My husband and I are pretty much the definition of middle-class. He makes just over $30K a year, and I am a grad student, taking out an extra $10K in student loans each year in order to pay for my rent and bills. I'll graduate in Spring 2013, and I hope (although am not confident) that I will quickly find a job that pays at least $45K each year. I also work in retail, and although I've recently received a promotion I make from that job just about $1000 each month. We rent, although we desperately want to own a house. My student loans cover our rent each month, and the rest of our bills are paid by our salaries. We rarely have extra money to go out and have fun. Instead, we typically buy a 6-pack of beer and enjoy it in our apartment while watching TV.
We don't suffer, though. Yes, we are struggling. We can't seem to get ahead, we can't save any money and we can't cut back on much (other than groceries: trust me, we've had more than few times of going hungry because we are trying to save money) but we do try to budget money for dates. Those dates happen maybe once a month, but we deal with it the best we can. We have cable and Netflix and some other "extra amenities" that we could potentially do without. We go for beer at a local brewery every once in a while. In fact, one of those trips encouraged this letter.
I am 27. My husband is going to turn 32 in a couple months. We have been together for 6 years and have been married for almost three years. We have two dogs and an 840 sq ft 1-bedroom condo. Upon graduating from college we moved and had a plan in place: work for a few years, look into buying a house, have a kid at about 27/28 years old. Obviously this isn't happening. When we moved we were only able to find jobs paying about $9/hour. These meager earnings didn't land us below the "poverty line." Not enough to really live, but not enough to garner any help. The longer we lived and worked the more we made, and the further the economy tanked, and more simple living cost. We went grocery shopping today and 2 week's worth of food for 2 people cost about $250. And that's not a lot of extra crap. That was meat, vegetables, frozen lunches, some fruit, bread... the only "extra" stuff we probably could have done without was some soda and some granola bars. I remember when I was in middle school (oh, how I miss you Bill Clinton!) and a grocery trip with my mom, for four people, cost about $150. It's bullshit.
Last year I was laid off, but I didn't qualify for unemployment because I was only working with that employer for 5 months. So, from August through October we survived on the generosity of our families and not much else. Luckily I was able to find a retail job through the holiday season, but I was making about $8/hour working maybe 10-15 hours each week. We spent the holiday in our condo, unable to go home to see our families. But things started turning up. My application to grad school was accepted and I began classes in January. The extra student loans helped, and we were able to start eating better (no more Ramen/Mac & Cheese, we were able to buy fruit and vegetables!) and now are able to just barely get by.
So there's a little bit of the background. But here's what I'm trying to tell you: you've got to do something to save the middle-class. We are frustrated, we are angry, we are trying to survive and we keep getting kicked while we're down. We don't qualify for the social programs that Democrats support like WIC or welfare. Yet we don't have enough to afford the American Dream because we are paying off student loans and other debts. We can't afford to put any money aside to buy a house. We can't put any money aside to even attempt at having children. Instead we put our dreams on hold, hoping that eventually things will turn around. But they won't.
You recently accepted a debt deal that will discontinue subsidized student loans. This means that, when I graduate in 2013 I will have even more debt to pay off because my loans, the ones I need in order to pay for school AND pay my rent, will start accruing interest as soon as they disperse. In this "compromise" I secretly hoped that by destroying subsidized loans that the qualifications for Pell Grants would be amended, and that I might qualify for help, but that certainly will not happen. I understand shared responsibility and compromise, but you are the first president in a very long time to accept a debt ceiling deal that doesn't include tax revenues. You've talked at length about shared compromise and responsibility but the upper classes have not been asked to share in the recovery. In fact, many corporations pay no taxes at all. I'm not saying I shouldn't have to pay taxes. I, unlike many people (Republicans) I know, understand that taxes pay for social programs that help fuel our communities. My father was a sheriff, so I know that social programs are necessary. But your debt "compromise" was bullshit. You catered to the extreme Right, and now I am going to suffer more debt and more hardship because of it.
While having a beer this evening with my husband we discussed the desire we both have to have a child. We have been discussing this now for about 6 months, as we were planning to "start trying" around Spring of this year, hopefully to start our family sometime in 2012. Obviously with our current economic situation we cannot. When we arrived home we even looked in WIC/welfare, and we don't qualify because we make $4,000 more each year than is necessary to qualify. Yet we don't make enough to save or to support a child. We are stuck in limbo. And we're not alone. There is an entire class of people in the same boat, well-educated and practical people who are trying to do their best despite opposition and hardships passed onto us by the upper-classes and by politicians. We are frustrated and angry and we are sick of being kicked around. My husband and I have even seriously considered and researched moving to Canada or England or Ireland just to escape this... although pessimism and doubt tells me that this shit happens everywhere. The rich are greedy, and they would rather a million people suffer rather than lose a few thousand in taxes.
I'm not even really sure what the point of this letter is. I suppose that, if I were to have a point, it would be that the middle-class still supports you... at least this part of it. We believe that Republicans are fucking crazy and will continue to support the wealthy and the corporations in a fat-cat "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" type of "democracy." But we are pissed at the same time. We are seeing our lives quickly drift by and we are unable to achieve our dreams, our goals, our wants or desires. We don't qualify for the social programs that some others do, and we aren't wealthy enough to make it. We are stuck. And we're sick of it. We need you to grow a pair of balls and stand up for us... to help us, to look at the sheer size of our class and realize that we are the majority. Either that, or I stop working and ask my husband to take a new job with a major pay cut so we can get on WIC/welfare, abuse the fucking system, and finally accomplish our dream of starting a family. Or we just continue to get angry and perhaps someday we'll finally riot, and the streets of downtown metropolises will look like the streets of London.
I know that is all a bit dark and cynical, and under the Patriot Act you could probably arrest me (but then I'd have three squares a day and, if I had a baby in prison, then taxes would pay for it, right?), but I just want you to know how badly we need you, how we can't afford for you to roll over like a freaking dog at every whim of the wealthy Right. You were supposed to be there for us, but you aren't. We are overlooked because we aren't in poverty and we aren't wealthy. We're stuck in the dark, in the middle, unseen and forgotten. And we're pissed about it. So, I implore you: don't forget about us. Don't forget about the millions of forgotten middle-class Americans who put you in office. Stand up for us like you promised you would. Without you our American Dreams are as good as dead.
Sincerely,
Courtney
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