|
This is an original composition based on "Joe Republican"...the other side of the story--
Joe gets up at 6:00am to prepare his morning coffee. He turns on the faucet and sees the brownish water, again. Sometimes clear, sometimes not. He fills his water filter and waits for it to filter through because the republicans have weakened the basic minimum water standards.
He gets his daily medication as the coffee brews. He hopes his medications are safe to take because the republicans have gutted the FDA in their quest to cut government spending. He puts the pill in the pill cutter because he has to pay for most of his medication and it has to last. Without government oversight, his employer’s medical plan barely pays for anything, but he’s still paying into a health insurance system that doesn’t pay back. He spent hours on the phone getting what little he has.
Joe pulls the bacon from the refrigerator for his morning breakfast and is shocked at how discolored it is after only being purchased a couple of days ago. The republicans gutted the budget for the USDA and loosened regulations the meat packing industry. They don’t have to label inspection and expiration dates anymore. He throws the rotted meat into the garbage bag and drinks the rest of the coffee.
Joe takes his morning shower and reaches for the shampoo. The shampoo contains benzene, formaldehyde, and other carcinogens as filler, but Joe can’t know this. The republicans have loosened labeling laws and have left it to the industry to police itself. They put some of the ingredients on the label, but conveniently left off the dangerous ones. The FTC, too, has been gutted in the quest to cut government spending.
Joe begins his work day; hoping that this won’t be his last day, last week, or last month on the job that can be moved overseas at any given moment. Before the republicans took over, he had a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation, but the republicans have cut oversight in the interest of the free market. Joe’s employer pays the minimum they can. The employees pay most of their medical and retirement. They get the major holidays off, but other days off aren’t paid. The employees can’t bargain for better conditions because there’s no union. There’s no federal Department of Labor—another casualty of republican budget cuts.
If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed he won’t get a worker compensation or unemployment check because the republicans don’t want to make big business pay more than they have to. It’s up to the goodwill of the business to pay worker’s compensation or severance, they aren’t required. Joe is on his own and SOL.
It’s noon time, Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. He has multiple accounts at different banks so that if one should fail, all of his money isn’t lost. Joe’s deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC, but to a decreased $25,000 because the banking lobby convinced the republicans that they could be trusted. While he’s there, Joe has to pay his home mortgage and his student loan at above market rate because his family wasn’t well-off enough to get a lower rate.
Joe is home from work, dragging in after another 10 hour day, for which he’ll get only an added 10%--no time-and-a-half overtime. He wants to stay employed, so he doesn’t complain--no Department of Labor. He tries to find the energy to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive to dad’s house. He hopes that he doesn’t die in a crash due to unsafe and cheap materials, as he has seen on various news reports. There are few auto safety laws; the auto lobby convinced the republicans that they need to be able to compete with foreign automakers. Too many regulations would hamper them, so they were removed.
He arrives at his boyhood home. He was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers Home Administration because bankers didn’t want to make rural loans. The house didn’t, and still doesn’t, have electric power because the regional electric company decided that it was too expensive to run power lines, and the electric company isn’t required. If farmers and rural people want electric power, they have to pay for the privilege. He walks into the old house, lit only by the fading sun, a fireplace, and camp lanterns.
He isn’t happy to see his dad, who is now retired, because he is worried about him. His dad lives on church and charity handouts because his company pension was gutted by greedy executives a few years ago. There's no Social Security--it was a casualty of the republican budget cuts, also. He gets a fraction of what’s left in the fund, so he doesn’t live well. Joe gives him what he can spare, but it isn’t much. Joe can’t afford to take him in because he can’t get a loan to renovate his house because he doesn’t make enough money. After his visit with dad he gets back in his car for the teary ride back home.
He turns on a radio talk show, the host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. Joe agrees, “After all, I’m a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have! I’d hate to see life in the US if those damned liberals were in charge!”
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
