Thursday, October 16, 2008

Hi....I'm Joe the Unemployed

Wow...who knew that to get any attention these days your name needed to be Joe! Heck I think I may even change my name to "Joe"!

First it was Sarah Palin, the self proclaimed gun toting hockey mom that likes to shoot wolves from helicopters and Democrats from her platform ("bang, bang" "wink, wink" "snicker, snicker") with her famous Joe "Sixpack", a reference to the average "Joe" that likes to drink a sixpack of beer while watching sunday afternoon football. (The beer by the way would be totally against her beliefs and she would be the one voting against alcohol sales in my little rural town along with all the other pastors and religious right, but that is besides the point.) In her attempt to connect to the American people she began using this phrase to show she is just one of us. Well it lasted a couple of days, but shortly after, since Joe "Sixpack" didn't have a face, it kind of died away.

Then last night, in what was Senator McCain's best performance in the debates this election cycle, he repeatedly addressed Joe "The Plumber". Now apparantly he had a problem with that last name (he mispronounced it horribly but who cares) he dubbed him "the plumber" and Joe will forever be....Joe the Plumber. This man gives a face to what the Republican ticket is wanting to push, and they're using it effectively. Joe the Plumber (as opposed to Mary the Secretary, Dave the Electrician, Bob the Builder, Handy Manny and Susie the Data Processor) is apparantly, white male, 5'11", shaved head and a stout fella that works out. He is conservative and he makes a damn good living. He is upset about the 3% tax increase (rightly so) that he will take if he decides to buy the business he works for since they make more than 250,000 dollars a year. His concerns are legitimate, so let me not minimize his concerns. Fortunately for Joe the Plumber, he has a candidate that gives a shit about what he is going through. Joe at least can actally feed his son without taking charity from the government.

But where does that leave me? Joe theUnemployed? I am a single dad with a beautiful 4 year old daughter that depends on me for everything. I am a full time student wth $25k in student loan debt. I cannot find a job that will allow me to continue school and pay my bills. The jobs that will let me finish schools will not pay my bills and the jobs that would pay my bills will not work with My school schedule. So my options are limited. I can quit school, be in $25k debt with no degree to account for it, or I can live in such a way that my daughter and I cannot survive, unless a job pops up that will fix my problem, and I have to tell you, in this little town I live in that is not likely to happen.

So what does Senator McCain and Governor Palin have for Me, Joe the Unemployed? Well, they will give tax cuts to big business, fortune 500 companies in the intense hope and faith that like ENRON, Exxon, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac (shall I continue?) will follow through with their half of the "trickle down" affect theory and help me make ends meet. So, yes, congratulation Joe the Plumber, you ARE wealthy. You can sit and be reassured that YOU are feeding your son. It is a treasure I am in danger of losing. So while McCain/Palin are catering to you and your business, I will just vote as I see fit, and do what I can to be able to find a job and take care of my daughter. And leave the politicians to their cariactures and their bullshit.

1 comments:

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