The Stakes of the Upcoming Elections

The Stakes
Thu Oct 07th 2010, 01:26 AM

 

This election is not about Obama, Pelosi or Reid. They will do just fine no matter who runs the country. This election is not about more power for the Democratic Party. As one of only two viable parties in the richest nation on earth, the Democrats will always be flush with cash and power, on the state and local level if not in Washington.

This election is for Felicia, whose parents brought her to this country when she was nine months old. She did not ask to be an “illegal alien”. But her parents were offered jobs at a chicken plucking factory that did not want to hire citizens or legal immigrants, since that would mean overtime pay and OSHA inspections. Felicia was always a bright kid, and she worked hard in school. She graduated at the top of her class. Now, she attends a state college. She has to pay out of state tuition and she does not qualify for a grant (even though her family has paid sales, income and property taxes for 20 years). Somehow, her family managed to scrape together the money. She will graduate next year, and she has already been accepted to medical school, where she plans to study in order to become a rural family doctor. Too bad for Felicia that the Republicans view her as an “anchor” for a couple of aging lower wage earning chicken pluckers. Her hopes of medical school---and some small town’s dream of having its own doctor---will be dashed when she is deported, days after graduating magna cum laude---

This election is for Felicia---and the residents of a small town that will never get a doctor.

This election is for our firefighters. The Republican Party thinks that firemen are paid too much. And they think that local governments should get out of the public safety business and let private corporations take over. There is a lot of money to be made protecting a handful of wealthy people who live in well designed homes with smoke detectors and sprinklers. The right wing thinks that people who do not have enough money to pay their medical bills should not have fire protection either. If they have their way, fire fighters all across the country will be ordered to stand by and do nothing as the homes of “non deserving” Americans burn to the ground. I expect a lot of firemen will quit their jobs, in frustration and disgust---

This election is for the firefighters---and for the homeowners who will watch their life’s investment go up in flames.

This election is for Mary. Her kidneys are weak. With proper medical care, she could save them. However, the insurers will not write her an individual policy---pre-existing condition---and she is self employed, one of those “small businessmen” the Republicans are always going on about. The GOP is promising to repeal the health reform legislation that would allow her to get insurance by withholding necessary funding. Unable to see a doctor to get tests and medication, Mary’s kidney problem will get worse and worse---until she ends up on dialysis, at tax payers’ expense. She will have to close her business, which will put four more people on the unemployment rolls.

This election is for Mary—and for the families of her employees, who will be plunged into poverty.

This election is for Raymond, who is wasting away. Medical marijuana would let him keep down food, which would help him battle his health problems. But the Republicans have no intention of legalizing one of the most effective medications known to man. Their buddies who run the private prisons would much rather house a non violent offender---at tax payers’ expense---than real criminals.

This election is for Raymond---and for the families that will be broken to keep the for profit American prison system flush.

This election is for Terrance. He always dreamed of being a marine. After grueling training, he finally got his wish. He has fought for America in some of the most dangerous places on earth. But next year, some one will tell his CO that he was seen in a local restaurant with his male lover. This will be construed as “telling”, and he will be kicked out of the service, at a time when his country needs all the fighters it can get.

This election is for Terrance---and his country.
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