If I could ask the President one question...

If I could speak with the President, this is what I hope I would have the courage to say.


Tell me why I should vote, Mr. President. I have voted in every election I could. I believe it to be a privilege when so many in this world are denied it. But why should I vote?

I voted for you in the hope that your promises were real. I gave money to your campaign. The Presidency, Senate and House all in Democratic hands was a situation that I did not think would happen again. For the first time in years, I had a little optimism for this country.

Then it started to fall apart.

The banks continue to hold onto the money provided them by the people of this country. Instead of loaning money to help small businesses and ordinary people they raise fees and interest rates and pay out big salaries and bonuses while making ever higher profits. The banks were bailed out but American wasn’t. It was left to die a long, slow, painful death.

Long, destructive months of a healthcare reform battle where strong, immediate benefits for people in need now were negotiated away. Concessions were given enabling insurance companies to make many more billions in profits at the expense of millions of Americans. The public option was sacrificed for nothing in return.

The people responsible for taking this country into an illegal war were allowed to go their way with nary a wrist slap. The people, some of them the same that took us to war, who approved and even ordered the torture of prisoners were also allowed to get off without answering for their crimes.

Wall Street reform was watered down, giving the banks and financial institutions plenty of room to continue their greedy course with reckless abandon.
The energy policy was allowed to die in the wake of the BP oil spill. The death was so quiet and late in the night that it happened with little more than a moan.

Billions upon billions of dollars, so desperately needed here at home, continue to be poured into the pockets of wealthy and corrupt operators in Iraq and Afghanistan. As much as I dislike the fact we are there at all, we are there, but please do not stuff the pockets of the corrupt who do nothing to help.

Congress went home on vacation while the unemployed saw their unemployment insurance end, leaving millions to worry about feeding their children and keeping their homes.

The stimulus package was watered down so much that it only postponed what is now clearly the inevitable. The recession will become a depression. Again, barely a whimper was heard from the Democrats and the White House.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell still discriminates against a whole sector of the brave men and women of this country, forcing them to break the very oaths they took when they answered the call to serve.

The Deficit Commission has been packed with members that have long voiced their determination to dismantle Social Security. Co-chair Alan Simpson has no trouble publicly demonstrating his disgust with recipients because he knows that he is safe and secure in his position on the commission.

I now know with certainty that I, along with millions of other so-called middle class citizens in this country, do not matter. We are chaff before the wind. We have produced the grain and given it up to the rich land owners. Now we can be discarded. Now we are discarded.

Please tell me, Mr. President. Why should I bother to vote?

Lost in a Jobless World

Today is three months since I was laid off.  I am still looking for work.  It is not at all surprising, but it still chomps. The job market is tight, tight, tight. There are a few jobs being posted that I can apply for, but there must be 200 people, at least, applying for each one. Knowing that can be, is, discouraging.

I am applying for all of the jobs that I have even a remote chance at.  So many want experience or software expertise I do not have. Or, they are wanting an entry level person. I am going into those areas but, having worked in recruiting and even been a hiring manager, I know what happens. If they even look at your resume, and that is a big if, you immediately go in to the reject pile. You either hit a large majority of the keywords or it's easy to see that you have way too much experience and will want too much money.  They can be very, very picky.

There still aren't a lot jobs out there. Even the agencies haven't had much. And those were mostly so far off the mark it was laughable. 

Job boards are full of the same or fake postings.  One can see the same jobs posted there by agencies week after week.  They never change, they just get reposted so that the agencies can get more resumes.  One applies for them only to be told they've been filled, but they are still there next week and the weeks afterward.
At least I know what the score is. Having worked in recruiting and been responsible for hiring my own staff at one stage, I know what goes on. I have realistic expectations and no illusions. It helps, but only a little.

One looks, though.  The daily trawl through the boards is the daily reminder how little is out there.   Then there is the agonizing over the cover letter and resume as well as the need to send them in fast.  If you don't get your application sent within 24 hours your chances approach zero.  So many applications are sent, many employers just can't accept any more.   You worry if the cover letter is just right.  It needs to stand out in a good way, just the right amount of information, not too long, not too short, enthusiastic but not desparate.   You add a line to the growing spreadsheet that records your efforts.

Then you have to let it go and continue the search.  And, you have to stay positive.  You have to keep yourself from sliding into a despondency that kills enthusiasm.   You keep moving and, every day, keep looking and sending in the resumes.  You try to figure out more ways to cut spending, let go you more of the things that make life worth living.  You hope and pray that one day those things will come back.

Anyone who says people getting unemployement insurance are lazy and not looking for work are utterly clueless or hateful liars.  They sure as hell don't give a damn.  I have been taking workshops to help me with writing resumes and cover letters, and interviewing.  Each workshop is full of people frantically looking for something.  Anything.

Most of them are so close to the edge. They are desparate for work and pray for Congress to extend benefits just so that they can keep a roof over their heads and food on the table until they find work. We are all just hoping to find something, and that it will pay enough to live on.

I will need to take a lower paying job. That is a certainty.  So many employers just aren't hiring.  They are hanging onto money they should be using to grow their businesses.  Those that are hiring know they have job seekers at their mercy. Most will take advantage of that. For some, it may mean the difference of being able to have that extra body at all.  For others, it will be a cynical opportunity for cheaper labor.

A problem I have with taking the low paying job is that I do not like to take a job only to turn around and leave as soon as I find something better that pays more, leaving the employer in the lurch. It's an ethical thing for me. I did that once years ago and it didn't sit well with me. My consolation was that it was obvious the job was going to disappear in the very near future so I saved the employer the need to lay me off.

I don't mind taking lower pay if I can get by and save a little on it. More important to me is the people and the work. If those are good, and the day is more fun and interesting, I can deal with less money. Those jobs are few and far between, I am very sad to say.

Anyway, the whole point of this screed is that I hit a milestone of sorts with three months. My family is trying not to freak. I am trying not to freak. I have a small cushion of money, but it won't last forever. Am I already tainted as someone not to be given a chance? Am I already considered to be too lazy to want to work, wanting instead to live on unemployment forever? Will the voices out there painting the unemployed as being unworthy, lesser humans prevail and convice the world that they are right?

I know my own fears and worries and I have only myself to worry about.  it must feel like the end of the world for families.  How do they cope? I cannot even imagine. My heart breaks for them.