Dawg gone broke and tired of it, are you?

After having been unemployed for nearly a year, being struck by lightning that blew up my computer, and then finally securing permanent employment again, what a relief. So I thought.

Although, I had to take a pay cut of a few dollars (nearly 20%) at the close of 2012, and the promise of no overtime pay (for the first time in my life). I travel over 52 miles to work and thus the fuel costs are now approximately $4,700 a year and with the cost of fuel having gone up to a smooth $3.60 average with an excise tax of 20% per dollar (in Texas) for gasoline, diesel and gasahol (and we are less expensive than others). See the Excise Tax Table . This table will show you all states. (California is in the lead at 43% followed closely by North Carolina at 37.75% and so on.)

And now with the President's increase in payroll taxes for the middle and lower classes, my payroll tax base went up at the first of the year another $100 per month which equals another $1,200 per year hit. Ooops, still working, still not claiming any food stamps or other governmental subsidies.

Then you add in the cost of food increases over the last year. This cost of nearly 30% across the board making most foods unattainable now. I literally stand in the meat section of each and every grocery store chain turning in circles trying to figure out how to afford junk meat. Nothing special here, no steaks, no roasts, no Cornish hens on these tables. Chicken would be nice, even some fish, not tilapia that has no nutritional value, heck a can of Tuna would be a blessing, but that costs $1.25 (used to be $0.65) and no matter how much mayonnaise you add, it really doesn't go very far so if I cannot share it within my household, I cannot afford it.

Couple the above with the loss of jobs around the nation.

My son moved home just before the holidays for five months and my daughter, her baby and her significant other. Everyone was unemployed and I had just found a job that would sustain the life of my minor daughter and myself.

I held my breath. I had anxiety attack wondering how I was going to be able to help everyone and each day I drove to work praying the weather would remain winter (thank you God for extending winter) so that the summer fuels wouldn't be released quite yet, as one gets a whole lot less mileage on summer mixtures then on winter mixtures and of course, the use of air conditioning - we live in the far south and 90 degrees o 100 degrees is just around the corner.

Then there was feeding the now six people in the household. Soup, chicken and dumplings, beef stew, Hunt's spaghetti sauce (now $1.29 a can, used to be $0.99) and pasta (also up from $0.59 to $1.00 if you catch a sale). All very starchy foods, all enough to feed the crew, yet not enough to buy fruits and vegetables and make certain there was enough of a nutritional value to meet everyone’s needs. Still no food stamps nor any subsidized help from the government, I have a job and I am mom.

NOW, let us move on to the new and evolving healthcare act. This form of taxation (as the Supreme Court Justices politely called it), is upon us.

Are you ready?

Probably not. As this President keeps the focus on the gun control laws which he wishes to change. If one has not noticed yet, take a good look. Each time the President moves to tax the "less fortunate," what he does is dangle a distraction - a carrot if you will, just before he lowers the boom. A financial boom on the very people he keeps stating are his main concern.

Please Mr. President and the others who vote with him, stop focusing on us little people so much, we are now officially broke.

Are you ready yet?

The healthcare laws that are moving into place month by month, has many corporations who have to insure and/or provide some form of insurance for their employees are shopping, because you don’t go into business to be broke. For example, they bring in insurance in which the employee has to pay the first $5k out of pocket per person, and $15k per family, before it even kicks in. This means, the average person will not reach their deductible. And the government tells us, no increase, in fact a decrease in premiums, yet we are paying for the "less fortunate" individual which we were already paying for through all of their emergency room visits within our local counties as uninsured.

This is also so that you will pay for all of those emergency calls to 911 for ambulatory transportation for a stubbed tow, snagged fingernail, sudden onset of - oh I don't feel so well, think I have the flu, I should go to the emergency room and I don't feel like riding public transportation or wasting my gasoline, so I will call for an ambulance.

As a result of the above, it is true. I have seen it with my own eyes. People in their mid-40s and early 50s on up, are researching illnesses so that they don't end up like me, employed, without funds to be able to breathe. This way, they live off of the government and this gives the democratic government the justification to pursue more taxes. Cyclic eh?

Are we there yet? Have you had enough government yet?

Hopefully everyone has had enough of supporting our government and our citizens lacking in desire to support their househoulds and will get out and vote - it is the only way. It is your right.

2014 Midterm Elections are fast approaching.