Politicians Are Too Out of Touch With Moms' Economic Woes
My idealistic views are shaken out of whack in every election cycle. I hate that only the uber rich hold office, and those who live in the trenches stay there. We elect representatives to serve us, yet most of those people haven’t a clue about our paradigm. I’m talking about people who would suck at Cliffhangers, Hi Lo, or the Check Out game on The Price Is Right.
Politicians on all sides talk about the “economy” in big business, lofty terms. They never speak of personal experience and only know the “common man” as an allegorical character in a stump speech. Michelle Obama has been known to shop at Target, so she probably has a better handle on how we everyday Joes and Janes live. Ann Romney, not so much. Remember how she spoke of tough times when she and Mitt were in college? "They were not easy years ... Neither one of us had a job, because Mitt had enough of an investment from stock that we could sell off a little at a time." Yeah, because most of us are in a position to sell off stock that we inherited to pay for college.
Mitt Romney stated he is not concerned about the very poor and, in fact, thinks the very poor are “doing fine.” Barack Obama thinks the private sector is “doing fine.” So who’s right?
No one.
In my own life, things are fine. We are not struggling or in debt or fearful of providing for our sons. We pay more for goods and gas, but I know that the President wields little control over those things. My husband and I both have a good education and work experience. He is gainfully employed in the private sector, and I have my own marketing consulting and writing business. We live within our means and pinch pennies, but I am still in a position to buy organic milk for my kids and pay for a couple weeks of summer camp. We are not scrimping, but I did admittedly sell some gold a while back. I used the proceeds to pay my student loan. Life for us is less decadent than in years past, but our hardships are laughable compared to what many Americans are facing (including those who share the same education and upbringing we enjoy). My consulting business has faltered, and I earn less than half of what my income was five years ago. It’s a huge hit to our lifestyle, but we are not hurting.
I know what it is to live so that getting rid of the cleaning lady and not traveling to Europe every other summer as planned isn't real hardship. I realize what a charmed life we live, and our cuts have been to discretionary spending. For this I am grateful, and in a show of gratitude, I have pledged to speak out and support those less fortunate. Luckily we do not have to make the Sophie’s Choice of finances every month -- food or rent. My family has health insurance, a lovely house, and food to grace our table. We are healthy. Most importantly, we know life can change in an instant so we save, we invest, we live within our means. In a word, we are responsible, which is more than I can say for corporations.
Private sector businesses will tell you about cuts and losses and hardship. They will wax on about expenses and difficult times. The whole woe-is-me act is disingenuous at best, full blown lying at worst. CEOs continue to take home obscene amounts of money on the backs of hardworking, dedicated Americans. In an unseemly twist of irony, they get paid bonuses for laying off workers. It’s criminal really. It’s proof that trickle down economics doesn’t work. So from this perspective, private sector businesses, rather the head honchos in the C-suites, are doing fine. They are sorely out of touch, just like our politicians. All I can do is continue to be a voice for so many disenfranchised and suffering among us. Though I don’t live in the same paradigm, I do have an appreciation for those struggles because I have been there.
This post is part of a weekly conversation with our Moms Matter 2012 political bloggers. To see the original question and see what all the bloggers had to say, read How Has the Economy Affected You?
Image via FremantleMedia/Wikimedia
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Lulu425
Summary: "woe, I still have money, just less money than I used to! I too am working class, I had to fire my housekeeper and cancel my European vacation!"
This smacks of entitlement and doesn't make you seem remotely sympathetic.
rightside
I hate that only the uber rich hold office, and those who live in the trenches stay there.
Why? Do you want some average Joe, who hasn't acheived greatness in his personal life, in charge of the country? I want a wildly successful and incredibly experienced President. Wildly successful and experienced people are wealthy. They are go-getters and problem solvers, who understand the need to work within an operating budget.
We can see what happens when you put someone who hasn't even worked in the private sector, in the White House. He blames the guy who had the job before him. He blames the weather. Then he decides that the private sector is doing "fine".
And then we vote him out of office, and the wildly successful, uber rich guy will right the ship.
Guest
zandhmom2
I really don't understand the hate this country has for private corporations. Your husband works for one and apparently he makes a good living at it, so what's the problem? He has good health insurance through his private corporation job too right? If you for one second think that President Obama and his family are not included in the "rich:" people group, then you are so wrong. And I don't understand why you feel that your family should budget, save and plan for your future and yet you don't think our government should. Why not?
Floridamom96
Ilina Ewen, do you even know what the private sector actually is? The vast majority of it is made up of small business, NOT large corporations. Government regulations are a HUGE impediment to earnings and growth in that private sector. In fact, some government regulations have such an onerous impact that small businesses are required to lay off employees to cover the costs of added regulations. I know this because we have a small business and it suffers greatly at the hands of government regulators. The more a regulation costs the fewer employees can be hired or the less they can be paid. Surprisingly, since federal regulatory bodies are part of the executive branch, the president has a lot to do with the costs businesses face. The costs of all those regulations are then passed on to the consumer in the cost of the product or service they are receiving. So to say that the president wields little control over those things is remarkably ignorant of how our economy actually works.
Floridamom96
Futhermore, my husband and I once lived in the trenches you lament. Notice I said 'once'. Through hard work, sacrifice, and good decision making we have become the very people you hate, the successful.
KenneMaw
The president does not control prices...gee whiz, have you ever studied American govt?! The president can't control the price of a barrel of oil and the production costs to turn it into gasoline. Moving on....when there aren't people buying your product, as a business, you have to make decisions, just like you did with your family when your business slowed down. Why should businesses be expected to keep workers that don't have any work to do or that don't do the work they have? You don't have a RIGHT to a job. It is earned and you have to keep earning it every day. In the past 5 years, our company has went from 1100 employees to around 500 in the US. Our sales dropped by 1/2 , so they had to make changes in order to save the company. I am sorry if that seems heartless to you, but it is business - it isn't family, it isn't a constitutional right, it is not a civil rights issue, it is business.
Procrastamom
It is so nice to read articles every now and then from the voice of reason. Something that is so very lacking both in authors and commenters around The Stir.
Great article as usual, Ilina.
Procrastamom
And then we vote him out of office, and the wildly successful, uber rich guy will right the ship.
If this happens, I CANNOT WAIT until about June 2013 when Liberals can start to say:
"Why isn't it fixed yet?"
"Where are the jobs!"
"Why are more people losing their homes?"
"Why are there people dying in the streets?"
"Why is the country $20 Trillion dollars in debt now?"
kevobx