A ray of Blue amongst the Red at the pub

[LittleClarkie]

I went up to the pub last night to watch the dismal GB Packers game, and ended up sitting next to a friendly guy who started telling me about how he was losing one job and that the other job was gone by the end of the year.

I just listened mostly, asking here and there why work was so dismal and how I thought the economy was supposed to be getting better (insert innocent look). The response "The president is full of shit!"

The poor guy is a welder, and has watched as steel increasingly comes from other countries. At one job, he hasn't welded a thing for months. He figures his plant (which is down to just him and the boss) is at this point a tax writeoff until the end of the year. He's quitting that one before the end.

At the other, they're moving to Brazil. They'd tried moving down South before this, but production wasn't keeping up down there. The company tried to get him to go to Brazil too, but he has kids here and doesn't want to move.

I asked what the government could do to stop all of this (insert innocent look). He thought that tarriffs should be placed on steel coming in from outside the country. After all, other countries tarriff our stuff, he said. He was none too pleased about Bush's stance on imported steel, and how he'd been against it but then reversed position.

He threw in a discussion about how the property tax code made it so that his father could no longer afford a home up north that he'd built with his own two hands with the idea of retiring in it. One Illinois person came in and bought property at an exorbatant price because he wanted it badly, and suddenly all their property taxes are through the roof. Same thing happens to farmers. One farmer sells out for developers, and suddenly the farmers in the area are paying property taxes based not on the value of a farm, but on the value of the stripmall that could be there. (I'd love to know who was responsible for this idea in Wisconsin. Tommy Thompson?)

I finally broached the subject I've been sneaking up on. "So, who ya going to vote for come November." He said he had no choice. John Kerry. He's never voted in any election and never cared about politics before. He was my one ray of sunshine on a dismal night.

[MazeRat7]

1. Things are tough all over...

This is one of thousands of similar stories. It however does seem more personal when you actually meet someone in that predicament.

Thanks for sharing, it would have made my night as well

MZr7

[riverwalker]

2. This is why GOP fears huge voter turnout

millions of guys like this, who have never voted before, are now motivated to vote for one reason: Kerry. This is why signing up with whatever GOTV org in your area is critical.
(on edit: slippery fingers...)