GOP doesn't care for it's poor & elderly caters to wealthy

If you are disabled, low-income wage earner, low-income senior and you live in one of the GOP-controlled states (Florida for example) don't expect to get much help from Department of Children and Families.  Now that they've converted their application process to being internet based there isn't any human involvement from the start.

Example:
You are disabled, you pay $400 a month for a room, you get $778 in SSDI, take away from that $778 the Medicare Part B premium of $100.00 (they round up to next dollar amount) it costs you about $150 a month for your share of medical expenses (20% Medicare doesn't pay) and you go online to apply for SNAP, and Medicaid (to help cover the $150 of the 20%) What do you get?  $36.00 SNAP and a $576 share the cost Medicaid, but they do cover the $100 of your Part B cost so you'll receive your full SSDI payment.

What does this mean?  That you are supposed to be able to pay 400 for shelter and all of your Medicare 20% co-pay on your own.

So let's break it down.
778-400-150+36=264 so you have $264 per month to buy cleaning products, clothing, personal hygiene products, and any additional food you need, etc.

So what can you get for $36 in FS to live on? A gallon of milk costs about $4 (you might be able to get a gallon to last a week) so that's $16 a month of it.  A loaf of bread about $2 (you'll probably need 4 loaves for the month) so that's another $8 of it, leaving you with $12, you can get a jar of cheap peanut butter for about $3 and maybe a jar of jam or jelly for $3 leaving you with $6 for anything else you can find cheap enough, you could buy 6 $1 TV dinners with that or 6 $1 pot pies so you're supposed to live on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, 16 glasses of milk a week, and break it up with either a TV dinner or a pot pie. So 6 days out of 30 you can have a mini meal at dinner.

Now the current GOP wants to cut funding for the SNAP program, so will that $36 go down?  How can they in all reality expect these people live on what they receive? At least they could make it a little easier for those who do work, by helping with their health care needs. On average a visit to a Dr. in Florida costs $165.00 per visit, add to that the cost for any blood tests, x-rays, etc. and that $165.00 skyrockets to about $300.00 or more, if you need to see a specialist double the cost of that office visit, any special tests quadruple the overall out of pocket costs.  Where does the GOP expect someone who works for $10.00 an hour or less pay for these costs if they get sick? Because Florida is a Right to Work State, business' more often than not pay at the maximum $12.00 per hour, the Wal-Marts, Publix, Targets and other retail stores pay about $9.00 an hour and most only hire part-time workers to avoid providing health care benefits, and God forbid you get ill and need to use the insurance at Wal-Mart because you'll lose your job.  So tell me Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan how does your plan help these people?

A letter to my son

Since I'm no longer allowed to talk to my son I'm posting a letter to him here, perhaps if I'm lucky someone who knows him will see this and tell him to read this..

To My Son, Duncan Anderson Wyatt, this letter is to inform you that as of this date published any and all financial assistance given to you since you reached the age of 18 is considered paid in full.  You no longer will have any feeling of owing me anything, whatsoever.

My only request is that you explain to me what I did/done to make you hate me so much?  What did I fail to do for you as a mother?  Also, I pray that you will forgive me for not being the mother you felt I should have been, (as your wife has told me repeatedly before I was forcefully sent away). I didn't abandon you in January, I left for my own safety.

I want you to know that I will always love you no matter what happens.  I wish I knew what I did wrong as you grew up though, I worked to give you a good education, always defended you to others, did my best to protect you.

I am sorry for every angry outburst I have ever directed at you in the past, I will leave this earth knowing that I have asked you for forgiveness for every wrong you feel I have directed at you and that there is nothing left of any perceived responsibility toward me either monetary or emotional.

Whether I ever hear from you again, I will draw my last breath with my memories I have of you, as a young boy and as a proud father.  This will be my last communication with you, I will never bother you or your family again it is now your decision to continue to have a relationship with me or not.

If I don't hear from you, I know that the rift between us will not be mended and that I have lost you forever.  Just remember I love you and I always will.

Good-bye my son again find it in your heart to forgive me I didn't abandon you in January of this year. I am the one who has been abandoned.

I'll love you always,
Mom...

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth IS!

I originally wrote and published this in 2012.  I felt it needed to be brought back up.

I've been listening to C-Span on almost a daily basis, and I keep hearing the rhetoric over President Obama and his policies that are increasing our National Debt.  Well, to all of the GOP Candidates, Tea Party members, and anyone who is trying to put all of the blame on the President, it's time you PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS.  If each and every one of us were to commit to say $5.00 a week for 1 year to be used to assist in paying down the Public Debt, perhaps the debt would begin to lower.

Also, I do agree that we need to reform our current tax system it needs a complete overhaul, but I don't think that we need to harm those the most in need in order to accomplish this.  There is waste and abuse in spending in our current system across the entire country.  But I digress, time to get back to the real issues.

First of all, we still have not dug out of our current recession, the housing market is still slow, the job market also is slowly generating new jobs.  It's the least wealthy that are usually willing to give of themselves, than the wealthy.  While the wealthy are usually prominent philanthropists, most of their philanthropy is directed to other countries rather than directed to the needs here in our own.

So back to my theme for this article, if five dollars were set aside each and every week for one year by each and every Adult American, both those unemployed & employed, and compiled into a lump sum payment each year, we'd probably see a marked decrease in our overall debt in a short time.  To those who can afford much more than $5.00 a week they could contribute.  Look at all of these Super PACs raising money for political campaigns, if we took only the voting population and took that total of $260.00 a yr and multiplied it by only the voting population (which was 127.5 million in 2004) that would be equal to 331.5 billion dollars a yr to help pay down the Debt.  The one good thing about doing it this way would be that according to law, if we as Americans directed the Treasury as to where our extra payment went to by law, if we tell them this money is to be used to pay down the debt they have to apply this to the debt and not put it into the general fund, or apply it to any programs whatsoever.

So I challenge each and every one of us, to start setting aside just $5.00 a week, and at the end of the year send a Check to the US Treasury for $260.00 with the words "Pay Down The Debt" in the For line at the bottom, and see what happens.  If you can afford it, I'm curious, how many of us would be willing to help, so that those most in need, wouldn't end up getting hurt by what the GOP wants to do.

Since our Politicians can't seem to work together, it's up to us as caring and compassionate members of this country to step up and take the reins.  So if you are going to help, post a comment to the end of this and say I'll do it!  Let's flood the US treasury with 127.5 million (more or less) checks in the amount of $260.00 on December 31st 2012!

Pay Down the Debt Campaign begins now!