In the State of the Union Address Wednesday night President Barack Obama mentioned jobs thirty-three times.
He mentioned reforming the tax code thirty-four times, in order to bring jobs back to America.
If you look at the American economy it isn’t difficult to see that the lack of decent paying jobs is the single biggest issue affecting our economy.
For the past 31 years, America has been bleeding jobs; exporting jobs overseas faster than the speed of light.
But all the Republicans want to talk about is protecting the wealthy from any new taxes.
Wednesday is garbage day here in Brockport, New York and as I drove through town I saw a perfect example of today’s American economy.
It was just after sunrise when I passed an older man peddling a worn bicycle up the hill on Chappell Street. He had four large plastic garbage bags slung over his shoulder, and he was stopping at every recycling basket to see if anyone had tossed bottles and cans in their recycling even though they could be redeemed for 5 cents deposit.
At five cents a pop, if he collects 500 bottles and cans, he’ll make $5.00; and it might take him all day to collect that many bottles and cans.
How long had he been peddling his bike through town, to have already collected four big bags of bottles and cans?
And what time did he get out of bed and start his early morning rounds? The Suburban Disposal trucks come through town before eight o’clock, and he was doing his best to beat them to the punch.
Before you dismiss him as someone who is living on the fringe, ask yourself a couple of questions.
“If anything, taxes for the lower and middle class and maybe even the upper middle class should even probably be cut further.
But I think that people at the high end - people like myself - should be paying a lot more in taxes. We have it better than we've ever had it.”
Warren Buffett
Are you willing to work that hard for five bucks? He is, and so are the Chinese, so why do they have the factory jobs and he’s sorting through people’s trash? Isn’t that something people in the Third World do for a living?
What would you do if you lost your job and your unemployment benefits ran out?
Around here you can find a minimum wage job at Wal-Mart or the super market, but that’s about it, no matter what kind of education or experience you have.
Think about it. What’s more important: creating jobs here in the United States or protecting the wealth of the richest people in the country?
If Mitt Romney of Newt Gingrich lost every cent they had, do you really think they peddle a worn bicycle through the streets of town gathering bottles and cans to make enough money to feed their family?
Or would they land some cushy government job and live regally at the public’s expense?
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