poor brought us in New Bedford? Growth? Prosperity? No, an ever-growing number of 'poor' looking for a hand out or 'program'.
No room for the American dream? More nonsense.
This is a classic example of what Tip O'Neil referred to as using the ladder to climb it, then pulling it up after you. He benefitted from CETA (as many local kids from around here did, too); now he's against it.
America stands for freedom. The American bill of rights, spell out our rights. You can disagree with the intent of these rights, but they are the rights that are to be protected so we can all live in a free society.
I have not read anything in the bill of rights about the right to a free lunch.
We the people are so lucky to have been born in America. Those who have legal entrance from other countries and nations are all welcome to live here, find a job, and become a citizen. Where else can you become a citizen of a country you where never born at?
Many people stick a finger at America. They complain the land was taken from the Indians. Nonsense I say. The Indians lost this great country because they didn't know how to settle their own land disputes and killed each other. During the American movement many Indian tribes lived on this great land. There were as many as 500 Indian nations. Each tribe controlled a certain land area. No one tribe ever sat down with another tribe or attempt to get along or invent the wheel.
The American fighting forces took this great land away from the Indians because they didn't understand how to fight. Their main source of food was the wildlife. The Americans killed all the wildlife including the buffalo and the Indians began to die in large numbers. Do I feel bad the Indians didn't understand the logistics of war? NO.
The only issue I have with our great county is what some Americans did to the African black people. Because of a shortage of working people our government allowed ship owners to kidnap the black men/women and forced them to our country to be sold off to the plantation owners as slaves. This is a sin against mankind that has never been settled. In my opinion the black people in America have never been accepted and the blacks know it only too well. Even in this time and with a president who is black and white mixture the issue has not been settled. Black people(men) occupy 58% of our jails. More black people are unemployed than any other race. We did them wrong. We should continue to feed, provide housing, educate, and provide jobs to all the black people who want to work. And as far as those who don't want to work we should continue to provide for each and every one until they decide to go back to Africa. God knows what we did to these people. It's time to settle up.
No path to the American dream? Hmmm,tell that to me and my siblings. And my siblings kids. We were the first generation of our family to go to college (now 38-49 years old) from a working class family. Worked hard and became successful each in our own way. My 20 something nephews - 5 of them - all completed college and have secured decent jobs to get started on their path to the American dream. The oldest now married and expecting their first child is renting an apartment and saving for their own house which they hope to be able to buy in 2-3 years. Do they struggle? Of course. Are there setbacks? Yes. But none of us ever had to rely on any government program to secure the American dream. This country is fast becoming a country of whiners with their hands out and excuses ready.To use an over-worked phrase - 'MAN UP' and provide for yourself.
Not everyone is 1 paycheck away from disaster.
Anon, you have a good story to tell but no one speaks for the poor. They have no voice. Many of the opportunities you speak of are a result of the family unit. Many of the poor have no family. I don't think people should get hand outs but lets at least give those in our society who are drowning a life line so they can keep their head above water. When they succeed, we all succeed.
Let's get rid of illegal aliens.
no one speaks for the poor? That is simply not true. Pick up the phone book for New Bedford and you will find page upon page of agencies that 'speak for the poor'. Everyone of our elected representatives here 'speaks for the poor' just ask Congressman Frank, or Sen Kerry, or Sen Kennedy before he died. They all brought untold millions here to help the poor. Where has all that gotten us? What about a system that has growm so enormous and out of touch that it actually rewards people with more money for each child and actually encourages them not to get married so their gov paycheck does not decrease? There's plenty of people speaking for the poor, it's long past time to hear from the rest of us paying for them.
People are poor for different reasons. Some reasons are self-inflicted and those people may want a handout forever. How about other people who through no fault of their own are poor? Job loss, disabling injury or illness, or a loss on a retirement plan that leaves a senior citizen no chance to financially recover are but some reasons that occur to me that preclude me from blaming some people for their economic status. Should those people not receive some help?
Several years ago, there was a well-publicized tragedy here in Dartmouth. A traffic accident caused debilitating injuries to one of our police officers. Certainly, there were could haves and should haves involved including who was responsible and why. One can even point to the lack of competent preparedness by Mr. Gagne and Mr. Iacaponi in not having appropriate insurance coverage as well. Yet, both the town and many of its citizens stepped up, and continue to do so, to help this former police officer and his family. This accident certainly created much financial hardship for the officer's family. Without this help, they surely would be impoverished. Yet some of these venomous posters here would lump this former police officer and his family with everyone else that desperately needs help regardless of cause. I cite this example only because it is well known to many of our fellow citizens. But it certainly provides a good example of why my family tries to help people like this gentleman and his family out as often as we can. Do you and yours?
On that early morning in November, a well liked police officer encounter a life changing event, that could have happened to anyone. The town leadership, including the selectmen, were aware of the lack of town insurance called catastrophic insurance. What is rumored to have happened at the police department is still in question.
March 5...10:05 AM
As it relates to the injured police officer. I give you much credit for all you have done and to those who have helped. When someone is injured to such a degree that they no longer walk and become totally dependent on others, it's a blessing to those who help.
You may not agree, but some people just can't accept seeing a person they care about who can no longer be what they once where. To see someone in such condition can cause emotional thought that is not controllable. They say a prayer, provide an anonymous donation. They may not be seen, but they are there.
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